History of Jazz

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Also known as Life Among the Lowly. Written Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published on March 20, 1852. Anti-slavery novel, helped lay groundwork for the Civil War. Told stories of a long-suffering slave. Depicts reality of slavery while also asserting that Christian love can overcome something like slavery. Best-selling novel of the 19th Century. Helped fuel abolitionist causes. 300,000 copies were sold in the U.S. Incorporate elements of the book into minstrelsy.

Comping

Also known as accompanying. Keeping chords going but not with the melody.

Timbre

Also known as tone color. The identity of the sound distinguishes different types of sound production.

James Petrillo

American Federation of Musicians union president, started strike in 1942-1944 against major recording companies because of disagreements over royalty payments, played trombone, assistant conductor at 3 chicago theatres, went up against Congress and government,

Sugar Foot Stomp

Dense polyphonic style of New Orleans ensemble. Authentic blues. Served as an inspiration and mode for many other versions by other bands that followed. Armstrong plays lead, Lillian Hardin on piano. King Oliver introduced the many mutes to change color and tone.

Buddy Rich

Drummer, had 2 black-belts, terrible temper, fired people during shows

Sonny Rollins

Jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist. Heroin addict, experimental methodone therapy. Still alive today

King of the Delta Blues

Robert Johnson was known as this.

Gospels

Sing acappella. Dominant vocals and harmony. Call and response style. Quick in tempo and more rhythmic than spirituals.

Polyrhythms

a combination of 2 or more rhyhms

Shout chorus

band all pays climax, big finale

Sweet bands

ensemble that used orchestral instruments and dance-oriented repertoire. They had little improvisation.

Robert Johnson

grew up poor, made his way to the top singing the blues, master of the guitar, sang with intensity, sang about hardships poetically, about being an African-American in the South during the Great Depression. Influenced by many Rhythm & Blues artists. Release of his first album helped spread his popularity as a blues performer. Influenced the commercialization of rock and roll later. Only 11 race records were released during his time. Known as a blues poet and was a solo singer/songwriter. Said to have sold his soul to the devil at the Crossroads. Performed largely at juke joints. Was attracted to to alcohol, gambling, and women. Toured around the U.S. and Canada. Only wrote 29 songs, died at 27 because he was poisoned by a jealous boyfriend.

Minstrels

had beginnings on plantations. Performed on plantations for whites. Incorporated work songs and made fun of slave owners. Would sometimes paint white faces, pretending to be black people. Eventually outlawed in the U.S. Used to disseminate jazz in the U.S.

Key musical elements of blues

harmony, rhythm of a repetitive 12-bar pattern, originated in Deep South end of the 19th Century, call and response incorporated from spirituals, work songs, and field hollers

Key musical elements of jazz

improvisation, melody, harmony, rhythm, comping, swing notes, timbral variation, polyrhythm, call and response, polyphonic texture

Keys

of a piece of music is defined by a central note or scale (flats or sharps)

Syncopation

putting emphasis on the downbeat. Opposite of swing notes.

Chicago jazz style

style of jazz with faster tempos, saxophone appears regularly, other band members play background to the soloist, a break from the polyphonic style of New Orleans. Emphasis placed on the arrangements and a balanced ensemble performance. Tuba replaced by string bass and banjo by the guitar. 4/4 replaces 2/4 marching band and ragtime styles. Expand in size and instrumentations. Trumpet places cornet.

Harmony

verticalization of of pitch, combines pitches into chords. Collection of 2 or more notes played together.

Coleman Hawkins

"Father of the Jazz tenor sax" Born in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Swing music, bebop. Music deep-rooted in blues. "Dirty blues" put him on the map. Tenor sax, bass sax, clarinet. Substituted basic chords with complex. Nicknamed Hawk and "Bean", "saxophone boy". Recorded "Body and Soul". In Fletcher Henderson's orchestra. Soloed seamlessly. Played with full ton, flowing lines, heavy vibrato.

