Chapter 9 Jazz What is Jazz Relies heavily

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 19 th 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 created standard instrumentation (trumpets, trombones, saxes, drums, piano, guitar, double bass

► Dance The Big Band Era 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 composed and arranged for top swing orchestras (Ellington’s and Goodman’s) ► Composed more than 350 songs (jazz and non-jazz)

The 1940 s 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 1940 s: 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, half, and whole