Cette thèse propose une investigation musicologique du troisième album pour Blue Note Records du pianiste étatsunien Herbie Hancock: Inventions and Dimensions (1964). Si, d’une part, l’analyse de cet enregistrement permet d’envisager le processus d’expansion du langage musical qui agite le jazz au début des années 1960, de l’autre, cette entreprise jette un éclairage sur l’évolution de la poétique hancockienne. Négligé par les études sur le jazz, Inventions and Dimensions constitue un véritable manifeste de la pensée musicale du pianiste, dont la production reste jusqu’à aujourd’hui peu étudiée, en dépit de son importance dans le développement du jazz moderne. Ainsi, l’examen de Inventions and Dimensions comble-t-il une lacune musicologique sur la production hancockienne, mais en plus, il invite à réfléchir sur des questions de portée plus large, comme la pertinence des catégories historiographiques de « free jazz » et « jazz modal » et l’impact des traditions musicales afro-caribéennes sur le jazz des années 1960. Afin de situer Inventions and Dimensions dans le processus de transformation du langage jazz des années 1960 et d’évaluer son rôle dans le développement de la poétique hancockienne, la thèse s’appuie sur des transcriptions réalisées par son auteur. Cela impose quelques considérations préliminaires sur la pratique de transcription en jazz, sur sa signification corporelle, et sur les limites intrinsèques de son produit scriptural. Ensuite, la thèse se concentre sur l’analyse structurelle, motivique et rythmique du discours pianistique hancockien dans Inventions and Dimensions, en établissant un dialogue constant avec les autres enregistrements du pianiste de la première moitié des années 1960. Ce faisant, les caractéristiques de la poétique musicale de Hancock peuvent être efficacement illustrées, à la fois dans leur évolution au cours des années 1960 et dans la réalisation particulière qu’elles trouvent dans Inventions and Dimensions. Toutefois, pour encadrer l’album du point de vue historico-musical, il faut aussi en examiner le contenu à la lumière des catégories de « jazz modal » et « free jazz ». Cela amène à souligner le caractère fragmentaire et, par conséquent, problématique de ces enveloppes sémantiques. Inventions and Dimensions exploite aussi des rythmes religieux afro-cubains dont les pérégrinations dévoilent une autre dimension de l’album qui, en plus de traverser les significations musicales et extramusicales associées au « jazz modal » et au « free jazz », façonne autant le langage rythmique hancockien que l’imaginaire musical des années 1960. À l’exemple d’autres enregistrements liminaires de l’époque, Inventions and Dimensions démontre en conclusion comment la variété de langages qui fleurissent au début de la décennie peut être repensée comme le paradigme d’une koinè tournée vers l’affranchissement de canons désormais dépassés. / This dissertation proposes a musicological investigation of Herbie Hancock’s third album for Blue Note Records: Inventions and Dimensions (1964). The analysis of the recording allows us to address how jazz language was transformed in the 1960s, while also shedding light on the evolution of Hancock’s personal style. Inventions and Dimensions represents a true manifesto of Hancock’s early production, which has been overlooked by scholars despite its importance for the development of modern jazz. Thus, this dissertation addresses a gap in musicological scholarship on Hancock’s work and encourages the development of broader reflections on issues such as the use of categories such as “free jazz” and “modal jazz”, and the impact of Afro-Caribbean traditions on jazz in the 1960s. In order to situate Inventions and Dimensions in the process of the transformation of the jazz language in the 1960s and to evaluate its role in the development of Hancock’s style, the dissertation relies on the author’s (my own) transcriptions of the album, introduced by some preliminary considerations about the practice of transcription in jazz, its corporal meaning and its intrinsic limitations as a finished written product. The dissertation then focuses on the structural, motivic and rhythmic analysis of Hancock’s piano improvisations in Inventions and Dimensions, drawing a relationship between the musical content of the album and other Hancock recordings from the early 1960s. This allows us to illustrate how the main features of Hancock’s style developed during the 1960s and how they manifest specifically in Inventions and Dimensions. However, in an effort to frame the album from a historical perspective, the dissertation also examines the musical content of the record through the lenses of the categories of “modal” and “free” jazz, underscoring the fragmentary and problematic nature of such semantic envelopes. Finally, this work traces the routes of the Afro-Cuban religious rhythms incorporated into Inventions and Dimensions to determine how they shape both Hancock’s rhythmic language and the musical imaginary of the 1960s, and how do they permeate the musical and extra-musical meanings associated with “modal” and “free” jazz. In conclusion, Inventions and Dimensions, like other liminal recordings of the period, demonstrates how the diversity of idioms that flourished in the early 1960s should be reconsidered as the paradigm of a koinè that breaks away from outdated standards.