Benny Goodman

"King of Swing". Classical training helped with his clarinet technique. Formed an alliance with John Hammond, one of the most successful producers of all time. Hammond encouraged him to use best musicians regardless of race. International popularity, toured the world. Forced issue of integration by hiring Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton. He almost sing-handedly broke race barriers.

Sarah Vaughn

"The divine one" 1924-1990 - singer/vocal. One of several singers to fall under influence of bop generation. Four octave range. Swoops from high to low register with ease. Strong vocal technique which allowed her to explore a melody and flaunt her vocal talent. Won a competition at Apollo Theatre like Ella had done. Her diva-like personality gave her the second nickname, "Sassy". Served as an important role model for the younger generation of singers to follow.

creoles

"too white to be black, too black to be white" Sometimes ostracized by whites, sometimes by blacks. A mixture of black and other ethnicities. Jelly Roll Morton was this ethnicity.

Bill Evans

- Pianist, Served with Miles Davis bands • Revolutionized the jazz trio of piano, bass and drums • influences future generations of pianists including Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett. • He favoured a sensitive touch in the ballad tradition.

Congo Square

1817 - informal name for an open area in New Orleans. Black slaves gathered there on Sunday afternoons to socialize and dance. The primary instrument was a long narrow African drum. There was a less restricted attitude here toward other religions. Rhythms and variations were similar to jazz. It later became the Louis Armstrong Memorial Park.

Scott Joplin

1867/68-1917 - Born in Texas to a very musical family. Said he would never be appreciated until he was dead. Composer, pianist, bandleader, music teacher. The most prolific composer of ragtime. "King of the Ragtime Writers". Wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, 2 operas, 2 waltzes. One of his first pieces, "Maple Leaf Rag," became ragtime's first and most influential hit, and has been recognized as the archetypal rag. In 1916 he descended in dementia because of syphilis, and he died at 49.

W.C. Handy

1873-1958 - creole, called Father of the Blues. American blues composer and musician, bandsman, cornet player. Played distinctively American blues music, but is credited with giving it its contemporary form. St. Louis Blues, which followed an AABA format, was one of the first published blues songs, and one of the most popular and most recorded song in the U.S. in 1914. His first publication was Memphis Blues in 1912. He was the first to develop the blues scale, standardize it. First to note-take early jazz musicians. He had a strong middle-class identity. He patented his versions of blues after black folk songs. He played minstrel plays for money. One of the first blacks to open up a music publishing company. Helped to pave the way for blues sensations that would sweep the country.

Buddy Bolden

1877-1931 - Real name was Charles Joseph Bolden. Known as King Bolden. Cornetist. Key figure in the development of New Orleans style of ragtime or Jass. Known for loud sound and improvisation. His band was a top draw in New Orleans 1900-1907. Played by ear, never recorded. Had schizophrenia, was institutionalized and never played cornet again. Only records of him are known through oral history.

Joe King Oliver

1881-1938 - cornet, bandleader. Pioneered use of mutes. Gave Louis Armstrong first cornet, he was Armstrong's mentor. Blind in one eye. Member of marching bands. 1922-started his own creole jazz band, brought Armstrong to work with him. Played duets with Jelly Roll Morton. His recordings became landmarks of jazz. Died as a custodian.

Jelly Roll Morton

1890-1941 - Creole ragtime composer, pianist, and comedian. His real name was Ferdinand Joseph Lamoth. He was nicknamed from the time when he played in whorehouses. He was awarded a Grammy lifetime achievement award. Married a showgirl. Composition "Jelly Roll Blues". Notoriously arrogant. He was a bandleader who arranged hat each player would play on his recordings. Claimed to invent jazz in 1902, as well as swing, etc. One of many early pioneers of jazz. Played in Red Hot Peppers. Dance rhythms with minstrelsy in his music. Best known ragtime piano player. Made a living as a pool shark, pimp, hustler, gambler.

