Jazz Midterm

Prehistory and Intro

Blues (origins, overall sound, form, etc):
Origins: 20th century, secular African American music genre originating from the Deep South (Mississippi Delta region).
Overall sound: Precursors include work songs, field hollers, fife and drum music, southern church music, and toasting; often free-rhythmic singing floating over a steady dance beat. Characterized by “blue notes” (flattened 3rd, 5th, and 7th), call-and-response patterns, and expressive, emotional performance.
Dissemination: Spread via riverboats, levee construction, and railroad workers; expanded through the Great Migration to northern cities (where it became electric) and through vaudeville (“classic blues”) singers.
Form: A three-part, 12-bar harmonic structure (I–IV–V chords), though other forms exist. The melodic and modal vocabulary of the blues became foundational to jazz, rock, and popular music of all kinds, shaping later American and British music.


Ragtime:
Late 19th–early 20th century precursor to jazz. Originated in brass bands, later evolved into piano compositions. Based on military/concert march music, but rhythmically syncopated (the right hand plays “ragged” off-beats).
Form: Multi-strain “march” form (AABBACCDD or AABBCDCD).
By ~1900, became a composed, “classical” piano genre.
Scott Joplin was the greatest ragtime composer, known for Maple Leaf Rag and The Entertainer.


Scott Joplin:
(1868–1917) “King of Ragtime.” Combined classical composition structure with African American rhythms. Wrote operas (Treemonisha), elevating ragtime as an art form. His music bridged the gap between written European styles and improvisational African traditions, directly influencing early jazz rhythm and phrasing.


Minstrelsy:
Lasted about 100 years, most popular form of entertainment from the 1830s–1900. Performers used burnt cork and exaggerated costumes.
Stock Characters: G.W. Dixon (“Zip Coon”), Thomas “Daddy” Rice (“Jim Crow”), and later Tambo, Bones, Mammy, etc. Featured banjo & fiddle music and early dance forms like “buck dancing” (precursor to tap).
During and after the Civil War, Black troupes began performing, leading to more sophisticated composers such as Stephen Foster.
Influenced early 20th-century songwriters like Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern.
Minstrelsy both promoted racist stereotypes and popularized African American musical styles. It evolved into vaudevilleand later influenced early film entertainment.


🎺 1920s Jazz

New Orleans (Storyville, Creoles of Color):
Why New Orleans: Port city and 19th-century commercial hub with a Caribbean-influenced culture.

  • 1718: founded by France

  • 1763: sold to Spain

  • 1803: reclaimed by France, then sold to the U.S. (Louisiana Purchase)

  • 1804: Haitian Revolution brought refugees and slaves to New Orleans.
    Multicultural mix of French, Spanish, English, and African peoples made it the South’s most cosmopolitan city.
    Active cultural life: opera, Mardi Gras, parades, dances, and Congo Square (where African drumming and dancing continued until the 1840s).

Storyville: “Tenderloin District” or “The District,” legal prostitution zone (1897–1917).
Brothels ranged from elegant to shabby; some pianists (“professors”) played in them.
Many jazz musicians worked in Storyville cabarets and also performed at parades, dances, riverboats, and park concerts.
Storyville’s informal atmosphere encouraged new expressive techniques, slower tempos, and timbral variety.
Here, blues and Creole music mixed with ragtime, Caribbean rhythms, and popular song, forming the foundation of early jazz.


Original Dixieland Jazz Band (ODJB):
Recorded the first “jass” record in 1917 (Victor label).
White New Orleans players — Nick LaRocca (cornet), Eddie Edwards (trombone), Larry Shields (clarinet), Henry Ragas (piano), Tony Sbarbaro (drums).
Performed in New York’s Reisenweber’s Restaurant before recording.
Their records sold hundreds of thousands of copies, spreading jazz internationally. Though less improvisational than Black bands, ODJB popularized the new sound nationwide.


Joe “King” Oliver (1885–1938):
Cornet player from Louisiana; led brass and dance bands. Successor to Buddy Bolden.
Renowned for using mutes and growl effects for expressive tone.
Moved to Chicago in 1918, and by 1922 led King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band at Lincoln Gardens.
Band included Johnny Dodds (clarinet), Baby Dodds (drums), Honore Dutrey (trombone), Bill Johnson (banjo), Lil Hardin (piano), and Louis Armstrong (2nd cornet).
Recorded for Gennett Records in 1923; Armstrong’s big break.
Retired by mid-1930s due to dental problems.


