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Jazz History. Mrs. Clarridge. The Music. Jazz merges many different people and their heritages, including: Music of plantation slaves of African descent (plantation songs, spirituals, field hollers). European-American musical traditions
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Jazz History Mrs. Clarridge
The Music • Jazz merges many different people and their heritages, including: • Music of plantation slaves of African descent (plantation songs, spirituals, field hollers). • European-American musical traditions These created the basis for blues, ragtime, and other musical forms from which jazz evolved.
Ragtime: • 1880-early 1900s • Composed primarily for the piano • 16th note based syncopated melody with the form and feel of a march – steady “boom-chic” bass and chord pattern with a syncopated melody –called “ragging”
Ragtime Musicians • The most well known ragtime composer was Scott Joplin. He was born in Texas and studied piano. His most famous composition was “Maple Leaf Rag” which sold one million copies and earned him enough money to support himself and allow him to focus solely on composing. • He also composed the famous song “The Entertainer” • Other important musicians of this era were: Artie Matthews, James Scott and Tom Turpin.
Blues Music • Predominantly a vocal tradition which expressed the emotions of African-Americans at the beginning of the 20th Century. • Three line stanza (aab form). • 12 bar chord progression, built on the 1st, 4th, and 5th notes of the major scale. • Distinct sound of the blues melody is due to notes outside the major scale called “blue notes” • Vocal accompanied by guitar, piano, harmonica or homemade instruments… con’d
Blues Music Continued… • Blues performed on trumpet or saxophone often imitated vocal effects by bending pitches, rasping, and growling.
Blues Musicians • Most well known blues singers were Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. • Ma Rainey and her husband, Pa Rainey (no kidding), discovered Bessie Smith, who became one of the most successful black performing artists of her time, producing nearly 200 recordings despite her short life (43 years old). • Both Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith were known for the scandalous lifestyles. • In the 1920s, Bessie Smith earned approximately $2000 a week, a huge sum at that time!
Blues Composer • One of the most famous blues composers was W.C. Handy, who was a cornetist, bandleader and owner of a music publishing company. He wrote the famous “St.Louis Blues” • He was nicknamed the “Father of the Blues”
Unit 3: Early Jazz: Dixieland (1917-1920s) • World War I Raged in Europe (1914-1918) • Prohibition (The Illegalization of alcohol began (1920)
Dixieland Music • Blues + Ragtime + local brass band tradition = Dixieland • A.K.A. traditional jazz or New Orleans Jazz • Started in New Orleans, then spread to Chicago, New York, Kansas City, and California • Name “Dixieland” came from the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. • First recording of Dixieland music was in 1917.
Dixieland Continued… • The instruments in a Dixieland group often included trumpet/cornet, clarinet, trombone, and sometimes saxophone. These instruments were accompanied by a rhythm section which included banjo, piano, drums, string bass, or tuba. There was usually no vocalist. • Dixielandwas characterized by a steady, upbeat tempo, 4/4 metre, and an exaggerated triplet swing style. Often string bass or tuba plays on beats one and three with the banjo or piano playing on two and four. This was called “Two-beat” style, and gives a sound similar to ragtime. Other instruments take turns playing melody and solos.
Dixieland Musicians • Louis Armstrong contributed to early jazz mostly as a solo improviser. His virtuosic solo ability influenced everyone after him since jazz moved more toward solo improvisation and away from group improvisation. • Louis Armstrong was also known for his gravelly singing voice and he helped popularize “scat” (singing nonsense syllables sung to an improvised melody).
Dixieland musicians continued… • Jelly Roll Morton was a pianist, composer and bandleader. He crossed the gap between ragtime and early jazz because he loosened the rigid rhythmic feel of ragtime by swinging eighth notes. When he became less popular in the 1930s, he had to sell his most prized possession to make ends meet: (Wait for it…)
Unit 4: Big Band Music: The Early Years (1920s) • In the “Roaring 20s”, speakeasies, flappers and a dance called the Charleston were popular. • The Stock Market Crash of 1929 called “Black Monday” began the Great Depression…
Big Band Music… (Early Years) • Usually consisted of 10 players or more, called “big bands” • Relied on saxophones rather than clarinets • Emphasized sectional playing • Three groups of instruments: brass (trumpets and trombones), reeds (saxes, and some players doubling on clarinet), and rhythm section (piano, bass, drums, guitar, and later vibes)
Big Band Music Continued… • Standard form: (a) the melody was played by the entire band in unison or harmony (b) soloists improvised based on the tune’s melody, style, and chord progression (a) the melody was restated sometimes in varied or more elaborate setting
Big Band Music: • The music was called “swing”. The triplet swing rhythm style was easy to dance to. The swing era was very popular from the 1920s through to the mid 1940s. • Big Bands sometimes used a vocalist • The most popular big bands were the bands of Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman.