Paul Whiteman

1890-1967 - schooled in the European classical tradition, evident in his arrangement and composition styles. Introduced George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" in Aeolian Hall in 1924. Although not considered to be "jazz" as defned, this piece pointed out some of the jazz idioms of the music to the public. Called "The King of Jazz". He hired many great jazz players and paid top salary

Tin Pan Alley

1890s Union Square of NYC became the center of the largest concentration of song publishing. Collective of NYC music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the U.S. in the late 19th-early 20th Century. Originally referred to a specific place in Manhattan because that's where music publishers would set up. People think the name came from a derogatory term for the sound pianos made. Copyright laws didn't exist in this time period and musicians would go there and find new material, but this did bring the need for copyright laws.

Bessie Smith

1894-1937 - "Empress of the Delta Blues" most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s. Began busking on the streets of Chattanooga, sang and danced. One of the highest paid black performers. Her album Down-Hearted Blues sold 800,000 copies. Toured extensively. Bisexual, died in a car crash, was denied hospital treatment. Daughter of a baptist preacher. Performed in a movie called St. Louis Blues. Performed in honky-tonks. Recorded over 160 songs for Columbia Records. Sold over 4 million records by 1924. She made a lot of money but died penniless in 1937.

Fletcher Henderson

1897-1952 - "Smack Henderson". Pianist, bandleader, arranger, composer. Born in Cuthbert, Georgia. Middle-class African-American family. 1925 - wrote "Gin House Blues" recorded by Bessie Smith. Recorded for nearly every label in the 1920s. His orchestra gave birth to swing style, jazz development. Influential figure in swing era, created pattern for swing arrangements. Established independent use of trumpet, trombone, saxophone, rhythm section.

Sidney Bechet

1897-1959 - clarinetist, soprano sax. One of the most important soloists in jazz. Musical gypsy - performed in various parts of the world making audiences aware of his roots. He rivaled Armstrong as an improviser. In his youth he was featured by some of the top bands in New Orleans. 1925-29 - spent time performing in Europe and spent 1 year in prison (France) for being involved in a gunfight.

Lillian Hardin

1898-1971 - Jazz pianist, composer, arranger, singer, bandleader. Second wife of Louis Armstrong, divorced 1938. Collaborated on many recordings with Armstrong. Got her PHD. Played for King Oliver. Inspired many groups in the Chicago area. Never actually played in New Orleans.

Louis Armstrong

1901-1971 - trumpeter, corneter, composer, singer. Had 5-decade long career. Dexterity as improviser, bending lyrics and melody, scat singing. Learned cornet at detention center. Shifted focus of jazz to solos. Used an ambassador to U.S., black community resented this because they weren't being treated equally but he was. Pothead. Played double time solo breaks. Developed strong swing style. Married 4 times. Used chromatic altertones instead of diatonic tones. First to favor cornet over trumpet, could play high notes. Brilliant timbre. Frequent use of rubato. Use of embellishments such as vibrato. First great jazz soloist.

Count Basie

1904-1980 - Brought his band together after Moten died on the operating table. That is when declared himself "Count". He was discovered by John Hammond, who brought him to NYC in 1936. His theme song was "1 O'clock jump" Bandleader for 49 years. Blues was the core of the band's style. Took advantage of large dynamic range from soft rhythm sections: full band blasts. Unlike Ellington, Basie never specialized in sophisticated and elaborate arrangements. He reduced role of the rhythm section to improve balance, walking base line gave forward motion to music. Comping" sparse camping of chords allowed music to breathe. Basie developed a sparse solo style based on simple motives consisting of single note lines played in the upper register.

Art Tatum

1909-1956 - solo piano had become less prominent during "swing' era. "Tea for Two" had a bit of ragtime

Lester Young

1909-1959 - "The Prez". tenor sax player, born in Mississippi, lived in New Orleans and was trained by his father. He replaced Hawkins in Count Basie band. His playing was opposed by the other players in the sax section because his style and tone were so different than that of Hawkins. His sound contrasted with Coleman Hawkins. Because of his wispy sound he was considered an early pioneer of jazz. His improvisation was built by following chord tones. In WWII he lost his passion for playing.

