Jazz Music

pages 57-60

Jazz and classic blues

early 20th century black music innovations

certain characteristics have their roots in much earlier musical traditions

jazz music

sprang from post-slavery African-American culture

Origin of Jazz

is unknown

however formerly used as a nonmusical American slang term

creator of ragtime

Jelly Roll Morton and Scott Joplin

Jelly Roll Morton

self-proclaimed “Inventor of Jazz”

Ragtime

one of the earliest form of Jazz

Early Jazz

made use of big brass bands that consist of trombone, trumpet, and saxophone

Artie Shaw, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller

played swing music which gained popularity back then

Louis Armstrong

unquestionably the most important single force in the development of early jazz styles

Elements of Jazz Music

Musical Elements	Characteristics
Rhythm	strong but flexible syncopated rhythms swing style - asymmetrical 8th notes accents on up beats
Melody	improvisation use of blue scale blue notes (lowered 5th degree scale) uses bent notes (notes combinations that can be made on piano)
Harmony	Highly Sophisticated
Form	Uniquely American
Dynamics	Extreme Experimenting on new sounds Emotional timbre

Other Forms of Jazz

1. bepop

2. ragtime

3. big band

4. jazz rock

bebop

jazz style that featured complex melodies and chord progressions and was basically not adaptable to dancing

more art music than entertainment

Scat

nonsense syllables sung to an improvised melody became the rage

Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie

generally considered to be the “Father of ____”

Ragtime (2)

truly an African-American music

cakewalks, coon songs, and jig band music transformed into this

multi-themed, hard, bright, vibrant, enthusiastic, and often extemporaneous

Early Ragtime Music

frequently regarded as the founding base of jazz styles

Scott Joplin

one of the most famous composers of ragtime music

Big Band

jazz music that consists of 10 or more musicians who use at least three trumpets, four or more saxophones, two or more trombones, and some combination of bass, drums, guitar, and piano

Big Band (2)

high-energy jazz style that packed the dance floors

Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington

leaders at the height of this moment

Jazz Rock

hybrid fusion of jazz and rock in the late 1960s and early 1970s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with styles such as funk, rock, rhythm and blues, and Latin jazz

Jazz Rock (2)

also known as jazz fusion

uses mixed meters, odd time signatures syncopation, and complex chords and harmonies, and includes a number of electric instruments

Jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton

may be considered as an “innovator” of this musical genre