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Jazz Styles in America

Jazz Styles in America Jazz music has been a part of America for many centuries. It has influenced many time periods and ways of life in America. "‘Tin Pan Alley was a real alley on East Fourteenth Street near Third (in New York), but it was never just a place. Tin Pan Alley has come to be known for an era of songwriting when many musical ideas mixed together to form American popular music. Tin Pan Alley brought together many styles: blues, jazz, musical scores, and ragtime"' (Burton Lane qtd. In "Tin Pan Alley"). What are the various jazz styles? Not only has jazz affected people and time periods, but it has also affected places. The popularity of jazz in America is attributed to the various styles, which are indicative of specific time periods. Jazz has been popular since around the late 1800s. Ragtime was the first form of jazz. It was developed in the 1890s in Louisiana (Jazz Styles 2000). Jazz is said to be the fundamental rhythms of human life and man's contemporary reassessment of his traditional values. The early influences of tribal drums and the development of gospel, blues, and field hollers seem to point out that jazz has to do with human survival and the expression of life. The origin of the word "jazz" is most often traced back to a vulgar term used for sexual acts. Some of the early sounds of jazz were associated with whore houses, but the meaning soon became a musical art form ("Introduction"). Those who play jazz have often expressed the feelings that jazz should remain undefined and should be felt. The standard legend about jazz is that it was conceived in New Orleans and moved up the Mississippi River, although the influences go back to tribal African drum beats and European musical structures. In reviewing the background of jazz, one cannot overlook the evaluation over the decades and the fact that jazz spanned many musical forms such as spirituals, cakewalks, and the blues ("Introduction"). Although one man may enjoy one type of music, another man could hate it. It can be frustrating to try to persuade skeptics that musicians they do not like make real music. Many people have these feelings toward rap and hip-hop. The result of jazz fusing together with hip-hop may, by association, help to enhance the cultural significance of rap. If the people do not understand rap after this, they never will (Farley 51). Fusion is back, although it never really went away, as the many millions of Kenny G. fans would prove. In the 1960s, many jazz musicians found themselves marginalized by rock and soul. Then, in 1970, Miles Davis received the first gold record of his life for "Bitches Brew", a sonic eye opener that experimented with electric instruments and rock and funk rhythms. A whole generation of musicians was squandering its talents on an increasingly vapid, yet profitable jazz, which came to be known as fusion. Known today as smooth jazz, fusion continued to thrive. It even has its own Billboard chart (Handy 25). Extremely too many styles of jazz exist to name all of them. One of the most common types of jazz is swing. Swing emerged during the early 1930s and emphasized big bands. It spilled into the late 1940s and then remained popular in recordings, film, and television music long after its main proponents had disbanded. Most swing style groups had at least ten musicians: four saxophones, two to three trumpets, two to three trombones, piano, guitar, bass guitar, and drums. Journalists and jazz fans drew distinctions between bands that conveyed the most hard-driving rhythmic qualities and extensive solo improvisations and those that conveyed less swing feeling and improvisations. The former were swing or hot bands; the later were called sweet bands. Though large dance bands existed before the swing era, big band music, as a concept for music fans, developed most firmly during this era and persisted for decades thereafter. This style caused ambiguity in labeling because, for example, record store clerks often catalog big band music as though it were a single style. Large ensembles have performed almost every kind of jazz: swing, bebop, cool, hard bop, free jazz, and jazz-rock fusion. Not all big bands are swing bands, and so big band style should not be used routinely to designate the jazz of all large ensembles ("Swing"). The swing players, generally speaking, were more schooled than their predecessors. Playing exactly in tune was often a more important issue than the feeling of the part because of their size and the nature of the sectionalization. Everyone in the ensemble had to start and stop each note together ("Swing"). Progressive swing, also known as progressive jazz, was an extension of the jazz orchestras following the decline of the big band era. The style is closely associated to the output of Stan Kenton beginning in the late 1940s; however, the term applied to a number of bands and small groups who played a darker, more modern sound ("Swing"). Dixieland