Jazz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Jazz has roots in the combination of and music traditions, including , and , stemming from , western , and 's religious , , and military band music. After originating in African American communities near the beginning of the , jazz styles spread in the , influencing other musical styles.
The origins of the word jazz are uncertain. The word is rooted in American , and various derivations have been suggested. For the origin and history of the word jazz, see .
Jazz is rooted in the blues, the folk music of former Africans in the and their descendants, which is influenced by West African cultural and musical traditions that evolved as black musicians migrated to the cities. Jazz musician states that "Jazz is something invented..
.the nobility of the race put into sound ..
. jazz has all the elements, from the spare and penetrating to the complex and enveloping.
The instruments used in marching bands and dance band music at the turn of century became the basic instruments of jazz: brass, reeds, and drums, using the Western 12-tone scale.
A "...
black musical spirit (involving rhythm and melody) was bursting out of the confines of musical tradition [of the marching bands], even though the performers were using European styled instruments."
Small bands of black musicians, mostly self taught, who led processions in played a seminal role in the articulation and dissemination of early jazz, traveling throughout black communities in the Deep South and to northern cities.
The network of black-established schools, as well as civic societies and widening mainstream opportunities for education, produced more formally trained African-American musicians.
and were schooled in classical European musical forms. Joplin, the son of a former slave and a free-born woman of color, was largely self-taught until age 11, when he received lessons in the fundamentals of music theory. Black musicians with formal music skills helped to preserve and disseminate the essentially improvisational musical styles of jazz.
Reggie Workman, Pharoah Sanders, and Idris Muhammad, c. 1978
Jazz as a genre is often difficult to define, but is a key element of the form. Improvisation has been an essential element in African and African-American music since early forms of the music developed, and is closely related to the use of call and response in West African and African-American cultural expression.
The form of improvisation has changed over time. Early folk often was based around a pattern, and improvisation would factor in the lyrics, the melody, or both. In Dixieland jazz, musicians take turns playing the melody while the others improvise countermelodies.
In contrast to the classical form, where performers try to play the piece exactly as the author envisioned it, the goal in jazz is often to create a new interpretation, changing the melody, harmonies, even the time signature. If classical music is the composer's medium, jazz is able to stand up for the rights of the performer too, to 'adroitly weigh the respective claims of the composer and the improviser' .
By the , played using arranged , but individual soloists would perform improvised solos within these compositions.
In , however, the focus shifted from arranging to improvisation over the form; musicians paid less attention to the composed melody, or "head," which was played at the beginning and the end of the tune's performance with improvised sections in between.
As previously noted, later styles of jazz, such as , abandoned the strict notion of a chord progression, allowing the individual musicians to improvise more freely within the context of a given scale or mode (e.g.
, the album ). The avant-garde and free jazz idioms permit, even call for, rhythmic variety as well.
When a pianist, guitarist or other chord-playing instrumentalist improvises an accompaniment while a soloist is playing, it is called (a contraction of the word "accompanying").
"Vamping" is a mode of comping that is usually restricted to a few repeating chords or bars, as opposed to comping on the chord structure of the entire composition. Most often, vamping is used as a simple way to extend the very beginning or end of a piece, or to set up a segue.
In some modern jazz compositions where the underlying chords of the composition are particularly complex or fast moving, the composer or performer may create a set of "blowing changes," which is a simplified set of chords better suited for comping and solo improvisation.
Rhythms brought from a musical heritage in Africa were incorporated into Cakewalks, Coon Songs and the music of "Jig Bands" which eventually evolved into , c.1895 (timeline). The first Ragtime composition was published by Ben Harney.
The music, vitalized by the opposing rhythms common to African dance, was vibrant, enthusiastic and often extemporaneous.
Notably the antecedent to Jazz, early Ragtime music was in the format of marches, waltzes and other traditional song forms but the consistent characteristic was syncopation. Syncopated notes and rhythms became so popular with the public that sheet music publishers included the word "syncopated" in advertising.
In 1899, a classically trained young pianist from Missouri named published the first of many Ragtime compositions that would come to shape the music of a nation.
A number of regional styles contributed to the development of jazz. In the area an early style of jazz called " " developed.
New Orleans had long been a regional music center. In addition to the slave population, New Orleans also had North America's largest community of free people of color. The New Orleans style used more intricate rhythmic improvisation than ragtime, and incorporated "blues" style elements including " " and " " notes, and using the European instruments in novel ways.
