Jazz History Lecture Notes Flashcards

A set of question-and-answer flashcards covering origins of jazz, Swing Era, bebop, cool jazz, and South African jazz history for exam review.

What cultural blend in New Orleans helped give birth to jazz in the early 1900s?

A mix of African, Caribbean, French, Spanish, and Creole cultures in the port city.

What was Congo Square’s role in early jazz history?

A place in New Orleans where enslaved people could play music on Sundays, preserving African musical traditions that shaped jazz.

Which two U.S. musical styles were direct predecessors of jazz?

Ragtime and the Mississippi Delta blues.

In jazz, what is syncopation?

Accenting the off-beats to create rhythmic surprise.

Describe the 12-bar blues form.

A I–IV–V chord progression repeated over 12 measures.

Name the three instruments in the early New Orleans ‘front line.’

Trumpet (or cornet), clarinet, and trombone.

What was the trombone’s typical role in early jazz ensembles?

Filling in harmonies with a slide ‘tailgate’ style beneath the melody.

How did Louis Armstrong revolutionize jazz performance?

He shifted the focus from collective improvisation to virtuosic solo improvisation.

What is scat singing, popularized by Armstrong?

Vocal improvisation using nonsensical syllables to imitate instruments.

Which Armstrong groups placed the soloist at the center of jazz recordings?

The Hot Five and Hot Seven.

Why was Harlem important to jazz in the 1920s-30s?

It became the cultural heart of Black America, making jazz a symbol of freedom and intellect during the Harlem Renaissance.

Name a famous segregated venue where Black musicians played for white patrons in Harlem.

The Cotton Club.

How did Duke Ellington elevate jazz as an art form?

Through sophisticated compositions and orchestrations such as “Mood Indigo,” bringing jazz into concert-hall settings.

List three defining musical traits of the Swing Era.

Large big bands, arranged charts with call-and-response, and a refined 4/4 swing feel with walking bass.

Into which three sections is a swing big band divided?

Brass, reeds, and rhythm section.

What is a walking bass line?

One note per beat outlining chord changes, creating forward motion.

Which rhythm-section instrument replaced the banjo in swing for a smoother sound?

The rhythm guitar.

Who was the first major bandleader to integrate Black and white musicians on tour?

Benny Goodman.

What characterized Count Basie’s piano and band style?

Minimalist piano, relaxed swing, and riff-based arrangements with space for the rhythm section.

Which Glenn Miller hit exemplified commercial swing’s popularity?

“In the Mood.”

How did authoritarian regimes such as Nazi Germany react to jazz?

They condemned or banned it as ‘degenerate’ and racially impure.

Name one South African music style shaped by swing and bebop.

Marabi or kwela.

Define monophonic texture and give a jazz example.

A single melodic line without harmony—as in Louis Armstrong’s trumpet cadenza on “West End Blues.”

What is the difference between polyphonic and homophonic textures in early jazz vs swing?

Early New Orleans jazz used polyphonic collective improvisation, while swing big bands favored homophonic melody with chordal backing.

State the time periods for Early Jazz and the Swing Era.

Early Jazz ≈1900–1930; Swing Era ≈1935–1945.

How did the primary function of jazz shift from Early Jazz to Swing?

From street-parade social expression to dance-oriented entertainment in ballrooms.

Which Harlem venue nurtured bebop jam sessions in the 1940s?

Minton’s Playhouse.

Give two hallmark musical characteristics of bebop.

Fast tempos with complex chord changes and emphasis on virtuosic improvisation.

What was Charlie Parker’s key contribution to jazz improvisation?

Treating chord changes as harmonic canvases, using substitutions and advanced bebop vocabulary.

What song form underlies Parker & Gillespie’s “Anthropology”?

A 32-bar AABA form based on “I Got Rhythm” chord changes (Rhythm Changes).

List two typical musical features of Cool Jazz.

Softer dynamics and greater emphasis on arrangement/counterpoint (or moderate tempos, modal harmony, spacious phrasing).

Which album is considered the birth of Cool Jazz?

Miles Davis’s “Birth of the Cool” (recorded 1949–50).

How do typical tempos differ between bebop and cool jazz?

Bebop is very fast, while Cool Jazz ranges from moderate to slow.

What is marabi in South African music?

A repetitive, dance-oriented township piano style that paralleled ragtime and early swing.

Who were the Jazz Epistles?

A pioneering South African bebop group featuring Kippie Moeketsi, Hugh Masekela, Abdullah Ibrahim, and others.

Which 1960 event intensified South African jazz exile and protest music?

The Sharpeville Massacre and subsequent censorship crackdown.

Name Abdullah Ibrahim’s 1974 piece often called South Africa’s unofficial resistance anthem.

“Mannenberg.”

What is the ironic message behind the song “Meadowlands”?

Although sounding cheerful about relocation, it sarcastically protests forced removals from Sophiatown.

How did apartheid censorship shape South African jazz lyrics?

Artists used double meanings, metaphors, and irony to convey protest without triggering bans.