Chapter 2: Jazz
Introduction
Jazz music had a great influence
on 20th-century popular music.
The first styles of jazz were created
by black musicians
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in America.
Jazz was a mix of Western music influences
with African-American rhythms and melodies.
The origin of the word jazz is uncertain,
but some say
it comes from a black slang expression
meaning "making love."
The s word was spelled "jass" until 1917.
The early style of jazz was called Dixieland.
In the 1920s and '30s
people started dancing to jazz
and it gained popularity around the world.
In the early '40s
the bebop style of jazz was created,
which would lead to the development of styles
known as cool jazz, progressive jazz and fusion.
Today, jazz is enjoyed throughout the world
and is regarded
as one of America's 10 finest contributions to modern music.
Early Jazz Influences: Marching Bands, Blues and Ragtime
One of the earliest influences on jazz was the emotional, improvised performances
of black marching bands
at funerals and gatherings,
especially in New Orleans,
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The instruments of the 5 first jazz bands
—the cornet, trumpet, trombone, tuba, clarinet, drums and string bass—
were originally used in marching bands.
Later, the piano, banjo and guitar were added.
African-American blues influenced
the development of jazz vocals.
Another major influence on jazz was ragtime piano music.
The syncopated rhythms of ragtime were African-American in origin,
while the music was influenced by European styles.
Between 1897 and 1920,
more than 2,000 ragtime songs, known as rags, were written.
Scott Joplin, a black composer of that period, is called the "King of Ragtime."
Two elements were considered
fundamental to early jazz:
improvisation and syncopation.
Syncopation,
in which rhythmic stress is placed
on the weak beats 15 of the musical measure,
was essential to the feeling of jazz.
Improvisation is the art of playing music freely,
according to the musician's feelings.
Dixieland
Dixieland is the style of jazz
that developed in New Orleans
and then spread to other major American cities
in the early 20th century.
Dixieland musicians,
both black and white,
rarely used written music;
they preferred improvisation.
As these musicians traveled
to Chicago and New York City,
the music grew in popularity.
The music got its name
from the Original Dixieland Jass Band,
which recorded the first jazz record in 1917.
Today, Dixieland is also referred to
as New Orleans jazz or traditional jazz.
Louis Armstrong
The Jazz Age and the Swing Era
Jazz became very popular in the 1920s,
which is called the Jazz Age.
It was a time of dance crazes, dance halls and jazz clubs.
The music had a huge influence
on culture, fashion and popular dance.
The most important recording centers were Chicago and New York.
As the 1920s progressed,
jazz bands became bigger,
used more complex written arrangements,
and emphasized solo performances.
Some of the major performers of this era were Sidney Bechet, King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Bix Beiderbecke
and Louis Armstrong.
In the 1930s,
the catchy rhythms of jazz became the dance music of America.
"Swing" or "big band" jazz dominated
the clubs, radio broadcasts and record stores
in American cities,
and was also gaining popularity
in urban centers around the world.
Musicians like Belgian guitarist Django Reinhardt were important
to the creation of the first European styles of jazz.
The years 1935-45 are called the "Swing Era."
Benny Goodman was known
as the "King of Swing"
and was among the first bandleaders
to hire both white and black musicians.
Swing music features call-and-response patterns
between the brass (trombones, trumpets, etc.) and reeds (saxophones, etc.)
and is noted for its use of the riff—
the repetition of a melody or musical theme.
The music itself had a steady, even beat,
held together by a rhythm section
made up of piano, guitar, bass and drums.
Some of the most popular swing band leaders include
Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller and Count Basie.
In the early 1940s,
people became less interested
in "swing" dancing.
The popularity of swing music eventually declined
due to problems
between the music industry and the radio networks,
and changes in the playing styles of jazz musicians.
Rhythm and blues and then rock'n'roll would be the dance music of the next generation.
The Jazz Revolution: Bebop
The new revolution in jazz music came about
in the 1940s,
in jazz bars on New York City's 52nd Street.
Frustrated with the complex arrangements of swing music,
jazz musicians wanted more musical freedom
and chose to play in smaller groups.
Begun by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker,
a new style of jazz, called bop or bebop, was born.
Bebop was highly criticized in the beginning,
but grew in popularity from the '50s onwards.
Bebop used complex rhythms
and focused more on harmony than melody.
Bebop musicians became highly skilled soloists
and developed faster and more complex playing styles.
The bop combo usually had
a saxophone, a trumpet, a piano, a string bass and drums.
Bebop was not played for dancing
but rather for a listening audience.
From Cool Jazz to West Coast Jazz
The 1950s and '60s saw more stylistic developments in jazz.
"Cool jazz" was inspired
by the work of trumpeter Miles Davis and others.
Cool jazz was different from bop
in that it was smoother, slower and usually on-beat,
and it did not have the emotional intensity of bebop.
