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America’s Musical Landscape�8th edition

Part 3:

The Growth of Vernacular Traditions

Chapter 10: Jazz 1930–1960

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Jazz 1930-1960, 1

Jazz reached the peak of its popularity in the mid-1930s

The Great Depression receded; this was an optimistic period
America’s involvement in World War II still lay ahead

People craved more adventurous music

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Jazz 1930-1960, 2

Prohibition ended; jazz was performed in a more pleasant atmosphere than the speakeasies of the 1920s

Crowds flocked to hear big bands

By 1935 big band music resounded from radios, recordings, juke boxes, dance halls all over the United States

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Big Band Swing, 1

Black jazz musicians added instruments to their small combos

Developed the vibrant sound known as big band jazz, or swing
Swing appealed to whites and blacks of every stratum of society

Jazz and popular music came together for a time
Swing was the popular music of the 1930s

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“Big Band” and “Swing”

Early big bands started out with five or six players

As time went on, the standard became twelve to eighteen players in three sections of instruments:

Brass
Reeds
Rhythm

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Big Band Instruments: �The Brass Section

The brass section consisted of

Trumpets
Trombones

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Big Band Instruments:�The Reed section

The woodwind section is called the reed section

Woodwind instruments used in a big band are played with a reed

A reed is a small flexible piece of cane used on the mouthpiece, to vibrate

Saxophones and sometimes clarinet were used in big bands

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Big Band Instruments:�The Rhythm Section

Guitar and/or double bass

Piano

Drums

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Big Band Swing:�“Swing” and its meanings, 1

Swing eighths

Strings of eighth notes performed in an uneven rhythm
Alternating long and short notes of subjective rather than measured length
This contributes to the flexible give-and-take, or expressive rubato, within the steady jazz beat

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Big Band Swing:�“Swing” and its meanings, 2

“Swing” can refer to a mood, a lilt, or a magical effect of great jazz

When all elements of a jazz performance come together and work, the music “swings”

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Big Band Swing, 2

Eventually the big bands (or swing bands) experienced a galvanizing interaction between black and white musicians characteristic of many developments of jazz

Recording companies and commercial radio stations still segregated popular music intended for blacks and whites
But African American music inevitably became more familiar to and popular with a widening audience

White people traveled to Harlem, New York City (a black neighborhood) to hear outstanding black jazz musicians jam, or improvise
People were intoxicated by the concept of “swing”

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Big Band Swing:�The Art of Arranging

Early jazz combos functioned well with free improvisation, but larger groups of players required:

Structured arrangements

Written or thoroughly worked out in rehearsals
Often based on New Orleans originals

Sounded similar to New Orleans and Dixieland jazz
Large combos, more sensuous orchestration, structure
Big band members had more formal musical training
Big band harmonies were more adventurous
Only brief solo improvisations

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Big Band Music: Arrangers, 1

Jelly Roll Morton, ragtime and jazz pianist, was one of the first bandleaders to provide arrangements for his band

Fletcher Henderson, pianist (1897-1952) wrote influential arrangements that later jazz bands emulated

Made his large groups sound as if they were improvising

Left limited room for improvisation

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Big Band Music: Arrangers, 2

Transformed the large “sweet” dance band into a jazz band

Skillfully alternating the independent use of each instrument section with outstanding solos
Henderson’s innovations were copied by dance bands of the big band era, and high school and college jazz bands today

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Big Band Music: �The Kansas City Jazz Scene

Musicians from Chicago, New York, New Orleans and elsewhere found Kansas City a hospitable environment for developing a distinct jazz style

Kansas City Jazz was stylistically more pared-down, lighter, more airy, less dense, more relaxed than New Orleans or Chicago jazz
Kansas City arrangements were based on simple musical phrases called riffs, which were repeated over and over

Count Basie dominated this jazz scene

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Big Band Music:�Count (Bill) Basie (1904-1984)

Basie defined jazz as “music you can pat your foot to”

One of the most popular of all big band arrangers, Basie’s instrument was piano

His refined “less is more” piano style proved that space or silence is as important to music as sound
Basie’s band was admired for its rhythm section

Guitar, bass and drums produced a perfectly balanced sound
Basie’s unique piano style made some consider his ensemble the best swing band of all

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Listening Example 39

Taxi War Dance (excerpt)

By Count Basie

and Lester Young (1909-1959)

Listening guide page 167

Instruments:

Four trumpets, three trombones, three�saxophones, piano , guitar, double bass,�drums
Hear Basie on piano, and Lester Young on�tenor saxophone

Basie introduces a rolling figure

in the lower piano range, which

continues as trumpets make

brief, emphatic comments,

accompanied by trombones and

drums

Hear Lester Young come in with

his relaxed, swinging saxophone

improvisation, which he extends

and develops

Trumpet and piano riff return,

trombone solo accompanied by

rhythm section

The piece continues….

