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Pre-Jazz African Genres:

New Orleans Ragtime 12345678|12345678|12345678|1 etc…

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 Brass Bands: African and European elements:
Chapter 5

The Combo style originates in NO. The three main figures are Jelly Roll Morton (Pianist, Composer, Arranger), Louis Armstrong (Trumpet), and Sidney Bechet (Sax).

Chicago emerged as a Jazz mecca around 1920 for several reasons:

The most important NO ragtime pianist is Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941). He is most important as the first jazz composer and arranger. Morton laid the ground work for Ellington, Mingus, and Sun Ra.

He is also considered the inventor of the swing rhythm in contrast to rag rhythm. He made "jazz arranging" an accepted practice. His piano style was more orchestral than pianistic His band, the Red Hot Peppers, was formed and recorded in Chicago. We listened to Grandpa’s Spells, King Porter Stomp, and Jungle Blues (The Peppers and Wynton Marsalis’ group)

Louis Armstrong (1901-1971)

Often called the father of jazz. Born in NO, he moved to Chicago to play with Joe Oliver’s NO style band in 1922. Their most famous piece, Dippermouth Blues, is named for his mouth ? as big as a dipper, that’s how he got the name Satchmo (Satchel mouth). His early recordings with his Hot Five(or Hot Seven) from 1927-8 are considered the most important because they mark the move from collective to solo improvisation. Armstrong’s solo talents are displayed in full force and the recordings form the mold for the swing era. These groups often included trombonist Kid Ory and clarinetist Johnny Dodds. Armstrong appeared in over 50 movies and often sang on his recordings. To the general public, Armstrong is mostly known as an entertainer. Armstrong is the main figure between Morton and Parker. Armstrong made solo improvisation the featured part of the song. The trend from collective to solo improvisation is pivot to our discussion of Louis Armstrong. Listen to JCCD West end Blues p.69. Struttin’ w/ some Barbecue, Scat de dat.

Bix Beiderbeck (1903-1931) From Iowa, and doesn’t fit either the Chicago or the NO profile. The best way to understand Beiderbeck is by comparing him to Armstrong since his style is just the opposite (see chart on p.74). He’s the first great white Trumpet player.

Johnny Dodds (1892-1940) All star clarinetist with Joe Oliver’s band (w/Louis Armstrong). Listen to Struttin w/ some Barbecue or Dippermouth blues.

Sidney Bechet (1897-1959) He is like Armstrong in many ways. A clarinetist and soprano saxist, he also pushed solo versus collective improvisation.

Kid Ory (1886-1973) A firey Trombone player who is most known as a Band Leader, famous for his Muskrat Ramble. He also plays on Armstrong’s Struttin w/ some Barbecue where his percussive style adds punch.

Jack Teagarden (1905-1964) One of the first to advocate the smooth long tones available to Bone players, as opposed to punchy staccato lines in early NO combos.

Rhythm Section:

Baby Dodds (1898-1975) Drummer. Early use of ride rhythm to keep time- but on snare. The ride rhythm was on the HH in the 40s and on the ride in 50s. He played with Joe Oliver’s band (Armstrong, Johnny Dodds, etc.).

Chapter 6

Swing

Swing begins as a result of Morton’s and other NO musician’s relaxing the ragtime rhythm. Its dance music in the purist sense. Look at how swing differs from early jazz:

Early Band Leaders not discussed in other chapters: Art Tatum
* Listen to his tiger rag (JCCD). Carries on the stride tradition. Fast runs, virtuistic, rhythmically compelling, most important player since Johnson and Morton. Teddy Wilson has a lighter cocktail style and played with Goodman. Earl Hines influenced Nat Cole. Cole is important as an early comping artist, one of the first to improvise accompaniment patterns in the modern style sense. Later pianists, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, and Horace Silver, all credit his innovations. To the populace Cole is popular ballad singer.
* To sum up piano evolution to this point: Morton combo style advanced ragtime playing, Johnson’s stride style became the harlem rage, Earl Hines played horn lines as a solo style (single line), Nat Cole was a comping innovator.

Guitarist:
Charlie Christian (1916-42) Benny Goodman’s band. Played solos like a horn player. Advances L. Johnson and Lang’s pioneering approach. Christian is the most important player until Wes Montgomery in the 1960s.
Django Reinhadt (1910-53) Only visited America once. A Belgian Gypsy Guitarist who played mainly in Europe and whose career was impacted by the wars. Inspite of this, Django was very influencial through recordings during the swing era. His playing is amazing and fluid. An excellent musician and technician.

Singers:
Billie Holiday (1915-1959) carries on the blues legacy of Bissie Smith. She begins the vocal transition from Blues singer to Jazz Singer. She didn’t have the power of Bessie, the deep voice of Sarah Vaughn, or the speed and range Ella Fitzgerald. She popular because of her original style ans sound.
Ella Fitzgerald (1918-1996) Most celebrated non opera singer of the 20th century. Excellent speed and technique. Billie began the jazz transition that Ella finished. She could swing, had excellent syncopation style, Her first hit was "a tisket a tasket." She carried on the scat tradition- making the voice an instrument of the highest quality.

Conclusion:
The orbit of jazz and popular music converged during the swing era. Why? Probably not because of the improvisation as few tunes had much improv and some had none. The arrangements were pretty, swung, and were, at this time the main dance music. How does this impact our jazz definition.
 


