JAZZ

TIME LINE OF THE

DEVELOPMENT OF JAZZ
 KEY VOCABULARY
Syncopated
Off-beat rhythms. The rhythmic stress is not on
the beat as anticipated
Rif
A short repeated musical phrase
Improvisation
In the moment musical composition making it
up as you go along
Scat singing
A vocal improvisation with wordless sounds,
nonsense syllables or without words at all.
Vibrato
Where the note sounds like it is being vibrated
ORIGINS

Slavery

Cakewalk dances

Union Army Brass

Bands
RAGTIME
 RAGTIME
History/Context:
Lost popularity by the end of World War I
Considered the first truly American Genre
Sold millions of copies as sheet music
Features:
Ragged (syncopated) melodies
Bass on beats 1 and 3, chords on beats 2 and 4
Instruments:
Piano
Performers/Composers:
Scott Joplin
James Scott
Tom Turpin
DIXIELAND JAZZ
 DIXIELAND JAZZ
History/Context:
Started in New Orleans
Also called Classic Jazz and New Orleans Jazz
Features:
Improvisation
Elements of blues, but a faster tempo
Scat singing developed
Instruments:
Brass and woodwind added to the blues line-up
Performers/Composers:
Louis Satchmo Armstrong
Joe King Oliver
Ferdinand Jelly Roll Morton
 BIG BANDS
History/Context
Musicians started migrating from the South in the late
1910s
Many musicians from New Orleans went to Chicago
Joseph King Oliver was the first New Orleans
musician to make an impact
Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington moved to New
York in the early 1920s
Style/Features
Expanded the jazz ensemble from 7 to 16 members
Used written arrangements
Use of riffs
Incorporated Scat singing (from around 1927)
Performers/Composers
Louis Armstrong
Count Basie
Duke Ellington
SWING
 SWING
History/Context:
Started as big bands in the 1920s, but turned into swing by the
1930s
Singers became important to the swing band
Features:
Use of written arrangements
Improvised solos
Repetitive riffs
Call-and-response
Scat singing using their voice as an instrument
Instruments:
Voice
No string section
Saxophone leading instrumental soloist
Performers/Composers:
Count Basie
Louis Satchmo Armstrong
Ella Fitzgerald
Billie Holiday
BEBOP
 BEBOP
History/Context:
Developed in the 1940s
A reaction to swing and was unsuitable for dancing.
Came out of the social change of the WWII Era
Features:
Improvisation
Very fast tempos
Jagged melodies
Instruments:
Smaller ensembles consisting of: saxophone (alto or
tenor), trumpet, piano, double bass and drums
Performers/Composers:
Charlie Parker
Miles Davis
Dizzy Gillespie
John Coltrane
COOL JAZZ
 COOL JAZZ
History/Context:
It was a reaction to bebop
For listening, rather than for dancing
Cool went beyond music it was a behaviour and
an attitude
Features:
Calm, soft, light music
Little vibrato
Longer solos
Instruments:
Added unexpected instruments
Performers/Composers:
Miles Davis
Dexter Gordon
Chet Baker
Gerry Mulligan