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Big Band Music:�Benny Goodman (1909-1986), 1

White clarinetist and bandleader

Brought big band music to national attention through his recordings and radio programs

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Big Band Music:�Benny Goodman (1909-1986), 2

Goodman’s inclusion of African American soloists in his band was unprecedented

But his exploitation of contributions of black musicians sometimes caused resentment

Many of Goodman’s best arrangements were by written by Fletcher Henderson, who never earned all the money he should have

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Big Bands:�Glenn Miller (1904-1944), 1

An outstanding arranger

By 1940, he had recorded forty-five songs that made it onto the top seller charts
Not even Elvis Presley or the Beatles matched this record

Miller developed a distinctive and irresistible sound

A clarinet supported by four saxophones

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Big Bands:�Glenn Miller (1904-1944), 2

Enlisted during World War II in the Army Air Forces Band

Updated military music for troops to enjoy
Disappeared in a small military plane, possibly a victim of friendly fire

Music includes

“Moonlight Serenade”
“In the Mood”

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Big Band Music: Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899-1974), 1

A great jazz pianist and bandleader

Ellington used his jazz band as his real “instrument”

Exploring its entire range of sounds with unprecedented imagination and creativity, using precise orchestration

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Big Band Music: Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899-1974), 2

Born in Washington, DC, formed a dance band in New York City

In 1927, his band became the ten-member famous Duke Ellington Orchestra, playing:

Hot New Orleans jazz at the popular Cotton Club in Harlem
Hired the best musicians, exploited their unique sounds in his gifted orchestrations

Wrote for the talents of specific musicians

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Duke Ellington

Juxtaposed instruments in nontraditional combinations

Using them in the extreme limits of their range
Transforming sounds of instruments, sometimes effectively obscuring their identification

Recognized as a serious composer

In addition to jazz, Ellington produced symphonic works

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Duke Ellington: Symphonic Works, 1

Black, Brown, and Beige” (1943)

“Latin American Suite” (1968)

Large-scale sacred works incorporating dancers, choruses, gospel singers, and his own band

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Duke Ellington: Symphonic Works, 2

Drew from American music styles including field hollers, Shaker hymns, fiddlers’ dance tunes, minstrel songs, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley, New Orleans jazz, and blues

Ellington created a particular American tapestry of mood and style

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Duke Ellington: Later Years

During the early days of rock and roll, Ellington’s music was heard less often

But at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, his orchestra was a tremendous hit

Leading to a best-selling album, Ellington at Newport

Played prestigious concert dates
Ellington’s fame soared to unprecedented heights

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Listening Example 40

Mood Indigo

By Duke Ellington

Listening guide page 171

Tempo: Slow and bluesy; danceable
Instruments: Five trumpets, three�trombones, five saxophones, (two�tenor, two alto, one baritone), two�clarinets, bass, drums, and Duke Ellington at the piano
Hear the chromatic melodies, bitonal harmonies (juxtaposing one key over another), and dreamy mood that make this piece easy to listen to

Brief piano introduction, then muted

sax, accompanied by walking bass improvises on the famous melody, barely suggesting tune fragments.

Trumpets finally introduce the lovely theme, playing in a warm and mellow style rather than brilliant or virtuosic as in standard dance pieces. Bass supplies support, and muted sax

delicately embellishes.

Walking bass = A steadily moving

pattern in the plucked string bass,

with melodic and rhythmic

implications

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Listening Example 41

Take the A Train

Composed by Billy Strayhorn

Listening guide page 172

Timbre: piano, trumpets, cornet, trombones, saxophones, guitar, bass, percussion.
Melody: The theme is angular, jumping from note to note (as subway riders rush through a crowded station).
Form: Each chorus follows the familiar AABA form.

