Understanding Music Final
Use of Blues
Blues music laid the harmonic framework for early jazz (chord progressions), and ragtime introduced the syncopated rhythms of west Africa into music otherwise similar to
famous Bebop musicians:
Charlie Parker, alto sax (aka "Yardbird" or just "Bird") John Burks "Dizzie" Gillespie, trumpet Thelonious Monk, piano Max Roach, drums
Progressive Rock
"Art Rock" "Prog Rock". Through Composed, sectional, long form compositions, very influenced by classical music, needed lots of rehearsal. pioneered by Moody Blues and The Who.
First jazz recording is from 1917
"Original Dixieland Jass Band." Later changed it to "jazz." This is the derivation of the term "Dixieland jazz" later used in the 1940's revival of traditional New Orleans style jazz.
ROCK:
"Rhythm and Blues" was a genre of dance music related to swing jazz but with more harmonic and structural ties to blues music, and with emphasis on beats 2 and 4 (as opposed to 1 and 3 in jazz) It became popular in the 1940's with African American performers like Bo Diddley and BB King.
Return of the "jam band"
(influenced by Grateful Dead) that focused on improv and extended jams in live concerts, rather than focusing on radio play): Phish, Blues Traveller, Dave Matthew's Band, Widespread Panic.
As the jazz sound gained in popularity, it naturally grew to become larger and more formalized. what did it turn into?
1930's and 40's were the "Big Band Era" (or "swing").
Punk / Hardcore
: Black Flag, The Dead Kennedys, The Misfits, Bad Religion, The Circle Jerks, Social
1990's
Alternative Rock and Seattle's "Grunge" movement become mainstream (ironically) Alternative Bands: REM, Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Smiths, Radiohead Grunge (subset of alternative, a hybrid of punk and 70's metal, and characterized by intentionally distorted guitar and feedback) included bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden.
Goth / Gothic Rock
Bauhaus, The Cure
Beach Boys
Beach Boys: at the forefront of the new "California sound." "Pet Sounds" album from 1966 considered one of most influential albums of all time.
Ragtime:
Began as an African American version of the popular marches of the time, made most famous by John Philip Sousa (Liberty Bell March, Washington Post March, Stars and Stripes) The term "ragtime" was coined by one of its early pioneers, Ernest Hogan, who was the first composer to have a "rag" published. He was from the Shake Rag district of Bowling Green, Kentucky, so-called because of the tradition that developed of Mondays being laundry day, whereon residents would wash rags outdoors and shake them out before hanging them to dry.
Heavy Metal:
Heavy Metal: English band Black Sabbath's album Paranoid from 1970 is considered one of the greatest and most influential heavy metal albums of all time. Lead singer Ozzy Osbourne
Heavy Metal Artists
Heavy Metal: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Skid Row, AC/DC, Scorpions, Pantera, Twisted Sister, Ozzy Osbourne, Def Leppard
"12 bar blues"
I-I-I-I, IV-IV-I-I, V-IV-I-V with AAB vocal line (or instrumental solo all chords typically played as dominant 7th chords (unique harmonic quality of blues music)
Beatles:
In 1964 they took American by storm, that year having at one point the top FIVE spots on the Billboard chart. The list of top selling albums from all of the 60's has them at the top four: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band ('67), Abbey Road ('69), Revolver ('66), The Beatles (White Album- '68). They also hold the 6th, 7th, and 11th spots on that list.
birth of jazz music in New Orleans
In New Orleans, blues and ragtime led to the birth of jazz music, in the form of a contrapuntal texture of collective improvisation within a fixed structure.
"Rock and Roll"
In the 50's, the term "Rock and Roll" was used to describe a wide trend in music that crossed racial lines. Rhythm and Blues was being infused into country music by white musicians like Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis, creating a new sound called "Rockabilly" (from "Hillbilly Music"), while black musicians like Chuck Berry and Little Richard did the same with Gospel and Soul music.
British Invasion Sound/Instruments
It was characterized by heavily distorted electric guitar and musical experimentation/ deviation from normal song structures (both of which sowed the seeds for the future development of Heavy Metal in the 70's), and certainly influenced by the use of mind-altering substances. This all contributed to the popularity of huge outdoor rock festivals, epitomized by Woodstock in Bethel, New York, a three day festival that drew 500,000 people. Perhaps most famous from Woodstock, and a leader in the psychedelic hard rock movement, was Jimi Hendrix.
JAZZ
JAZZ: "America's Music" Combined traditions of West African syncopated rhythm and vocal pitch bending with Western European harmony and religious folk songs (spirituals).