Another version of cool jazz developed
on the American West Coast,
and was led by the music of saxophonist Stan Getz and pianist Dave Brubeck,
whose "Take Five" is a jazz classic.
As the 1950s came to an end,
it was clear that jazz had become the music of serious musicians
dedicated to experimentation and expression.
Jazz Vocals
Jazz has always been associated
with some of the great vocalists and popular songs of this century.
From the '30s to the '60s,
popular jazz vocal tunes were often heard on the radio
and were commercially successful.
Three of the greatest American female vocalists of the 20th century
—Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan—
all sang with jazz bands.
Some of the most popular male singers included
Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Nat "King" Cole.
Free Jazz and Fusion
The trend
toward further musical freedom
continued into the 1960s,
resulting in a new style of jazz
called experimental, free or progressive jazz.
The musical experiments of this period included
improvisation, dissonance and atonality.
Led by saxophonist John Coltrane,
the music challenged traditional ideas
about melody, harmony and rhythm.
The 1960 musical piece Free Jazz,
by saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman,
is a symbol of 1960s free jazz.
It featured eight musicians
improvising for 37 minutes and 3 seconds.
There were no rehearsals, no written scores
and no concern for tone, pitch, melody or rhythm.
Progressive jazz was disliked
by many jazz critics,
but it is still popular today.
Fusion, a mix of rock and jazz, was begun
in the late 1960s.
Miles Davis was a key musician
in this movement.
His popular album Bitches Brew (1970) firmly established
the new rock-oriented style
called jazz-rock or fusion.
Fusion attracted many new fans to jazz
and was the most important musical development
in jazz after the '60s.
The music featured more electronic instruments
and placed a stronger emphasis on rhythm.
Among the leaders of the fusion jazz movement were British guitarist John McLaughlin, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea
and the group Weather Report.
Jazz Today
All of the styles of jazz
that developed in the 20th century
—traditional, swing, bebop, cool. West Coast, progressive and fusion—
can be heard today
on the contemporary jazz scene.
The influence of Latin music,
especially from Cuba and Brazil,
has had a strong presence in jazz,
while some modern jazz even features rappers.
Jazz today is the music of skilled and dedicated musicians,
and the sounds and textures of jazz can still be heard in modern popular music.
The Music Makers
* Louis Armstrong (1900-1971)
Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong was born
in New Orleans
and is considered one of the greatest influences
on the development of jazz music.
His first job as a musician was on the Mississippi riverboats
in New Orleans.
Armstrong was a cornet and trumpet player
whose improvisations and playing style on early jazz recordings defined
the feeling of future jazz.
His recordings in the 1920s
with his own group, Louis Armstrong's Hot Five (sometimes Hot Seven),
are considered classic jazz recordings.
"Satchmo" was also one of the first
to develop a unique "scat" singing style,
a prominent feature of some jazz vocals.
Armstrong's constant recording, touring, and radio, film and TV appearances guaranteed
that he remained a popular and important jazz musician
throughout his life.
The Music Maker
* Miles Davis (1926-1991) Trumpeter, composer and bandleader
Miles Davis is considered
a jazz music genius.
Despite a troubled personal life
marked by illness and drug addiction,
his musical achievements were important
in the development of modern jazz.
Davis came from a wealthy black family
and received his first trumpet
when he was 13 years old.
By 1945, he had dropped out of music school
to become a member of Charlie Parker's bebop band.
His "cool" jazz album Kind of Blue (1959) is considered
one of the greatest jazz albums of all time.
Davis played an important role
in the development of bebop, cool jazz and fusion.
His last recording, Doo Bop (1992), was a mix of jazz and rap.
Cultural Tidbit
Recording Technology
Recording technology has played a major role
in the popularization of music
and its importance in contemporary society.
The first recording of a human voice was made in 1877
by the American inventor Thomas Edison.
By the early 20th century,
many companies were producing records and phonographs
for sale to the public.
As recording technology improved,
microphones, speakers and amplifiers were also perfected
to produce a louder and better sound.
In 1927, the first film with sound was made.
The Empire State Building,
which opened in 1931,
was one of the first buildings
to have music played in its elevators and lobbies.
Needless to say,
technology has done more
to bring music into every aspect of our lives:
in the home, on television, radio and the Internet,
on phones, in buildings and restaurants,
in cars, trains and planes,
and in a portable form
that can be carried with us anywhere.
Indeed, we are able to listen to music
anytime we like
and almost anywhere we like.
This has influenced
society's relationship with music
as we have come to regard
music as simply another feature of contemporary life.
Music has lost
some of its specialness and uniqueness.
Also, the more we listen to recorded music,
the more we regard
music as something only for professional musicians and singers.
In traditional societies,
almost everyone could sing or dance to music.
Today, we cannot say that is true.
This has been one of the results of the popularization of recorded music:
we have plenty of music to listen to,
but we have limited
our chances to sing, play music and dance,
our basic outlets for expression.