1. Jazz
Unit 8

2. Origins of Jazz
Jazz is a style of music invented in America that originated from African American communities in New Orleans, Louisiana.
It is considered to be the only style of music that is 100% American.
While there are other styles of music that originated in America, such as Country and Rock and Roll, they were influenced by other styles of music that were not American, where as Jazz was influenced by the daily struggles that African Americans faced during the 1800s.

3. Blues One of the first styles of Jazz was Blues.
Blues is a style of music that originated from African American slave songs and spirituals, rural music that captured the suffering, anguish, and hopes of 300 years of slavery.
It was usually played by traveling solo musicians on acoustic guitar, piano, or harmonica at weekend parties and picnics.

4. Blues
At first, Blues was just performed, not written down or published.
Blues was not discovered by the mass public until it was discovered by W.C. Handy.
Handy was an African American leader of a dance orchestra who first heard Blues music while waiting for a train in Mississippi.
He fell asleep on a wooden bench and woke up to a man playing a guitar with a knife. The man was singing about “goin’ where the Southern cross the dog”.
Turns out, the railroad tracks of the Yazoo and Mississippi Railroad, known by the locals as the Yellow Dog, crossed the tracks of the Southern Railroad in Moorehead, where the musician was headed. He decided to put it into a song while waiting on his train.

5. Blues
In 1912, Handy made blues known to the public by being the first to transcribe and publish sheet music for the blues song “Memphis Blues”.
8 years later, listeners snapped up over a million copies of “Crazy Blues” by Mamie Smith, the first African American female to record a blues vocal.
This unexpected success lead the way for other Blues singers to introduce the style to a wider range of listeners.

6. Blues
While the Blues might not be as popular today as it was in the early 1900’s, it has played a very important role in the influence and creation of some of the most popular music today, such as Rock and Roll and Soul Music, which later went on to influence pop music of today.

7. Ragtime Originated from African American music of the late 1800’s.
Ragtime is usually a played on piano and has fast moving sections with a jazzy feel to them.
This style is what helped influence the Jazz style we know today.
One of the most well known Ragtime performers was Scott Joplin.
One of his most popular and well known pieces is his “Maple Leaf Rag”.

8. New Orleans Jazz
New Orleans had a huge effect on the creation of early Jazz.
Many Jazz performers played in many venues around the city as “dance bands”.
There were also marching bands that played at lavish funerals, known as Jazz Funerals.

9. New Orleans Jazz Setup
New Orleans style Jazz Bands became the basic instrumentation for Jazz.
Instruments included:
Brass:
Trumpets, Trombone, Tuba (sometimes)
Reeds:
Saxophone and Clarinet
Drums

10. Jazz Instruments Trumpet Trombone
Saxophone (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Baritone)
Clarinet
Drums

11. New Orleans
Small bands mixed self-taught and highly trained African american Musicians.
Many of these musicians came from the funeral processions of New Orleans.
These bands played an important role in the development and spreading of early Jazz.
These bands would traveled throughout the deep South and played in Vaudeville shows which took Jazz to Western and Northern U.S. Cities.

12. Swing The most important rhythmic technique used in Jazz.
This style is taken from African American music and is based off of an African beat pattern.
Swing changed Jazz from the stiffness of Ragtime and made it smoother and a more relaxed style of music.

13. Swing

14. Louis Armstrong Jazz Trumpet player.
Popularized the New Orleans style of trumpet playing, and began to expand it.
He is also credited with abandoning the stiffness of Ragtime and began to favor the swing style of playing.
Armstrong codified the rhythmic technique of swing in Jazz and broadened the Jazz solo vocabulary more than any other musician.

15. Louis Armstrong
Armstrong was also known for his growling voice and he is also one of the inventors of “scat singing”.
Scat singing is a vocal improvisation with wordless, nonsense syllables.
In this style, the singers improvises melodies, using his or her voice as an instrument.
His scat singing is demonstrated in his rendition of “Dinah”, his smooth trumpet playing is demonstrated in his song “Someday”, and unique voice are demonstrated in his most famous song, “What A Wonderful World”.

16. The Jazz Age: 1920’s
From , new prohibition laws prevented the sale of alcoholic drinks, resulting in the illicit “speakeasies”.
These became lively venues for musicians, especially in Jazz.
This actually caused people to try and degenerate Jazz, however, the industry remained strong and popular among many Americans.

