Jazz and Beyond Overview
1) Improvisation is the creative activity of immediate musical composition. Fitzgerald uses her voice as the instrument for improvisation in the jazz piece Blue Skies. The rest of the instruments play background fillings. Hearing voice improvisation is interesting because its something that I usually don't hear often at performances, even though it was common to do voice improvisation back in 20th century jazz.
2) In Joplin's, "The Entertainer" the left hand remains in a strict march tempo while the right hand plays a syncopated melody. This style of piano music is called ragtime.
3) The twelve bars blues progression is one of the most common and prominent progressions in jazz. It is predominately based on the progressions of the tonic, subdominant, and the dominant degrees. However in the piece Blue Moon, the blues progression is slight different. It begins on the tonic (the origiinal piece is in Eb major), goes to the subdominant, down to the supertonic, and back to the dominant.
4) The accapela group imitates several instruments, including percussion effects, muted trumpets, a bass. It becomes slightly harder to identify instruments later in the piece because of the harmonizing the vocalists do, but there could possibly saxophones that are imitated in the piece .
5) Swing is a jazz style where emphasis is put on the off beat or weaker pulses in a piece. this causes a musical effect for the notes to have a "swinging style". This can be heard in the piece "In the Mood",, tere is a swing effect woth the melody. Also swing music could have improvisation and this pieces features multiple soloists.
6) Bebop is a jazz dtule that features complex rhythms, rapid chord progressions, and fast tempos. it was popularized by jazz giants like Dizzie Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, etc. In the piece, "A Night in Tunisia", the elements of bebp are all featured here. For instance, the bassline plays a really fast tempo that accompanies the trumpets melody, the pianist is constantly moving from one chord progression to the next, and a lot of really rich melodies can be heard in the piece.
7) There are a lot of jazz elements used in the piece. For instance, one can hear a lot of swing in the winds and the strings, there are a lot of dissonant jazz chords, the pieces follows a blues progression. However, the piece was constructed in a fugue from , a practice that was used in the Baroque period (popularized by Bach) which is what makes this piece truly jazzical.
Jazz and Beyond Reasearch
Music In America: Jazz and Beyond - Chapter 24
History Of Jazz Overview
1. What is the connection between the title "Gumbo" and the history of Jazz?
Marsalis uses gumbo as to compare the blending of cultures in post colonial America. He states that, "You have all these things coming together and people who don't like each other but they have to deal with each other because they're living together, sharing this culture, sharing this like gumbo, you know, everyone's gotta eat some gumbo".
2. Jazz grew up in 1,000 places, but where was it born?
New Orleans in the early 1800s.
3. What other location besides Africa were slaves coming from?
Many other salves arrived to colonial America from the West Indies.
4. What was "Congo Square"?
In the french and Spanish colonial era of the 18th century, Africans that were enslaved were usually allowed to have Sundays off. During these days off, the salves would meet in public squares and backyards. It was a blending of various cultural groups in Colonial Louisiana that exchanged cultural ideas. The enslaved would set up a market, sing, dance, and play polyrhythmic music from various African and south American cultures.
5. Who were the Creoles and what did they represent?
The creoles were free people who were light skinned descendants of French and Spanish colonists who married black wives and mistresses. They identified as European, and looked down upon darker skin blacks, some even owned slaved. Many creoles were classically trained.
6. How did the abolition of slavery effect the birth of jazz?
The abolition made jazz music possible because African Americans could have the freedom to blend their musical styles with other cultures. Marsalis also states the abolition of slavery gave ex-slaves recognition and access to all forms of information in USA.
7. What two forms of jazz were born as a result of the Jim Crow segregation?
Ragtime and blues.
8. In what way did instruments begin to imitate voice?
Musicians like Sidney Bechet would use vibrato to imitate signing. Also, some musicians used their instruments to imitate animal sounds, (for an example, trumpeters would shake their pitches to make it sound like a horse neighing).
9. What musical element gave birth to Ragtime?
Syncopation is a big contributing factor to the creation of Ragtime. The left hand would play a straight-forward march-like rhythm while the right hand would accompany the left hand by playing syncopated melodies. Scott Joplin is referred to the "King of Ragtime".
10. Describe the structure of the blues.
Blues is one of the most prominent progressions in popular music. The progression is predominately based on the tonic, subdominant, and dominant chords of a key. Also, the blues can be played in any key desired.
11a. What was "Storyville"?
Storyville was a district located in New Orleans from 1897 to 1917. It soon became a centralized attraction in the heart of New Orleans.
