MUS 122 Midterm Review: Jazz and Blues History

Bessie Smith

classic/vaudeville blues singer

Ma' Rainey

classic/vaudeville blues singer, known as the 'mother of the blues'

Robert Johnson

country blues singer and guitarist

Frank and Irene Castle

white couple who tamed down some of the popular and risque dances to make them more acceptable to white audiences...helped spread ragtime into mainstream culture

James Reese Europe

Black bandleader and composer who worked with Frank and Irene Castle

Buddy Bolden

known as the first great jazz musician, cornetist, no recordings

Scott Joplin

pianist and the most famous ragtime composer

Joe 'King' Oliver

Highly influential cornetist and bandleader, taught Louis Armstrong and also had him in his band, known for his use of mutes

Freddie Keppard

cornet player, turned down the chance to make the first jazz record as he was worried his ideas would be stolen

Nick LaRocca

cornetist for Original Dixieland Jazz Band, claimed they had invented jazz

Jelly Roll Morton

early ragtime and jazz pianist, one of the first arrangers in jazz - writing down and notating parts which were played as written (not improvised)

Paul Whiteman

Composer of symphonic jazz, helped bring jazz into the concert hall and to white audiences, hired Fletcher Henderson as an arranger

Bing Crosby

singer for Paul Whiteman Orchestra, first full time vocalist with a jazz orchestra

Original Dixieland Jazz Band

all white band that recorded the first jazz record in 1917

James P. Johnson

father of stride piano, composed 'Carolina Shout,' 'You've Got to Be Modernistic' and 'Charleston' as well as classical pieces

Sidney Bechet

soprano saxophonist and clarinetist, New Orleans style

W.C. Handy

trumpet/cornet player first heard the blues in a Mississippi railroad station, called himself the father of the blues composed 'St Louis Blues'

Bix Beiderbecke

cornet soloist with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra

Coleman Hawkins

one of the first major TENOR saxophone soloists in jazz, featured soloist with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra

Duke Ellington

pianist, bandleader, one of the most significant American composers, often composed programmatic music (music which describes specific people, places, or events)

Country Blues

early genre of blues from the American South, most often solo male performer on vocals and guitar, loose form, lyrics consists of three-line stanzas with the first line repeated, the lyrics present a chronological account in first person

Classic/Vaudeville Blues

developed from country blues, most often female vocalist accompanied by a small band, strict 12-bar form, was primarily performed in theaters frequented by Black patrons

Scat singing

vocal technique where the singer improvises melodies using nonsense words

improvisation

creating and playing new melodies in the moment

Meter

how the beats are arranged in a measure

Syncopation

rhythms which accent the upbeats, or rhythms which seem to go against the meter

Pitch

refers to the frequency of a note (how low or high it is)

Vibrato

a shake in the pitch of an instrument or voice

Dynamics

refers to the volume of the music

Form

The structure or organization of a piece of music

chorus

One full cycle through a song form

Break

a brief moment where the rhythm section stops and a Single player improvises

Call and response

musical style where melodic statements by a soloist or group are followed by an answering melodic statement by another group or soloist

Field holler

solo vocalist, blues inflections, loose time

Work songs

musical style which incorporated call and response

Ballad

folk music which retells a lengthy story from local history

Timbre

tone quality

Minstrel shows

most popular form of entertainment in 19th century America, performed initially by white performers in black face but also later by Black performers, incorporated aspects of Black musical culture but invented and reinforced negative racial stereotypes

Jim Crow

minstrel character who's name would become synonymous with racial segregation

Original Dixieland Jazz Band

New Orleans band comprised only white musicians that recorded the first jazz album in 1917

Storyville

Red-light district of New Orleans where musicians (such as Jelly Roll Morton) would perform in clubs and brothels

Congo Square

where slaves were permitted to gather to dance and play music one day a week in New Orleans

Polyrhythm

two or more rhythms which when played together create a hybrid rhythm

Polyphony

multiple melodies happening simultaneously

Ragtime

term comes from 'ragged time,' dance music, compositions follow march forms, characterized by steady rhythm in the accompaniment (left hand) and syncopated melody (right hand)...often played on the piano

Collective improvisation

multiple players improvising simultaneously

New Orleans Style

first genre of jazz which originated in early 1900s New Orleans, in part thanks to the city's status as a major port with a diverse population...characterized by polyphony and collective improvisation