Key figures in the development of the new style were trumpeter and his band, who arranged blues tunes for brass instruments and improvised; , a Creole who was influenced by Bolden; , whose style was bluesier than Bolden's; , a trombonist who refined the style; and , who led a multi-ethnic band.
Meanwhile, other regional styles were developing which would influence the development of jazz.
In African-American minister Rev. of established the . Orphanage bands were trained to perform popular and religious music; members such as , , and went on to play with jazz bandleaders like , and .
In the northeastern United States, a "hot" style of playing ragtime developed, characterized by rollicking rhythms, without the bluesy influence of the southern styles. The music was characterized by collective improvised solos, around melodic structure, that ideally built up to an emotional and "Hot" climax. The rhythm section, usually drums, bass, banjo or guitar supported this crescendo, many times in the style of march tempo. This differs from the norm in that the piano will generally be in the rhythm section, but in hot jazz, the right hand will play the melody.
The solo piano version of the northeast style was typified by . developed " " piano playing, in which the right hand plays the melody, while the left hand provides the rhythm and bassline. Johnson influenced later pianists like and .
Soon, larger bands and orchestras began to emulate that energy, especially with the advance of record technology, that spread the "Hot" new sound across the country. was a prominent orchestra leader. performed with a northeastern "hot" style.
In Chicago in the early 1910s, saxophones vigorously "ragged" a melody over a dance band rhythm section, blending New Orleans styles and creating a new "Chicago Jazz" sound. Chicago was the breeding ground for many young, inventive players. Characterized by harmonic, inovative arrangements and a high technical ability of the players, Chicago Style Jazz significantly furthered the improvised music of its day. Contributions from dynamic players like Benny Goodman, Bud Freeman and Eddie Condon along with the creative grooves of Gene Krupa, helped to pioneer Jazz music from its infancy and inspire those who followed.
Along the Mississippi from to , the "Father of the Blues," popularized a less improvisation-based approach, in which improvisation was limited to short "fills" between phrases. The 1930s belonged to Swing.
While the solo became more important in jazz, popular bands became larger in size. During that classic era, most of the Jazz groups were Big Bands. The such as 's Orchestra were highly jazz oriented, while others (such as 's) left less space for improvisation.
Key figures in developing the big jazz band were arrangers and bandleaders , and . Swing was also dance music, which served as its immediate connection to the people. Although it was a collective sound, swing also offered individual musicians a chance to improvise melodic, thematic solos which could at times be very complex.
Over time, social strictures regarding racial segregation began to relax, and white bandleaders began to recruit black musicians. In the mid- , hired pianist , vibraphonist , and guitarist to join small groups. During this period, and were very popular.
The influence of can be seen in bandleaders like , trumpeter , and vocalists like , who were influenced by Armstrong's style of improvising. The style further spread to vocalists such as and ; later, and , among others, would jump on the scat bandwagon.
An early style known as "jumping the blues" or used small combos, up-tempo music, and blues chord progressions.
Jump blues drew on from the , with the rhythm section playing "eight to the bar," (eight beats per measure instead of four). became a boogie-woogie star in the , and then in the was an early musician. (Also see saxophonist ).
The mid 1990's saw a revival of Swing music fueled by the retro trends in dance. Once again young couples across America and Europe jitter-bugged to the swing'n sounds of Big Band music, often played by much smaller ensembles.
Kansas City Jazz in the 1930s marked the transition from big bands to the bebop influence of the 1940s.
During the Depression and Prohibition eras, the Kansas City Jazz scene thrived as a mecca for the modern sounds of late 1920s and 30s. Characterized by soulful and blusey stylings of Big Band and small ensemble Swing, arrangements often showcased highly energetic solos played to "speakeasy" audiences. Alto sax pioneer Charlie Parker hailed from Kansas City.
encouraged the development of night clubs featuring . In 1936, the Kansas city era waned when producer began sending Kansas City acts to .
Outside of the the beginnings of a distinctly European jazz started emerging.
At first this came mostly in with the being among the first non-US bands of significance to jazz history. The playing of in particular would be important to the rise of , which is one of the earliest genres to start outside the US.
Originated by Belgian guitarist , Gypsy Jazz is an unlikely mix of 1930s American swing, French dance hall "musette" and the folk strains of Eastern Europe.
Also known as Jazz Manouche, it has a languid, seductive feel characterized by quirky cadences and driving rhythms. The main instruments are nylon stringed guitars, often amounting to a half-dozen ensemble, with occasional violins and bass violin. Solos pass from one player to another as the other guitars assume the rhythm.