is an umbrella to indicate musical styles of the earliest New Orleans and Chicago jazz musicians. Beginning during the late 1930s, Dixieland refers to collectively improvised small band music. Simultaneous counterlines are supplied by trumpet, clarinet, and trombone, and are accompanied by piano, guitar, banjo, tuba, bass, guitar, and drums. Early New Orleans Dixieland in 1900 to 1917 was typical of the African American singing tradition. It differed from later Chicago Dixieland and the even later revival Dixieland. The first groups of New Orleans Dixieland used a front line of cornet, clarinet, and trombone. The rhythm section was made up of banjo, tuba, and drums. The origin of these instruments was in the marching bands ("Dixieland"). Chicago style Dixieland emerged in the 1920s. This style is a merger of the New Orleans style Dixieland mixed with ragtime. Chicago style Dixieland exemplifies the Roaring Twenties. Chicago became the center of jazz activity. Many workers from the south migrated to Chicago and brought an interest in the entertainment. The New Orleans instrumentation was augmented to include a saxophone and piano. The banjo moved to guitar, and the tuba moved to string bass. Jazz activity existed in other cities as well, but during the 1920s, Chicago remained the hub of jazz ("Dixieland"). Both musical and nonmusical changes occurred because of bop. The military service draft of World War II brought about the dissolution of big bands and the rise of small combos. Bop became the first jazz style not used for dancing. A shift occurred away from the popularity that swing enjoyed to a more elite audience, which also expanded to the players. This music's complexity required players to extend their former playing knowledge. Players had to have a greater and more immediate sense of chord recognition, as well as their extensions and possible substitutions. Music was generally fast, demanding execution on individual instruments. Today, bop is considered mainstream yet was not accepted at its time ("Bebop"). Ragtime began to be published in the 1890s. It was immediately successful and subjected to various kinds of popularization. Ragtime is sometimes played fast and shallow. It was to various kinds of popularization. Ragtime is sometimes played fast and shallow. It was basically a piano keyboard music. Somewhere in the background parts is the Sousa march style. A rich body of African-American-inspired music preceded ragtime. Little is known of the early development of ragtime. It has been traced back to minstrel shows and cakewalks as early as 1895 ("Ragtime"). Big band refers to a jazz group of ten or more musicians: three trumpets, two or more trombones, four of more saxophones, piano, guitar, bass, and drums. Big band music was identified most with the swing era. Many listeners consider big band to denote an idiom, not just an instrumentation. The strategies of arranging and soloing that were established during the 1930s link all large jazz ensembles more than the different rhythmic and harmonic concepts distinguishing those of one era ("Big Band"). Boogie-woogie seems quite accessible to the listener. It is a piano style that was occasionally orchestrated successfully. This style came into existence when it became necessary to hire a piano player to substitute for an orchestra. Most boogie-woogie is played on the blues chord progression. During the 1930s, the strict blues form was being used more in jazz recordings as the tempos were speeding up. In the years before 1940, the primitive blues form of boogie-woogie became a popular fad ("Boogie-Woogie"). Cool jazz followed bop but was entirely different. In this era, that began in 1947, many instruments were used in jazz for the first time. Longer forms were also made possible because of the introduction of long-playing records ("Cool"). Scat is the art of creating an instrumental-style improvisation vocally. A vocabulary of vowels and consonants was used. Scat related less to identifiable words and more to the tone and articulations of jazz ("Scat"). Acid jazz used elements of many different styles. It combined jazz, funk, and hip-hop. Acid jazz is percussion heavy, live music. It is closer to jazz and African Cuban than any other dance style ("Jazz Styles"). Ballads are lyrical and melodic pieces that can be sung or simply any selections taken at slow tempos. Ballads came to age with the rise of the great American popular song ("Jazz Styles"). Many different time periods either caused or resulted in styles of jazz. Big band was popular in the 1930s and 1940s. Bop, Be-bop, or Re-bop was popular in the 1940s. It was usually sung fast with intricate melodies borrowed from Latin American and African Cuban styles. Blues was early jazz. It was moderately slow and sad. Boogie-woogie was popular in the 1920s. Dixieland developed around 1910. The fox-trot was a style of dance popular in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Progressive jazz was popular in the 1950s. It was