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Women in Jazz

Women who played jazz in the 1930s and 1940s faced nearly insurmountable odds

Many assumed they lacked the strength, temperament, or talent of male musicians

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Women in Jazz:�Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981), 1

A noted arranger and successful solo pianist

It was unusual for a woman to be successful in the developing world of jazz

Arranged for Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington

Became Ellington’s staff arranger

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Women in Jazz:�Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981), 2

Contributed to many evolving styles of popular piano music

1996: Honored with the first of an annual series of Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festivals at the Kennedy Center, Washington, DC

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All-Woman Bands, 1

Back then, they were referred to as “all-girl” bands

These bands flourished during World War II

Men were away at war

People grew accustomed to women in non-traditional roles

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All-Woman Bands, 2

International Sweethearts of Rhythm

The most impressive of the all-female bands

Diverse makeup

Mostly black; also Chinese, Indian, Hawaiian, white

Ignored by white audiences, film makers, and print media who did not take women jazz performers seriously
They were a hit at Harlem’s Apollo Theater and Savoy Ballroom

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Rise of Big Band Vocalists: Reactions against Big Band Music, 1

1940s: A new generation of young Americans unfamiliar with early jazz danced to big band music

Older people enjoyed big band music, too

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Rise of Big Band Vocalists: Reactions against Big Band Music, 2

Reactions against big band music set in at the same time

Arrangements grew more complex, emphasizing rhythm and swing rather than melody

The source tune sometimes was unidentifiable
The swing crowd preferred the simple songs to the new challenging instrumental arrangements

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Rise of Big Band Vocalists: Popular Song, Changing Styles

Early jazz had important reciprocal relationships with popular song

Players improvised on popular song melodies and harmonies
Many songs of the 1920s and 1930s were jazz-flavored
Big bands played arrangements of Tin Pan Alley songs

In the 1930s big bands began to work with vocalists

Big band style assumed the role of accompaniment

Ella Fitzgerald (1918-1996)—Known for scat singing
Rudy Vallee and Bing Crosby—Famous crooners, thanks to microphone technology and recording engineers
Frank Sinatra

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Rise of Big Band Vocalists: Changing Tastes

Lush string arrangements became popular, replacing the brassier sound of big band

In the mid-1940s, orchestras often replaced big bands as the preferred accompaniment for vocalists

Crowds came not so much to dance as to hear the popular singers

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The Rise of Big Band Vocalists: Billie Holiday (1915-1959)

Born Eleanora Fagan and known as “Lady Day,” Holiday bridged the worlds of jazz and pop

Interpreted blues songs; a great jazz singer
Her way of “microphonizing” her voice was innovative

Used microphone—a new enhancement—to alter her voice and add expressive effects

The ballad “Strange Fruit,” by Jewish songwriter Abel Meeropol (1903-1987), expressively sung by Holiday, was based upon a picture of a lynching
Holiday was a tragic figure who died penniless

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Bebop: Background, 1

In the early 1940s, a few virtuosic black musicians revolted against the domestication of jazz and 1930s swing bands

They reacted against polished performances of written, rehearsed “jazz” and created a new style known as bebop

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Bebop: Background, 2

They resented:

Limitation to the short and stylized solos of big band music
Dependence on written arrangements
Lack of freedom to improvise
Disproportionate financial rewards granted to less creative and less innovative white musicians

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Bebop

Bebop musicians created a tight, difficult, and virtuosic music

A return to the ideals of early jazz—improvisation, virtuosity, close interaction between soloist and combo

Bebop is considered the first truly modern jazz

like early jazz and concert music of its era, it was performed by small ensembles of virtuoso musicians

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Bebop: Characteristics, 1

Stark, clear, technically demanding instrumental lines

Angular melodies with large unpredictable leaps

Rapid-fire solos; too fast to dance to

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Bebop: Characteristics, 2

Rather than following a prearranged or familiar harmonic progressions, bop musicians challenged each other to chart new harmonic paths and make them work

Dissonant chords startled listeners’ ears
improvisation on harmony instead of melody was new and puzzled listeners

Bebop was a revolutionary sound that changed the course of jazz

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Bebop: Instruments

Typical bebop combo:

Trumpet, saxophone, double bass, piano, percussion
Trumpet and sax—melody instruments—sometimes started by playing a pop, blues, or original melody in unison

