Early Jazz to the End of the 1920s
Introduction
Early jazz roots traced to European migration and African slave importation in North America.
Topic covers early jazz forms from mid-19th century to the end of the 1920s.
Focus on cultural perspective and influence on future musical styles.
Early jazz styles include:
The blues
Ragtime
Boogie woogie & stride piano
Dixieland
Jazz centers in the 1920s
Technological developments
Setting the Scene: Slavery and the American Civil War
Africans arrived in North America from 1619, working mainly as agricultural laborers.
Slave population increased significantly between 1790 and 1860.
The American Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation heavily influenced late 19th-century America.
Racial tensions existed, with the Confederacy's ideology based on racial inequality.
African American culture significantly influenced 20th-century music.
The Beginning of the Jazz Age
Late 19th century saw the rise of blues, ragtime, boogie woogie, and Dixieland.
New Orleans was a central hub where these styles converged.
Early jazz bands played at dances, festivals and funerals.
Common instruments included bass, trumpets, clarinets, trombones, banjos, pianos and occasional saxophones.
1: The Blues
Describes feelings of sadness and hopelessness rooted in the experiences of enslaved Africans in North America.
Emerged from an oral tradition with personal storytelling.
Combines African musical traditions (call and response) with European hymns (equal length stanzas and three-chord harmonic progressions).
(b) Theoretical Concepts
Blues notes: Altered pitches, typically on the 3rd and 7th degrees of a major scale.
In C major, blue notes fall between E and Eb, and B and Bb.
Vocalists/wind instruments can bend pitches; piano players simulate by playing flattened notes or adjacent notes together.
Blues scales: Related to major and minor pentatonic scales.
Major pentatonic: Major scale without 4th and 7th degrees.
Minor pentatonic: Natural minor scale without 2nd and 6th degrees.
Blues scale: Six-note scale with flattened 3rd, 5th, and 7th degrees, creating semitone intervals.
(c) The Form of the Blues
Typically uses a 3-line poem (AAB).
Each line forms a 4-bar phrase, with instrumental fills following the sung text.
Call and response was vital in traditional blues, but less common in blues-based rock.
(d) The Harmonic Structure of the Twelve Bar Blues
Uses primary triads (I, IV, V) in a major key.
Example: In C major, chords are C, F, and G7.
Usually in duple time (4/4).
Standard chord progression over 12 bars:
A: CCCC CCCC CCCC CCCC
A: FFFF FFFF CCCC CCCC
B: G7G7G7G7 FFFF CCCC CCCC
(e) Development of Blues Styles
Evolved into a standardized 12-bar harmonic progression by the 1920s.
Simple form uses primary triads and became the basis for rock and roll in the 1950s.
Tempo varies; timing typically 4/4.
Harmonic decorations often added, especially during repeats.
(f) Blues Styles
Country/Delta blues: Earliest form from late 19th century.
Examples: Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, Son House.
Classic blues: Emerged in the 1920s with early recordings.
Examples: Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith.
Other styles include Urban blues, Chicago blues, Rhythm and blues.
Country Blues
Originated in Southern rural areas of the USA.
Performers expressed their everyday lives through the blues.
Simple accompaniment, often just guitar.
Rough and expressive lyrics.
Earliest recordings in the 1920s, but performed since the late 19th century.
Delta blues had the most direct influence on later rock music.
Guitarists like Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton and Son House are key figures.
Bottleneck guitar playing synonymous with Delta blues.
Robert Johnson (1911-1938)
Delta blues style.
Guitar and vocals only.
Recorded 29 songs in the 1930s.
Limited distribution at the time.
Followed the traditional AAB pattern.
Used polyrhythms with voice often at a different rhythm than the guitar.
His songs have been covered by the Rolling Stones, Cream, and Fleetwood Mac.
Classic Blues
Female singers were often soloists in jazz and blues bands.
Primarily used the 12-bar blues form.
Distinct singing style known as Classic Blues.
Ma Rainey (1886 – 1939)
Known as the Mother of the Blues.
Recorded with jazz greats like Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins.
Style included moans, dramatic pauses, and pitch bending on blue notes.
Bessie Smith (1894 – 1937)
Toured and performed with Ma Rainey.
Style included pitch bending on blue notes and sliding between melody notes.
Known as the Empress of the Blues.
Featured in the 1929 film "St Louis Blues."
Sang with jazz pianists Clarence Williams and Fletcher Henderson and swing bands led by Jack Teagarden and Benny Goodman.