While primarily a nostalgic style set in European bars and small venues, Gypsy Jazz is appreciated world wide.
and , are two partially overlapping subgenres that, while rooted in , typically use less compositional material and allow performers more latitude. Free jazz uses implied or loose and , which was deemed controversial when this approach was first developed.
Avant-garde jazz has more "rules" than free jazz, in that performances are partly composed, but the improvised parts are almost as free as in free jazz.
Early performances of these styles go back as early as the late 40s and early 50s: 's Intuition and Digression (1949) and Descent into the Maelstrom (1953) are often credited as anticipations of the later free jazz movement, though they seem not to have had a direct influence on it. The first major stirrings of what free jazz came in the 1950s, with the early work of and .
In the , performers included , , , , , , , , , and others. , , , and are leading contemporary free jazz musicians, and musicians such as Coleman, Taylor and Sanders continue to play in this style. has been prominent in defending free jazz from by in recent years.
The art of composing a lyric and singing it in the same manner as the recorded instrumental . Coined by Jazz critic , reached its highest point from 1957-62. Performers may solo or sing in ensemble, supported by small group or orchestra.
in nature, Vocalese rarely ventured into other Jazz styles and never brought commercial success to its performers until recent years. Among those known for writing and performing vocalese lyric are and .
After the end of the era, as these large ensembles broke into smaller groups, continued to be played.
Some of Swing's finest players could be heard at their best in of the 1950s where now would take significance over melodic embellishment. Re-emerging as a loose Jazz style in the late '70s and '80s, Mainstream Jazz picked up influences from , and . The terms Modern Mainstream or are used for almost any Jazz style that cannot be closely associated with historical styles of Jazz music.
Evolving directly from Bop in the late 1940s and 1950s, 's smoothed out mixture of Bop and Swing tones were again harmonic and dynamics were now softened. The ensemble arrangement had regained importance. Cool became nationwide by the end of the 1950's, with significant contributions from East Coast musicians and composers.
An extension of Bebop that was somewhat interrupted by the Cool sounds of West Coast Jazz, melodies tend to be more "soulful" than , borrowing at times from and even themes. The rhythm section is sophisticated and more diverse than the Bop of the 1940s. Pianist is known for his Hard Bop innovations.
Latin jazz has two main varieties: and . was played in the U.S.
directly after the bebop period, while Brazilian jazz became more popular in the 1960s and 1970s.
Afro-Cuban jazz began as a movement in the mid-'50s. Notable musicians such as and started Afro-Cuban bands at that time.
Gillespie's work was mostly with big bands of this genre. The music was influenced by such Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians as , , , , and much later, .
is synonymous with , a Brazilian popular style which is derived from with influences from jazz as well as other 20th-century classical and popular music.
Bossa is generally moderately paced, played around 120 beats per minute with straight, rather than swing, eighth notes, and difficult polyrhythms. A blend of West Coast Cool, European classical harmonies and seductive Brazilian samba rhythms, Bossa Nova or more correctly "Brazilian Jazz", reached the United States in 1962. The subtle but hypnotic acoustic guitar rhythms accent simple melodies sung in either (or both) Portuguese or English.
Pioneered by Brazilians' Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim, this alternative to the 60's Hard Bop and Free Jazz styles, gained popular exposure by West Coast players like guitarist Charlie Byrd saxophonist Stan Getz.
The best-known bossa nova compositions have become jazz standards. The related term jazz-samba essentially describes an adaptation of bossa nova compositions to the jazz idiom by American performers such as and , and usually played at 120 beats per minute or faster.
Samba itself is actually not jazz but, being derived from older Afro-Brazilian music, it shares some common characteristics.
Bitches Brew is an influential record in the history of jazz fusion.
In the late , the hybrid form of jazz-rock fusion was developed.
To the dismay of many Jazz purists, some of Jazz most significant innovators crossed over from the contemporary Hardbop into Fusion. Notable artists of the late 1960s and jazz and fusion scene include: , who recorded the fusion albums and in and , and his band, ex- Miles Davis drummer prodigy 's Lifetime with and among others, and his band, guitarist and the Eleventh House, and the , , , , , , , , , the and . Eventually commercial influences succeeded in undermining its original innovations.
While it is arguable that this Fusion benefitted the evolution of Rock, few of its influences remain in today's Jazz. Some artists however, have continued to develop the genre into the 2000s.