Then began to alternate with increasingly complex improvisations, supported by other players

Double bass marked the beat

Sometimes took melodic responsibility; played “walking” bass lines

Piano and percussion supplied unexpected, irregular accents

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Bebop: �Charlie “Bird” Parker (1920-1955)

An amazing saxophone virtuoso, considered by some to be the most influential jazz musician

Introduced new rhythmic, melodic,�improvisational techniques
Known for playing at a fierce, rapid�tempo with unrelenting emotional�intensity

Jammed in Harlem clubs with pianist Thelonious Monk (1921-1982) and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie

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Bebop: John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie (1917-1993), 1

Improvised rhythms of unprecedented complexity

Reached notes no one knew the trumpet could play
Devised harmonic changes defying the accepted rules of harmony

Gillespie enjoyed African Cuban rhythms and sounds

Included them in pieces such as “Manteca”

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Bebop: John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie (1917-1993), 2

Comfortable with a variety of jazz styles and techniques, and less zealous than Parker, Gillespie was an active performer until shortly before his death

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Listening Example 42

KoKo

Performed by

Charlie Parker (alto saxophone)

Dizzie Gillespie (trumpet, piano)

Max Roach (drums)

Curley Russell (bass)

Listening guide page 178

Tempo: Extremely rapid
Hear solos interspersed with chorus in AABA form, as well as the virtuosity, musicianship, and compatibility of these outstanding musicians

At a session to record the swing standard “Cherokee,” by Ray Noble, Parker and Gillespie improvised half-heartedly on the tune until Parker, tired of the familiar melody, decided to improvise instead on the chords.

Instead of beginning with the usual reference to the standard tune, Parker used bits of his own melodic material, skillfully weaving them over and through the unusual chord changes of “Cherokee.” The resulting historic recording—one of Parker’s greatest solos—is based on no prewritten melody at all.

Parker’s “KoKo” is not related to Duke Ellington’s earlier piece of the same name.

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Bebop: Audience, 1

At the time, Parker and Gillespie were leading the bebop revolution

A recording artists strike caused a ban on commercial recordings of popular music for about two years

After the ban, audiences, not understanding bebop, were nonplussed by its sophistication and complexity

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Bebop: Audience, 2

Bebop is important music

Challenged and stimulated musicians and listeners
Ushered in the age of modern jazz

Meant for listening more than dancing; a concert music

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Jazz as Concert Music, 1

Some composers wrote both classical and popular music

Applying classical knowledge to popular pieces
Or refusing to distinguish between classical and popular music

1940s: Jazz musicians absorbed influences from classical music

Jazz had become music for serious listening

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Jazz as Concert Music, 2

1950s: Jazz was performed frequently in concert

Black and white jazz musicians took an intellectual approach

And so did listeners

Jazz criticism became a recognized field

Some jazz composers collaborate with poets, choreographers, classical musicians, producing serious concert works

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Jazz as Concert Music:�Jazz Composition, 1

The essence of jazz is improvisation

The challenge for musicians wishing to combine classical and jazz techniques is creating a balance between:

What is written
What is improvised by the soloists
What the ensemble achieves collectively

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Jazz as Concert Music:�Jazz Composition, 2

There were precedents for requiring performers in the classical tradition to improvise

During the Baroque period (1600-1750)

Composers wrote the melody and bass lines of a piece

Harmonies were to be filled in by lute or keyboard

Early Classical period (1750-1825)

Soloists improvised one or more cadenzas in a solo concerto

Church organists

Expected to improvise music that connects one part of a service, or one verse of a hymn, to another

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Classical Improvisation as Compared with Jazz Improvisation, 1

Classical musicians improvised within established guidelines

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Classical Improvisation as Compared with Jazz Improvisation, 2

Jazz as classical music was a new concept

Symphonic jazz of the 1920s was concert music with some of the flavor of jazz
Big band arrangements approached the concept of composed music but were hardly original compositions
But by the 1940s, jazz composers were writing original jazz compositions

At that point, jazz entered the world of art music

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Jazz as Concert Music:�Duke Ellington and Classical Music

As a classical composer, Ellington wrote

Tone poems
Ballet suites
Concerto-like miniatures for star sidemen
Sacred music
Topical revues
Film scores
Extended jazz works
A comic opera, Queenie Pie, for public television

