Reading Comprehension

PT104 · S2 · P1 · Q3 Miles Davis

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The career of trumpeter Miles Davis was one of the most astonishingly productive that jazz music has ever seen.

Topic

Miles Davis's career

Frameworks

Theme / Example, Highlight Something Noteworthy

Main Point

Davis's career was incredibly productive and under-appreciated, both due in part to how many stylistic evolutions Davis went through over the years.

P1 - Thesis

We might have alternatively thought of this passage with a "Theme / Example" framework, since this first paragraph really lays out the overarching theme that the rest of the paragraphs unpack: a lot of zigzags.

P2 - First Stylistic Zigzag

Davis starts as bebop but then develops "cool jazz" (slower tempos and less soloing).

P3 - Second Stylistic Zigzag

Davis breaks free from chord patterns and seeks a more open, unified sound like that of orchestral pieces. Soloists have less constraints.

P4 - Third Stylistic Zigzag

Davis starts taking on more conventions of rock music -- electrified instruments and a cut-and-paste recording process that's a violation of the norms of jazz. He takes some heat from the critics.

P5 - Author's Causal Explanation

Here the author tries to explain why Davis was frequently maligned by contemporary critics and thus has not received his proper due as the genius he was -- critics are afraid when artists broaden possibilities or defy genre categorization (as apparently they rely on those things to do their jobs).

The passage suggests which one of the following about the kind of jazz played by Miles Davis prior to 1948?

Correct
It was characterized by rapid
Why this is right
This is another way of saying "bebop". In the final sentence of the 2nd paragraph, we heard that Davis was playing slowed down tempos and ensemble playing as much or more than solos. This was in direct reaction to bebop, meaning that bebop was the logical opposite of "slowed down tempos and ensemble more than solos". Hence, the passage implies that bebop had "sped up tempos, and solos more than ensemble".
Skill tested: Inference · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
68% picked this
It equally balanced ensemble and
Not Prior to 1948
This describes what Davis and his think tank group started doing in 1948, but the question was asking about what he did prior to that, which was bebop.
7% picked this
It was a reaction against
Not Prior to 1948
This describes what Davis did throughout his career, starting around 1948, but the question was asking about what he did prior to that, which was bebop. Bebop wasn't necessarily a restrictive jazz style, but it had certain conventions that jazz critics expected. Bebop definitely is never identified in the passage as reacting against more restrictive jazz styles, and we know that Miles was playing bebop prior to 1948.
13% picked this
It is regarded by purist
Too Strong: only
We're looking for something that describes "bebop", but bebop was never described in the passage as something that jazz critics considered "the only authentic style".
11% picked this
It was played primarily in
Too Strong: primarily
We're looking for something that describes "bebop", but bebop was never described in the passage as something that was "primarily played in NYC jazz clubs".
1% picked this

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