W.C. Handy (1873 - 1958)
Known as the "Father of the Blues".
Composer of many famous blues songs.
2: Ragtime
(a) Music Roots of Ragtime
Ragtime peaked between 1897 and 1918.
Evolved from slave musicians using banjo, fiddle, and percussion with syncopated rhythms over a steady beat.
Piano became the primary instrument for "ragging" popular and classical tunes.
Combined European church music with African American polyrhythm and harmony.
French Creole culture in New Orleans significantly influenced ragtime's development.
Distributed via sheet music and piano rolls.
(b) Theoretical Concepts
Ragtime pieces are fully notated with no improvisation.
Typically in duple time (2/4).
Features a steady bassline in the left hand and syncopated (ragged) rhythm in the right hand.
(c) The Form of Ragtime
Influenced by marches of John Philip Sousa.
Typical form: AA BB A CC DD, with repeated melodies.
(d) Composers of Ragtime
Many composers lived and worked in New Orleans and St. Louis.
Scott Joplin (1868-1917) was the most famous ragtime composer.
Composed "Treemonisha" (1911), a ragtime opera.
Other compositions include "Maple Leaf Rag" (1899), "Peacherine Rag" (1901), and "The Entertainer" (1902).
(e) Cakewalk
Satirical dance by African-American slaves, parodying aristocratic style.
Prize for best couple was a cake.
Became a popular musical style with a specific rhythm.
Inspired European composers like Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky to experiment with jazz idioms.
3: Boogie Woogie & Stride Piano
Boogie Woogie
Piano style characterized by an ostinato figure in the left hand, often using the blues progression.
Originated in the 1870s, with peaks in popularity throughout the 20th century.
Jimmy Yancey is credited as the originator, but Clarence "Pinetop" Smith developed the style.
Albert Ammons helped revive the style in the 1930s and 1940s.
Stride Piano
Grew out of ragtime with a strong two-beat rhythm in the left hand.
Introduced a walking bass and more complex syncopation, moving closer to jazz.
Key stride piano players: James P. Johnson, Willie "The Lion" Smith, and Luckyeth "Lucky" Roberts.
4: Dixieland or New Orleans Jazz
Originated in the USA by white southerners based on black musicians' New Orleans style.
Small group of five to eight performers.
Melodic instruments (cornet/trumpet, clarinet, trombone) improvised polyphonic lines.
Rhythm section (drums, banjo, guitar, piano, tuba/double bass).
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band made the first jazz recording in 1917; spreading the style north.
(b) The Jazz Performers of the 1920s
Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong (1900 – 1971)
Joined King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band in New Orleans; later defined jazz sound with "Hot Fives" and "Hot Sevens" recordings.
Ferdinand Joseph La Menthe “Jelly Roll” Morton (1885 –1941)
Pianist & composer; founded New Orleans Jazz Ensemble Red Hot Peppers.
Thomas “Fats” Waller (1904 – 1943)
Pianist, composer, and recording artist; famous for "Honeysuckle Rose" (1934) and "Ain’t Misbehavin’" (1929).
Leon Bismarck “Bix” Beiderbecke (1903 –1931)
Cornetist, pianist, and composer; played with Paul Whiteman's band.
Famous for lyrical tone in "Singin' the Blues".
Other important jazz artists in the 1920s included
Sidney Bechet (saxophone and clarinet), Johnny Dodds (saxophone and clarinet), Earl “Fatha” Hines (piano), and Edward “Kid” Ory (trombone and bandleader).
5: Jazz Centers of the 1920s
Prohibition (1920-1933) led to illegal alcohol consumption in 'speakeasies'.
Jazz music was performed in these clubs.
The Cotton Club in Harlem, New York, featured Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Bessie Smith, Cab Calloway, and Louis Armstrong.
6: Technological Developments
(a) Sound Recording
Phonograph perfected by Thomas Edison in 1878.
Gramophone patented by Emile Berliner in 1887, using flat discs (gramophone records).
Columbia released the first LP (33 1/3 rpm) in 1931.
RCA introduced the 45-rpm disc in the late 1940s.
Earliest recordings were classical/operatic.
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band made the first jazz recording in 1917, spreading jazz popularity.
(b) Radio Broadcasting
Regular use in the early 1920s, disseminating jazz music.
Early broadcasting was live, later incorporating pre-recorded music.
Programs included comedy, drama, and music (classical, country, jazz).
George Gershwin had his own radio show in 1934.
Big band remotes broadcast live performances from hotels and clubs.