If an album’s emotionality can be quantified in exclamation points,
this recording by jazz saxophonist Jackie McLean seemingly defies
competition. The double quotation marks, apostrophe, ellipsis, and 244
exclamation points suggest the slanted lines and dots of music
notation. If we take the exclamation points to be quarter notes, this
‘score’ is one long tremolo (the rapid repetition of a single tone).
Notice that the score even has a time signature: ‘it’s time!’ Perhaps
the three dots of the ellipsis indicate three beats to a measure. In
any case, this album cover beautifully reminds us that there’s
punctuation in music and music in punctuation. (Album cover via www.gokudo.co.jp)