JAZZ
A Historical Outline
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What is Jazz?
“Man, man, if you gotta ask, you’ll
never know.”
Louis Armstrong
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“When they study our civilization
two thousand years from now,
there will only be three things
that America will be known for:
the Constitution, baseball and
jazz music.”
Gerald Early
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“Imitate, then innovate.”
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington
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Roots of
JAZZ
o West Africa contributed
drumming improvisation and
complex rhythms (negro
spirituals)
o Europe contributed folk tunes
and hymns
o America contributed a breeding
ground for these things to mix.
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Roots of
JAZZ
o Jazz is the first genre of music to
solely culminate in the United
States.
o All other forms prior to jazz came
from (Western) Europe, or were
formed somewhere else.
o (originally called jass)
o Jazz=American Musical Art Form!
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Roots of
JAZZ
o Early records are categorized as
“race records.”
o Jazz helped breech the race
barrier
o First integrated ensembles: 1930’s
o AUDIENCES TOO!!!
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Timeline of
o
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o
o
o
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1890’s-1910’s
1910’s-1920’s
1920’s-1930’s
1930’s-1940’s
1940’s
1940’s-1950’s
1960’s
1960’s-1980’s
1980’s-Current
JAZZ
Jazz is born; Ragtime
Blues
Dixieland
Swing/Big Band
Bebop
Cool
Free Jazz
Fusion (Jazz/Rock)
Rock, R&B, Funk,
Modern Jazz
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Characteristics of
JAZZ
o Born in New Orleans, Louisiana
o Performed in brothels, clubs, streets,
river boats, speak easys…
o Syncopated (off-beat) rhythms and
swing (lilting) subdivision.
o Encompassed the ‘aleatoric’ or
improvisational nature of negro
spirituals.
o Three different components make this
genre distinct:
o Harmony
o Rhythm
o Improvisation
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JAZZ Ragtime (late 1890’s-early 1900’s)
o Grew out of African American
dance styles
o Formal structure
o Generally performed on piano
o Artist: Scott Joplin (Maple Leaf
Rag, The Entertainer)
o Maple Leaf Rag was an instant
hit. It sold 75,000 copies.
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JAZZ Blues (1910’s-1920’s)
o Blues, by definition: a lament,
bemoaning poverty, social
injustice, fatigue, or the loss of
something (L-U-V).
o Originated in South among
enslaved African Americans and
spirituals and carried through in
oral tradition to their
descendants.
o Standard form: 12-Bar Blues…3,
4-bar phrases.
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JAZZ Blues (1910’s-1920’s)
o Lyric Topics include: sexual
references, betrayal, desertion
and love.
o Artists: Bessie Smith, B.B. King,
Muddy Waters (McKinley
Morganfield), Gertrude “Ma”
Rainey, Howlin’ Wolf (Chester
Arthur Burnett)
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JAZZ Dixieland (1920’s-1930’s)
o Began in New Orleans
o Typical (small) groups included:
clarinet, trumpet, trombone, tuba
(bass), piano, banjo and drums
o Variations were typical
o Characteristic sound derived
from
o Combination of instruments
(timbre)
o Melody instruments improvising at
the same time (polyphony)
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JAZZ Dixieland (1920’s-1930’s)
o Marches, Church Hymns, Negro
Spirituals, ragtime, 12-bar blues,
Boogie Woogie, all part of the ‘playlist”
o Scat singing-vocal style of
improvisation using ‘nonsense’
syllables.
o Louis Armstrong known for starting and
using this style…story says he was
recording and dropped his music, could
not remember the lyrics, so he
‘improvised’ by scatting.
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JAZZ Dixieland (1920’s-1930’s)
o Artists: Louis “Satchmo”
Armstrong (vocals, trumpet), Joe
“King” Oliver, Ferdinand “Jelly
Roll” Morton, Leon “Bix”
Beiderbecke, James Fletcher
Henderson, Preservation Hall
Ensemble.
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JAZZ Swing (Late 1930’s-1940’s)
o AKA “Big Band” or “Dance Band”
o Largest group so far, c. 15 members
(hence ‘big’ band)
o Considered POPULAR MUSIC.
o Sections now instead of individual
instruments
o Saxophone Section (clarinet often
included)
o Trumpet Section
o Trombone Section
o Rhythm Section (Piano, Bass, Guitar,
Drums)
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JAZZ Swing (Late 1930’s-1940’s)
o Saxophone: fairly new invention (from
the sarussaphone)
o More people playing now,
composers/arrangers wrote solos and
relied less on improvisation
o Unison playing normal (rhythms
and/or pitches)
o Most ‘charts’ were based on 12-bar
blues
o Many groups entertained during WWII
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JAZZ Swing (Late 1930’s-1940’s)
o Artists: Edward Kennedy “DUKE”
Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie,
Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy
Dorsey, Louis Prima, Cab Calloway,
Artie Shaw, Gene Krupa, Benny
Goodman, Stan Kenton, The
Commodores, The Airmen of Note,
NC Jazz Repertory Orchestra, Lincoln
Center Jazz Orchestra (Wynton
Marsalis), Harry Connick, Jr., Bob
Mintzer
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JAZZ Bebop (1940’s)
o More complex music for smaller
groups
o Basic instruments and format
same as big band
o Back to improvisation, less
unison
o Meant for listening, not dancing
(more irregular time/style
changes).
o More sophisticated harmonies
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JAZZ Bebop (1940’s)
o Rhythm section responsible for
keeping time AND as melody
instruments
o Artists: Charlie Parker, Dizzy
Gillespie, Thelonius Monk (Rocky
Mount, NC), Charles Mingus, Bud
Powell, Miles Davis (early), Thad
Jones, Sonny Stitt, Sonny Rollins,
Art Pepper, Erroll Garner, Oscar
Peterson, Max Roach
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JAZZ Cool (Late 1940’s-1950’s)
o AKA “West Coast Jazz”
o More calm and relaxed than bebop,
hence ‘cool’
o Longer compositions than bebop
o More written arrangements, less
improvisation
o Flute, cello and horn often included
o Very experimental
o Artists: Lester Young, Miles Davis
(middle), Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan
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JAZZ Free (1960s)
o Break from traditional jazz forms,
melodies, harmonies and chords
o Very reflective of times
o Very irregular in form
o Coincides with chance/aleatoric
music of John Cage
o Very much a recording music, rather
than a sit-and-listen.
o Artists: Miles Davis (late), Ornette
Coleman, John Coltrane (High Point,
NC)
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JAZZ Fusion (late 1960’s-1980’s)
o Became “Funk”
o Combines jazz and the evolving Rock
and Roll style (which came from
jazz)…took over as ‘popular music’
o Traditional instruments and
synthesizers, electric piano, guitar
o Afro-Cuban and Latin Percussion
o Artists: Miles Davis (late), Earth, Wind
& Fire, Weather Report, Chicago,
Tower of Power
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