FEATURED ESSAYS 1. Racism Related To The Novel Ja 2. Racism Related To The Novel Ja 3. The History Of Jazz 4. Jazz 2 5. Count Basie 6. Jazz 3 7. Character Analysis Of Jordan B 8. Basquiat And Davis 9. The Great Gatsby - Tom Buchana 10. Louis Armstrong 11. Bela Fleck And The Flecktones Con... 12. Louis Armstrong 13. The Beat Generation 14. New Orleans Jazz Band: Dag

Jazz


     When it comes to music, most people don't say they like it. People say
they like heavy metal, pop, rhythm and blues, or any other type of music,
since they have their own preference to what type of music they like, not
just enjoying the broad area of music.  One of those types of music which
many enjoy is jazz. Actually right now jazz is really big and popular in
Europe, and is rising in its popularity in the USA through its many forms.
Jazz does have many forms, so many that some people wouldn't consider just
saying they like jazz, they would say they enjoyed bebop, ragtime, blues,
or other types of jazz.  Jazz has survived longer than many types of music,
and it has always influenced the ways people involved in jazz compose or
perform.  It has also brought out many famous people.
     Although jazz is not the most influencing music currently in the
nation, its history proves  that it is a great form of music with many
origins, a multigenerational life span, numerous styles, many legendary
musicians, and its own creative, independent interpretation.
     Jazz is over 100 years old, probably making it one of the longest,
lasting forms of music so far.  Jazz was not created by Europeans, it was
created by Afro-Americans who descended from ancestors in Africa.  These
Afro-Americans learned how to play these European instruments well,
including percussion or the drum set, trumpet, cornet, saxophone, trombone,
tuba, and many other instruments.  They wanted to show what they were like
to other races, so they attempted to express themselves and their feelings
through music and the instruments which were so foreign to them. A lot of
the music which they played came from black folk music. Jazz did have a
part of it come from Europe.  The instruments of course, and the basic
beginning forms of music helped jazz to be created.  Another part of jazz
which is not of African origin is improvisation, which is similar to
interpretation but has no melodic restrictions.  Improvisation began with
the Greeks and their music over 2,000 years ago, before the many emotional
and creative types of music were even composed.  At one time, baroque and
classical music used a lot of improvisation in their music. It was very
important, and composers such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Liszt used it
in their unique composing.  These composers were also good at improvising
themselves, and were among the best in the world in their time.  Many types
of music are created from other types of music, and jazz is among the many.
Many people influenced jazz along its development, and it was usually a
performer or composer.  This includes Buddy Bolden, Benny Goodman, Louis
Armstrong, Art Tatum, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Charlie
Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane.  There are even
more jazz greats who have contributed to jazz.
     The form of music we know as jazz has existed ever since the late 19th
century, and is still alive.  It consisted of many different eras, each one
with one or two different styles of jazz.  Each era also had many good
performers and composers which made a certain era stand out.  Through the
late 19th century to about the early 1920s the form of jazz we know as New
Orleans Jazz, which included Dixieland jazz and ragtime.  The 20s and 30s
developed the Swing Era, which made many performers famous through the
first recordings.  The 40s and the postwar decades led to bebop, also
called bop for short.  Bebop's performers also changed the way jazz was
looked at.  The 50s through the 70s created a few types of jazz which were
very loose and had no limits, but could be critized.  The 80s and to the
present developed a type of jazz which was more calm and smooth than other
types of jazz.  The present has brought back all the forms of jazz, and now
is experimenting with the many different instruments from the orchestra,
including the french horn, bassoon, or violin. There are so many styles in
jazz that jazz could not be defined clearly without ignoring one of its
forms.  It included vocals, ragtime, blues, New Orleans jazz, Chicago and
New York City jazz, Big Band, bebop, modal or free jazz, fusion, and modern
jazz. Vocals were definitely a style of jazz which performers could easily
express moods or feelings, since the instrument was the human voice.  The
singing of the performers had great freedom and color, and could be
expressed by many syllables.  Grunts, vibrato, and the impersonation of
instruments could all be done by voice.  These many possiblities made this
form of jazz very popular by bringing out many famous singers, such as Ella
Fitzgerald.  Vocals can be put into any form of jazz, and make it even
better.
     Ragtime emerged near the end of the 19th century and continued through
World War I.  It combined many elements, such as syncopated rhythms,
harmonic contrasts, and formal patterns of European marches.  It is usually
played in the time signature of 2/4.  Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" made
ragtime very popular throughout the whole nation.  Other ragtime composers
included Thomas Turpin, James Scott, and Eubie Blake.  The piano and banjo
are the most common used instruments in ragtime.
