Jazz is the music of the soul. History of origin
The first heroes of jazz appeared here, in New Orleans. The pioneers of the New Orleans jazz style were African-American and Creole musicians. The founder of this music is considered to be the black cornetist Buddy Bolden.
Charles Buddy Bolden born in 1877 (according to other sources in 1868). He grew up amid the craze for brass bands, although he first worked as a hairdresser, then as a tabloid publisher. The Cricket, and in between he played the cornet in many New Orleans bands. The musicians of the early period of jazz development had some kind of “strong” professions, and music was a side hustle for them. Since 1895, Bolden devoted himself entirely to music and organized his first orchestra. Some jazz researchers argue that 1895 can be considered the year of the birth of professional jazz.
Enthusiastic jazz fans often assigned high titles to their favorites: king, duke, count. Buddy Bolden was the first to receive the well-deserved title of “king,” since from the very beginning he stood out among trumpeters and cornetists with his incredibly strong, beautiful sound and wealth of musical ideas. Ragtime Band Buddy Bolden, who later served as the prototype for many black ensembles, was a typical composition of New Orleans jazz and played in dance halls, saloons, street parades, picnics, and outdoor parks. The musicians performed square dances and polkas, ragtimes and blues, and the famous melodies themselves served only as a starting point for numerous improvisations, supported by a special rhythm. This rhythm is called big four (square), when every second and fourth beat of the bar is accented. And Buddy Bolden invented this new rhythm!
By 1906, Buddy Bolden had become the most famous musician in New Orleans. King Bolden! Musicians of different generations who were lucky enough to hear the jazzman (Bunk Johnson, Louis Armstrong) noted the beautiful and strong sound of his trumpet. Bolden's playing was distinguished by its extraordinary dynamism, sonic power, aggressive style of sound production, and genuine blues flavor. The musician was an incredibly popular person. He was always surrounded by gamblers, businessmen, sailors, Creoles, white and black, women. Bolden had the most fans in the entertainment district of Storyville, organized in 1897 on the border of the Upper and Lower cities - in the “red light” area. There are similar quarters in all port cities of the world, be it Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Hamburg in Germany or Marseille in France, even in ancient Pompeii (Italy) there was a similar quarter.
New Orleans was deservedly considered a den of debauchery. Most New Orleanians were not Puritans. Along the entire “street of pleasures” there were nightlife establishments, countless dance halls and cafes, taverns, taverns and snack bars. Each such institution had its own music: a small orchestra consisting of African Americans, or even a single player on a piano or mechanical piano. Jazz, which sounded in such establishments with a special mood, dealt with the realities of life. This is what attracted the whole world to jazz music, since it did not hide earthly carnal joys. Storyville, filled with a joyful and sensual atmosphere, was a symbol of a life full of risk and excitement, it attracted everyone like a magnet. The streets of this area were filled with people, mostly men, around the clock.
The apogee of the career of cornetist Buddy Bolden and his Buddy Bolden's Ragtime Band coincided with best years Storyville. Wednesday, of course, was vulgar. And the time comes when you have to pay for everything! A wild life bears fruit. Bolden began drinking alcohol, quarreling with musicians, and missing performances. He always drank a lot, because often in “fun” establishments musicians were paid with drinks. But after 1906, the musician began to have a mental disorder, headaches appeared, and he talked to himself. And he was afraid of everything, even his cornet. Those around him were afraid that the aggressive Bolden might kill someone, especially since there had been such attempts. In 1907, the musician was placed in a mental hospital, where he spent twenty-four years in obscurity. He cut the hair of the unfortunate inhabitants of the mournful house like him and never again touched his cornet, from which indescribably beautiful jazz once sounded. Buddy Bolden, creator of the world's first, dies jazz orchestra- in 1931, in complete obscurity, forgotten by everyone, and even not remembering anything, although it was he who tried to bring jazz into the form of a real art.
