Jazz History
Things to know Roots Slide
1. John Phillip Sousa- marching bands origin of Jazz
2. Minstrelsy-the beginning of American musical theatre and American pop
3. Jazz is ultimately the only American popular music
4. Negro Spirituals and hymns
Blues
1. Blues- is a musical form, is a means of melodic and harmonic interpretation
2. W.C. Handy “father of the blues”. St. Louis Blues most famous and most
recorded blues song
3. Memphis Blues by Ester Bigeou
4. Ma Rainey (mother of the blues”) minstrel and vaudeville
5. Bessie Smith “empress of the blues” St. Louis Blues
6. Most famous and infamous of the 1920s blues singers, inspired Billie Holiday
Gots Chalk and Ragtime
1. Louis Moreau Gottschalk- Creole descent, first American composer to
combine European traditions with American Music.
2. Ragtime-fuses elements of marches, Caribbean, creole, rhythms, and western
European music.
3. “rag” means to syncopate
4. Syncopation- the stressing of the off-beat or weak beat 1899-1920
5. Scott Joplin- pianist composer known as the “King of Ragtime”, Maple Leaf
Rag
6. Eubie Blake-progressive sense of jazz harmony, important oral history
narrator. Early boogie woogie.
Ragtime Continued
1. Vernon and Irene Castle- famous couple inspired fashion trends of the 20s
and encouraged acceptance of Negro artists. Popularized the foxtrot.
2. James Reese Europe- NY Ragtime bandleader Clef Club President and
bandleader. FIRST BLACK PERFORMANCE ORECHESTRA in CARNEGIE
HALL.-Castle house Rag
3. First Recording by black orchestra for a major label “TOO MUCH MUSTARD”
4. 369th Infantry “Hellfighters Band”
New Orleans Jelly Roll Morton
1. New Orleans is the source of jazz’s popularity
2. Louis Armstrong and His Savoy Ballroom Five
3. Storyville (1897-1917)-prostitutes, gaming houses
4. JROLL Storyville “Professor”. “Inventor of Jazz”, important early oral
historian. Black Foot Stonp
5. Honky Tonk Blues Jelly Roll Morton “big foot ham”
Musicians of color in New Orleans
1.
2.
3.
4.
Buddy Bolden “first jazz musician of color”. Cornet King
The Cornet Kings Buddy Bolden, Freddie Keppard, Bunk Johnson, Joe Oliver
Kid Ory-creole composed “Muskrat Ramble”
Sidney Bechet-The first jazz ambassador, received recognition as an artist.
Wildcat BluesCreole Sax, and Clarinet player. Played in Europe.
White New Orleans
1. Papa Jack Laine- regarded as first white jazz music player
2. Original Dixieland Jass Band “The Creators of Jazz”
3. Traditonal instrumentation- Frontline-clarinet, trumpet, and trombone.
Rhythm- tuba, string bass, drums, bango, piano
4. Jimmy “Schnozzola” Durante- ragtime jimmy
The 1920s
1. The sexual Revolution and the end of the victorian era
2. Sufferage and prohibition
3. A flapper being driven “wild” by the syncopated jazz
4. Harry Pac- founds Black Swan Records, insurance executive
5. Black Swan- the first label owned, operated, and marketed to black
consumers
6. Gennett Records-most influential race record producer in early jazz, King
Oliver Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbench, JROLL, and Hoagy Carmichael
7. King Olivers Creole Jazz Band-Dippermouth Blues, Louis Armstrongs
first recording session.
Louis Armstrong
1. NOLA Tradition- New Orleans Jazz, Dixieland Jazz,Chicago
2. Territory Jazz- Chicago, Kansas City, folk styles
3. New York Jazz-Swing
4. Other-stride piano, ragtime
5. Louis Armstrong- NOLA, Father of Jazz cornet/trumpet, prototype for Hot
Jazz
6. Fletcher Henderson-pianist/arranger/bandleader/transition figure architect
of the swing era. Godfather of the Swing Sugar Foot Stomp
7. Jazz challenged social constructs by minstrelsy and pop culture phenomenon.
Paul Whiteman
1. Whiteman- “KING of JAZZ”
2. Most popular bandleader
3. Symbol of sweet jazz
Bing Crosby and Bix Beiderbecke
1. Bing Crosby- most influential and popular jazz singer. Bridged the gap
between black and white jazz singers.
