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Course

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A night in Tunisia – Dizzy Gillespie

The Congo Square is historical for acting as the venue where Jazz music grew before its

explosive effect on America and the world. Beyond its origins, Jazz is linked to the slavery in

America that brought Africans to the US, who came with their folk tunes, which would later

become the raw material for the development of jazz music. Notable musicians have contributed

to the growth of jazz and its evolution has brought new features and improved the features that

already existed. The developments of jazz reached an interesting phase of cool jazz in the 1940s.

The tempos were relaxed and the tone was light (Case). Cool jazz is the opposite of bebop style.

Most of the time, the genre includes formal arrangements and includes elements of classical

music. The tonal sonorities of the composers of the time were favored by the style (Carr).

The course has exposed us to more than just the history. The features of jazz were

extensively discussed, and demonstrated through recordings and other media that would help in

creating an understanding of the jazz music idiom. Dizzy Gillespie is one of the composers of the

cool jazz era and is well known for his masterpiece, A Night in Tunisia. Dizzy composed the tune

while he was playing in the Benny Carter band. The tune has since become a jazz standard.

Initially, Dizzy gave the tune a title “interlude” but later someone changed the name, and Dizzy

gave its approval (Gillespie). The music presents an interesting and complicated ostinato bass in

the first section and avoids the traditional walking bass style. The ostinato uses an oscillating

half-step chord changes and uses the subdominant chord instead of the usual dominant chord.
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This gave the tune a unique feeling. With unresolved minor II-V chord, the tune uses features of

another jazz standard, Alone Together. The tune also features short interludes that occur between

sections. The twelve bar sequence included a four-bar rest for the next solo. The song conforms

to the features of cool jazz that included a slower tempo and less complicated rhythmic sections

in the melody. The harmonies were slightly different in the cool jazz era and the melodies were

simpler that the previous style of jazz.

The course had been instrumental in making me understand the origins and identities of

jazz music and the historical evolution of jazz. The styles of jazz have a similarity, despite the

features that arise from the new styles. The swing and syncopation are the key features that

define a jazz tune and give it the jazz identity. The twelve bar blue-scales are also features that

are heard across the jazz idiom. Exposure to these styles through constant listening and attending

concerts has made me understand the genre better than before. Listening to a jazz piece is a great

opportunity for me to dissect it and identify the features that distinguish it from other jazz

features. The improvisation in all jazz pieces is unique and is a standard feature. The course had

exposed me to diversity in the jazz arena and in the history. My music appreciation is better and

improved.
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References

Carr, Roy. "The Cool on the Coast", A Century of Jazz: A Hundred Years of the Greatest Music

Ever Made. London: Hamlyn, 2006. Online Resource.

Case, Brian. "The Harder They Come." Carr, Roy. A Century of Jazz: A Hundred Years of the

Greatest Music Ever Made. London: Hamlyn, 1997. 106–121. Online Resource.

Gillespie, Dizzy. To Be, or Not – to Bop. University of Minnesota Press, 2009. Online Resource.