"Arena Rock"
Journey - don't stop believing
1980's
MTV was launched in 1981, and VH1 in 1984: prevalence of "music video" was very influential for popularizing new bands and music styles in mainstream society (heavy metal, new wave, rap and hip hop) Rap and Hip Hop
Race and Jazz
Members of this band previously played in fully integrated brass bands around New Orleans (which itself was a very diverse, blended port city with a large so-called "creole" population. Music in New Orleans was not nearly as segregated by race as we might assume today. Musicians intermingled and collaborated freely.
Micheal Jackson
Michael Jackson, Billie Jean (1983) First music video by black artist to get heavy playtime on MTV. From album Thriller, best selling album in history ("King of Pop")
Pop:
Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Billy Joel, George Michael (Faith: song of the year 1988)
Hair / Glam Metal
Motley Crue, Poison, Guns & Roses, Cinderella, Whitesnake
electric blues
Muddy Waters, Baby Please Don't Go: Blues continued as its own genre, in addition to influencing early jazz
Middle end of 1940's
Musicians increasingly grew disenchanted with big band style (which was primarily intended for dancing, and was less improvisatory and adventurous than many musicians wanted), and this led to the styles of Bebop and Cool Jazz that were intended to be listened to more carefully
Mussorgsky:
Mussorgsky- russian- one of the mighty five from russia Wrote piece for piano - pictures at an exhibition Wants to write piece of music to commemorate his friend Wrote little vignettes Connected by promenade french - Ravel- intense coloristic imagery - took piano music by mussorgsky and changed it - orchestrated the piano, added instruments to it to make it more vivid - uses "exotic sounding" saxophone bc at the time it was seen as exotic and different
NWA:
NWA: early influence in the "Gangsta-Rap" sub-genre of hip hop. Included Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and others who became very successful later as solo artists. Ranked number 83 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time." Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. paved way for more mainstream, but still very controversial artists in the 90's: Tupac Shakur (first hip hop solo act inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), Snoop Dogg, Notorious Big and many others.
Folk Revival
Numerous artists gained commercial fame in the 60s at the apex of a revival of American folk music that had begun in the 40's and 50's (Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, The Byrds, Peter Paul and Mary, The Kingston Trio). themes of songs often included aspects of social consciousness and protest/political statements. Use of traditional, acoustic instruments rather than electric guitar, drums, etc.
Jelly Roll Morton
Pianist and band leader , is credited with writing the first jazz song, "Jelly Roll Blues" in 1910, and published in 1915.
Where did hard rock come from?
Psychedelic music morphs into hard rock, progressive rock and heavy metal, with bands like Led Zeppelin, The Who, Queen, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Aerosmith, AC/DC and Van Halen.
Alternative:
R.E.M., Violent Femmes, The Pixies, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Smiths, Soul Asylum, Jane's Addiction, Sonic Youth, Nine Inch Nails
Mainstream Rock Artists
REO Speedwagon, Tom Petty, Aerosmith, Journey, Rush, Bon Jovi, INXS, Genesis, Foreigner, Bruce Springsteen
"The Mighty 5"
RIMSKY MUSSORGSKY CESAR CUI BALAKIREV BORUDIN (not formally trained musicians)
Rap and Hip Hop
Rap and Hip Hop become huge genres: Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC, LL Cool J, Salt n Pepa, Public Enemy, Ice T, NWA, Tone Loc, Beastie Boys, De la Soul, Queen Latifah. Sugar Hill Gang
Ray Charles
Ray Charles ("Father of Soul")
Reggae
Reggae (from Jamaica) becomes a major genre. Distinguished by characteristic rhythm Play Bob Marley and the Wailers, No Woman No Cry
Long before this, African rhythmic traditions were introduced to the Americas as a result of the slave trade.
Rhythm was/is very integrated into daily traditional west African life, both in work and recreation, and these traditions came across the Atlantic with the enslaved people
Coleman Hawkins
Saxephone, Hawkins played in Fletcher Henderson's band through the 20's and early 30's, and is credited with establishing the saxophone as one of the primary instruments of melodic expression in jazz music.
Bebop
Since people weren't dancing, musicians could play more complex music at faster tempos
Smetana: Moldau (original Czech title "Vltava"
Smetana - wrote MaVlast collection of 6 to seven musical poems (my homeland) - symphonic poems - single movement, very long - most famous movement Vltava (mighty river) "moldau"- german name Little streams Main river Forest hunting Wedding party on river bank "moonlight/nymph's Dance" Morning main river Rapids
First recorded examples are from the 1920's
Son House, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Leadbelly, Charlie Patton and Robert Johnson. These are typically just one guitarist/singer. rember Leadbelly- where did you sleep last night- preformed by Nirvana on MTV unplugged
The British Invasion
The Beatles led the way for what is commonly referred to as the "British Invasion" in the US, including The Animals, The Kinks, the Who, and the Rolling Stones. greatly contributed to the link of R&R with the counterculture, drug use, hippie culture, etc. which led to "psychedelic rock" being the pervasive style of the late 60's.