Early Big Band Bandleaders: • Fletcher Henderson and Paul Whiteman were two prominent early big band leaders. Paul Whiteman was one of the first bandleaders to play live on the radio. • Henderson and Whiteman’s bands included some of the most famous all time jazz musicians: Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, and Coleman Hawkins. • Whiteman’s bands were larger and his music more symphonic. He even included a string section.
Unit 5: The Big Band Boom (1930s-1940s) • Prohibition was repealed (1933) • World War II took place (1939-1945)
Big Band Boom continued… • Radio broadcasts spread interest in big band music by bringing music into people’s homes • Ballrooms such as the Savoy in New York became quite popular • Some of the biggest bandleaders were Benny Goodman, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Woody Herman, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie.
More Big Band Musicians • Some of the most well known singers of this era appeared with bands like Ellington’s, Basie’s, Goodman’s and Herman’s. These included Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Bing Crosby.
Specifics… • Duke Ellington was a prominent bandleader, pianist, and prolific composer/arranger. In addition to jazz, he composed film scores, concert pieces, operas, ballets and musicals. He wrote over 2000 compositions in all. • As an arranger he emphasized his players strengths. • Count Basie was another prominent bandleader and pianist. His band was known for their relaxed swinging style. Great musicians such as Lester Young and Freddie Green played in Basie’s band. • Woody Herman was a bandleader, clarinetist, and saxophonist. His bands included great jazz musicians and were nicknamed “Herman’s Herd” or “Swinging Herd”.
Unit 6: Big Band Music (1940s-Present) • World War II ended (1945) • The colour television was invented
Big Band Music (1940s-Present) • The 1950s marked a decline in the popularity of big bands • Big bands started to move more toward bebop, 20th century art music, cool jazz, and pop and rock styles
Musicians • Stan Kenton was a big band leader; some of his bands expanded to as many as 40 players, including strings, French horns, and auxiliary percussion along with extra brass players. His band remained popular through the 1970s, and Kenton fostered jazz studies on university campuses. • Thad Jones was a cornetist, composer and bandleader. He played in the Count Basie band for years. In 1965, Jones and drummer Mel Lewis started a band which played regularly and made recordings, many of which became classics. • Buddy Rich was a drummer and bandleader who was on stage by age 2, playing drums by age 4 and led his own band by age 11. • Maynard Ferguson is a Canadian born trumpet player and bandleader who played in Stan Kenton’s band and then led his own bands.
Pics… (Stan Kenton, Thad Jones, Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson, Maria Schneider, Rob McConnell)
Did you know? • When Buddy Rich was in Jimmy Dorsey’s band, he played for 3 months with one arm in a sling. • Trumpeter Doc Severinsen led the Tonight Show Band for over 20 years, and Buddy Rich often appeared on the show.
Unit 7: Bebop (1940s) • World War II ended (1945) • Percy Spencer patented his design for the first microwave oven (1945) • First meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (1946)
Bebop: The Music • Featured a small group of musicians (4-6 players). This allowed for more solo possibilities • Music featured complex melodies and chord progressions, and more emphasis on the rhythm section • Phrases often irregular in length • Unsuitable for dancing
Bebop Musicians • The invention of bebop is attributed to Charlie Parker (alto sax) and Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet) • Dizzy Gillespie met Charlie Parker while on tour with Cab Calloway in Kansas City. This began an important musical collaboration. • Charlie Parker was a self-taught musician who began his professional career as a saxophonist at 15. He is best known for his work with Dizzy and the development of bebop.
