JAZZA Historical Outline

What is Jazz?

“Man, man, if you gotta ask, you’ll never know.”

Louis Armstrong

“When they study our civilization two thousand years from now, there will only be three things that American will be known for: the Constitution, baseball and jazz music.”

Gerald Early

Roots of JAZZo West Africa contributed

drumming improvisation and complex rhythms

o Europe contributed folk tunes and hymns

o America contributed a breeding ground for these things to mix.

o Jazz is the first genre of music to solely culminate in the United States.

o All other forms prior to jazz came from (Western) Europe, or were formed somewhere else.

o Jazz=American Musical Art Form!

Roots of JAZZ

o Early records are categorized as “race records.”

o Jazz helped breech the race barrier

o First integrated ensembles: 1930’so AUDIENCES TOO!!!

Roots of JAZZ

Timeline of JAZZo 1890’s-1910’s Jazz is born;

Ragtimeo 1910’s-1920’s Blueso 1920’s-1930’s Dixielando 1930’s-1940’s Sing/Big Bando 1940’s Bebopo 1940’s-1950’s Coolo 1960’s Free Jazzo 1960’s-1980’s Fusion (Jazz/Rock)o 1980’s-Current Rock, R&B, Funk,

Modern Jazz

Characteristics of JAZZo Born in New Orleans, Louisianao Performed in brothels, clubs,

streets, river boats, speak easys…

o Syncopated (off-beat) rhythms and swing (lilting) subdivision.

o Encompassed the ‘aleatoric’ or improvisational nature of negro spirituals.

o Three different components make this genre distinct:o Harmonyo Rhythmo Improvisation

JAZZ Ragtime (late 1890’s-early 1900’s)

o Grew out of African American dance styles

o Formal structureo Generally performed on piano

o Artist: Scott Joplin (Maple Leaf Rag, The Entertainer)

o Maple Leaf Rag was an instant hit. It sold 75,000 copies.

JAZZ Blues (1910’s-1920’s)

o Blues, by definition: a lament, bemoaning poverty, social injustice, fatigue, or the loss of something (L-U-V).

o Originated in South among enslaved African Americans and spirituals and carried through in oral tradition to their descendants.

o Standard form: 12-Bar Blues…3, 4-bar phrases.

JAZZ Blues (1910’s-1920’s)

o Lyric Topics include: sexual references, betrayal, desertion and love.

o Artists: Bessie Smith, B.B. King, Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield), Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Howlin’ Wolf (Chester Arthur Burnett)

JAZZ Dixieland (1920’s-1930’s)

o Began in New Orleanso Typical (small) groups

included: clarinet, trumpet, trombone, tuba (bass), piano, banjo and drums

o Variations were typicalo Characteristic sound derived

fromo Combination of instruments

(timbre)o Melody instruments improvising

at the same time (polyphony)

JAZZ Dixieland (1920’s-1930’s)

o Marches, Church Hymns, Negro Spirituals, ragtime, 12-bar blues, Boogie Woogie, all part of the ‘play-list”

o Scat singing-vocal style of improvisation using ‘nonsense’ syllables.o Louis Armstrong known for starting

and using this style…story says he was recording and dropped his music, could not remember the lyrics, so he ‘improvised’ by scatting.

JAZZ Dixieland (1920’s-1930’s)

o Artists: Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong (vocals, trumpet), Joe “King” Oliver, Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton, Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke, James Fletcher Henderson, Preservation Hall Ensemble.

JAZZ Swing (Late 1930’s-1940’s)

o AKA “Big Band” or “Dance Band”

o Largest group so far, c. 15 members (hence ‘big’ band)

o Considered POPULAR MUSIC.o Sections now instead of

individual instrumentso Saxophone Section (clarinet often

included)o Trumpet Sectiono Trombone Sectiono Rhythm Section (Piano, Bass,

Guitar, Drums)

JAZZ Swing (Late 1930’s-1940’s)

o Saxophone: fairly new invention (from the sarussaphone)

o More people playing now, composers/arrangers wrote solos and relied less on improvisation

o Unison playing normal (rhythms and/or pitches)

o Most ‘charts’ were based on 12-bar blues

o Many groups entertained during WWII

JAZZ Swing (Late 1930’s-1940’s)

o Artists: Edward Kennedy “DUKE” Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Louis Prima, Cab Calloway, Artie Shaw, Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman, Stan Kenton, The Commodores, The Airmen of Note, NC Jazz Repertory Orchestra, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (Wynton Marsalis), Harry Connick, Jr., Bob Mintzer

JAZZ Bebop (1940’s)

o More complex music for smaller groups

o Basic instruments and format same as big band

o Back to improvisation, less unison

o Meant for listening, not dancing (more irregular time/style changes).

o More sophisticated harmonies

JAZZ Bebop (1940’s)

o Rhythm section responsible for keeping time AND as melody instruments

o Artists: Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk (Rocky Mount, NC), Charles Mingus, Bud Powell, Miles Davis (early), Thad Jones, Sonny Stitt, Sonny Rollins, Art Pepper, Erroll Garner, Oscar Peterson, Max Roach

JAZZ Cool (Late 1940’s-1950’s)o AKA “West Coast Jazz”o More calm and relaxed than

bebop, hence ‘cool’o Longer compositions than bebopo More written arrangements, less

improvisationo Flute, cello and horn often

includedo Very experimental

o Artists: Lester Young, Miles Davis (middle), Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan

JAZZ Free (1960s)o Break from traditional jazz

forms, melodies, harmonies and chords

o Very reflective of timeso Very irregular in formo Coincides with chance/aleatoric

music of John Cageo Very much a recording music,

rather than a sit-and-listen.

o Artists: Miles Davis (late), Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane (High Point, NC)

JAZZ Fusion (late 1960’s-1980’s)o Became “Funk”o Combines jazz and the evolving

Rock and Roll style (which came from jazz)…took over as ‘popular music’

o Traditional instruments and synthesizers, electric piano, guitar

o Afro-Cuban and Latin Percussion

o Artists: Miles Davis (late), Earth, Wind & Fire, Weather Report, Chicago, Tower of Power