Jazz Appreciation Semester Summary Exam

Early Jazz Features (3)

• Collective improvisation in the front line

• Old recording sound

• Unique instrumentation

Swing features (3)

• The big band

• Music for dancing (swing rhythmic feel)

• Jazz’s most popular era

Bebop features (2)

• Fast tempos

• Tension in melody and improvisations

Cool jazz features (2)

• Restrained, passive solos

• Fewer blues inflections (vs. hard bop)

Hard bop features (3)

• Blues + bebop

• Gospel influences

• Celebration of African-American culture

Modal jazz features (1)

• One chord for a long period of time

Free jazz features (3)

• Missing one or more musical features (form, tempo, harmony)

• Collective improvisation in all instruments

• Turbulence/revolt of Civil Rights Movement expressed in music

Fusion jazz features (3)

• Rhythmic rock grooves

• Electronic instrument sounds

• Jazz + rhythms from other cultures (e.g. flamenco)

Neoclassical jazz features (1)

• Return to acoustic roots

Early jazz instrumentation

• Front line: clarinet, trumpet, trombone

• Rhythm section: sometimes banjo and tuba

Swing instrumentation

Big band (5 saxophones, 4-5 trumpets, 4-5 trombones, rhythm section)

Bebop instrumentation

• Front line: alto saxophone, trumpet

• Rhythm section: piano, bass, drums

Hard bop instrumentation

• Front line: tenor saxophone, trumpet

• Rhythm section: piano, bass, drums

Fusion instrumentation

Electronic instruments (electric bass, electric guitar, Fender Rhodes electric piano, synthesizer)

Neoclassical instrumentation

Acoustic instruments

Improvisation

Creation of a melody in the moment

Melody

Series of single pitches

Jazz slang for melody

Head

Chord

Three or more pitches sounded at the same time

Harmony

Chord progression (order of chords in a song)

Jazz slang for harmony

Changes

Form

Overall structure of a piece of music (e.g. blues, AABA)

Blues form

• 12 bars

• 3 4-measure phrases: statement, repetition, commentary

AABA form

• 32 bars

• 4 8-measure phrases: A A B A

Chorus

Once through the form of a song

Swing rhythmic feel

• Uneven 8th notes

• Walking bass

• Drums play swing rhythmic pattern

Even 8th rhythmic feel

• Even 8th notes in drums and other instruments

• Repetitive bass line

Cross-rhythm

• One rhythmic grouping placed on top of another

• Creates tension and syncopation

Sheets of sound

Rapid scales and arpeggios used by John Coltrane

Collective improvisation

• Multiple instruments improvising at once

• Early jazz: only the front line

• Free jazz: all instruments

Break

Rhythm section stops; soloist continues

Early jazz decade

1920s

Swing decade

1930s

Bebop decade

1940s

Cool decade

1950s

Hard bop decade

Late 1950s-early 1960s

Free jazz decade

1960s

Modal jazz decade

1960s

Fusion jazz decade

1970s

Neoclassical jazz decade

1980s

Louis Armstrong instrument

Trumpet

Louis Armstrong era

Early jazz

Duke Ellington instrument

Piano/composer

Duke Ellington era

Swing

Charlie Parker nickname

Bird

Charlie Parker instrument

Alto saxophone

Charlie Parker era

Bebop

Miles Davis instrument

Trumpet

John Coltrane instrument

Tenor saxophone

John Coltrane eras

Modal/free

4 categories of Duke Ellington recordings

• Jungle music

• Standards

• Mood music

• Extended form

Ellington’s jungle music description

• Exotic sounds

• Played at the Cotton Club during the Great Depression

• Growling sounds in brass instruments

• Use of plungers

• Low sounds: tom toms, baritone saxophone

Ellington’s jungle music song example

“Ko-Ko”

Ellington’s standards description

• More popular songs; supported other Ellington endeavors

• 1940s

• Danceable

• Often blues or AABA form

Ellington’s standards song examples (4)

• “Satin Doll”

• “Don’t Mean a Thing”

• “Take the A-Train”

• “Perdido”

Ellington’s mood music description

• Dreamy quality; tranquil atmosphere

• Slow tempos

• Many textures through combinations of instruments, mutes, and other arranging devices

Ellington’s mood music song examples (3)

• “Melancholia”

• “Mood Indigo”

• “Prelude to a Kiss”

Ellington’s extended form description

• Lengthy works about a particular subject or theme

• Multi-movement

Ellington’s extended album & song examples (5)

• Sacred Concert

• Such Sweet Thunder

  • “Madness in Great Ones” (story of Hamlet)

• Far East Suite

• The New Orleans Suite

• Ellington at Newport

  • “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue”

Miles Davis improvisation characteristics (4)

• Use of harmon mute

• Little/no vibratto

• “Less is more” — use of space

• Motivic development

Miles Davis categories (5)

• Cool

• Hard bop

• Modal

• Free/fusion

• Post-retirement fusion

Miles Davis Cool era description

• Worked with arranger Gil Evans on 5 albums 1949-64

• Long, dense sounds with muted colors

Miles Davis Cool era recordings (3)

• Birth of the Cool

• Porgy and Bess

  • “Summertime”

• Sketches of Spain

  • “Saeta” (extended form depiction the Passion of Christ)

Miles Davis Hard Bop description

• 1st Great Quintet (1950s)

  • Included John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley at various points

• Prestige Records sessions (4 albums in 2 days)

Miles Davis Hard Bop recordings (5)

• Workin’

• Steamin’

• Cookin’

• Relaxin’

• Milestones

  • “Straight, No Chaser”

Miles Davis Modal era description

• “Kind of Blue” solidified and defined Modal Jazz

  • Bill Evans on piano

• Second Great Quintet (1960s)

  • Blurred lines between Free and Modal jazz

Miles Davis Modal era recordings (3)

• Kind of Blue

  • “So What”

  • “Flamenco Sketches”

• E.S.P.

• Miles Smiles

  • “Freedom Jazz Dance”

Miles Davis Free/Fusion category

• Modal quintet experimented

  • More players

  • Electronic instruments

  • Free portions

• Recording studio as a creative device (producer Teo Macero)

• Some critics accused Davis of “abandoning his art”

Miles Davis Free/Fusion recordings (2)

• Bitches Brew

• In a Silent Way

Miles Davis Post Retirement Fusion description

• Rehearsed and precise

• Mixed reactions but strong record sales

• Miles became more gregarious

• Wrote soundtracks to 4 movies

Miles Davis Post Retirement Fusion recordings (1)

• We Want Miles

  • “Jean Pierre”