Jazz

Timbre

tone color

Beat

pulse

Tempo

the speed of the pulse

Meter

number of beats per measure

Syncopation

unexpected accents

Stop time

accompaniment stops to highlight soloist

Polyrhythm

combination of contrasting rhythms; layers of rhythms/instruments

Rubato

free tempo

Swing

Danceable, groove, uneven rhythm

Scales

collection of notes

chords

two or more simultaneous notes

chord changes

progressing from chord to chord

blues form

AAB, African poetry, 12-bar

32-bar popular song form

AABA, Broadway

Work Song

A song sung to match the rhythm of the work

Field holler

loose rhythm, personal expression, communication

Spiritual

stylized religious song

Country/Delta blues

singer/guitar/loose form, MS delta

Vaudeville Blues

singer with band, 12 bars

Race records

records for African Americans by African Americans which later became R and B

Minstrelsy

caricatures and stereotypes of slaves as entertainment

Ragtime

syncopated piano music, or a way to improvise on existing tunes

Brass bands

community bands, gave jazz instrumentation and musical form

"French Quarter" Creoles v "Uptown" black people

creoles - more educated/skilled trained musicians, catholic; "uptown" less educated, more African influence in music

Jim Crow

minstrelsy character, segregationist laws

New Orleans/Dixieland style

early jazz, clarinet/cornet/trombone/bass/chording instrument/percussion, collective improvisation

Collective improvisation

polyphonic improvisation (everyone simultaneously)

Great Migration

movement of population from south to north

Symphonic jazz

smoother, more orchestral version of jazz (pop songs with jazz leanings)

Tim Pan Alley

NYC location of songwriters

Stride piano

early jazz piano style LH "strides"

The Cotton Club

Harlem club where Ellington performed

Robert Johnson

delta blues man, sold soul to devil for music abilities

W.C. Handy

Father of the Blues
"St. Louis Blues" large brass band

Ma Rainey

early Vaudeville blues singer

Lovie Austin

pianist/composer/bandleader, played on the vaudeville circuit

Bessie Smith

"Empress of the Blues" most popular blues diva of the era

Scott Joplin

Ragtime composer, Maple Leaf Rag

Buddy Bolden

early jazz trumpeter, first notable jazz musician, unique style, loud

Original Dixieland Jazz Band

first jazz recording 1917 (Dixie Jazz Band One-Step and Livery Stable Blues)

Jelly Roll Morton

First great composer and piano player, King Porter Stomp, Dead Man Blues

King Oliver

cornetist/bandleader, hired Louis Armstrong

Sidney Bechet

clarinet, soprano sax big in Europe, Cake-Walkin' Babies from Home, Sheik of Araby

Paul Whitman

symphonic jazz, Rhapsody in Blue

Fletcher Henderson

NYC bandleader, hired Louis Armstrong, traded arrangements with Whiteman

James P. Johnson

"Father of Stride Piano"

Duke Ellington

pianist/bandleader/composer, wide variety of styles, Cotton Club, evolving compositional style, distinguished and elegant, Black and Tan fantasy

Bubber Miley

trumpet player for Ellington, bluesy style, use of mutes

Louis Armstrong

cornetist, possibly the most important figure in the development of jazz

Earl Hines

pianist, "trumpet style"

Lil Harden

pianist/ composer, played with King Oliver, married Louis Armstrong

Valaida Snow

"Little Louis," trumpeter

Bix Beiderbecke

cornetist, Chicago style, cool/smooth, interesting note choices.