a)Objetivos: Traçar um perfil dos procedimentos melódicos modais presentes nas manifestações étnicas e populares do nordeste brasileiro afim de verificá-los em autores ligados à música popular do Brasil na década de 1960, cotejando os diferentes procedimentos harmônicos realizados. b)Métodos: O principal método utilizado foi o da análise a partir da transcrição de exemplos em áudio. A partir dessas análises uma série de comparações com materiais similares encontrados na bibliografia foi realizada. c) Resultados: Como resultado dessa pesquisa foram apontados os principais modos e traços cadenciais utilizados no repertório étnico e popular escolhido do nordeste brasileiro. Esses traços foram importantes na construção das canções aqui selecionadas, características da chamada MPB da década de 1960 apresentando, a partir dessas análises, os principais procedimentos harmônicos desses autores relacionados aos modos e traços cadenciais encontrados. / e)Objectives: Delineating a profile of the modal melodic procedures present in the ethnic and popular manifestations of the Northeast region of Brazil in order to verify them in authors connected to the Brazilian popular music from the 1960s, comparing the different harmonic procedures produced. f)Methods: The main method used was the analysis of transcripts of audio samples. From these analyses a series of comparisons with similar materials found in the bibliography was made. g)Results: As a result of this research, the main modes and cadential traces used in the ethnic and popular repertoire chosen from the Northeast of Brazil were indicated. These traces were important in the construction of the songs here selected, characteristics of the so-called MPB of the 1960s presenting, from those analyses, the main harmonic procedures of those authors related to the cadential modes and traces found.

a)Objetivos: Traçar um perfil dos procedimentos melódicos modais presentes nas manifestações étnicas e populares do nordeste brasileiro afim de verificá-los em autores ligados à música popular do Brasil na década de 1960, cotejando os diferentes procedimentos harmônicos realizados. b)Métodos: O principal método utilizado foi o da análise a partir da transcrição de exemplos em áudio. A partir dessas análises uma série de comparações com materiais similares encontrados na bibliografia foi realizada. c) Resultados: Como resultado dessa pesquisa foram apontados os principais modos e traços cadenciais utilizados no repertório étnico e popular escolhido do nordeste brasileiro. Esses traços foram importantes na construção das canções aqui selecionadas, características da chamada MPB da década de 1960 apresentando, a partir dessas análises, os principais procedimentos harmônicos desses autores relacionados aos modos e traços cadenciais encontrados. / e)Objectives: Delineating a profile of the modal melodic procedures present in the ethnic and popular manifestations of the Northeast region of Brazil in order to verify them in authors connected to the Brazilian popular music from the 1960s, comparing the different harmonic procedures produced. f)Methods: The main method used was the analysis of transcripts of audio samples. From these analyses a series of comparisons with similar materials found in the bibliography was made. g)Results: As a result of this research, the main modes and cadential traces used in the ethnic and popular repertoire chosen from the Northeast of Brazil were indicated. These traces were important in the construction of the songs here selected, characteristics of the so-called MPB of the 1960s presenting, from those analyses, the main harmonic procedures of those authors related to the cadential modes and traces found.