2. Bix Beiderbecke- cornet/trumpet. Regarded as the first major white jazz
musician. Whigin and twign
3. They both performed with Paul Whiteman
NNM Duke Ellington and Irving Mills
1. New Negro Movement was intellectual and cultural movement that would
serve to uplift the Negro Race.
2. Duke Ellington-pianist/composer, arranger/bandleader. Exponent of the
“swing” style. St. Louis Toodle Oodle
3. Irving Mills- Music Publisher, manager and agent for Duke Ellington, Cab
Calloway Orchestra, Ina Ray Hutton and her Orchestra, Lois Prima and his
Orchestra.
4. Cotton Club- famous white only club ran by Negroes and Negro entertainers
5. Duke and the Cotton Club- muted trumpet, exotic rhythms, unofficial start of
the Swing Era.
6. Big Bands 4 sections- trumpets, trombones, woodwinds/sax,
rhythm/guitar/banjo/drums
7. Swing Era- 1935-1945, chiefly big bands
Stride Piano
1. James P. Johnson- “Father of the Stride Piano”, top hit Charleston
2. Thomas “Fats” Waller Organist, pianist, composer, studied under James P.
Johnson.
3. Art Tatum- “God”/ one of the highest levels of artistic style/ arguably one of
the greatest piano players of all time. Blind, greatest pianist ever.
4. The one thing
Jimmy Dorsey and Don Redman
1. Jim Dorsey- bebop transition figure “Oodles of Noodles”. Alto Saxophone
player, composer and bandleader.
2. Don Redman- arranger, composer, bandleader. Played woodwinds, trumpet
and piano. Leading Architect of the Swing Sound. Chant of the Weed
The Boswell Sisters and Cab Calloway
1. Boswell Sisters raised in NOLA style.
2. Cab Calloway-Bandleader “Mr. Hi-de-Ho”, from NY. “Minnie the Moocher”
3. Hepster Dictionary Canary-girl vocalist
 Capped- outdone
 Chirp-singer
 Dig-meet
 Foghorn-tuba
 Gimme some skin-shake hands
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Groovy-fine
Hype-build for a loan, wooing a girl, persuasive talk
Ickaroo-someone who cant dance
Ironworks-vibraphone
Savoy and Chick Webb
1. The Savoy Ballroom- “the home of the happy feet”, birthplace of the Lindy
Hop and other Swing Era Dances. The only major club in NY to allow inter
racial dancing during the golden age of Jazz.
2. Swing Dances from Harlem
 Lindy Hop
 Jitterbug
 Shag
 Suzy Q
3. Chick Webb- Most influential of the pre-count basie swing drummers. “King
of the Drums”. Died of tuberculosis. “A tisket a tasket”
4. When I get Low I get high ABAB
Benny Goodman and John Hammond
1. The Golden Age of Radio- 1930s-1940s
2. Benny Goodman- “King of Swing”, clarinet player- Lets Dance
3. John Hammond-wealthly philanthropist, record producer, musician, music
critic, talent scout. Advanced the careers of Benny Goodman, Billy Holidaym
Lionel Hampton, and Count Basie
4. “Lets Dance” Radio Program Saturday Nights
5. Palomar Ballroom- “start of the swing era”.
6. Carnegie Hall Concert- Symbolic Acceptance of “hot”music.
Kansas City1. Bennie Moten- developed the Kansas City style- band members included