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (arranged for orchestra by Maurice Ravel).
The Gnome The Old Castle Tuileries Bydlo the Ox Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks - Samuel Goldenburg and Schmuyle- Lioges Marketplace - Catacombs Baba Yaga - Great gate of Kyiv -
Babatunde Olatunji
The idea of concertizing and incorporating traditional African drumming in its original form (traditional drums and traditional dress) is largely due to the work of Babatunde Olatunji (1927 2003)— famous Nigerian drummer who immigrated to the US and worked with numerous jazz and rock musicians. Introduced a lot of Americans to the concept of "world music." (Coltrane, Max Roach, Stevie Wonder, Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan). The concept was further popularized in the 60s by Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar.
Big Band
The small ensemble collective improvisation of New Orleans Jazz gave way to a much larger band playing through-composed music that included sections designated for individual improvisation. They played at dance clubs, and were known as "dance bands," since the focus of the music was explicitly for dancing purposes. The bands got bigger and bigger to be loud enough for the bigger and bigger dance halls (as it became more popular)
1940s
The style moved to big cities in the 40s and became electrified, adding drums and bass. Chicago blues musicians like John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters, who had been brought up in the Delta.
Fantasy "Black and Tan Fantasy"
The word "fantasy" has a long history in western art music, and implies a level of compositional creativity and expression that wasn't normally associated with jazz music at the time.
why did players go north to Chicago and New York
They were an instant hit in Chicago, and were then offered a contract to record in New York, which was the epicenter of recorded music at the time Music wasn't being recorded in New Orleans, and this was the first group to take the new genre "on tour." .
Ragtime instruments
Traditionally written for solo piano but often played by groups of instruments. Incorporated the steady rhythms and harmonic clarity of the marches (retained in the left hand of the piano as the accompaniment), while introducing much more syncopated, or "ragged" rhythms, generally in the right hand melody.
Jazz instruments
Trumpet took melody (often a spiritual or hymn that people would know from church), clarinet and trombone improvised counter melodies above and below the main tune. drums, tuba and banjo were the "rhythm section" (providing rhythmic and harmonic support).
New Orleans jazz music instruments
Tuba and banjo are still very popular jazz instruments in New Orleans, but the Chicago sound is what spread to the rest of the country and was retained going into the swing and bebop eras, and therefore is our modern conception of jazz instrumentation.
1960's other thann Jazz
Wide profusion of styles and artists became the trend that continued well into the 90's. Early 60's, two hugely influential new groups: Beach Boys in America and The Beatles in England.
New Wave
a more commercially accessible offshoot of punk music in the late 70's and popular well into the 80's. Integrated elements of punk, art rock, funk, pop and world music with avant-garde sensibilities and an anxious, clean-cut image. Greatly popularized through music videos. Talking Heads, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, The Eurythmics, Blondie, The Police, Elvis Costello.
What lead to Bebop and Cool Jazz?
break down of big band- musicians wanted more improvitization and music not for dancing but careful listening Again the focus became on improvisation, where members of the band took turns improvising as soloists over predetermined, often complex chord progressions. The term "bebop" likely came from the nonsense syllables used in scat singing. Main tune would be referenced at beginning and at certain times thereafter, but otherwise the chord progression was used as a vehicle for improvisation.
Well known sound of jazz instruments
but the Chicago sound is what spread to the rest of the country and was retained going into the swing and bebop eras, and therefore is our modern conception of jazz instrumentation.
late 60's "fusion" jazz
combining the steadier pulse and vibe of rock music. That segues well to Rock
1970's
early 70's, Drug related deaths: Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison all die at the age of 27 (the same age as Curt Cobain 20 years later). This combined with the Manson family murders and other high profile LSD related murders contributed to the end of the psychedelic age, as more and more musicians withdrew from it in favor of new directions. Extension of the folk revival: Simon and Garfunkel: Bridge Over Troubled Waters -Beatles broke up in 1970, but all four embarked on solo careers (idiots. contrast with Rolling Stones, who have kept rocking for well over half a century).
1960's: for Jazz
experimental "free jazz" - a similar disintegration of previous tonal and harmonic constructs that western European "classical" music had undergone over the course of the 20th century (Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, etc.)
Jump Blues
grew out of swing/big band and was popular in dance halls.
