Jazz History of Jazz

Typical Instruments Vocals Piano Banjo Guitar Double bass Trumpet Trombone Saxophone Tuba Clarinet Flute Bass guitar Drum kit Vibraphone

Characteristics of Jazz Because it spans music from over 100 years now, jazz can be very difficult to define While jazz is difficult to define, many can agree on a few common characteristics: Swing notes Blue notes Improvising Syncopation

Characteristics of Jazz Syncopation: when the rhythm falls between beats Swing notes: when the first note in a pattern is held longer than traditionally to create alternating long and short sounds Blue notes: notes lowered slightly from their normal major placement for expression Improvising: reacting and creating in the moment, instead of beforehand

Beginnings of Jazz The roots of jazz reach back to African-American slaves, who did call and response songs on the fields New Orleans slaves would hold festivals where there would be dancing, drumming, and singing New Orleans became the hub for African and Afro-Caribbean music infusion into culture White minstrels began taking the rhythmic and melodic characteristics, putting on “blackface,” and performing for white audiences

Beginnings of Jazz Black churches began being influenced by the chord progressions from Christian hymnals Musicians making secular music began being influenced by the music in the churches- this led to blues In the early 19th century an increasing number of black musicians learned to play European instruments, which they used to parody European dance music in their own dances

Congo Square in New Orleans In Louisiana's French and Spanish colonial era of the 18th century, slaves were commonly allowed Sundays off from their work. They were allowed to gather in the "Place Congo” at the "back of town" (across Rampart Street from the French Quarter), where the slaves would set up a market, sing, dance, and play music. Congo Square in New Orleans

Other Influences Cuban music began influencing African-American music A twice-daily ferry used to run between Havana, Cuba and New Orleans- musicians would ride back and forth to learn from and perform with each other The habanera was a rhythmic pattern that heavily influenced early jazz genres

Early Jazz Genres- 1890-1910 The abolition of slavery led to new opportunities for the education of freed African Americans. Although strict segregation limited employment opportunities for most blacks, many were able to find work in entertainment. Black musicians were able to provide "low-class" entertainment in dances, minstrel shows, and in vaudeville, by which many marching bands formed. Black pianists played in bars and clubs as ragtime developed

Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag and The Entertainer The classically trained pianist Scott Joplin and the acknowledged "king of ragtime" produced his "Original Rags" in the following year, then in 1899 had an international hit with "Maple Leaf Rag".  Joplin wrote numerous popular rags, including, "The Entertainer", combining right hand syncopation, banjo figurations and sometimes call-and- response. Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag and The Entertainer

Blues Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century. Originated from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads. W.C. Handy, an out of work African American, created the “St. Louis Blues” and “Memphis Blues”

Dixieland Based in New Orleans; also known as New Orleans Jazz Early jazz performers began in bars of the red-light district around Basin St. Used the instruments in marching band and dance swing bands Small bands mixing self-taught and well educated African American musicians, many of whom came from the funeral-procession tradition of New Orleans, played a key role in the development and dissemination of early jazz, traveling throughout Black communities in the Deep South Musicians playing in vaudeville shows took jazz to western and northern US cities

From Ragtime to Jazz Jelly Roll Morton was a very influential musician that changed the term from “Ragtime” to Jazz He began in New Orleans, then began touring with vaudeville shows In 1938, Morton said, “Now in one of my earliest tunes, “New Orleans Blues,” you can notice the Spanish tinge. In fact, if you can’t manage to put tinges of Spanish in your tunes, you will never be able to get the right seasoning, I call it, for jazz”  He was a crucial innovator in the evolution from ragtime to jazz piano. Morton could perform pieces in either style. Morton's solos were still close to ragtime, and were not merely improvisations over chord changes, as with later jazz.

Swing Jelly Roll Morton loosened the rhythms from ragtime, leading to swing Swing is the most important, and enduring African-based rhythmic technique used in jazz. Louis Armstrong’s definition of swing is: "if you don't feel it, you'll never know it.“ Armstrong popularized the New Orleans style of trumpet playing, and then expanded it. Like Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong is also credited with the abandonment of ragtime's stiffness, in favor of swung notes. Armstrong, perhaps more than any other musician, codified the rhythmic technique of swing in jazz, and broadened the jazz solo vocabulary

“Basin Street Blues” 1959 “La Vie En Rose” 1946 Louis Armstrong

The Jazz Age- 20s&30s Prohibition in the United States (from 1920 to 1933) banned the sale of alcoholic drinks, resulting in illicit speakeasies becoming lively venues of the "Jazz Age“ The Jazz Age was an era when popular music included current dance songs, novelty songs, and show tunes. Jazz started to get a reputation as being immoral and many members of the older generations saw it as threatening the old values in culture.

The Jazz Age The 1930s belonged to popular swing big bands, in which some virtuoso soloists became as famous as the band leaders. Key figures in developing the "big" jazz band included bandleaders and arrangers Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Artie Shaw. Swing was also dance music.

Into the 40s By the 1940s, Duke Ellington's music transcended the bounds of swing, bridging jazz and art music in a natural synthesis. Ellington called his music "American Music" rather than jazz, and liked to describe those who impressed him as "beyond category.“

Bebop In the early 1940s bebop-style performers began to shift jazz from danceable popular music towards a more challenging "musician's music." The most influential bebop musicians included saxophonist Charlie Parker, pianist Bud Powell, trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, and drummer Max Roach.  Since bebop was meant to be listened to, not danced to, it could use faster tempos

From the 30s to the 60s Afro-cuban jazz Dixieland revival Cool jazz Hard bop Modal jazz Free jazz

60s and 70s Latin Jazz Bossa Nova Post-bop Soul Jazz African Inspired Jazz-rock fusion Psychedelic jazz Jazz Funk

80s to Now In the 1980s, the jazz community shrank dramatically and split.  The divide was between traditional jazz and experimental jazz Wynton Marsalis- traditional Cuong Vu- experimental

Smooth Jazz In the early 80s, smooth jazz began to become popular A fusion of pop and jazz The most widely played tracks are in the 90–105 BPM range; “downtempo” Branched from Miles Davis’ music Smooth jazz And then there’s this… And this…

80s to Now Jazz rap Nu Jazz Punk jazz M-base