Front line

horn section of a New Orleans Style band - the trumpet/cornet plays the main melody, the Clarinet plays a higher, faster-moving melody, and the trombone plays a decorated bass line

Rhythm section

piano, banjo, bass/tuba, drums, guitar

Great Migration

refers to the movement of Blacks from the American south northward to try and escape racism and the oppression of the Jim Crow laws in the south - helped popularize jazz throughout the country

Prohibition

the period of time (1920-1933) in the US when alcohol was outlawed, resulted in an increased demand for music in speakeasies

stride piano

style of piano which came from ragtime - left hand plays steady rhythm alternating bass notes on beats 1 and 3 and chords on beats 2 and 4, right hand playing syncopated melodies, improvised

Tin Pan Alley

collection of composers and publishers active in NYC in the early 1900s, composers of the pop music of the day

Symphonic jazz

term coined by Paul Whiteman for his style - combining European musical elements with the New Orleans/Dixieland style

Blues

three part AAB form, originated in American south, popular to this day

Cotton Club

all-white club in NYC where Duke Ellington and his band had a residency 1927-1931

Louis Armstrong

vocals, cornet, bandleader; worked on Mississippi riverboats; soloist with Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, eventually left the group because Henderson wouldn't allow Armstrong to sing in the group; replaced his mentor Joe 'King' Oliver in Kid Ory's band; later traveled to Chicago to join Oliver's band; innovative rhythmic conception; leader of the Hot Five and Hot Seven; established the blues as the harmonic foundation for jazz; first artist to record a scat singing solo; Armstrong was the only figure in Western music to influence his era equally as a vocalist and instrumentalist; shifted the emphasis to individual solos as opposed to collective improvisation; outspoken Civil Rights activist, but was criticized by some for being too eager to please white audiences

Hot Five and Hot Seven

led by Louis Armstrong, several influential recording sessions; shift to full choruses of individual soloists instead of collective improvisation with individual solo breaks; single-theme choruses of popular songs replaced ragtime forms; helped jazz evolve from a group concept based on polyphony into a showcase for individual expression by soloists

Arpeggio

when the notes of a chord are played one a time in succession instead of all at once

Earl Hines

pianist known for extensive collaborations with Louis Armstrong, unique rhythmic style, use of tremelos and octaves, percussive right-hand technique

Tremelo

playing alternating quickly between notes on a piano, simulates the shakes/vibrato of horn players

cadenza

usually occurs at the beginning or end of a performance, a soloist plays completely unaccompanied for an undetermined amount of time, can be in or out of time (pulse can be present or disregarded)

Bix Beiderbecke

influential cornet soloist with the Paul Whiteman orchestra

Swing Era

1935-1945, swing was the MOST popular form of music in the US

Swing (genre)

performed primarily by big bands; features a balance of improvisation and composition; high energy dance music defined by a steady 4-beat groove; constant ¼ note pulse played by bass drum, string bass (walking bass line), and guitar; skip beat played by the ride cymbal

Lindy Hop

style of dancing developed by Black Americans in the swing era, associated with swing music and the Savoy Ballroom; couples dance, featured opportunities for individuals to improvise steps

Chick Webb

drummer, bandleader, led the Chick Webb Orchestra which was the house band at the Savoy Ballroom

Savoy Ballroom

popular dance hall in Harlem, NYC which allowed patrons of all races; where swing music and the Lindy Hop developed alongside each other; Chick Webb Orchestra was the house band

head arrangement

big band arrangement which was learned by ear (not written down); simple, riff-based melodies, backgrounds (behind soloists) are improvised on the spot; easily extendable (to accommodate the energy of the crowd/dancers)

soli

melodic lines in the style of a solo harmonized for an entire instrument section

shout chorus

the final, climactic section of a swing composition

Benny Goodman

clarinetist, swing-era bandleader (Benny Goodman Orchestra), led the first integrated jazz band to tour (Benny Goodman Trio)

Teddy Wilson

pianist in Benny Goodman Trio, first Black musician to tour with an integrated group (although he was always billed as a 'special guest')

John Hammond

NOT a musician, wealthy activist and patron of jazz, helped the career development of many prominent musicians/ensembles including the Benny Goodman Trio, Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, Count Basie, Bessie Smith

Other influential swing-era bandleaders

Artie Shaw, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Glenn Miller, Cab Calloway