11 b. How did it shape the style of jazz?
Storyville gave black and white musicians the opportunity to perform in brothels, saloons, cribs, and dance clubs. There were also very few regulations on what musicians could perform in brothels. For instance, clients in brothels tended to never be critical of the performance given to them. This gave the performers freedom to experiment with many different musical styles. Different influences would be combined, such as African, French, and contemporary. Performers like Jelly Roll Morton would play lots of ragtime and improvisational repertoire at brothels.
12. Describe the characteristics of Jelly Roll Morton's night life music.
Jelly Roll Morton's night life music consisted of playing in brothels at a young age. He started off playing ragtime to accompany the prostitute's choreography. As he got older, he fused elements of ragtime, blues, and improvisation in his music. Clients would give him tips if they enjoyed his music. Once his grandmother found out that he was playing at brothels, he was thrown out of his house and began traveling all over the country.
13. Provide trivia regarding the origin of the term 'Jass' and it's evolution known as 'Jazz'
Wynton Marsalis stated in the documentary that prostitutes used a jasmine scented perfume. The type of music that was played in brothels in the early twentieth century (ragtime, blues, etc) was dubbed with this name. The historians in the documentary state that no one knows for sure why 'Jass' evolved to 'Jazz', but it could simply be that 'Jazz' looked much cooler written that way.
14. Explain how Tin Pan Alley helped to support the popularity of Ragtime.
Tin Pan Alley was a location in Manhattan where a number of music publishers and songwriters set up shop in 1885. Because of this, publishers and performers popularized ragtime in the city, and it spread throughout the country.
15. Describe the circumstances behind the first recording of jazz music.
The first recording of jazz music occurred in the very early 20th century-when recording technology was severely limited. The group that was playing was asked to play fast so that they could fit all of the songs onto the record. This also probably meant that they were restricted from doing any form of soloing. In the recording, you can hear the instruments mimicking a lot of animal voices. For instance, the trumpet would mimic the neighing of a horse.
16. Paraphrase Wynton Marsalis's perspective on the connections between race, America and Jazz.
Marsalis compares race to a story. He says its like "...the thing in the mythology you have to do for the kingdom to be well, and its always something you don't want to do". He says that race has to be confronted with honesty and energy, and that since jazz music is at the center of American history, it necessarily deals with race. "The more we run from it, the more we run into it....".
History of Jazz Research
Ken Burns-Ken burns is an American filmmaker who has made several accomplished documentaries including Baseball, The Vietnam War, Prohibition, and Jazz. Jazz is a ten part series that discusses the marriage and growth of jazz music through the late 1890s to the 21st century. With six years in the making, Jazz includes more than 75 interviews with accomplished jazz musicians, critics, and writers; 500 pieces; and 2,400 pictures; and 2,000 movie clips.
Improvisation-One of the biggest misconceptions about jazz is that it is spun out of the air in an impromptu. What is actually happening is that jazz musicians are spontaneously creating a sophisticated form of theme and variations. The rhythmic section provides a rhythmic and harmonic basis while soloists improvise in a flexible framework (soloists can shorten or elongate the amount of time they improvise for). Even so, improvisation is not in every jazz piece composed. Songwriters like Duke Ellington and Eddie Sauter wrote pieces that excluded improvisation in it.
Roots
Anderson's Annex-the headquarters of Tom Anderson, where he controlled the brothel district of New Orleans. Around 1905, musicians of all color began giving casual performances at saloons, brothels, etc. This was a really fundamental beginning for jazz because music from different cultures were fused together by doing this.
Chicago-A five-piece white band from New Orleans arrived in Chicago for a six week engagement at a basement restaurant and cafe on May 13, 1915. The kind of music that was being played had already begun growing familiar in black neighborhoods, but the majority of white Chicagoans had never heard any jazz music before. However, the majority of the performances that "Brown's Band from Dixieland" gave were unsuccessful. Only the last few nights were seen as a success for the band before they broke apart and moved back to New Orleans. By the 1920s, Chicago was a very different place. Louis Armstrong made his way from New Orleans to Chicago, making $52.50 a week (he was only earning $1.50 a week in New Orleans). Armstrong was one of the many musicians who embarked on the "Great Migration", a ginormous exodus of blacks leaving the south to live in the north. Jazz was flourishing in Chicago at a rapid pace; and while it became increasingly popular, it also attracted detractors as well. During the 1920s, Chicago was still heavily segregated, so it was prohibited for whites and blacks to play together. Musicians of the opposite races would meet up in clubs after hours and play together. "...we found out that music is an auditory art, we didn't care what color you were or where, where you came from, its how you sound" says Milt Hinton.
