JAZZ
Jazz is America's
art form--a unique blending of West African and Western European/American
harmony, structure and instrumentation.
Starting in the early 1900s, various jazz and traditions have
sprouted up in different parts of the United States, and their uniquely
American sound has fascinated listeners, performers and composers around the
world.
Jazz began in New Orleans in the
1920s as a blending of blues, ragtime, and civic brass band traditions, then this
early style of "Hot Jazz" made its way north to Chicago and east to
New York in the late 1920s. In the
1930s, jazz expanded into a "Big Band" phenomenon with Duke Ellington
and Benny Goodman (who took jazz to Hollywood in the mid-1930s). In the 1940s, an intensely virtuosic and
highly-improvisatory new style of jazz called "Bebop" was developed
by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. In the early 1950s a smoother, more
serene style of "cool jazz" became the rage on the west coast. John Coltrane's "hard bop" of
the late 1950s led to the more daring experiments of "free jazz" by
Ornette Coleman in the 1960s. In the early 1970s, Miles Davis began exploring
jazz-fusion (combining elements of jazz and rock musics). Along this historical journey, jazz has been
an important catalyst in the socio-political and artistic transformation of
American society, while standing as a brilliant reflection of American freedom
and ingenuity.
All Jazz styles have two common features:
-
"Swing" feeling: The rhythmic phenomenon of "swing" feeling is
projected in the way the drums and bass express the beat, how the piano
interacts with the bass and drums, and how the beat is divided up in complex
ways. (Click
here to see a YouTube video on "swing" groove vs. other types of
grooves)
-
Improvisation: This can be best described as "composing and
performing at the same time."
The jazz musician relies on three basic elements of the song to develop
an improvisation: melody, harmony, and form. (click
here to see a YouTube clip on jazz improvisation)
One of the most common forms used in jazz
is called the "12-bar blues." This form maintains the same chord
progression and the same number of measures/beats, but it may be applied to
hundreds of different melodies. You
can keep track of this form by counting to 4 twelve times ("1 2 3 4", "2 2 3 4", "3 2 3 4", "4 2 3 4", "5 2 3 4", etc. until you reach
"12 2 3 4", then start the
counting pattern over again for each successive variation of the pattern
(called a "chorus"). This
is exactly what the jazz musician does to keep track of the blues form—one
of many things they must think about while they are playing.
The
basic chord progression of a 12-bar blues in the key of "C": (click here to see animated
YouTube clip with basic piano chords)
JAZZ ENSEMBLES
Jazz can be performed by
- a single player such as a pianist,
- a vocalist with piano or a small backup group,
- a small instrumental "jazz combo",
- a small vocal jazz group
- a jazz orchestra,
- a jazz choir (with or without instrumental accompaniment):
Jazz combos often feature virtuoso performers, on
the following instruments:
The
Rhythm Section: (click here to see a YouTube
clip on the basic jazz rhythm section)
- Bass
(String Bass or Electric Bass), plucked with the fingers, often providing a
"walking bass" accompaniment
- Harmony
instruments (one or more: Piano,
Guitar, Organ, Banjo)
- Drums
Soloist(s)
- One or more solo
instruments (Saxophone, trumpet, clarinet, trombone, flute, vibraphone, etc.)
Figure 1: The Western Jazz Quartet (piano:
Steve Zegree; sax: Trent Kynaston; bass: Tom Knific; drums: Tim Froncek). Concert
photo by Patricia Schneider.
Figure 2: Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
Figure 3: WMU's "Gold
Company" vocal jazz ensemble performing a the Lincoln Center in New York
City.
JAZZ STYLES
Since the 1920s, Jazz
has undergone several stylisdtic transformations, the most significant of which
are described below. The "Modern Popular Music" chart below,
shows the development of the main jazz styles in relation to other aspects of
20th-century popular music and culture.
Jazz played an important role in changing the socio-political landscape
of the United States between 1920 and 1970.
(Click
on the chart below to go to that interactive webpage).
*****
Jazz Styles Summary
(Click on the titles of the pieces
below to see YouTube performance clips)
"Hot"
Jazz
-
Louis ARMSTRONG (1900-1971): Hotter Than That (1927)
During the "Roaring
'20s," "HOT" JAZZ
emerged as piano was added to the rhythm section, and a stronger driving rhythm
was introduced with greater emphasis on the soloist. In New Orleans, black
performers such Louis ARMSTRONG completed the transition from
ragtime
to jazz,
creating a style known as "Dixieland" Jazz or
"Hot" Jazz, as improvised over standard blues patterns. Later,
ARMSTRONG took "Hot" Jazz to Chicago, where its popularity grew
rapidly with both black and white audiences. Armstrong (nicknamed
"Stachmo") is arguably the most influential performer in the history
of American jazz.
The piece Hotter Than That
exemplifies many of the most innovative aspects of this new jazz style: (1) It
uses "call and response"
techniques (from native African musical tradition in which a leader does a
"call" and a group does some type of "response"), (2) it
has complex syncopated polyrhythms, (3) expressive "blue" (bent
out of tune) notes, (4) and even a section with Armstrong's famous "scat
singing" (in which he sings like an instrument on scat
syllables). The piece has an
introduction, the main theme, and four varied improvised choruses.