Kenny Clarke

1914-1985 - drums, considered the true father of modern jazz drumming. Disregarded the use of bass drum. Developed a more independent and less rigid style of playing. Perfected this style of playing while he was the house drummer of Minton's. Took permanent residence in Paris in 1955. Prior to that he performed in NYC with all the greats.

Charlie Christian

1916-1942 - Founding father of bebop. Creator of single-string technique. Pioneered use of electric guitar. "Solo Flight" was his most famous solo. Played as member of the Benny Goodman Orchestra.

Roaring Twenties

1917 - closing of Storyville shifted heart of jazz to Chicago. Many jazz musicians left New Orleans. The Volstead Act made Prohibition. Growing demand for jazz in Chicago, mainly because of the railways, stockyards, and mills. The radio became part of households and did much to popularize jazz. New dances like the Charleston and Black Bottom were invented to see the new energetic music.

Ella Fitzgerald

1918-1996 - "hot" jazz. Orphaned then discovered at the Appollo Theatre. Her recordings helped her to achieve international stature as a performer. Had amazing range, vocal flexibility and rhythmic swing. Model for all singers who improvised in a scat style. Armstrong served as her influence. She is best defined by her bid band singing. Carried her scatting across the swing-to-bop transition. Only singer to support bop.

Prohibition

1920-1930 - Volstead act was enacted and then repealed by the 18th amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 1925 - NYC had 30,000-100,000 speakeasy clubs. Became unpopular during the Great Depression. It was focused on the sale of alcohol, not its consumption. It was brought to protect families against the abuse of alcohol. Women were allowed in speakeasies. Quality of the alcohol ranged from poor to very good, depending on how the owner got the product. Early speakeasies has no entertainment and later expanded with new additions of entertainment.

Charlie Parker

1920-1953 - Kansas City, baritone and alto sax, songwriter. Travelling musicians were his role models. Invented bebop with Dizzy Gillespie. Self-taught. Heroin Addict. Cult hero for many young musicians. New York: Birdland club was named after him, but could not perform there due to his drug problems. Nervous breakdown at show and was committed to mental hospital.. Refused to go to the hospital for an ulcer and died. Nickname "Bird" came from a time when he hit a chicken while driving the tour bus and he stopped to pick it up for dinner. Style was based on blues but developed a unique style of his own. His tone has edge to it, thus eliminating use of vibrato. Had blazing technique, could play through complex chords. Played with legato style. Used notes beyond fundamental chord notes. His music exerted a major force for the next several decades

Chicago

1920s - Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines began a long association. Hines opened the Grand Terrace at 23. The 20s brought many professionally trained instrumentalists into jazz. Until then it had been mainly an African American Art.

Dexter Gordon

1923-1990 - tenor sax. Found work conditions for musicians better in Europe. First to adapt Parker style on tenor sax. Struggled with drug addiction. Appeared in movie "The Connection" as a musician. Was a link from swing style to bop and was modelled by Sonny Rollins and John Cortland

Max Roach

1924-2007 - musician, composer, educator, civil rights activist, jazz percussionist, drummer. Pioneer of bebop. Newer breed of musicians that surfaced during bop period. Studied music at NYC conservatories and plaed at Minton's and Monroe's uptown house. Took a more melodic approach to drumming and rhythmical complimentary the true soloist. Committed to civil right movements.

Miles Davis

1926 - 1991 - Considered to keep jazz alive along with Mingus and Monk during Vietnam War and Beatlemania. Made contributions to jazz development including bebop, fusion, rock, etc. Historical recording of "Birth of Blues" by Capitol Records. Band defined cool jazz and projected air of sophistication. Davis did not fit the bebop style of Parker and Gillespie. He preferred a more mellow, minimalist approach. "Birth of Cool" launched cool style. His solos were revolutionary as arrangements and compositions. Most influential jazz artist of post-modern time. Used metallic harmon mute. 1955 - kicked drug addiction.