Louis Armstrong (1901-1971)
grew up playing trumpet in early bands in New Orleans, moved to Chicago to play with Joe Oliver and became the best known figure from the revival of traditional (New Orleans style) jazz in response to the growing trends of swing and then bebop in later decades: He came to be one of the most popular entertainers in American history.
Smetana
instead of writing in formal structure- has idea for a strory and progression of events- dramatic structure Begins - drops of water- streams going down hillside, flowing quality to it- allcome to the beiging what is the river- iconic meldoy
ragtime
introduced the syncopated rhythms of west Africa into music otherwise similar to popular "white" music at the time
Cool Jazz
laid back, lower volume, moderate tempo with emphasis on lush harmonies and lyricism (cool jazz). lower tempos, more relaxed style of improvisation, less frenetic and aggressive than bebop. More complex harmonies that could be appreciated with the slower tempo and softer dynamic. Drummers often used brushes rather than sticks. Was completely art music, with no relationship to dancing whatsoever. Davis' style was sometimes criticized by other black musicians, some of whom considered it a "tame" version of bebop aimed at broader, mainstream audiences.
Punk Rock
late 70's as a reaction to progressive rock and "arena rock" of the major bands. Sex Pistols were a pioneering punk rock band in England, and their song Anarchy in the UK is ranked #56 on the Rolling Stone list of 500 greatest songs of all time.
Thrash / Speed Metal
layer, Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, Pantera
The style migrated to other cities
most notable Chicago where it developed the "Chicago sound" replacing the tuba with upright bass, and the banjo with guitar, and eventually piano. Tuba and banjo are still very popular jazz instruments in New Orleans, but the Chicago sound is what spread to the rest of the country and was retained going into the swing and bebop eras, and therefore is our modern conception of jazz instrumentation.
Billy Holiday
one of the greatest Jazz singers ever. very distinctive voice, and an amazing vocal improviser. She collaborated often with tenor saxophonist Lester Young, who pioneered a new style that led to bebop and cool jazz. His playing was lighter and more graceful than others, and more focused on exploring melodic improvisation, rather than being stuck following a set chord progression.
Blues instruments
origionaly guitar soloist singer Eventually blues music picked up drums, bass, harmonica, and sometimes piano.
Elvis Presley:
pioneer of "Rockabilly" (blend of country, or "hillbilly" music and rhythm and blues best-selling solo artist in the history of recorded music. "King of Rock and Roll" Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and dead at 42 (prescription drug abuse)
Run DMC and Sugar Hill Gang
pioneered Rap and commercialized the hip hop movement.
Max Roach Drummer
pioneered the modern jazz drumming style of keeping time on the ride cymbal with right hand, and hi hat with left foot. Then left hand and right foot added syncopated interest on snare, crash and bass drum (he called it "dropping bombs" in the music).
Miles Davis
principal pioneer of "cool jazz." Grew up affluent. Classical trumpet lessons from a young age and studied for a time at the Juilliard school in NY. Dropped out to tour and record with Charlie Parker (steeped in bebop). Miles Davis later was a leading figure in the movement away from the use of traditional chord progressions, opting instead for a purely modal approach, where each player in the group listened to each other and improvised using the notes of that mode. "So What" (1959) from Kind of Blue, which is the best selling jazz album of all time.
Blues
refers to a mood as well as a harmonic progression and song form. It was invented in the mid to late 1800's on plantations in the Mississippi Delta region upriver from New Orleans by slaves and later sharecroppers for whom singing was an important part of daily life, both in the form of work songs as well as spirituals (religious songs).
Early precursors of jazz
rural blues and ragtime
Program Music
tells a story, connected to describing something nonmusical
John Coltrane:
tenor and soprano saxophonis
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington
was one of America's greatest overall musicians ever. Pianist, composer, arranger, band leader. He and his band collaborated to produce mostly original music for their audiences, as opposed to just playing tunes people already knew. As composer and arranger, Ellington infused the music with lush and complex harmonies, as well as unique timbral effects, even though they may have been lost on most of the people dancing.
Scott Joplin (1868-1917)
was the first African American composer to gain international fame. Wrote two operas and other works, but was always most known for ragtime. By his death in 1917, Ragtime was no longer popular, as it had already evolved into jazz. Basically forgotten until a revival in the 1970s via a recording by American pianist and musicologist Joshua Rifken, and then the 1973 movie The Sting.
George Harrison (Beattles) learned to play the sitar for Norwegian Woods
which contributed to a massive interest in Indian music in the US. This was also related to the growing popularity of now legendary Indian musician Ravi Shankar, who was Harrison's inspiration as well.
