The BirthAnd Evolution

Of JazzCarl Regehr

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The BirthAnd Evolution

Of JazzCarl Regehr

Jazz is the audible history of racial inte-gration in America. As a musical style it is distinguished by its emphasis upon improvisation, blues-infl uenced tonality, and syncopated swing rhythm. Created originally by African ideas. Euro-American culture contributed concepts of sectional and strophic musical form, func-tional harmony, metric rhythm (4/4 meter), and brass instruments. Africa provided the example of improvisation over structure, layers of rhythmic syncopation, an emphasis on percussion, and blues tonal-ity borrowed from work songs, spirituals, and dance-related drum ensembles.

Originally jazz was more an attitude and approach to performance than a body of musical compositions. The black marching bands of new Orleans, which often accompanied funeral processions, played traditional slow hymns on the way to the cemetery; for the proces-sion back to town, they broke into jazzed-up versions of the same hymns, ragtime tunes, or syncopated renditions of popular marches. Inside the bordellos pianists or small combos entertained clients by improvising on rhythmically syncopated versions of popular songs and dances such as quadrilles and waltzes. The instruments in the marching band-a cornet or trumpet for the main melody, with a clarinet and trombone for counter melodies-form the nucleus of the early jazz combo. These melody instruments were accompanied by a rhythm section containing drums, string bass or tuba, piano, and a banjo or guitar.

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The earliest recordings identifi ed as jazz were made in 1977 in New York by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band under the leadership of Nick La Ro-cca. The members were white musi-cians from New Orleans, playing in a style that they learned from blacks in that city. Although the early jazz artists occasionally cut records, it was only when jazz bands traveled to Chicago and New York City that the music became available nationwide through recordings released by the major rec-ord companies. The fi rst important recordings by black musicians were made in 1923, by King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, a group that included some of the foremost New Orleans musicians then performing in Chicago-Louis Armstrong, Johnny and “Baby” Dodds, and Honore Dutrey.

Many white groups in Chicago and elsewhere adopted the style, among them the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and the Wolverines led by Bix Beiderbecke. The characteristics of this early style included a relatively complex polyphonic inter-weaving of melodic lines among the cornet (or trumpet), clarinet, and trombone and a steady beat from the rhythm instruments (piano, bass, and drums). Most bands avoided written notation in their arrangements, preferring “head charts” devel-oped through practice and performance. Impro-vised short breaks and extended chorus solos gave performers opportunity to simultaneously compose and perform.

During the 1920s public exposure by radio and re-corded sound increased the popularity of jazz. The two most important recording centers were Chicago and New York, although much of the country was caught up in the dances and lifstyle that were closely associated with the music. As a result, the period itself became known as the Jazz Age.

In Chicago the most infl uential artists were members of small bands like the Wolverines or Armstrong’s Hot Five. In New York, the trend was toward larger groups with two or more trumpets, one or two trombones, three or four reeds, plus a rhythm section. The larger groups played in revues and vaudeville shows and in large dance halls and theaters.

NewOrleans

Jazz

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As the decade progressed, the performance styles in all groups featured more written arrange-ments and placed inreasing emphasis on solo performance. Representative of the many players who led the outburst of jazz virtuosity in the 1920s were Sidney Bechet, Ferdinand“Jelly Roll” Morton, Coleman Hawkins, Arm-strong, and James P. Johnson. Among the lead-ers in establishing the sound of the new big bands were Fletcher Henderson (with Don Redman, his arranger) and Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington. It was Henderson who developed the

performance style that became known as swing, featuring call-and-response patterns between brass and reeds, extensive use of the riff-the repetition of a motif-for ensemble work and as accompaniment for soloists, elaborate written arrangements, and the frequent insertion of improvise solos. Writing music for the elaborate Cotton Club revues in Harlem, Ellington extended the role of bandleader beyond mere arranging and into the areas of composition and orchestration. Today Ellington is recognized as one of America’s foremost composers because of his creative orchestration, memorable tunes and innovative harmonic voice leading. Works such as “Mood Indigo” and “Harlem Air Shaft” have become standards that are still widely performed.

New York was also the recording center for vocal blues recordings marketed principally to blacks. Because of the unique form of the blues, many of the best jazz performers were used as back-up artists for the insertion of instrumental “comments” between the sung phrases. The most defi nitive singer of the period was Bessie Smith, whose 1920s recordings are considered land-marks of vocal blues.

As the decade progressed, the performance styles

New York Jazz

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Swing

The dominant idiom of the 1930s and much of the 1940s was swing. Utilized almost exclusively for dancing, the music of the big bands borrowed heavily from the techniques introduced by Henderson. Among the most popular bands were those led by Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, and Glenn Miller. In contrast to the highly arranged orchestra-tion s of these new York-based bands, a looser, more swinging Kansas City style developed under the influence of Count Basie and Bennie Moten. Emphasizing blues influences, riffs tossed back and forth between reed and brass sections, and employing a light “comping” (syncopated chording) pianotechnique, the Kansas City bands featured outstanding coloists such as Lester Young of the Basie band.

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The Jazz Revolution: Bebop

In the early 1940s a rejection of the restrictive arrangements required by big-band style spread among jazz musicians. Under the leadership of Charley “Bird” Parker, John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, Theoloni-ous Monk, and others a style known as bop, or bebop, emerged on the new York scene. A return to the small combo of early jazz, it featured solo trumpet and saxophone rather than the large brass and reed sec-tions used by swing groups. Emphasizing solos rather than ensembles, bop players developed an astounding degree of virtuosity. Bop was extremely complex rhythmically; it used extensions of the usual har-monic structures and featured blinding speed and irregular phrasing. Bop style challenged performers and audiences alike. It demanded great listening skill, and its erratic rhythms made it unsuitable for dancing. Because of its sophistication, bop resulted in the fi rst breakaway of jazz from the mainstream of popular music. The style was adopted by many performers during the 1940s and 1950s but was rejected by others who preferred the more conservative techniques of swing.

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