Savoy Ballroom

1926-1958 - integrated club. Benny Goodman challenged Chick Webb to a battle here.

Maynard Ferguson

1928-2006 - Incorporated big band sound into rock fusion music. Known for high-screeching trumpet playing

Swing Era

1935-1946 - Name given to the era following boogie-woogie in development of jazz. This refers to the music of large dance bands that played written arrangements, occasionally using improvised solos. Swing is a verb and a noun. The depression had some devastating effects on jazz. Entertainment was cheap so many patrons took advantage of it. Ballroom dancing was the craze in the 1930s-40s, which helped jazz stay afloat. Musicians had to be careful where they travelled in fear of being beaten since the 1st race riot occurred in 1935. 1934 - Paul Whiteman, Glen Gray, Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington laid groundwork for big bands. Standard big band instrumentation: 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, 5 saxophones, and a rhythm section of guitar, bass, drums and piano.

Merge of Ragtime and Dixieland

2 important changes occurred: melodic concept of rag changed and the rhythmic accentuation of the rag was carried on to Dixieland. Rhythm changed from 4 to 2. Because jazz bands played ragtime, piano players were no longer required to play alone. Tempos increased and ragtime gave way to improvisation.

Pentatonic scale

5-note scale

Modal jazz

A jazz style in which the soloists base their solos on modes instead of the chord changes. Without chord progressions, these tunes presented more uncharted maps. Provided newfound freedom to improvising soloists.

Ragtime

A style of jazz piano playing with a highly syncopated melody, very popular in the late 19th and early 20th century. It was developed out of black minstrel music and was popularized by the pianist and composer Scott Joplin. It was the 1st black music to achieve widespread popularity and commercial distribution. Piano was the principal performing instrument. This genre did not have a big influence on jazz, but did have some. Piano rolls had great commercial success. This stemmed from a black folkdance style of the day referred to as clog dancing. Most importantly, this music style means syncopated and time means rhythm.

contra fact

A tune based on a chord progression of another song

Race Records

After WWI the African American population migrated to large northern cities. These were records published from 1920-1940 heard by blacks and later sought after by whites, usually featuring black female singers. Primarily contained blues, jazz, and gospel music

Trading four

Band plays 4 measures, one instrument solos 4 measures, and so on.

Benny Moten

Best employed musician in Kansas City. His sound first resembled ragtime and dixieland.

Dizzy Gillespie

Born 1917 - Jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and occasional singer. Scat singing. Developed a high register of trumpet. Trumpet virtuoso and improviser. Puffed cheeks, but it worked for him. First recording: "King Porter Stomp". He and Porter met at Minton's jam session. 1939 - joined Cab Calloway's orchestra. Embraced jazz marriage of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Latin styles

Duke Ellington

Born in Washington, DC. "Mood Indigo" was his most popular song. Swing, orchestral jazz. Played piano. Played at the Kentucky Club and then the Cotton Club. Bandleader, musician, composer, conductor, songwriter. Wrote 2,000+ compositions. Generally considered to have elevated perception of jazz to an art form, like European classical music. Directed band for 56 years, maintained band loyalty. "Take the A Train" was one of his most popular songs. Made use of brass instrument sounds. Wanted to recreate African music sounds of jungle. Broke free of traditional forms - 5-10 measures. 3 styles: jungle, dance, mood

Spirituals

Christian songs created by African slaves. Oral tradition that imparted Christian values while describing the hardships of slavery, which was influenced by the Great Awakening (evangelical movement). Call and response style.

Artie Shaw

Clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor, writer. Best known for Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine". Served in navy. Left music industry for awhile because he didn't like the audience. Had 8 wives. Advocate for integrated racial equality. Introduced the string quartet to jazz.

