Chapter 9 Jazz

What is Jazz? Relies heavily on improvisation within a certain formal structure Rhythmic urgency, shifting accents to weak beats, emphasizing syncopation Commonly features polyrhythm (two or more simultaneous rhythms)

The Birth of Jazz In and around the New Orleans area in 19th century Brass bands, spirituals, and blues form the roots of jazz music In its early stages, jazz was called “novelty” or “minstrel” music Highlights the skill and inventiveness of its performers, particularly with improvisation “stride” piano style built on steady rhythmic bass line in left hand (influence of ragtime)

“Jelly Roll” Morton Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton Pianist and bandleader Perfected New Orleans Dixieland jazz style Simultaneous improvisations “Jelly Roll” Morton and His Red Hot Peppers Driving, swinging style

The Mississippi Connection Jazz music began attracting non-African American musicians along the Mississippi River Small bands featuring Dixieland style March-like feeling and duple meter Trumpet, clarinet, trombone featured Banjos and Mandolins may be included Embellishing existing melodies (usually in call-and-response Derived from spirituals and work songs

Louis Armstrong Produced distinct timbre with his trumpet Influenced countless other jazz musicians with his improvisational style and scat singing Complemented trumpet improvisations with scat singing (He had a distinct, gravelly voice.) Worked in Broadway, radio, films, recording, etc. Nicknamed “Satchmo” (short for “satchel mouth”)

Chicago and the Emergence of Swing By the time jazz reached Chicago, swing style had developed Jazz style meant for dancing and entertainment Making duple meter sound like loose triple meter Label for style and era of jazz (1935-1945) Fletcher Henderson enlarged jazz band and created standard instrumentation (trumpets, trombones, saxes, drums, piano, guitar, double bass

The Big Band Era Dance orchestras; performed in primarily quadruple meter instead of duple Teens preferred jazz dances to their parents’ ballroom dances Benny Goodman, the “King of Swing” From poor Russian-Jewish family Founded a big band orchestra and was featured on national radio show “Let’s Dance” Performed as both a jazz and classical artist on the clarinet Clarinet replaced by sax as preferred reed instrument in jazz bands; i.e., Lester Young

32-Bar Song Form Improvisation occurs in specific structure Adaptation of melodies from popular songs that were 32 bars long Most common form is A A B A, where each letter is 8 bars B section functions as a musical bridge

The Legendary Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington Credited with having written more music than any composer ever Made jazz a sophisticated art form Combined own creativity and skill with that of his band members Melodies generated by harmony and rhythmic vitality

Mary Lou Williams Women found it difficult to gain acceptance in jazz during big band era Mary Lou Williams – pianist, composer, arranger whose career spanned all eras of jazz Played with her own band and composed and arranged for top swing orchestras (Ellington’s and Goodman’s) Composed more than 350 songs (jazz and non-jazz)

The 1940s and Bebop Interest in jazz grew after WWII Younger musicians wanted creativity outside of swing; created bebop style Different from swing in that it was for listening, not dancing and was a return to small ensembles (as opposed to large swing orchestras) Trumpeter John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie and Saxophonist Charlie “Yardbird” Parker regarded as pioneers of bebop Chromatic melodies, complex rhythms, rapid tempos, dazzling technicality

Cool Jazz, Fusion, and Beyond Dissatisfaction with bebop led to some reviving older forms of jazz Some invented simpler style of jazz using modal scales Trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk leading players of modal jazz Major trends in jazz following 1940s: rhythm & blues, modal jazz, progressive (or cool) jazz, free jazz, fusion, smooth jazz, etc.

Vocabulary Jazz – a musical form distinguished by its reliance on improvisation and its rhythmic urgency Polyrhythmic – juxtaposing two or more different rhythms Break – a measure or two where everyone stops playing except the sololist Scat singing – a form of vocal improvisation on nonsense syllables Swing – the special rhythmic character that jazz musicians add to the music Bridge – a connective part of the composition

Vocabulary, cont. Chromatic – incorporating tones from a musical scale consisting entirely of half steps Bebop – a complex and sophisticated type of improvised jazz Fusion – combination of jazz and rock Dorian mode – a scale with the pattern of whole step, half, whole, whole, whole, half, and whole