Jazz Appreciation Continuation

What should we listen for when we hear jazz singing and jazz singers?

(Can’t define it, but you know it when you hear it)

MORE IMPORTANT than voice, is musicianship & communication —> backphrasing

Improvisation

1. scat

2. text-based improvisation

Musicianship

General:

1. intonation, rhythm, phrasing, vibrato, harmony, melody, breath…same valued judgements as instrumentalists

Singing specific:

1. clear diction

2. singing the right words or improvising with things that fit

Communication in Singing

Storytelling

(not everyone valued that — Sarah Vaughn takes text-based improvisation to an extreme level = pure improvisation = deconstructing the songs = high musicianship)

Backphrasing

Adapt the rhythms of the song to the rhythms and patterns of everyday speech by singing the lyric “late” or “early”, natural, relaxed, conversational (swings)

List Song

lists bunch of things —> eventually makes a point

Scat Singing

Wordless singing that uses syllables to create improvised melodies like a jazz instrumentalist

*Ella Fitzgerald is very very talented in this

Text-Based Improvisation

Singing the lyrics, while changing the notes and rhythms of the original, written melody

Jazz Singer’s Interaction with Accompaniment:

How well does the arrangement connect with the singer?

How well does the singer connect with the arrangement?

What is the “shape” of the performance?

Nelson Riddle Rules for Arr for Sinatra

(15 albums mind you)

1. Find the peak of the song and build the whole arrangement to that peak

2. When he’s moving, get the hell out of the way. When he’s doing nothing, move in fast and establish something

“I’ve Got You Under My Skin” (w/ vocal)

• conversational phrasing

• singing and accompaniment are perfectly matched

• takes the shape of an arc

“I’ve Got You Under My Skin” (w/o vocal)

• subtle beginning, gradual build

• arc reaches its peak in the trombone solo

• symmetry & balance

• quick resolution

Verse

• Extended introduction (to the refrain or “chorus”)

  • prologue: provides setting, character, mood, motivation:

  • the story behind the son (“sets the stage,” raises questions)

Refain or “Chorus”

Well-known part of the song, verse is the intro to it

Transition to Bebop (3)

1. Came from the big bands

2. (young musicians) had new ideas about improvisation and expression

3. wanted/needed more space to develop these ideas

came about from jazz sessions after gigs

Charlie Christian (4)

1. Pioneered the electric guitar as a solo instrument in jazz

2. influenced by Lester Young (sounded like distorted tenor saxophone / single note lines, long phrases)

   1. forerunner of Bebop, but passed away young, so he couldn’t have generated as much of an influence as his potential

Bebop (5)

1. intricate melody lines

2. faster tempos

   1. big band was for dancing, so it was slower

3. Complex, interactive rhythm

   1. piano & drums known, heard, and play hard (“bum", “ding-a-ling”)

4. longer solos consisted of longer phrases (bcs smaller group, an do 128 bars)

5. bold, energetic, aggressive

Charlie Parker (3)

Instrument:

• alto saxophone

Significance:

• Like Louis Armstrong, he influenced not only the way his instrument is played, he influenced the way all instruments are played

• deep connection to the roots of jazz: blues (KC band —> NYC later on)

Dizzy Gillespie

Instrument:

• trumpet

Significance:

• In re to Charlie Parker: they explored similar ideas in separate places

  • cofounders or Bebop

  • parallel —> together in NYC —> split up bcs Charlie Parker was a heroine addict that didn’t take the music as seriously as Dizzy did

• dedicated student of music theory

  • taught to skilled musicians at bars, great knowledge

• pioneer in “World Music” - brazil, africa…name by record labels

• adapted bebop to big band format****

• (guy who found Duke Ellington’s band unhelpful & got to tour on govt funding to promote capitalism in the cold war)

Vocal leaves

Taking solo to song (lyrics)

Tadd Dameron

Instrument:

• Composer-arranger-pianist (capable, not dazzling pianist)

  • Monet, Renoir, musician, poet

Significance:

• Brought lyricism and beauty into bebop

  • toned down version of aggressive quality, bigger format

Thelonious Monk (3 big)

Instrument:

• piano

Significance:

“founder of bebop but never part of the bebop mainstream***

• as a pianist…

  • deliberate, percussive attack

  • “free-floating” time

  • space and dissonance

• as a composer…

  • wrote abstract and challenging pieces, not necessarily bebop

    • weird comping to the point where Miles Davis, who loved him, was thrown off by his comping

  • one of the most important and influential artists in the history of jazz as both a pianist and a composer

  • many of his compositions have become jazz standards

    • (i.e. “Round Midnight”)

“passing the baton”

Definition:

• the transition from one soloist to the next

  • clean = good teamwork = know each other

Application:

• incorporated into the arrangement and combined with antiphony in the head followed by motive improvisation

Motif (motive)

Definition:

• A recurring image or element in a work of art that is repeated, expanded, and developed over the course of the work

Application:

• Found in written composition (Beethoven’s 5th Symphony) and improvised solos (Oliver Nelson in “Stolen Moments”)

“Passing the Baton” with Motive Improvisation

One musician’s idea can inspire another musician’s improvisation

Obbligato

Definition:

• a form of improvised counterpoint performed by a solo instrument

Examples:

• Lester Young & Billie Holiday

• Harry Edison & Frank Sinatra

Storytelling in Jazz

Description:

• Soloists in a jazz performance can represent characters in a play, intentionally or unintentionally

Concept:

• If the “story” you hear is real to you, then it is real and sometimes there is a real story

  • Intentional: “Pow-wee,” by Benny Powell (nephew name pronunciation)

  • Unintentional: “Orange Sherbert”

Contrafact

Same chords of the other song, different melody