     Blues was another popular form of jazz in the late 19th century.  It
was derived from the banjo music of black slaves and was very popular among
the southern part of the United States. It developed all the way through
the 1950s.  Blues worked its way from vocals to the instruments such as the
piano, electric guitar, and saxophones.  Blues has been considered to be
separate from jazz but it is very similar in many aspects, including the
instrumentation and the use of vocals.  Many famous singers and performers
were created through the blues, such as Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and B.B.
King.
     New Orleans jazz was one of the first types of jazz to be fully
documented, and it came from New Orleans, Louisiana.  From the early 20th
century and up to the mid-1920s New Orleans jazz was well known.  The
instruments used were the cornet, trumpet, clarinet, trombone, tuba, string
bass, and rhythm secton.  Buddy Bolden was one of the big figures in New
Orleans jazz, and he led some of the first jazz bands.  One of the first
bands included the Original Dixieland Jass Band, which was later changed to
the Original Dixieland Jazz Band.
     Chicago and New York City jazz was one of the first periods of time
where jazz was being experimented with, and many new things were being
discovered in music.  Throughout the 20s and 30s jazz piano was developed,
it was called stride piano.  It was called this for the hard-driving and
highly technical soloing with the piano.  Boogie-woogie is another piano
style which developed in Chicago and New York City jazz.  It related back
to a form of the blues, where the pianist solos with his right hand while
keeping a repetitive bass line in his right hand.  Chicago and New York
City jazz included one of the highest figures in jazz, Louis Armstrong.  It
also included a musician who was considered very different in his style
when compared to Armstrong, his name was Bix Beiderbecke.  It also included
Benny Goodman, the famous clarinet player.
     The Big Band style of jazz can be explained easily, it involved a big
band of about 18-20 members.  It included 4 sections: the saxophones,
trombones, trumpets/cornets, and the rhythm section consisting of the piano,
bass guitar, and drums. It was invented during the 20s to the 40s, when
jazz musicians decided to have large groups play together.  In New York
City a man named Duke Ellington led a big band.  Ellington was famous for
his songs, which many are considered jazz standards.  Some of his songs are
"Sophisticated Lady" and "Koko".  In Kansas City during the mid-30s a man
named Count Basie also lead a band.  His style involved improvisation to be
used more than the melody, or the "head" of the song.  Once again vocals
were involved with another type of jazz, Big Band.  This era was ultimately
one of the largest developing.
     Bebop is an exciting, energetic form of jazz which involved big bands
but was used a lot more in jazz combos.  Bebop totally redefined the way to
improvise in a song, and it is full of creative and unique musical ideas,
also called "licks".  Famous people such as the saxophonist Charlie Parker,
the trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and the drummer Max Roach created bebop
during the 40s and the Postwar Decades, which was definitely a big leap for
jazz.  This style of jazz is less restricted, and improvisation involved
longer phrases, more choruses, and more emotions.
     Modal jazz, also called free jazz, has no rules at all.  It was
created during the late 50s through the 70s.  Improvisation has ultimate
freedom and so does the songs.  A famous trumpeter named Miles Davis helped
created modal jazz by arranging songs so certain parts of each song would
be kept in the same key, chord, and mode for up to 16 measures.  This
allowed the improvisor to have more freedom.  John Coltrane, a tenor
saxophonist and composer, had participated in the bebop period by composing
the complex and famous song "Giant Steps".  Later he composed songs which
were for modal jazz, such as "My Favorite Things".
     Jazz began to fall in the late 60s when younger audiences were exposed
to soul music and rock.  Jazz musicians developed fusion, a combination of
jazz and rock, to gain back the interest of the nation.  Once again Miles
Davis participated, totally changing his style to record and play in fusion
bands.
     From the 80s to the present all forms of jazz are coming back, each
one influencing the other.  People such as Pat Methany have composed songs
which involve ideas from bebop, swing, fusion, and other mixtures of the
many styles of jazz.  Currently the most influencing form of jazz is bebop.