Lincoln Gardens-Lincoln Gardens was an extremely popular concert venue located in Chicago where jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong would get their start. In 1918, the Original Creole Band, run by Bill Johnson, established the dance hall's reputation as a venue for jazz. A plethora of jazz performances were shown featuring New Orleans musicians such as King Oliver, Johnny Dodds, and Honore Dutrey.
New York-By the late 1920s, Jazz had found its home in New York City. New York was home to more blacks than any other northern city, including Chicago. A majority of the blacks in New York lived uptown in Harlem. There was many incentives to live in Harlem; Broadway and the record companies were only a subway ride away. The post-war years lead to the decline of jazz music in areas like 52nd street - jazz was replaced with strip clubs. By the time Elvis Presley arrived, a majority of jazz clubs had vanished (with exceptions, like Birdland and The Royal Roost). Even with this decline, there was still jazz clubs and groups that survived and fought this trend in the 1950s. Groups like the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet, Benny Goodman Sextet, and The Embers were all very popular jazz groups that flourished during this decline.
Savoy Ballroom-On March 12, 1926, The Savoy was opened by Harlem real estate businessmen Charles Buchanan, Moe Gale, and Charles Galewski. The interior of the building featured a gigantic dance floor (200 by 50 feet), a retractable stage, and two bandstands. It quickly became one of the most popular and influential dance floors in New York City. The ballroom had two bands that would play different sets, and this policy lead to events like "Battle of the Bands". On May 15, 1927, the Savoy put on a "Battle of Jazz" which featured Chick Webb's Harlem Stompers, King Oliver's Dixie Syncopators, and Henderson's Roseland Orchestra.
Minton's Playhouse-Henry Minton was a tenor saxophonist who established the jazz club "Minton's Playhouse" which was opened in 1938. This club was extremely influential in jazz music, it can be considered the birthplace of Bebop. Many jazz musicians took place in events at Minton's: Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Don Byas, Charlie Christian, and Thelonious Monk. The jam sessions and after hours playing allowed for musicians like Monk and Gillespie to experiment new concepts in jazz which played a major role in the development of bebop.
Cotton Club-The Cotton Club was one of the most popular and famous nightclubs of the 1920s and 1930s. When the venue was first opened, Andy Preer's Cotton Club Syncopators provided performances in the club. After Preer died in 1927, the Duke Ellington Orchestra took over until 1931, becoming one of the most celebrated jazz orchestras of the century. Other musicians and bands came along, like Cab Calloway and his Missourians, Jimmie Lunceford. The Cotton Club was really a significant jazz club because of how many jazz giants that were featured there: Louis Armstrong, Bill Robinson, Ivie Anderson, and the Nicholas Brothers.
Kansas City-In Missouri, Kansas City was an economic haven for migrants in the South and musicians searching for work. Prohibition in Kansas City was simply non existent. There was never any felony convection for violating the Volstead act, the law prohibiting transportation, manufacture, sale, and possession of alcohol. Musicians like saxophone player Lester Young had serious trouble finding work in the rest of the country, but was easily able to make a living in Kansas City. The musicians that became identified with Kansas City jazz came from everywhere: Lips Page from Dallas, Bill Basie from Red Bank, Jo Josie from Illinois, Jimmy Rushing from Oklahomah city, etc. As Albert Murray had written, the Kansas musicians had a way of dealing with the blues. "The KC drummer not only maintains that ever steady yet always flexible transcontinental locomotive, like the drive of the KC 4/4, he also behaves for all the world like a whip-cracking trail driver".
Reno Club-In the 1930s the Reno Club flourished but was unfortunately shut down for tax evasion in
1938. The clubs activities were segregated, and separate bars, dance floors, and dining areas were reserved for black and white patrons. In 1935, Count Basie had formed a nine-piece group and
gave constant performances. The club was as important for after-hours jam sessions by the many jazz musicians playing in the city at that time as it was for the
music that was played to entertain the clientele. Many night performances were broadcasted on radio.
