Music 325 mid2

History of Jazz

Duke Ellington

-Composer, arranger, pianist, elder statesman of jazz

-Born middle class African American family in Washington, DC

-Took piano lessons as a child, more interested in visual art

-Didn’t go to music school

-Leads a group in New York called the Washingtonians, he plays piano and arranges for the group.

-Uses Timbre

-Uses mutes and plungers for “jungle sound”
-Flourished at The Cotton Club 1927-31

The Cotton Club

The prohibition-era Harlem club where Duke Ellington flourished as an artist and entertainer 1927-31.

Timbre

The characteristic quality of a sound, independent of pitch and loudness.

Verse

An introductory section of music. Most jazz standards don’t have this section, and jazz musicians often omit verses in standards that do have a verse.

Chorus

The “main” formal section in most jazz music. This section is cycled with variation. (Head chorus, Solo chorus.)

Head Chorus

A chorus during which song’s melody (the head) is played (roughly) as written. You could think of this like an exposition or a thematic statement in Western art music.

Solo Chorus

A chorus during which a player (or players) improvise or otherwise play a solo.

Head Arrangements

Musical arrangements that are worked out in rehearsal between members and memorized rather than notated.

Swing

A word which can have at least three meanings in the context of jazz. It can refer to a rhythmic concept, a genre of music, or a skillful way of playing.

Rhythm Changes

A tune based on the harmony and form of George Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm.

Contrafact

A jazz tune/composition that uses the harmony/form of another tune/composition but replaces the melody.

Chord Changes

The harmony of a jazz tune/composition.

Modernism

A 20th century artistic and cultural movement that sought to break with tradition. It emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and novelty.

Minton’s Playhouse

The club where Thelonious Monk was house pianist.