Black and tans

Clubs featuring black entertainers which attracted white audiences. The Cotton Club in NYC was 1 of these clubs.

Work Songs

Collective singing in a call and response style, born on the Mississippi Delta.

Original Dixieland Jass Band

First band to ever record jazz tune, New York, 1917, Columbia Records. First white band to record this genre of music, made $1,000/week

Dixieland Band Instrumentation

Front line - cornet, clarinet, trombone, sometime violin 2nd line - guitar/banjo, string bass or tuba, drums The banjo was eventually replaced by piano/guitar. String basses were not in jazz bands until the late 1920s. The cornetist and later the trumpeter was the star, playing syncopated main themes. The clarinetist provided rhythmical activity embellishment elaborating on the cornet solo. These created a polyphonic texture. The trombone outlined the harmony. The drummer tried to imitate a marching band sound.

Cutting wood

Guitar playing, emphasis on 2 and 4 beats

Harlem Renaissance

Harlem was the culture center for blacks in the 1920s. As blacks migrated there the condition of the community continued to decline, which led to slums and ghettos. Some church leaders considered jazz to be "low brow". Some of the finest musicians came out of Harlem. Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington led hot big bands, which sought out the best jazz soloists. Ballrooms became popular with young audiences.

Billie Holiday

Her real name is Eleanora Fagan. Jazz musician and and singer/songwriter with a career spanning nearly 30 years. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by Lester Young. Had influence on jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style was inspired by jazz instrumentalists. Known for her vocal delivery and improv. skills, which made up for her limited range and lack of formal music education. One of the first black women to perform in a white orchestra. She was extremely popular in 1950s. Began singing at nightclubs in Harlem. She prostituted herself for drugs. After her incarceration, she performed a sold-out show at Carnegie Hall. She appeared alongside Duke Ellington in a movie. Started smoking marijuana at age 14. Jail for prostitution at 15. Had heroin addiction from mid-20s. Was at her peak in 1948 due to her spending time at a federal reformatory. Was unable to work in NYC night clubs because of her criminal record. 1 of the most fristrating aspects of her career was that the public was unwilling to accept black and whites performing together. Died of substance abuse at 44. She won 4 Grammys post-humously.

Dynamics

How loud or quiet a piece of music is.

Texture

How melodic and harmonic elements work together. Examples: monophonic, polyphonic

Kansas City

Hub for cattlemen and wheat farmers, nightclubs, cabarets, gambling houses and bars. There were many drinking establishments, nightlife run by gangsters.

New Orleans Rhythm Kings

Included New Orleans and Chicago musicians. Huge influence on the 1920s. Paul Moures and George Brumers were the original two. Had basically every jazz instrument. Helped define the new Chicago sound. Sound based on the black New Orleans bands, but their arrangements tended to favor more sophisticated sounds. 1st band to record with a musician of color (Jelly Roll Morton)

Apollo Theater

Integrated theater, hosted talent nights, where many great jazz performers were discovered (Ella Fitzgerald)

Midwest jazz

Less influence from New Orleans. The music was slower to develop than NY and Chicago, therefore ragtime and blues was still an influence and continued to flourish. Had territory bands.

The Electronic Jazz-Rock Fusion Period

Miles was interested in music coming from the pop side of the back culture in the 1960s and was most intrigued by what musicians like sly Stone and Jimi Hendrix were doing. • By 1969 Miles had lost his appeal to his own people • He would always study popular culture and and become recharged by the new trends in pop culture • "Bitches Brew" involved the musicians spontaneous creativity, a living composition. • 1969 Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago were signed by Colombia Records. Each of these groups fused a jazz style horn section with the electric, rhythmic aspects of rock and roll and rhythm and blues style

Decline of bebop

Most players were ill-prepared to sell themselves of their art. Placed too high a demand on listeners - couldn't dance to it, couldn't talk over it. Could not hear or understand its melodies and harmonies. Its influences still live on. New music in mid-1940s. Quickly moved to smaller clubs. Critics initially questioned its value and condemned it. Eventually naysayers changed their tune. Clubs soon closed its doors and music moved from Harlem to broadway.