an extension of be-bop. Ragtime was the earliest form and was developed in the 1890s (Jazz Styles 2000). The bebop era from 1944 to 1955 represents an important period in jazz history. Musicians stressed artistic concerns rather than commercial concerns and put innovation ahead of convention ("Bebop"). Traditional jazz first emerged in the 1930s. Writers attempted to distinguish New Orleans jazz, which dated back to the turn of the century, from music of the swing era. In the 1940s, a major revival of New Orleans jazz occurred. The term "Dixieland" was used to describe the groups revisiting traditional jazz. Traditional jazz is influenced by ragtime, boogie-woogie, and Harlem Stride Piano ("Jazz 101"). The big band era spanned from 1935 to 1945. They played a variety of styles, although ballad arrangements had little emphasis on jazz or improvisation. The bands that played ballads were referred to as sweet bands ("Jazz 101"). West Coast jazz describes a subgenre of modern jazz styles from California from the late 1940s through the early 1960s. It was unfairly derided as devoid of emotion. Technically, it is daunting music that is often beautiful and as demanding of concentration and commitment as any other modern jazz ("Jazz 101"). Mainstream jazz was coined by Stanley Dance in the 1950s. It was the work of contemporary musicians who discovered the foundation for their inspiration and efforts in the music and approach of the swing era. The boundaries of mainstream jazz have broadened ("Jazz 101"). Vocal jazz has its roots in the 1930s and is essentially pop material. Vocalese applied to wordless scat singing but actually means the singing of a set of lyrics specifically crafted to a previously existing instrumental solo ("Jazz 101"). Jazz music is an important factor in many people's lives. Jazz has affected many time periods in America. The Roaring Twenties is one example. This time became known as the Jazz Age. Jazz music and dancing were used as a way for people to have fun and forget about the tragedies happening because of World War I and the Great Depression. The 1920s were dominated by jazz from the beginnings with Bessie Smith to the top with Duke Ellington. Much of it reflected the Harlem Renaissance, but white men also got into the act. In 1920, trumpeter Louis Armstrong developed the concept of swing music. Many legendary jazzmen finally made it onto records including stride piano performances from James P. Johnson with 1921's Carolina Shout. Fats Waller made his first piano rolls in 1922, and Jelly Roll Morton his first piano solos on disc with 1923's New Orleans Joys, Kansas City Stomp, Milenburg Joys, Wolverine Blues, and The Pearls. Radios finally started becoming popular in 1922, and Duke Ellington performed on radio in 1923. Blues legend Bessie Smith had a huge 1923 hit with "Downhearted Blues," along with "Gulf Coast Blues." Gertrude "Ma Rainey" Pridgett was also recorded for the first time that year. Thus, jazz has not only affected American lifestyles but has also affected the history of the United States as a whole. Bibliography: "Be Bop." Jazz History 2000: n. pag. Online. Internet. 27 Nov. 2000. Available WWW: http://www.jazzhistory.f2s.com/history/bebop.html. "Big Band." Jazz History 2000: n. pag. Online. Internet. 27 Nov. 2000. Available WWW: http://www.jazzhistory.f2s.com/history/big.html. "Boogie-Woogie." Jazz History 2000: n. pag. Online. Internet. 27 Nov. 2000. Available WWW: http://www.jazzhistory.f2s.com/history/boogie.html. "Cool." Jazz History 2000: n. pag. Online. Internet. 27 Nov. 2000. Available WWW: http://www.jazzhistory.f2s.com/history/cool.html. "Dixieland." Jazz History 2000: n. pag. Online. Internet. 27 Nov. 2000. Available WWW: http://www.jazzhistory.f2s.com/history/dix.html. Farley, Christopher John. "Hip-Hop Goes Bebop." Time 12 July 1993: 51. Handy, Bruce. "Don't Call It Fusion." Time 12 Oct. 1998: 25. "Introduction." Jazz History 2000: n. pag. Online. Internet. 27 Nov. 2000. Available WWW: http://www.jazzhistory.f2s.com/history/intro.html. "Jazz 101." Jazz Online 2000: n. pag. Online. Internet. 27 Nov. 2000. Available WWW: http://www.jazzonline.com/jazz101.cfm. Pancake 10 Jazz Styles 2000: n. pag. Online. Internet. 27 Nov. 2000. Available WWW: http://www.svsu.edu/flutee/jazzstyles.html. "Jazz Styles." Trombone USA. 2000: n. pag. Online. Internet. 27 Nov. 2000. Availabl WWW: http://www.trombone-usa.com/jazz_styles.htm. "Ragtime." Jazz History 2000: n. pag. Online. Internet. 27 Nov. 2000. Available WWW: http://www.jazzhistory.f2s.com/history/rag.html. "Scat." Jazz History 2000: n. pag. Online. Internet. 27 Nov. 2000. Available WWW: http://www.jazzhistory.f2s.com/history/scat.html. "Swing." Jazz History 2000: n. pag. Online. Internet. 27 Nov. 2000. Available WWW: http://www.jazzhistory.f2s.com/history/swing.html. "Tin Pan Alley." Jazz History 2000: n. pag. Online. Internet. 27 Nov. 2000. Available WWW: http://www.jazzhistory.f2s.com/history/tin.html.

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