As smaller ensemble soloists became increasingly hungry for new improvisational directives, some players sought to venture beyond Western adaptation of major and minor scales.
Drawing from medieval church modes, which used altered intervals between common tones, players found new inspiration. Soloists could now free themselves from the restrictions of dominant keys and shift the tonal centers to form new harmonics within their playing. This became especially useful with pianists and guitarists, as well as trumpet and sax players.
Pianist is noted for his Modal approach.
Derived from Hardbop, Soul Jazz is perhaps the most popular Jazz style of the 1960s. Improvising to chord progressions as with Bop, the soloist strives to create an exciting performance.
The ensemble of musicians concentrates on a rhythmic groove centered around a strong but varied bassline. Horace Silver had a large influence of style by infusing funky and often Gospel drawn piano vamps into his compositions. The Hammond organ also gained mass attention as the flagship instrument of Soul Jazz.
The stylistic diversity of jazz has shown no sign of diminishing, absorbing influences from such disparate sources as , , and a range of rock and pop musics.
Beginning in the with such artists as , , the Group, , , and , the record label established a new chamber-music aesthetic, featuring mainly acoustic instruments, and incorporating elements of and . This is sometimes referred to as "European" or "Nordic" jazz, despite some of the leading players being American.
In the 1980s, the jazz community shrunk dramatically and split. A mainly older audience retained an interest in traditional and "straight-ahead" jazz styles. strove to create music within what he believed was the tradition, creating extensions of small and large forms initially pioneered by such artists as and .
However, Marsalis has been criticized for his dismissal of post-1965 avant-garde jazz and 1970s fusion and his focus on a narrow portion of jazz's past.
At the same time, other practitioners and fans explored experimental jazz, and musician fused jazz idioms with contemporary popular music genres such as disco (acid jazz) or rap (jazz rap).
In the 1980s, drumming became much louder and more active in jazz music.
The tones of saxophones were rougher and the bass lines were more invasive. However, when jazz reached the 1990s this harsh type of music was replaced by a refined and quiet style. This style was referred to as “smooth jazz”, “cool jazz”, "contemporary jazz" or "c-jazz" for short.
Some think these names are ambiguous because this so called “smooth jazz” or “cool jazz” was no smoother than the ballads during the swing era, and it was also totally different than the “cool jazz” of the 1950s. When this music was played, instead of the improvised solos being adventuresome they were actually very stylized. These improvisations are what made smooth jazz an official style of jazz instead of being considered just background music.
For instance, the saxophone improvisations by were considered "light fusion". His music became popular because it was basically background music with a beat meaning that people could ignore it just as well as they could listen to it. Some musicians gave this music the name "fuzak" (cf.
) because it was a soft, pleasant fusion of jazz and rock. By the late 1990s smooth jazz became very popular and was receiving a lot of radio exposure. Some of the most famous saxophonists of this style were , Kenny G and and of course they had many imitators.
Kenny G’s sales alone reached the millions from 1986 to 1995. Some musicians thought of jazz as just a decorative type of music instead of being substantial. However, Kenny G’s music and smooth jazz in general defined a large segment of jazz during the 1980s and 1990s.
Not only is smooth jazz played on the radio and in jazz clubs it is also played in airports, banks, offices, auditoriums and arenas (Gridley).
Gridley, Mark C. Concise Guide to Jazz: Fourth Edition.
New Jersey: Pearson Education. 2004.
Styles as which contains elements of 1970s , acid swing which combines 1940s style big-band sounds with faster, more aggressive rock-influenced drums and electric guitar, and which combines elements of jazz and modern forms of .
Exponents of the " " style which was initially -based included the , , , , and . This was a natural outgrowth of the Rare Groove scene in the UK that had begun as an alternative to the prevalent Acid House parties of the 1980s. Halfway between the driving beat of house music and the Soul Jazz and Funk related sounds of Rare Grove was Acid Jazz.
In the , acid jazz groups included the , , and . In a more pop or context, jazz enjoyed a resurgence in the 1980s with such bands as and achieving chart hits in Britain. became the definitive voice of smooth jazz.
Improvisation is also largely ignored giving argument whether the term "Jazz" can truly apply.
These musicians playing over a and extend the rhythmic ideas in a way analogous to what had been done with in previous decades, an approach M-Base calls .
With the rise in popularity of various forms of during the late and , some artists have attempted a fusion of jazz with more of the experimental leanings of (particularly and ) with various degrees of success.