Count Basie. “New Moten Stomp” ABABAB
2. Count Basie- piano player/band leader. Transformed the role of the rhythm
section and the beat in pop music. “One oclock jump”- theme song
3. Kansas city Style- riff based arrangements 4 beat rhythm instead of two
4. One Oclock jump- piano solo, saxophone solo, trombone solo, saxophone,
trumpet, piano
Post Midterm
Bebop
1. Role of the musician
2. Attitudes
3. Venues
4. Cultural phenomenon
5. Jazz Redefined
6. John “Dizzy” Gillespie- bebop exponent/founder, trumpet player, hipster,
cultural icon for bebop
7. Cab Calloway- works with John Dizzy both hipsters , pulls a knife?
8. Lionel Hampton’s “Hot Mallets” 1939- 8 bar introduction, 8 bars Dizzy A
strain, 8 bars Dizzy A strain, 8 bars benny carter (alto) B, 8 bars Dizzy A
strain, 1 chorus tenor solo (Ben Webster), 1 chorus Lionel Hampton, 1 chorus
Lionel Hampton
9. Charlie Bird Parker- Bebop exponent/founder, Alto saxophone, greatest jazz
improvisers in jazz, cultural icon for the bebop movement, from Kansas,
Modern Jazz musicians.
10. Jay Mcshann’s Octet, “Honeysuckle Rose” 1940- 8 bar introduction(call and
response between drums and voice), 1st chorus fiddle, 2nd chorus piano, 3rd
chorus trumpet, 4th chorus alto saxophone, 5th chorus/8 bars bass solo+piano
comping A strain, 8 bar bass solo+piano comping, 8 bars drums B strain
11. Kenny Clarke- bebop exponent/founder drummer and bandleader changed
the role of the drummer in Jazz. Use of ride cymbal
12. Thelonious Sphere Monk- bebop founder, pianist and composer, “round
midnight”. Famous for his use of space and dissonance. Coleman Hawkins
quartet. From North Carolina wrote compositions
13. Reharmonization- process of altering chords. Melody remains the same.
14. Recompisition- process of taking an existing song and replacing the melody
with a new one. Chords stays the same.
Norman Granz
15. Norman Granz- Los Angeles- Record producer and manager, “Jammin” the
Blues, First Bebop film, first millionaire in Jazz, SETUP JATP
16. Woody Herman- woodwind player (clarinet)/vocalist/bandleader. Helped
Fuel the West Coast Jazz scene with his band members. The hardest swinging
AND virtuosic of all the big bands. Led the hippest and most successful bebop
big band.
17. West Coast
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Sophisticated arrangements
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Mixed groups-large and small
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Studio oriented
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Third Stream
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Musicians- Stan Kenton and Benny Carter
18. East Coast
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Complicated improvisations
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Small groups
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Club oriented
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Bebop
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Musicians- Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker
19. Stan Kenton- founder of International Association for Jazz Education & the
Stan Kenton clinics, established the leading progressive West Coast Jazz
orchestra, founder of the modern big band, “Wall of Sound”.
20. Balboa Ballroom- Southern LA great dance ballrooms… no jitterbugs
21. Artistry in rhythm- 1943-44 “And her tears flowed like Wine” theme song
Coleman and Mingus
1. Lenny Tristano- free jazz/ pianist
2. Ornette Coleman- wood wind (alto sax) and composer/ free jazz
archetype. Worked at NY’s five Spot club
3. 1959-Change of the Century- “Free” Donald cherry on trumpet/ Charlie
Haden (bass)/Billy Higgins (drums)
4. Charles Mingus- Nogales, AZ Bassist bandleader, hybrid jazz, Avant Garde
jazz, “Jazz Workshop”, school and publishing co for musicians.
5. Mingus Haitian Fight Song
6. Fusion of free jazz and duke ellington
John Coltrane
1. John Coltrane- composer/woodwind, from NC, drafted into Navy, Associated
with bebop, avant garde, modern jazz musician and saxophonist.
2. Blue Train- still in circulation, hard bop
3. Died in 1967
4. Known as the SAINT of Jazz
5. Coltrane Orthodox Church
6. Giant steps-Hard bop nobody is buying them
7. Modal jazz- Coltrane’s famous quartet, “My favorite things”, use of pedal
points (bass note repetition).
8. A Love Supreme- Avant garde- traditional form inspired the Coltrane church,
Last Landmark Jazz Album.
End of the Golden Age of Jazz
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Rise of R&B and the Midwest labels
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Generational Divide-Baby boomers vs. Swing
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Death of Jazz pioneers
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British Invasion 1964
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Commercialization
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Miles Davis- bitches brew/ 1969 fushion of jazz and rockn roll