Count Basie
Count Basie was a jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. He was born in Red Bank, New Jersey, on August 21, 1904. As a child, his mother gave him piano lessons. He was further influenced by Fats Waller and James P Johnson, with Waller teaching him organ-playing techniques. In the mid 1920s, Basie was performing in Kansas City with Walter Page's Blue Devils, which was seen as one of the pivotal moments in his jazz career. In 1935, Basie formed his own band "Barons of Rhythm" with some of his bandmates from Bennie Moten's big band, and performed with them at the Reno Club. He got the nickname "Count Basie" when a radio broadcaster wanted to give Basie's name some spice, and addressed Basie as "Count Basie". In the 1940s, Basie had a plethora of hits, like "One O' Clock Jump", and the orchestras signature tune was "Jumpin' at the Woodside". During the 1960s and 1970s, Basie recorded with quite a variety of jazz giants: Dizzie Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Oscar Peterson, etc. Overall, Basie earned over nine grammy awards, and was the first African American to receive a grammy (in 1958). Basie died from cancer on April 26, 1984. He remains as one of the most influential jazz composers and directors.
JOHN COLTRANE
John Coltrane was one of the most influential and controversial jazz composers. Despite having a short lived career (he died only when he was 40), he has had over 80 albums that have been made in the span of 60 years (many released after his death). After Coltrane graduated from high school, he performed in the U.S Navy Band in Hawaii. He joined the Dizzie Gillespie band which really sculpted his passion for experimentation. However, his work with the Miles Davis Quintet would lead to his own evolution in music. By the 1960s, Coltrane had already formed his own quartet where created some of the most expressive and innovative jazz albums and hits; Giant Steps, My Favorite Things, Interstellar Space, Africa Brass, and Impressions. He had been a heroin addict for a considerable amount of time, and died due to liver failure in 1967. Yet decades after departure, his music can still be heard in motion pictures and television. Many television and film scores have made references to Coltrane's artistry, like No Better Blues, The Cosby Show, Malcolm X, White Night, etc.
ella fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald was one of the most popular female jazz signers in the 20th century. She was born in Newport News, VA, on April 25, 1917. Her mother Temperance and her moved to Yonkers, NY, sometime when she was three years old. The apartment that Ella lived in was a mixed neighborhood where she made friends very easily. She played a lot of sports, enjoyed signing and dancing with her friends, and took trains to Harlem to watch performances at the Apollo Theatre. In 1932, her mother unfortunately died from a car crash, as well as her stepdad from a heart attack short after. She became increasingly unhappy, had her grades drop, and got into frequent trouble with the police. She was sent to a reform school and escaped when she was only 15, leaving her broke, homeless, and having no where to go. In 1934, Ella competed at the Apollo Theatre, dazzling the audience with her amazing voice. She quickly grew a large crowd of supporters and followers, she was constantly competing and winning talent shows every where she went. Chick Webb hired her in 1935 for $12.50 a week. In the later 1930s Fitzgerald was already recording her own albums. Some of her most famous albums include Ella and Louis, At the Opera House, and Fine and Mellow.
Billie Holiday
Just like Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday was a tremendously successful and talented jazz singer of the 20th century. Holiday grew up in Baltimore in the 1920s. She made her true signing debut in Harlem jazz clubs when her mother and her moved to New York City. She would sometimes sing with a piano accompanying her or other times work with a group of performers. Only at the age of 18, she was spotted by John Hammond and asked to partake in a recording with Benny Goodman and his band. In 1935 she got a big push for her career when some of her recordings became big hits, like "What a Little Moonlight Can Do", and "Miss Brown to You". She became the first black woman to work with a white orchestra when she joined Artie Shaw's band in 1938. Holiday recorded over 100 recordings with the label Verve, and made her final recordings in Europe in 1959. Unfortunately, Holiday died at the age of 44 from liver cirrhosis. She remains to this day as one of the most beloved and influential jazz singers of the century.
Glen Miller
Glenn Miller was an American jazz trombonist who was very popular in the early 20th century. He was born on the 1st of March, 1904, in Iowa. He traveled with his family constantly to new cities, so he became very fascinated with learning new instruments. He picked up the trombone after trading a mandolin for it, and played in his town band and high school after. Right after graduating high school, Miller joined the Boyd Senter Band, one of the many groups that he would join. While working with the Noble Orchestra, Miller began recording under his own name in New York City. In 1938, Miller had formed his own band and received an engagement at the Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle, New York. He started to record records such as "Tuxedo Junction" which became wildly successful and sold over 115,000 copies in the first week, earning his orchestra a performance at Carnegie Hall as well. In 1942, Miller received a gold record for the recording "Chattanooga Choo Choo" becoming one of the most successful recordings in history. Once he had quit his civilian life, Miller formed a Fifty Piece Army Air Force Band which he took to England in the Summer of 1944 and gave upwards of 800 performances. He died that year due to aviation accidents.
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