Jelly Roll Morton (1890–1941):
Born Ferdinand Joseph Lamothe, Creole of Color. Pianist, composer, and arranger.
Combined ragtime, blues, opera, military marches, and Caribbean rhythms — advocated for the “Spanish Tinge” as essential to jazz.
Traveled extensively as a performer and hustler.
Settled in Chicago in 1922; recorded with the white New Orleans Rhythm Kings in 1923.
Led the Red Hot Peppers (1926–27): studio-only band balancing written arrangements and improvisation.
Notable works: “Dead Man Blues” (12-bar blues structured like a march), “Black Bottom Stomp.”
Recorded oral histories and performances for Alan Lomax in 1938 (Library of Congress).


Louis Armstrong (1901–1971):
Born in New Orleans; learned music at the Colored Waifs Home after being arrested for firing blanks on New Year’s Eve (1913).
Mentored by Peter Davis; later played on riverboats under Fate Marable, learning formal reading and arranging.
In 1922, joined Joe “King” Oliver’s band in Chicago as 2nd cornet; married pianist Lil Hardin.
1924: moved to New York to play with Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestra, also recorded with Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey.
1925–28: returned to Chicago; recorded groundbreaking sessions with Hot Five and Hot Seven.
Songs: “Hotter Than That,” “West End Blues.”
Pioneered virtuosic solo improvisation, scat singing, and a new rhythmic “swing” feel that redefined jazz performance.


New Orleans Style (“Collective Improvisation”):
Polyphonic texture — front line of cornet/trumpet (melody), clarinet (countermelody), trombone (bass countermelody).
Rhythm section evolved from parade percussion to the modern drum set, with banjo/guitar, piano, tuba, or string bass.
Defined by energy, syncopation, and ensemble interplay.
Spread north via the Great Migration and set the rhythmic and spiritual foundation for all jazz to come.


🎷 Chicago in the 1920s

Bix Beiderbecke (1903–1931):
Cornetist known for warm, lyrical tone and introspective improvisation (contrast to Armstrong’s “hot” style).
Joined Jean Goldkette’s Orchestra in 1926, met Frank Trumbauer (C-melody saxophonist).
1927: Both joined Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra in New York.
Died young (age 28) from alcoholism but became a legend and influence on “cool jazz.”

Frank Trumbauer (1901–1956):
Played C-melody saxophone; lyrical, melodic improvisations.
Influenced Lester Young and Benny Carter.
Helped define smoother, more melodic phrasing in jazz solos.


🎹 New York and the Rise of Stride Piano

Cultural Context:
New York became the center of American entertainment — Tin Pan Alley songwriters, Broadway, and new media (radio and recording).
Prohibition (1920–1933) led to speakeasies and vibrant nightlife.
Harlem Renaissance: explosion of African American culture, literature, and music.

Paul Whiteman (“King of Jazz”):
From Denver; combined symphonic structure with jazz rhythm (“Symphonic Jazz”).
Hired Bix Beiderbecke (1926) and used Fletcher Henderson arrangements.
First to employ a “star vocalist” — Bing Crosby.
Famous recording: “Changes” (1927).


Stride Piano:
Developed in Harlem as an evolution of ragtime.
Combined ragtime syncopation with blues harmonies and swing rhythm.
Technique: Left hand alternates bass note and chord (“oom-pah” stride); right hand plays complex melodies and improvisations.
Cultural role: Featured at “rent parties,” where musicians played to raise rent money and compete in “cutting contests.”

Major Stride Pianists:

  • James P. Johnson (1894–1955): “Father of Stride Piano.” Famous for “Carolina Shout,” composer of “The Charleston.”

  • Willie “The Lion” Smith (1893–1973): Flashy, rhythmic, expressive player known for cutting contests.

  • Fats Waller (1904–1943): Pupil of Johnson; wrote “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” “Jitterbug Waltz.” Known for wit, technical brilliance, and showmanship.


Duke Ellington and the Cotton Club:
Prolific composer and bandleader.
Composed jazz standards, blues, film scores, concert pieces, and ballets.
Early band members: Bubber Miley (trumpet), Sonny Greer (drums), “Tricky” Sam Nanton (trombone), and later Johnny Hodges (alto sax).
The Cotton Club (opened 1927) was a whites-only venue in Harlem featuring Black performers.
Ellington’s “Jungle Music” showcased exotic tone colors, growling brass, and African-inspired rhythms.
Famous works: “Mood Indigo,” “It Don’t Mean a Thing,” “In a Sentimental Mood.”