A while back, I heard Maria Schneider talk at the Reno Jazz Festival.
She talked about her inspirations, people she knew, and theoretical aspects.
Out of the modes (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian) she told us that Lydian is the brightest.
From there in ascending fifths (ie first up to C from F) they become darker.
Based off of that she made one of her songs darker through modulation.
Schneider also told a story about Gil Evans and how he had been sitting down trying to figure out a new way to figure a minor seventh chord that he had developed callouses on his ass.
She said that composers have to do that sometimes- just keep writing until they get it.
-Neal Battaglia
