1. Jazz in the USA

2. Roots of Jazz When Where Instruments Who Why 1850 and later
New Orleans
Instruments
Trumpet, Trombone, Clarinet, Saxophone, drums
Who
African Americans
Why
Jazz was real and basic human expression

3. Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton (1885-1941)
Key figure in early jazz
Pianist, Band Leader
Perfected the New Orlean’s jazz style “Dixieland”
Used Improvisation
Improvisation is making the music (solo) up as you go along OR “spontaneous musical invention”
Composed “Jelly Roll Blues” and “Black Bottom Stomp”
Had a diamond in his front tooth
Audio – CD14 track 18 – Black Bottom Stomp

4. Morton first used the term “JAZZ” in 1902.
Add photo – Jelly Roll Morton

5. The Jazz Age The 1920s were known as the “Roaring Twenties”
Teens shocked their parents by dancing the “Charleston” and the “Black Bottom”
New rhythmic patterns, more complex music
Video clip of dance?

6. Dixieland Jazz March-like Used 2/4 time signature
Instruments were trumpet, clarinet, trombone, piano, banjo/mandolin
Melody stands out, harmony is in the background
Used “Call and Response”
Improv sections were called “riffs” (jazz slang)
Audio – CD14 track 19 – When the Saints Go Marching In

7. The art of jazz…
…often takes and existing song and embellishes the melody.

8. Piano in Jazz Early Pianists Stride Style Eubie Blake James P. Johnson
Earl Hines
Stride Style
Steady, time-keeping, OOM-PA in LH
Embellished melody in RH

9. Stride Style Piano

10. The early pianists influenced:
Thomas “Fats” Waller
Art Tatum
Thelonious Monk

11. SWING
Swing is the new style of jazz during the 1920s and early 1930s.

12. Fletcher Henderson Lived from 1897-1952
Bandleader, composer, and arranger
Helped develop the swing style
Established the official instrumentation in the jazz band

13. Jazz Band Instrumentation
There are 3 sections in the jazz band:
Brass
3 Trumpets
2 Trombones (later 3)
Woodwinds (Reeds)
3-4 Saxophones (doubled on clarinet)
Rhythm
Drums
Piano
Guitar
Bass

14. Swing continued…
Henderson’s arrangements used “Call and Response” form.
Sections took turns “speaking” to each other during the music.
SOLO playing was emphasized
Solo – Ensemble – Solo – Ensemble was called “antiphonal” style.

15. Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong (1901-1971)
Played trumpet in Henderson’s band
Turned Henderson’s band into a swing band
Given credit for creating swing in USA
Established the standard for solo jazz playing
Was a vocalist in addition to trumpet

16. Scat Singing Vocal Improvisation Uses nonsense syllables Spontaneous
In the 1920s, jazz evolved into a sectional form with full ensemble alternating with solo sections.
Compositions were built on a blues tune and segmented into 12 or 16 measure sections. Most tunes were 32 measures long and included a 2 measure break.
Break – improv by a musician between ensemble sections.

17. Big Band Era Historic events of 1929-1930s
Wall St. Crash
Great Depression
WWII (united Americans)
Swing music popular
Radio promoted music
Motion pictures (entertainment)
Big band era began in mid 1930s and lasted until the end of the 1940s.

18. Teenagers and Dance Abandoned fox trots and waltzes
Danced the jitterbug and lindy hop
The jazz bands of the 1930s were called “Dance Orchestras.”

19. Swing/Big Band Musicians
Fletcher Henderson
Count Basie (piano)
Duke Ellington
Tommy Dorsey
Benny Goodman “King of Swing” – clarinet
Stan Kenton
Glenn Miller

20. The Saxophone in Jazz
By 1935, the saxophone replaced the clarinet as a solo jazz instrument.
Important saxophone soloists:
Coleman Hawkins
Lester Young
Charlie Parker

21. Lester Young One of the greatest saxophonists
Member of the Count Basie Orchestra in Kansas City
Showed the saxophone was lyrical
Influenced Charlie Parker

22. Jazz in the 1940s Style was bop or bebop Started in Harlem
Function was listening – not dancing
Two important musicians
John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie - trumpet
Charlie “Yardbird” Parker – alto saxophone

23. Changes to Jazz in the 1940s More complex More chromatic Faster tempos
More difficult music
Jazz is an ART, not just entertainment.

24. Women in Jazz Ella Fitzgerald Sarah Vaughan Billie Holliday
All vocalists – used scat singing in jazz.

25. 1950s Jazz Reaction against bebop because it was too complex
Older forms were revived – Dixieland and Ragtime
Miles Davis – played trumpet and experimented with modal jazz.
Modal jazz used scales other than major or minor.

26. 1950s Jazz Continued… Thelonious Monk – played piano
Progressive or “COOL” Jazz
Started in the 1950s on the West Coast
More simple melody and rhythm than bop
Stan Getz, Miles Davis, Stan Kenton
Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane (saxophone) led a wave of “hard bop” – more diverse styles.

27. 1960s and 1970s
Not many developments in jazz due to the explosion of Rock n Roll
Fusion – style of music which merged rock and jazz

28. Jazz today… 1990s – Acoustic Jazz No one style dominates
All styles from the past co-exist, especially fusion
Performers: Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Pat Methany Group, Yellowjackets