Jazz

from the 19th century to the present

Slavery in the New World Africans arrived in the new world as

indentured servants and slaves in the 17th and 18th centuries

They had to endure living under European rule

Skilled artisans, craftsmen, and farmers Merging of two different cultures Work Songs: Example, “Hoe, Emma,

Hoe”

Africa Caribbean Africian West Indies Latin America

European influence Christianity Literacy

Types of music Secular

Field hollers, shouts, homemade instruments (such as the banjo, tambourine, washboards)

Spiritual Both used call and response,

improvisation, poly-rhythms Many spirituals had double meanings Race records in the 1920s promoted

popular blues singers

Slurring and blending of notes Jazz developed sophisticated

performance practices

Jim Crow Era Segregation laws Billie Holiday, “Strange Fruit” It is believed that, “…segregation probably

accelerated the development of jazz because such a large number of talented young men (and some women) went into it who might have, if society had been less racially restrictive, either played some other form of music or not played music at all.”

http://www.pbs.org/jazz/time/time_jim_crow.htm

World War I April 16, 1917 America entered WWI The GIs brought ragtime to France The war paved the way for, “The

Roaring Twenties Fast living Organized crime Speakeasies Vibrant jazz

The Great Depression 1929 the stock Market crashed Jazz came to symbolize American

freedom and to break down barriers that had separated Americans

Jelly Roll Morton, “Hesitation Blues”

Swing In the mid 1930s jazz became America’s

popular music Helped the record industry grow Dancehalls of Harlem defining music Bands Career musicians with a fan base Benny Goodman, “Sing, Sing, Sing” “Swing Kids” film clip

People to know Benny Goodman, “Sing, Sing, Sing” Louis Armstrong, “St. Louis Blues” Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald, “Let’s

Call the Whole Thing Off” Duke Ellington, “Take the A Train”

WWII December 7, 1941 America at war “Bandsmen today are not just jazz

musicians, they are soldiers of music.” Down Beat

African-American soldiers were often alienated as were young black musicians

Dizzy Gillespie experienced this alienation first hand

Dizzy Gillespie, “Salt Peanuts”

New Orleans What is it about America and New

Orleans that helped to nurture Jazz? What makes Jazz an American form of

music? Who settled in New Orleans?

New Orleans (Continued) People who moved from the American

South to NOLA brought The Blues, Folk Music, Work Songs, Church Songs

Creole people were Classical musicians from the European Classical Tradition

West Indies and Caribbean music African music

Brass Bands Parades Religious Communities (chiefly Roman

Catholic) Voodoo Minstrel music

Jim Crow Ragtime and the Blues appeared in New

Orleans in the 1890s Ragtime was spread by itinerant

musicians and sheet music) What were some reactions to Ragtime?

The Gift Ken Burn’s, “Jazz” Documentary, “The

Gift” “The deepest human feeling…[Louis

Armstrong] is the embodiment of Jazz music.” –Winton Marsalas

Phonographs and sheet music brought music to the people everywhere

The Jazz Age: After WWI Chicago and NYC (Times Square and

Harlem) Migration to NYC The Harlem Renaissance: Marcus

Garvey, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, W.E. DuBois

Piano Stride Piano Cutting Contests James P. Johnson: pianist and writer of,

“The Charleston” the tune that defined The Jazz Age

The music Willie “The Lion” Smith Harlem Rent Parties Duke Ellington The Cotton Club Fletcher Henderson Louis Armstrong (from New Orleans) Benny Goodman

Art and people of the time Freud Picasso Einstein

“Tell me, I forget…show me, I remember…Involve me, I understand.”-Carl Orff

Thursday’s Pentatonic Improv Communication through music Improvisation Parameters and improvisation Freedom in music Influencing each other Art is not created in a vacuum How art grows and changes

Jazz at Lincoln Center Mission Statement: “We believe Jazz is a metaphor for

Democracy. Because jazz is improvisational, it celebrates personal freedom and encourages individual expression. Because Jazz is swinging, it dedicates that freedom to finding and maintaining common ground with others. Because Jazz is rooted in The Blues, it inspires us to face adversity with persistent optimism.”

Jazz Standards Jazz at its inception was dominated by

music for dancing Musicians felt the need to include

popular music in their repertoire. Record executives realized that it would

be beneficial to promote and push certain songs

http://www.jazzstandards.com/history/

Sheet Music and The Brill Building Sheet music companies worked with record

labels to cross promote songs and artists Tin Pan Alley: an area of NYC where sheet music

publishers and songwriters worked together from the 1890s to the 1960s.

Many popular American songs were written there

The Brill Building located at 1619 Broadway, NYC http://www.humanities.uci.edu/history/ucihp/

resources/11th%20grade%20for%20website/11.5%20HOT%20Early_Days_of_Jazz.pdf

1929-1940 The era where the majority of jazz

standards originated George Gershwin Cole Porter Richard Rodgers Lorenz Hart Irving Berlin Hoagy Carmichael

George Gershwin (1898-1937) American Composer and Pianist Blending of Classical and Broadway

Ballad style Writer of Broadway shows, songs, an

opera, movie music His brother Ira Gershwin wrote most of

the lyrics

George Gershwin Worked in Tin Pan Alley for a music

publisher “song plugger” He played piano for 10 hours a day in a

cubicle for vocalists, theatre managers, bandleaders, vaudeville entertainers to sell them sheetmusic

Recorded piano rolls

Cole Porter Musicals: Can Can Anything Goes High Society Kiss Me Kate

Cole Porter Born in 1891 in Indiana Graduated from Yale in 1913 and wrote

the Yale Football fight song “Yale Bulldog Song” and “Bingo Eli Yale”

Attended Harvard Moved to Europe Wrote music for Broadway and film

Known for his wit and intelligence Notable Songs: “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love)” “Anything Goes” “Night and Day” “I Get a Kick Out of You” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”

Some Different Types of Jazz Gypsy Jazz New Orleans Swing Bebop Cool Jazz Free Jazz Modal Jazz Afro-Cuban Jazz Jazz Funk Punk Jazz

Gypsy Jazz

Typified in the playing of Django Reinhardt French influences Mussette Waltz Romani guitarists working in Paris Romani were of Northern Indian

ancestry(left India between the 6th and 11th centuries) sometimes referred to as Gypsies (although believed to be a derogatory term)

Romani music + swing

Guitar and violin are the most popular lead instruments in Gypsy Jazz

Rhythm guitar

Django Reinhardt French guitarist/Composer King of Gypsy Jazz He injured his hand in a fire and was

only able to play solos with the middle and index finger on his left hand

Created the “Hot Jazz Guitar” style His nickname, “Django” means “I

Awake” in Romani