America’s Musical Gift to the World
 Name
three cities that Jazz music
was popular in, during the early
1900s. Give the years in which jazz
was popular in these cities.
The roots of jazz in and around
New Orleans extend back into
the nineteenth century
 Jazz was influenced by gospel
and blues, but the most direct
ancestor seems to have been
brass and minstrel bands of New
Orleans
 These bands used the classical
instruments of the daytrumpets, trombones, clarinets,
saxophones, and drums

Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton (18851941), was one of the key figures in the
early jazz movement in New Orleans.
 He was a pianist and band leader who
helped bring together many varied African
American musical elements that were the
building blocks of early jazz.
 Jelly Roll Morton claimed to begin using
the term “jazz” in 1902 to distinguish the
new style from ragtime.
 He and his group, “Jelly Roll Morton and
His Red Hot Peppers,” introduced a new
swinging drive in their recording of “Black
Bottom Stomp” (1926). Listen to it!

During WWI (U.S. entered in 1917) musicians went North
from New Orleans up the Mississippi looking for work in
St. Louis and Chicago. Chicago became the next hot spot
for jazz
 During the Roaring Twenties, teenagers shocked their
parents by dancing to the Charleston and the Black
Bottom.
 Also during this time, the 19th amendment passed (giving
women the right to vote) (1920)
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The Charleston was the dance that captured the spirit of
the 1920s. It was danced with wild abandon by a new
generation of independent young Americans, to the new
hot jazz that was flooding the country.
The dance began in Charleston, South Carolina, the city
from which it takes its name. In 1923, The Charleston was
featured in the Broadway show Runnin Wild, one of the
biggest hits of the decade. The song from the show James P. Johnsons tune The Charleston - spread the fad
across the nation and onwards to the rest of the world.
The Charleston is both a solo and partnered dance, both
wildly exuberant and exciting to watch. As the hot jazz of
the 1920s gave way to the swingin jazz of the 1930s and
40s, the partnered version of Charleston evolved into Lindy
Hop.
The Black Bottom Dance
Dance
The Charleston
 Developed
in New Orleans, which was the
major center of Jazz during the 1st two
decades of the 20th century
 Collective improvisation of each instrument
was the main feature of New Orleans Jazz.
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1.
A.
B.
C.
1.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.

Most popular style during this time usually played by 5-8
performers
Front Line:
Melodic instruments
Cornet or trumpet
Clarinet
Trombone
Rhythm section
Drums
Piano
Banjo
Guitar
Tuba
Plucked bass
Ex.
Mentor and teacher of Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong, one of the jazz giants,
was a trumpet player from New Orleans,
from where he went on to reach
international stardom
 Armstrong’s playing was unique and
masterful and he took the trumpet to
new heights of musical expression.
 The way he played, influenced the way
every other musician in the band played.
 Single handedly, Armstrong established
the standard for solo jazz artistry.
 He was said to be phenomenal on both
the trumpet, and with his scat singing.
 Scat singing- a form of vocal
improvisation (spontaneous singing)

Life of Louis
Armstrong
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Towards the end of the Roaring twenties, a new kind of jazz
began to emerge- swing.
Swing- the special rhythmic character that jazz musicians
add to the music
Swing became not only a label for a style, but for an era as
well (1935-1945)
Duke Ellington- one of the most important composers,
arranger, and conductor of the swing era
 Played
by mostly big bands (15 players in 3
sections)
 Saxophone- key solo instrument during this
era

Both other styles of Jazz

Big Band- 1930s to the end of the 1940s
Played a lot of swing style music
 Saxophone was instrument of choice


Bebop- 1940s after WWII
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Some younger jazz musicians wanted the freedom to
create outside the confines of swing
Bebop was invented in Harlem jam sessions that took
jazz back to smaller combo
Complex and sophisticated type of improvised jazz
Known as “modern jazz”
More listening instead of dancing
 Late
1940’s and early 50’s
 Related to bop but far calmer and more
relaxed
 Miles Davis- leading musician in cool jazz and
in jazz rock (fusion)
 Ex.
 1960’s
 Not
based on regular forms and established
chord patterns
 John Coletrane- influential as an improviser,
saxophonist, and composer
 Ex.
 1960’s
 Mixing
jazz musician’s improv with rock
musical forms, rhythms, and tone colors
 Ex. Chicago and Blood, Sweat, and Tears
 1890’s-1915
 Style
of composed piano style, generally in
duple meter (2 beats in the same bar), and
performed at a moderate march tempo
 Scott Joplin “king of ragtime”- most famous
piece was the Maple Leaf Rag
 Form
of vocal and instrumental music and to
style of performance
 W.C. Handy- Memphis Blues and St. Louis
Blues
 Bessie Smith- “Empress of the Blues”- most
famous blues singer in the 1920’s
 12 bar blues- chord progression usually usedinvolves 3 basic chords: tonic, subdominant,
and dominant
•
Own your own sheet of paper, you will write your own blues song
•
Read the handout first, then begin writing
•
Begin your song with
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“Well I woke up this morning…”
•
Carefully read the key words/ phrases for help
•
Use your “blues name” to write who the song is written by
•
Your song needs 1) A title 2) 3 repeating stanzas (paragraphs)
3) Written by your “blues name”
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BE CREATIVE, HAVE FUN!!!
Listen to Lucille