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Jazz as Concert Music: Duke Ellington, a Prolific Composer, 1

Ellington has been referred to as the most prolific American composer of the twentieth century

Composed almost 2,000 pieces
Composed in a large variety of musical forms

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Jazz as Concert Music: Duke Ellington, a Prolific Composer, 2

Serious compositions often reflected American black experience

1943: Black, Brown, and Beige, Carnegie Hall premiere

Subtitled “A Tone Parallel to the History of the Negro in America”

1945: Ellington’s orchestra was the only dance band selected to pay tribute to the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in a memorial radio broadcast

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Listening Example 43

Concerto for Cootie

By Duke Ellington

Listening guide page 181

A B A

Form:
Meter: Four beats to the bar
Tempo: Relaxed
Instruments: Saxophones, clarinet, trumpets, trombones, bass, drum
Concerto = Multimovement composition for orchestra and one or more soloists; i.e., a piece consisting of several independent sections, or movements

Ellington wrote this piece to feature the trumpeter Charles “Cootie” Williams

Despite the definition of a concerto, Ellington chose to write this as a one-

movement piece

Yet, this piece retains interplay between soloist and orchestra that is characteristic of a classical form

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Progressive Jazz:�Stan Kenton (1912-1979)

1949: Pianist arranger Stan Kenton led a twenty-piece orchestra in a jazz concert in Carnegie Hall

His tightly organized and beautifully balanced ensemble played with elegance and precision

Kenton named this music progressive jazz

Progressive jazz became the name of a new jazz movement

Another contribution Kenton made to modern jazz included serious exploration of Latin American drums and rhythms in his big band jazz

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Progressive Jazz: Artists, 1

In the East:

Stan Kenton and Woody Herman

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Progressive Jazz: Artists, 2

In the West:

Dave Brubeck (1910-2012)

Pianist and classically trained composer who studied with French composer Darius Milhaud (1892-1974)
Brubeck used European art music effects that are

Atonal: without a tonic
Polytonal: with two or more tonics
Complex rhythms, including jazz polyrhythms
Irregular meters: five or seven beats per measure

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Listening Example 44

Take Five

by Paul Desmond

Performed by

Dave Brubeck Quartet

(Piano, sax, bass, drums)

Listening guide page 183

Meter: Quintuple, or five beats per measure, divided in the pattern one-two-three-four-five
Notice the piano marking the beginning of each measure with a low accented pitch while the sax and drum solos weave intricate patterns over the steady five-beat accompanying figure

Dave Brubeck’s Quartet (Brubeck as pianist, Paul Desmond on alto sax, Joe Morello as drummer,

and David Wright on bass) Achieved unprecedented popularity and sales for a jazz recording with Desmond’s engaging piece “Take Five”

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Trumpeter Miles Davis (1926-1991)

Miles Davis explored

Expanding the melodic possibilities of jazz by basing melodies on modes rather than major, minor, or blues scales
His 1959 album Kind of Blue, an experiment in modal jazz, was extremely influential
Throughout his life, Davis experimented with creative ideas in jazz

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Listening Example 45

Boplicity

By Miles Davis and Gil Evans

Performers: The Miles Davis Nonet

Listening guide page 185

Listen for the trumpet and alto saxophone on�top, the baritone saxophone and tuba on the bottom, and the horn and trombone in the center, accompanied by rhythm instruments
The diminished use of vibrato (a discreet variation in pitch that adds warmth and intensity to vocal and instrumental sounds), produced a drier, “cool” sound compared with the hot effects of bebop

An example of cool jazz,

this piece demonstrates

Miles Davis’s self-restraint

and dramatic timing; silence

is as important as the notes

Hear how the music is

slower-paced, less

emotional, more cerebral,

quieter than the impassioned

sounds of bebop

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Hard Bop, 1

A style combining driving rock-related rhythms with the “amen chords” of gospel

Created by certain black musicians in the late 1950s
Derives from the blues; strong rhythms, bluesy phrasing
Melodies are straight-forward
Harmonies are simplified
Rigid beat punctuated with strong backbeats
Improvised around new melodies

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Hard Bop, 2

Drummer Art Blakey (1919-1990) and his group the Jazz Messengers

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