Motif

Musical art theme, short musical statement

Rhythm

Musical events arranged in time, accomplished through varying length of notes, combined with space in relationship to a steady pulse. This section controls the tempo for the players since there is no conductor.

Doublers

Played sax and clarinet, mainly because the sax was more popular. Rhythm section as responsible for setting the swing feel. Drum set design change -- drummers' techniques had changed, developing more dexterity and independence in their playing, influenced by Louis Armstrong. Because all of the rhythm section was playing on the beat, the piano player had to develop a new way of providing harmonic comping. The old boogie, stride and rag style of playing did not fit into the swing style. Comping was developed. Credited to Count Basie.

Jubilees

Quick in tempo and more rhythmic than spirituals. Eventually infused and rhythmic beat into jazz. The use of bending of pitch influenced jazz.

Storyville

Red-light district of New Orleans from 1897-1917. The city made guidelines to control prostitution in this 16-block area, even though it was illegal. It was named after councilman Sidney Story. It gave jazz musicians the opportunity to perform here, It first opened to blacks, then white musicians, which brought the races together. Their performance in brothels, saloons etc. gave musicians opportunities to experiment with musical styles. The reason it closed was that 3 sailors from the nearby naval base were killed there one night. After it closed, the musicians moved to Chicago.

Bebop

Style of jazz developed in early and mid-1940s. Songs characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumental virtuosity, and improvisation. No longer dance music. Hot jazz, bohemian lifestyle. Small combination of saxophone, trumpet, piano, double bass and drums. Often disregarded melody. Clarinet not popular and guitar less essential. Lacked commercial appeal, imposed challenges for listener. Heroin was the drug of choice of musicians. Musicians often protested racism, economic exploitation, poverty and other issues. Armstrong criticized this genre. Arrangement: Theme, solo, solo, theme. Upper register used more. Musicians knew more music theory. Bass emerged as an improviser.

Cool jazz

Style of jazz with toned down dynamics, tempos often slower than bop tunes, more emphasis placed on improvising listenable melodies rather than playing fast. Trumpet players focused on playing mellow, mid-register sounds. The blues was nearly forgotten in favor of experimenting with new forms. Arrangers and bandleaders used new instruments - french horn, flute, oboe, tuba. Devices such as counterpoint associated with Bach's music is increasingly noticeable in cool style jazz. General experimentation was the motto of many cool jazz instrumentalists. Musicians included: Gil Evans, Miles Davis, Dave Bruebeck, Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Bill Evans, Stan Getz

The decline of the Chicago era

The close of the 1920s - The stock market crash on "Black Tuesday" October 29, 1929, marking the beginning of the Great Depression. The music industry suffered. In the late '20s musicians started to migrate to NYC. More opportunities for recording in NYC and employment in dance orchestras. Prohibition, politics, urban reform groups, movies with soundtracks, police raids on mob-run speakeasies all had to do with the decline. Governments and courts closed 250 cabarets by 1928. NY and KC became more attractive to musicians. Public's interest was now with bigger dance bands. Territory and travel bands mostly played one night stands. Radio and records brought jazz to rural areas.

Marching bands

The end of the Civil War was significant to the rise of these. Brought brass instruments together. Still used for funerals in New Orleans. Banjo was also used besides the saxophone and drums. Always start on the left foot. 120 beats per minute.

Cotton Club

The hottest place in Harlem, catering to a white clientele. Black and tan. African-American sideshow involved with mob. This place also kept Duke Ellington throughout the Depression.

Blues Music

The most important African-American contribution to jazz. A mix of African influences on American folk music. A combination of American pentatonic scale with American harmony and melodies. Born in the Mississippi Delta. Always 12 bars/measures.

