musi
Maria Castro 
jazzd2l.pptx
American Music
Jazz
6:48
1
Objectives
Describe
Describe the musical characteristics of ragtime.
Compare and contrast
Compare and contrast the front line and rhythm section of a New Orleans jazz band with a swing/big band.
Define
Define scat singing and collective improvisation.
Name
Name two female jazz singers.
Describe
Describe the innovations of bebop.
Forerunner of Jazz
Ragtime
3
Elements of Ragtime
Sound (Timbre & Texture): piano only
Steady, march-like harmony in left hand
Syncopated (“ragged”) melody in right hand
Growth
Clear-cut sections
Each section repeated before next one begins
Scott Joplin (1868-1917)
King of Ragtime = “Classic Rags”
Promoted his music as a serious composer
Projected air of middle-class propriety
Maple Leaf Rag (1899)
Maple Leaf Club in Sedalia, MO
New Orleans Jazz (1900s)
Collective improvisation built on the blues
Storyville
38-square-block red-light district
Dance halls, gambling places, brothels
Closed in 1917 (“physical/moral well-being”)
Jazz musicians migrated to other cities
Elements of New Orleans Jazz
Sound (Texture):
Front line = responsible for playing the melody
1-2 cornets (trumpets)
1 clarinet
1 trombone
Rhythm section = responsible for basic beat
String bass or tuba
Guitar or banjo
Sometimes piano and drums
Melody = scat singing
Singer sings nonsense syllables instead of words
Other: collective improvisation
Simultaneous improvisation by all members
Each contributes a line of equal importance
Cornet played variations of melody
Clarinet improvised countermelody
Trombone improvised below cornet
Hotter Than That (1927)
Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five
Introduction: 4 choruses of 32 bars
All instruments, trumpet predominates
Trumpet solo
Clarinet solo
Vocal solo (scat singing)
Voice imitated by guitar
Three parts
Muted trombone solo
Trumpet, then collective improvisation
Trumpet, guitar, dissonant chord at end (4 bars)
Big Band Swing (1935-1945)
Improvisation within a structured framework arranged for dance bands
New York Jazz
Economy recovering from Depression
Larger ensembles began to make a comeback
Jazz moved out of saloons and into ballrooms
Successful bands had regular broadcasts over national radio networks
Elements of Big Band Swing
Sound (Texture & Timbre) = 12-19 players
Front line increased to horn sections
2 trumpets, 3 trombones, 5 saxophones (clarinet)
Rhythm section
Guitar, piano, bass, drums (hi-hat cymbal)
Other
Much of the music was written down
Arrangers marked places for a soloist to ad lib
Benny Goodman (1909-1986)
King of Swing
Clarinetist and bandleader
One of 1st to incorporate African-American musicians
Disciplined but driving swing
Sing Sing Sing (1936)
Written by Louis Prima
Gene Krupa (drums) and Harry James (trumpet)
The Great Jazz Singers
Billie Holiday (1915-1959)
Free sense of rhythm and phrasing = back phrases
Uncanny ability to inhabit and project lyrics
Slow, poignant ballads mirrored own tragic life
“I don’t think I’m singing. I feel like I am playing a horn. What comes out is what I feel.”
Lady Sings the Blues (1972) = Diana Ross
Written by Arthur Herzog, Jr. in 1939
Recorded by Billie Holiday in 1941
What is the message of the song?
How is the message conveyed?
To whom is the message directed?
What words were used to convey the message?
What does the message say about the everyday lifestyle of people?
Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996)
From homeless teenager to First Lady of Song
Wide vocal range, light quality
Bebop
1940-1955
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Minton’s Playhouse
210 W 118th Street in Harlem (NYC)
Pioneers of Bebop
Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993)
Charlie Parker (1920-1955)
Demise of Big Band Swing
World War II
Draft = many jazz musicians called to war
Transportation was difficult to night spots (gas)
Midnight curfews (brown-outs)
20% amusement tax in dancing night clubs
Restrictive Musical Formats
Big band solos were short
Overworked harmonic formulas
Lack of creativity = jazz was “in a rut”
Philosophy of Bebop
Art music, not entertainment music
Conscious attempt to open new channels of improvisation
Completely African-American invention
Performance Practices
Big band Swing
Music for dancing
Arranged
Large group music
bebop
Music for listening
Improvised
Small group music
Trumpet
Sax
Piano
Bass
Drums
Innovations
Basic Format
First chorus: head (melody) played in unison
Middle choruses: improvised solos
Last chorus: head in unison
New roles for the rhythm section:
“Walking” bass often responsible for keeping beat
Drummers played with irregularly spaced accents
Pianists played intermittently to provide accents (comping)
Salt Peanuts (1945)
Post-Bop Developments
Cool Jazz
Free Jazz
Fusion
Cool Jazz (1949-1955)
Bebop
Improvised
Fast-paced, energetic
African-American musicians
Trumpet, sax, piano, bass, drums
1 soloist at a time
Wide dynamic range
Cool Jazz
Written arrangements
Slower paced, softer
African-American and white musicians
Added flute, clarinet, horn, vibes, guitar
2+ melodic lines at a time
Narrow dynamic range
Miles Davis (1926-1991)
Trumpeter and bandleader
Original, lyrical soloist
Demanding group leader
Most consistently innovatory musician in jazz from late 40s to mid 70s
The Birth of the Cool (1965)
Dave Brubeck Quartet
Introduced jazz to college audiences
Take Five (1959)
ABA Form
5/4 time
Simple 2-chord pattern repeated (vamp)
Solos are simple, tuneful, orderly
Avant Garde/Free Jazz (1959-1970)
Not based on predetermined chord progressions, forms, and choruses
Emotion of the moment
More improvisational freedom for soloist
New tonal colors
Pushed the limits of what musicians could play and what audiences could accept
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Innovations
Extension of range of instruments (esp. sax)
Playing extremely high pitches
Making instruments squeal, shriek, groan
Expansion of form
No predetermined length of sections
Performances range from 30 minutes to 1 hour
Lonely Woman (1959)
Ornette Coleman, alto sax
Don Cherry, cornet
Charlie Haden, bass
Billy Higgins, drums
Recorded May 22, 1959; 9:30 pm – 3:30 am
Melody not “in sync” with rhythm section
Fusion (1969-1990)
Sophistication and virtuosity of jazz
Raw power and emotion of rock
Rock rhythms (even eighth notes)
Long vamps
Rock riffs
Free jazz
“Art-for-art’s sake” attitude
Cerebral
Acoustic
fusion
Strived to reach audience
Physical
Electric
Chameleon (1974)
Herbie Hancock, piano and keyboards
Influenced by James Brown, Sly Stone
AB form with repeating vamp
Jazz Today and Tomorrow
Bela Fleck (b. 1958)
Traditional bluegrass to progressive jazz
Victor Wooten = virtuoso funk bassist
Roy “Future Man” Wooten = drumitar
electric drum shaped like a guitar
Next from Little Worlds (2010)
Wynton Marsalis (b. 1961)
New Orleans native
Fluent in both jazz and classical music
Director of Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
Written by Duke Ellington
3:30
38
Esperanza Spalding (b. 1984)
Jazz Review
New Orleans jazz
Big band / swing
Bebop
Cool jazz
Free jazz
40
American Music
Jazz