Charlie and Dizzy • Experimented with unconventional chromaticism, discordant sounds and placement of accents in melodies • They created irregular phrase lengths and combined swing and straight eighth-note rhythms
Did you know? • Someone accidentally tripped and fell on Dizzy Gillespie’s trumpet bending the bell up 45 degrees. Because he liked the sound so much better that way, he began having his horns built like that on purpose. • “Bebop” jazz is named after one of the nonsense syllables commonly used in scat singing. • These are Dizzy’s cheeks:
Unit 8: Cool Jazz (1940s-1950s) • World War II ended (1945) • The Korean War began (1950) • The Soviet Union launched “Sputnik”, the first artificial satellite into earth orbit (1957)
Cool Jazz Music • Cool jazz developed around the same time as bebop • It remained popular for several decades • More subtle, moody, muted and restrained than bebop • May have been influenced by the harmonies of 20th century art music (Stravinsky, Debussy)
Cool Jazz Musicians • Miles Davis (trumpet) and Gil Evans (piano) were the most important contributors to the cool jazz style • Miles Davis played trumpet professionally by age 15. he moved to New York to play with his idol Charlie Parker. He played in big bands and bebop groups. He began a career long collaboration with Gil Evans which resulted in the “Birth of the Cool” recordings which are famous for contributing to the popularity of Cool Jazz. Because Davis’ career spanned 50 years, he contributed to many different styles of music including jazz rock and modal jazz.
Cool Jazz continued… • Gil Evans was a bandleader and pianist known best for his compositions and arrangements • He had a smooth, “pastel” style – lyrical, moody, introverted • He emphasized ensemble playing over solos and had a sound that was orchestral in nature • Used big band instrumentation with french horn and tuba • Most well known composition is “Boplicity”
Other cool jazz musicians • Dave Brubeck, Chet Baker, Lee Konitz, Wes Montgomery, Mel Lewis
Unit 9: Latin Influenced Jazz (1930s-Present) • The Golden Gate bridge over San Francisco Bay was completed (1937) • President John F. Kennedy was assassinated (1963) • The Berlin Wall was torn down (1989-1990)
Latin Influenced Jazz Music • Characterized by Latin dance rhythms combined with jazz melodies and chord progressions • Began in the 1930s and grew stronger in the 50s and 60s • Latin dances such as the mambo, cha-cha-cha, samba and bossa nova became very popular in the States. • The salsa and meringue continue to be popular today. • Straight eighth notes (not swung), yet uses syncopation
Latin instruments • Congas are Afro-Cuban and played with the palms of the hands and the fingers • Bongos are also Afro-Cuban but are higher pitched and thinner in tone quality than Congas • Other common instruments include: timbales, claves, cowbells
Latin Jazz Musicians • Dizzy Gillespie established his Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra in 1947 and hired Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo • Stan Kenton hired Brazilian guitarist Larindo Almeida and percussionist Jack Constanzo in 1947. He used many Latin percussionists in his big bands to make his distinctive sound • Brazilian drummer Airto Moreira performed with popular jazz-rock group Weather Report giving them a Latin sound. Then he joined Chick Corea (pianist, composer) in the band Return to Forever.
Other Latin influeced musicians • Alex Acuna (percussion), Arturo Sandoval (trumpeter, pianist, composer, and protégé of Dizzy Gillespie), Eddie Palmieri (pianist), Tito Puente and Poncho Sanchez (percussionists), bandleader Mario Bauza, trombonist Steve Turre’, and alto saxophonist Paquiro D’Rivera. • Arturo Sandoval Tito Puente Chano Pozo
Unit 10: Free Jazz (1960s) • Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize (1964) • U.S. Astronauts landed on the moon for the first time (1969)
Free Jazz Music • Experimental, provocative, and challenging to listen to • High degree of dissonance • Players produced squeaks, shrieks and wails • Sounds from India, China, the Middle East or Africa were sometimes used • Collective improvisation – simultaneous and independent improvisation without the framework of a chord progression - “organized chaos” • Not widely accepted
Free Jazz Musicians • 2 major contributors: Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor • Ornette Coleman began playing alto sax professionally as a teenager. Members of the Modern Jazz Quartet heard him playing and helped him gain notoriety.His 1960 album Free Jazz fomalized the free jazz trend. This album included 37 minutes of two jazz quartets improvising simultaneously. Because he wanted his music to have harmonic independence there was no pianist or guitarist on the album!
Free Jazz Musicians continued… • Cecil Taylor studied music at the New England conservatory of music. He was a big Duke Ellington fan and was known for his piano playing ability despite that not many were appreciative of his music. • His music and playing style was intense, percussive, controversial and demanding on the listener. • He was known to play the piano so percussively that keys have broken off and flown through the air during performances.