Orchestral
Jazz
-
George GERSHWIN (1898-1937): Rhapsody
in Blue (1925)
In 1925, bandleader Paul Whiteman
premiered George GERSHWIN's Rhapsody in Blue and kicked off an
orchestral jazz crossover movement that had an enormous impact on getting white
listeners to love jazz.. Although
such works incorporate certain elements of the jazz tradition, there is not even
a hint of improvisation—the scores are completely written out
note-for-note. In the 1960s, Gunther SCHULLER developed a style known as "Third
Stream Jazz" by combining a jazz combo with symphony orchestra.
Swing
-
"Duke" ELLINGTON
(1899-1974): The
"C" Jam Blues (1942)
In
the 1930s, famed jazz pianists Edward "Duke"
ELLINGTON and William "Count"
BASIE popularized "pure" jazz through a "Big Band"
style known as SWING. Swing bands featured a large ensemble of
woodwinds (saxophones, clarinets), brass (trumpets, trombones) and a back-up
accompaniment (acoustic bass with piano and/or guitar).
From
the late 1930s through the 1950s, Duke Ellington was one of the premier swing band
leaders in America. He was also one
of the most creative composers in the history of jazz, particularly renowned
for hits such as Take the A Train, and Satin Doll, as well as colorful and
daring arrangements of classic jazz tunes. Ellington expanded Armstrong's small
ensemble intimate style of Dixieland jazz into a harder-edged full band sound.
His "C"
Jam Blues features a 12-bar blues pattern with each subsequent varied chorus
initiated by a 4-measure lead-in improvised over a "C" chord
harmony. Ellington recorded this
piece several times, but the most famous is from 1942, with the following
improvised solo structure on the choruses: (1) piano--Ellington), (2) jazz
violin--Ray Nance), (3) trumpet--Rex Stewart, (4) tenor sax—Ben Webster,
(5) trombone—Joe Nanton, and (6) clarinet—Barney Bigard.
"Big Band"
-
Benny GOODMAN (1909-1986): Sing, Sing, Sing! (1937)
In the mid-1930s and early 1940s,
clarinetist Benny GOODMAN and
trombonist Glenn MILLER incorporated
jazz techniques into a more heavily-arranged "big-band" white swing
style based on a faster, danceable beat with featured improvised solos. The
widespread popularity of big band/swing was accelerated by the rise of dozens
of main line "crooners" such as Bing
CROSBY, Frank SINATRA, and Doris DAY, who blossomed as featured vocalists with prominent bands
during the World War II years.
Boogie-Woogie
- The ANDREWS SISTERS: The Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy
of Company B (1941)
As purely instrumental jazz
began to emerge from the vocal blues
style, boogie-woogie was born.
It began as an intensified rhythmic outgrowth of the black Rhythm &
Blues tradition, then became popular with white listeners during the World War
II era. When the tradition came back full-circle into vocal jazz with a
"big band" backup, the most famous example, The Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy from
Company B, was popularized through records and film by The Andrews Sisters during World War
II. Boogie-woogie is characterized by its well-known
"8-to-the-bar" rhythmic structure:
(LONG-short-LONG-short-LONG-short-LONG-short)
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8
Bebop
-
Charlie PARKER and Dizzy
GILLESPIE: Koko (1945)
In the late 1940s, progressive
black jazz musicians developed an intense
highly improvisatory style called Bebop,
characterized by independent instrumental lines, massive harmonic dissonance,
intricate fast rhythms and tremendous
virtuosity. As the soloistic improvisations intensified, bebop players such as saxophonist Charlie "Bird" PARKER often
completely abandoned the song's melody, which has made this style less
attractive to general listeners.
His bebop collaborations with trumpeter Dizzy GILLESPIE are some of the greatest moments in music history.
"Cool" Jazz
-
Dave BRUBECK Quartet: Take 5 (1959)
In the 1950s, a smooth style of "West
Coast" Cool Jazz emerged, using
more traditional instruments such as horn, cello, flute and oboe. Cool Jazz
innovators include pianist Dave BRUBECK
(of the Dave Brubeck Quartet that also featured alto saxophonist Paul DESMOND),
trumpeter Miles DAVIS, and baritone
saxophonist Gerry MULLIGAN (of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet
featuring trumpeter Chet BAKER).
Art-music composer/conductor Leonard
BERNSTEIN also incorporated Cool
Jazz elements into his famous musical,
West Side Story.
Jazz-Rock Fusion
-
Miles DAVIS: Tutu (1986)
"Fusion" in its strictest
sense means to merge styles together.
In the late 1960s, Jazz trumpeter Miles
DAVIS was one of the first jazz artist to cross over and adopt elements of
rock . In the 1970s, popular fusion groups included BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS, CHICAGO, and SANTANA
(who are noted for their blending of Afro-Cuban jazz elements within a
Latin-based rock idiom).
"Free" Jazz
-
Ornette COLEMAN: Free Jazz (1960)
Since 1960, several newer types
of jazz
have emerged: "Free jazz" (a "random" loosely-structured
style promoted by Ornette COLEMAN and John COLTRANE), which has raised a continuing controversy about
freedom vs. chaos.