These many forms of jazz will never disappear as long as their musical
ideas are implemented into new songs.  Of those who contribute the most to
jazz, the musicians themselves have done the most.  Buddy Bolden, the first
jazz legend, contributed to jazz by leading the first jazz bands and
influencing many others to lead bands or compose. He was considered the
first jazz trumpeter, and he was a very driving, rhythmic, and emotional
player who was an inspiration to all jazz musicians.  Benny Goodman
contributed to jazz by helping to start the Swing Era of jazz.  He played
clarinet in the big bands he lead, and he improvised amazingly.  He went
from rags to riches very quick, and other than jazz he appreciated
classical a lot.  Louis Armstrong contributed to jazz by being one of the
first virtuoso improvisors.  He also sang very well, with the perfect
attitude and tone for each song he sang in.  Art Tatum was a very famous
soloist who played the piano.  He helped develop stride piano. Tatum
accomplished much in his life, with many recordings.  What made him famous
was for his virtuosity on the piano, just like Louis Armstrong was on the
trumpet.  Billie Holiday was a leading singer among many in the 1930s.  She
was very talented in taking regular songs and jazzing them up or making
them "blue".  She worked with many famous people such as the saxophonist
Lester Young and the composer Count Basie.  Duke Ellington was one of the
most respected figures in jazz.  He was a composer, conductor, and pianist
in the 20s through the 60s. As he led famous jazz bands, usually big bands,
he composed many jazz standards, such as the song "Take the A-Train" and
"Sophisticated Lady".  Ellington went to Carnegie Hall and conducted the
first 9 annual concerts.  Count Basie was another popular bandleader, but
from the 30s to the early 80s.
     His band was always known for being a big band with many good soloists,
such as the saxophonist Lester Young.  He was also a great pianist, whose
style was thought to be elegant and graceful.  Charlie Parker was the
ultimate king of bop, the style created in the 40s.  He was a saxophonist
with a talent for improvising.  There was a story once that when he first
started playing, Parker decided to play with a band.  Parker really messed
up during the performance and everyone ridiculed him. Even the drummer
threw his symbol at him.  So Parker went home, practiced 11 to 15 hours a
day for 3 to 4 years, and came back to the same place he performed that
embarrassing night.  Parker blew everyone away.  His improvising was
creative beyond anyone's imagination, and so were the songs he composed. 
Usually he played very fast songs, and Parker himself played so fast that
no one could see his fingers.  He had totally redefined improvising in jazz.
 Dizzy Gillespie was another bopper like Charlie Parker, but he played the
trumpet.  Dizzy improvised exactly in the same style as Parker, and the two
of them often were in a combo together.  Miles Davis was a man of many
styles.  He was first influenced with bebop, and he improvised on the
trumpet with a "cool" style soon to be copied by many other musicians. 
Later in his life he was influenced by rock, and he helped develop fusion.
John Coltrane was a tenor saxophonist and composer.  Appearing famous in
the 50s and 60s, Coltrane was known for his awesome soloing on the tenor
sax and the complexity of the songs he wrote.  He wrote the songs "Giant
Steps" and "A Love Supreme". Interpretation of jazz has been questioned
many times.  What distinguishes it from other types of music?  It could be
explained in this quote:  "The conventional symbols could, in other words,
indicated in a general way what should be played, but could not indicate
(precisely) how it should be played" (Pleasants 32).  This means that what
is shown as music on the paper is not exactly what should be played.  You
are allowed to change the music a little, speed it up or slow it down, or
articulate it different.  One important factor in jazz is rhythm. The
musicians do not always play directly on the beat or tempo. Players can be
"on top" of the beat, which means ahead of the beat, or play "laid back",
which is to play behind the beat. Improvisation is another factor of jazz
which separates it from other styles of music.  The standard way to
improvise in jazz is to keep the original melody in mind while improvising
and invent a new melodic line.  "Free form" or "free improvisation" is when
a person's improvising is only restricted that he/she improvises related to
the musical sounds of the other musicians.  Basically when improvising you
are allowed to play anything you want to, to show off your talent and
abilities to please the audience.
     Another important factor of jazz is syncopation. Syncopation is to
place an accent or extend the note value of a weak beat.  Syncopation may
give a song better feeling and movement, basically improving the feel of
the song.  The form of jazz, when related to notes, scales, and modes, is
very complex. Songs can be in any key, including any pitch of any octave,
and the song may be built on many complex music scales and modes. Chord
progressions, where certain chords are played in order, can also be complex,
such as the II-V-I progression.  Jazz has unlimited  possiblilties since it
is not so restricted to certain scales, notes, or sounds.  Jazz's
interpretation can only go so far, since it splits into many different
styles.  Here is another person's idea of jazz:  Jazz, then, is not a
composer's art.  The particular melody and harmonies which formed the basis
of a performance, improvised or arranged, are of secondary importance.
Rather jazz is the art of the performer, the performing ensemble, the
arranger.  And the quality of the art is dependent upon their creative
ideas. (Ulrich 449)
     Jazz still has a even better future to come, and it will develop into
a even greater influence than it is now.  Jazz will never have an echo,
where people reminisce about the old times. It has survived for a very long
time, and the musicians and styles of jazz will continually change the
interpretation of jazz itself.  People will even to have to get more
specific when they say they love jazz, but variety is good.  Variety in
jazz allows many to express their feelings and musical ideas.  Without it,
variety in the world of music would drastically reduced.