This has been variously dubbed "future jazz", "jazz-house", " ", or " ". It is often not considered to be jazz because although it is influenced by jazz, improvisation is largely absent.
The more experimental and improvisational end of the spectrum includes Scandinavia-based artists such as pianist , trumpeter (both of whom began their careers on the ECM record label), the trio , and , all of whom have gained respect as instrumentalists in more traditional jazz circles.
from the UK and from France have also received praise in this area. Toward the more pop or pure dance music end of the spectrum of nu jazz are such proponents as and , who incorporate some live jazz playing with more metronomic . , , and are also notable as avant-garde electronica artists.
In the , "jazz" hit the pop charts and blended with contemporary through the work of neo-soul artists like , , , , , and and the jazz advocacy of performers who are also music educators (such as , and ). A debate has arisen as to whether the music of these performers can be called jazz or not (see below). Also singer recorded a jazz-based album titled and released it in 2006.
As the term "jazz" has long been used for a wide variety of styles, a comprehensive definition including all varieties is elusive. While some enthusiasts of certain types of jazz have argued for narrower definitions which exclude many other types of music also commonly known as jazz, jazz musicians themselves are often reluctant to define the music they play. Duke Ellington summed it up by saying "It's all music".
Some critics have even stated that Duke Ellington's music was not in fact jazz, as by its very definition, according to them, jazz cannot be orchestrated.
There have long been debates in the jazz community over the boundaries or definition of “jazz”. In the mid-1930s, New Orleans jazz lovers criticized the "innovations" of the swing era as being contrary to the collective improvisation they saw as essential to "true" jazz.
From the 1940s and 1960s, traditional jazz enthusiasts and Hard Bop criticized each other, often arguing that the other style was somehow not "real" jazz. Although alteration or transformation of jazz by new influences has been initially criticized as “radical” or a “debasement”, Andrew Gilbert argues that jazz has the “ability to absorb and transform influences” from diverse musical styles .
Commercially-oriented or popular music-influenced forms of jazz have long been criticized.
Traditional jazz enthusiasts have dismissed the 1970s jazz fusion era as a period of commercial debasement. However, according to Bruce Johnson, jazz music has always had a "tension between jazz as a commercial music and an art form" .
Gilbert notes that as the notion of a canon of traditional jazz is developing, the “achievements of the past” may be become “.
..privileged over the idiosyncratic creativity.
..” and innovation of current artists.
Village Voice jazz critic Gary Giddins argues that as the creation and dissemination of jazz is becoming increasingly institutionalized and dominated by major entertainment firms, jazz is facing a "...
perilous future of respectability and disinterested acceptance". David Ake warns that the creation of “norms” in jazz and the establishment of a “jazz tradition” may exclude or sideline other newer, avant-garde forms of jazz .
One way to get around the definitional problems is to define the term “jazz” more broadly.
According to Krin Gabbard “jazz is a construct” or category that, while artificial, still is useful to designate “a number of musics with enough in common part of a coherent tradition”. Travis Jackson also defines jazz in a broader way by stating that it is music that includes qualities such as “ 'swinging', improvising, group interaction, developing an 'individual voice', and being 'open' to different musical possibilities” .
Where to draw the boundaries of "jazz" is the subject of debate among music critics, scholars, and fans.
A debate the musicians themselves very rarely bother to enter.
Music that is a mixture of jazz and pop music, such as the recent albums of , is sometimes called "jazz". and have been called "jazz" performers by , and record label promoters. are increasingly programming a wide range of genres, including world beat music, folk, electronica, and hip-hop. This trend may lead to the perception that all of the performers at a festival are jazz artists – including artists from non-jazz genres. Burns, Ken Geoffrey C. Ward. Jazz - A History of America's Music. Alfred A.
Knopf, NY USA. 2000. or: The Jazz Film Project, Inc.
Porter, Eric. What is this thing called Jazz? African American Musicians as Artists, Critics and Activists. University of California Press, Ltd. London, England. 2002.
Szwed, John F. Jazz 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Jazz. The History of Jazz. Thomson-Gale Books.
Chicago Jazz: A Cultural History, 1904-1930. Oxford University Press, Inc. "North by South, from to ," a project of the Gary Giddins, Visions of Jazz: The First Century (Oxford Universoty Press, 1998) p.70 ^ In by Peter Elsdon, FZMw (Frankfurt Journal of Musicology) No.
Keywords: African American, Kansas City, New Orleans, Hard Bop, Big Bands, West Coast, Big Band, Band Music, West African, Afro Cuban
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