Stride Music

These music players were not concerned with ragtime form. This music favored improvisation, rather than ragtime which was more composed. This type of playing was more intense because of faster tempo and had much more drive.

New Orleans

This city and the surrounding Mississippi Delta reflected a rich cultural heritage. One of the most active seaports for transport of goods to nation's heartland via the Mississippi River. Cultural diversity aided jazz styles. Creoles had economic privileges not afforded to slaves. Bands were supported by many organizations. Playing music was easier than working on the docks.

Glenn Miller

Trombone player, composer, arranger. "In the mood" was his hit song. (the solo is written). "Moonlight Serenade" was his theme song.

Field Holler

Vocal music sung solo by southern laborers while they worked, to vent their feelings. They were common in cotton plantations. Call and response influenced blues and jazz. Lots of improvisation. Weren't allowed to talk in the fields, but they were allowed to sing. This established a communication between the slaves.

The Downfall of the Swing Era

WWII: most musicians were drafted, salaries escalated; fuel rationing: band tours became impossible, especially for black bands; musicians union went on strike August 1, 1942; cabaret tax in 1941 caused clubs to pay 30% tax on tickets; bebop grew in popularity; swing bands has to play one-night stands; Great Depression ended, but it was so popular during the Depression that people didn't want to be reminded of it; dance halls were less popular and dance halls were shutdown

Modern Jazz Quartet

West Coast Style • Longest running group in jazz with the fewest personnel changes • Original members of this quartet served as the nucleus of Dizzy Gillespie's big band rhythm section in 1947 • Known for their polished chamber jazz approach • They avoided the theme-solo-solo-solo-theme predictability and favoured a more structured, at times classically influenced light sound • They improvised in the tradition of European classical composers with the use of counterpoint

Phrase

a musical sentence

Atonal music

dissonance, tension, wants to resolve but doesn't, doesn't have a key

Melody

linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. organization of notes that move by varying steps or leaps.

Form

overall structure of a piece of music. Describes the overall architecture, helps organize the music.

Meter

part of rhythm, defines the number of primary beats or pulses in each measure of music - triple, quadruple, etc.

Tempo

part of rhythm. speed in which music is played

New Orleans and Chicago Styles

piano now used in both styles, string bass replaced the tuba. This was because bands started playing dances instead of marches. Not many recordings of early New Orleans Dixieland. There was more documentation of Chicago Dixieland music. Saxophone was added, guitar replaced banjo. Individual solos became important. Intros and beginnings were common. More tension and drive in the music.

Pizzicato

plucking strings instead of bowing.

North and West side of Chicago

side of chicago - inhabited by middle and upper class white, offered dance halls and cabarets. Only a few employed black performers. Many featured dance bands because this is what people wanted to hear. Social dancing was the driving force of the entertainment industry in the 1920s and main entertainment for whites.

South side of Chicago

side of chicago - vice district or levee became the new home for many blacks during the 1920s. jobs were well paying. many black and tans.

Funky, Soul-Jazz

• Funky jazz raised the black communities' awareness of their cultural heritage, while white audiences appreciated it for its memorable melodies, slower tempos, and strong rhythmic basis. • The more popular and danceable recordings found their way into jukeboxes across the country. • Critics felt that the movement was largely "regressive, self-conscious, monotonous, and even contrived This brand of jazz sold records, engaged audiences and was commercially viable.

Hard Bop

• Performer were more concerned about playing to the listeners and engaging them • Many of the tunes were in minor keys • Musicians returned to their roots incorporating the blues, gospel, and African music with the use of call and response and the use of vocal-like blues inflections • Tempos were slower than bebop tunes • Artists showed more concern for audience appeal, making their music more accessible melodically and rhythmically More complex arrangements

"Bitches Brew"

• Sessions were about improvisation and composes exercise • Overdubbing allowed them to layer more tracks over the original recordings. • Some of the composition and final form were often left to chance. Demonstrates a freestyle type of playing.