Chapter 7
Duke Ellington

* Ellington (1899-1974) was the most creative, multifaced, and prolific of the Big Band leaders. His band stayed together the longest (20s to 70s). His composition and arranging style was quite specific - he wrote for the players in his band and their strengths. He incorporated their licks and styles into his compositions, so much so that it became a form of Corporate compositon. The parts would have their name on them instead of Trumpet 1, Alto Sax, Etc.
* He derived his early stride style from James Johnson. His later style was more spontaneous and lighter than stride.
* His arrangements are historically significant for several reasons: 1) he used instruments to create textures in unusual ways. 1) (role/texture reversal) He would cause a high instrument to play the bass line and give the melody to the bass player, with muted trumpets filling out the middle harmony. 2) (Instrumentalized Voice) he used the voice as an instrument. It would sing untexted lines with instruments.  3) Instead of voicing passages with the instrument, say all the trumpets play a riff which is answered by the saxes, he would voice riffs across the sections: one riff might use instruments from each section, and again, the instruments maybe playing in unusual registers. His style was very coloristic.
* He wrote over 2000 songs, extended works like concerto for Cootie,  programmatic (color) pieces, and film scores. His most notable hits to the general public were popish tunes like Satin Doll and Don’t Get Around Much Anymore. His jazz instrumentals are Mood Indigo (cross sectional - bass plays horn lines w/horns) and
* He is credited with popularizing the "Jungle Sound" which is the horn growl. Derived from vocal traditions, trumpeters Bubber Miley and most notably, Cootie Williams, show the vast influence and legacy of saxist Sidney Bechet and the NO style. We'll hear these effects with Cootie's solo in Cottontail. Trumpeted Clark Terry is important for his pre-bop style and extensive use of Flugelhorn.
* Alto sax is typically the lead sax in the section and Johnny Hodges played alto for Ellington from 1928-1970 with one 9 year break. He was another Bechet acolyte. His early style, pre 42,  featured a lot of double timing but his later style, post 42, was smoother and more melodic. Simply put, Hodges is the most important Alto player from the swing era.
* Harry Carney pioneered the barisax (he is the father of). His playing set the example for all who followed. Ben Webster was Ellington's Tenor player but historically, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young are more important.
* Trombone lends itself to the growl sound and Bone player Joe Nanton was the undisputed master.
* Four dummers played with Ellington and each shaped the sound, but none are as important historically as Basie's drummer, Jo Jones. Of the four, Louis Bellson is probably most important. He was a composer and arranger, his famous piece is Skin Deep, which is a drum feature and all the later Ellington drummers had to play it. Rufus Jones,  the last drummer, was important for introducing world percussion and rhythm.
* Bassist Jimmy Blanton is a key figure. His playing liberated bass from the rhythm section and made it a viable solo instrument. Ellington seized the opportunity and arranged songs to feature Blanton in riffs where he played horn lines, the melody, or soloed.
* Piano - of course, the Duke was a consumate pianist. Important for his sparing accompaniments which completed the soloist. He was not however, as important in the development of "Comping" as Count Basie.

Composer/Arranger
* Amazing creativity with multiple themes inside one work. The lack of repetition is important because repetition was the key element for jazz tune construction.
* Programmatic elements with tunes like Transbluency (seeing through the Blue cloud) and Mood Indigo where he paints colors with orchestral shading. Or Hommages/Portraits of other musicians (Stride Pianist Willie, the lion, Smith in "Portrait of a Lion."
* Ballad writer (Sophisticated Lady).
* World influences: The Spanish Tinge returns in Caravan.
* Concert Works which are jazz symphonies with little improvisation. These are also programmatic like "Black, Brown, and Beige" which is a fifty minute musical rendering relaying the history of African Americans.
* Film Score composer - Anatomy of a Murder with Jimmy Stewart.
* Jazz Concertos written to feature his best players - Concerto For Cootie.
* Sacred music concerts and concert music which included vocals, organ, and chorus.
* Last but not least, his swinging, elaborate and highly complex original jazz band tunes like Cottontail and Harlem Airshaft.

Chapter 8
Count Basie

The count derived his early style from stride player Fats Waller. His mature style was light, sparse, and precise being a former drummer.  His main innovations are:
* The smooth unaccented swing groove of his rhythm section. Freddie Green has the guitar comping style named after him. Jo Jones is th emost important swing era drummer. His rhythm was unaccented and he rarely set the beat with his bass drum, but used the ride rhythm instead. Bassist Walter Page is not as important as Jimmie Blanton but he excelled at walking bass.
* His ability to improvise comping with an interactive flare that would set the example for future pianists.
* His style is the opposite of Ellington. Ellington, as an exponent of the NY style, used unique arranging techniques, sophisticated coloring mixtures, and long themes; while Basie's charts were riff based and groove oriented. His style is the quintessential example of the laid back Kansas City Style. His tunes used riffs which not only acted as the main melody, but were also the underlying accompaniments for soloists. In short, Basie arranged for the band like an oversized combo, that's why his combos are so significant.
* His personnel were among the most important in jazz history. The rhythm section has already been discussed. Remember my mention of Lester Young in the last chapter? Lester is more important the Ellington's tenor player Ben Webster. While Ellington's alto player, Johnny Hodges is the more important than Basie's Alto players. Lester Young influenced so many contemporary and later performers. Many played his solos note for note and sax sections would arrange his solos for the whole section. He was a consumate melodyist. His playing was not aggressive like Hawkins's. Young's lines were smooth and eloquent. His playing laid the basis for the age of cool. He also swung differently, by accenting the off beats as opposed to every beat like Hawkins. His lines told a story instead of sounding like a gymnastic exercise. They were long, well conceived melodies - not riff based like the other players.
* Basie's combo work, like Goodman's, is very important. Combos allow more interchange, spontaneity, and collective improvisation. Lester Leaps In is perfect example.