17. Orchestral Jazz
Despite its African American origins, there was a larger market for Jazz music for white orchestras.
In 1918, Paul Whiteman and his orchestra became a hit in San Francisco, which caused him to become one of the top band leaders during the 1920’s.
One of the most famous pieces that Whiteman commissioned for his orchestra was “Rhapsody In Blue” composed by George Gershwin.
This song has become a staple within the Jazz industry, and has been used by Disney and as the theme song for American Airlines. It was also used in the 2013 movie” The Great Gatsby”

18. Big Band Swing Jazz in the 1930’s belonged to “Big Bands”.
In Big Bands, virtuoso solo performers would become as famous, if not more, than the actual band leader.
In some cases, the virtuoso soloist was the band leader.
Some of these groups include Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, and Benny Goodman

19. Big Band Swing “Marie” by Tommy Dorsey “In The Mood” by Glenn Miller
“Sing, Sing, Sing” by Benny Goodman
Big band swing was also dance music as was played a lot at large events and in nightclubs in large cities.

20. Big Band Swing Vocal
Big Band Swing also made way for Jazz vocalists to emerge.
These singers were known for their smooth voices.
Some Jazz vocalists were: Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Tony Bennet and Frank Sinatra.

21. “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall In Love)” by Ella Fitzgerald
“Unforgettable” by Nat King Cole
“The Good Life” by Tony Bennet
Tony Bennet, the only artist in this list still living, still performs today. He has also helped renew vocal Jazz music when he collaborated with Lady GaGa on his latest album, “Cheek To Cheek”

22. Frank Sinatra
Probably the most successful and famous male Jazz vocalist ever.
He was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants.
He began his singing career with big band leaders Tommy Dorsey and Harry James.
He found solo success when he signed with Columbia Records in 1943.
He Left to begin his own Record Label, Reprise Records, in 1960, and released many successful albums.

23. Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra is one of the best selling artists of all time, selling over 150 million records worldwide.
Some of his most well-known songs include: “Fly Me To The Moon”, “The Best Is Yet To Come”, and “You Make Me Feel So Young”
He also starred on Television specials with other Jazz singers, especially with Dean Martin. Here is a clip of the two of them singing together.

24. Modern Jazz Singers
There are still a few artist today that sing the old Jazz standards.
Three of the most popular are Michael Buble, Harry Connick, Jr., and Leslie Odom, Jr.

25. Michael Buble
Born in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada on Sept. 9, 1975
He has won several awards, including 4 Grammys and multiple Juno Awards.
Some of his songs include covers of Jazz standards sang by Sinatra and other Jazz artist, but he also has a few original Pop/Jazz songs, including “Just haven’t Met You Yet” and “It’s a Beautiful Day”
Some of his Jazz Standards include “All Of Me” and “Sway”

26. Harry Connick, Jr. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Sept 11, 1967.
He is a singer, big band leader, talk show host and actor.
He was also a former judge on the hit singing competition American Idol.
He normally sings Jazz standards, but he has also written a few original songs. However, his style is more like the Jazz standards, not Pop like Buble.
Some of his songs include “One Fine Thing” and “All The Way”

27. Leslie Odom, Jr.
Born in Queens, New York City, New York, on August 6, 1981.
He is a singer and actor, and recently starred in the Broadway Musical, Hamilton.
He is the newest of Jazz singers to emerge today, with his debut album having been released in 2014.
Some of his songs include “Autumn Leaves” and “Joey, Joey, Joey”

28. Jazz Music in Pop Music
While Jazz might not be as popular today as it was in the 1920’s and 1930’s, it still has a lot of influence on modern music today.
Some artist use this old style of Jazz to influence their singing styles and songs.
One example is “Sunday Morning” by Maroon 5
This song has elements of smooth jazz with a Pop vocal.

29. Jazz in Pop Music
Another example of Jazz influence in modern Pop music is “Dear Future Husband” by Meghan Trainor.
Trainor tends to let 1950’s Rock and Jazz influence her songs.
This live performance actually features a musical segment from the Jazz standard “In The Mood” by the Glenn Miller Orchestra.