This presentation explores Herbie Hancock's iconic "Dolphin Dance," widely recognised for its postbop blend of modal and tonal harmony. Keith Waters, a member of Barbara Bleij's promotion committee and guest-of-honor at this symposium, has previously offered extensive analyses of this piece, cementing its place in jazz scholarship. Extending Waters’ analyses and engaging with other perspectives, this study provides a complementary approach, applying two analytical frameworks developed at the Conservatory of Amsterdam.

The first approach follows the analytical system documented in Barbara Bleij’s dissertation, while the second draws on Phrase Module Theory, a framework developed collaboratively with Patrick Schenkius. This theory uncovers archetypal metric-harmonic and melodic patterns beneath the musical surface, offering new insights into the composition’s musical essence, stylistic features, and inherent poetry. Together, these methods illuminate Hancock’s artistry as a jazz composer.

I posit that the tune’s tonal ambiguity—floating mellifluously between the major-third key centers of Eb, G, and B major—is framed within a 32-bar ABAC format. At all (hyper)metrical levels, this structure employs archetypal phrase modules characteristic of the American songbook tradition. The deliberate or intuitive use of such a robust compositional framework enables Hancock’s stylistic idiosyncrasies to emerge with clarity. Defined by his exceptional sense of harmonic nuance, Hancock’s compositional style epitomises "sprezzatura"—the cultivated art of appearing effortless while demonstrating extraordinary skill and refinement, cementing his legacy as one of jazz’s great musical poets.

Walther Stuhlmacher (Tübingen, 1961) is a senior-lecturer of music theory at the jazz department of the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.