New Orleans was home to Creoles of color, with French, Spanish and African blood flowing in their veins. In their fairly wealthy and prosperous environment, although the role of Creoles in the strict then caste system was somewhat uncertain, parents had the opportunity to give their children a decent education and taught music. Creoles considered themselves heirs of European culture. Jelly Roll Morton, who will be discussed further, came from such an environment. Some sources say Morton was born in 1885, while some sources say he was born in 1890. Morton claimed to be of French descent, but his black mother was brought to New Orleans from the island of Haiti. From the age of ten Ferdinand
Joseph Lemott - that was Morton's real name - studied to play the piano. Most Creoles were Puritans, that is, people of strict rules. Morton wasn't like that! He was attracted to nightlife, he was a “night person.” Already at the age of seventeen, in 1902, Jelly Roll appeared in Storyville and soon became famous musician playing in saloons and brothels. He witnessed and then took part in everything that happened around him. The temperamental and unrestrained young man loved to pull out a knife with or without reason; he was a braggart and a bully. But the main thing is that Morton was a talented musician, a performer of ragtime, the first composer in the history of jazz, who, with the help of improvisation, melted all the melodies that were fashionable at that time into an unprecedented musical fusion. Morton himself was the first connoisseur of his music, claiming that everything that other musicians played was composed by him. This, of course, was not the case. But one thing was true: Morton was the first to write down on the musical staff those melodies that he composed and which later became jazz classics. Often these melodies had a "Spanish flavor", they were based on the rhythms of "Habanera" - Spanish tango. Morton himself believed that without this “seasoning” jazz turns out to be insipid, but he was a man of thrills. The musician demanded to be called Jelly Roll, which was a rather frivolous nickname, since this slang phrase meant “sweet tube” and had an erotic meaning.
Morton became a versatile artist: he played the piano, sang, and danced. However, the local framework of work in “fun houses” turned out to be too tight for him, and soon the pianist left New Orleans, especially since Jelly Rolla’s strict grandmother, having learned about her grandson’s true work, kicked him out of the house. In 1904, the jazzman made several tours around the United States with musicians: B. Johnson, T. Jackson and W. C. Handy. Morton became a wanderer and remained one throughout his life. The musician was recognized in Memphis, St. Louis, New York, Kansas City and Los Angeles. In order to feed himself, because music did not always bring a livelihood, Morton had to play in vaudeville, be a sharper and play billiards, sell a medicine for consumption of dubious composition, organize boxing matches, be the owner of tailoring workshops, and a music publisher. But everywhere he felt like a stranger, and he had to prove that he was a first-class musician. From 1917 to 1922, Morton had a relatively comfortable life in warm California. He and his wife bought a hotel, and Jelly Roll's reputation as a musician was at its best. But the restless nature of the jazzman made itself felt. In 1923, the musician moved to Chicago, where he organized his own band of ten people - Red Hot Peppers, which includes different time performed by classical jazz performers: Barney Bigard, Kid Ory, brothers Dodds. Since 1926, Morton and his band began recording on records. The most famous compositions - King Porter Stomp, Kansas City Stomp, Wolverine Blues. Morton's music included elements of ragtime, blues, folk songs (Creole folklore), brass band music, Irish and French music, i.e., all the origins of New Orleans jazz, but ultimately it was original music - the jazz of Jelly Roll himself Morton.
After the swing period of the 1930s, Morton's luck ran out and he returned to California, having previously recorded his stories and music for history in 1938 at the Library of Congress. Over the next two years, Morton performed with the revival orchestra. New Orleans Jazzmen and solo programs. Jelly Roll Morton died in Los Angeles in 1941.
Books have been written about Morton's life and work, and perhaps more has been said about this man, a strange mixture of a brilliant jazzman and a braggart bully, than about any other musician in the history of jazz. It remains indisputable that the work of Jelly Roll Morton had a great influence on the development of early jazz.
Jazz music over its hundred-year history has experienced different periods. At first they accused it of low taste, of ugliness, and they did not want to let it into decent society, considering it vicious, “rat”, old-fashioned, that is, music for ragamuffins, because it was not invented in music salons for whites... Then recognition came and love not only in America, but throughout the world. Where did the name of this music come from?
Origin of the term jazz not fully understood. Its modern spelling is jazz- established in the 1920s. There are many versions of the origin of the word “jazz”. At first someone called him the word jass, by name, supposedly, jasmine perfume, which was preferred by the Storyville “priestesses of love” in New Orleans. Over time, the word "jass" became jazz. Some researchers believe that since the state of Louisiana was a territory where the French initially set the tone, jazz came from the French. jaser"have an emotional conversation." Some argue that the roots of the word “jazz” are African, that it means “to spur a horse.” This interpretation of the term “jazz” has a right to exist, since initially this music really seemed “spurred” and incredibly fast to listeners. Over the course of more than a century of jazz history, various reference books and dictionaries have continually “discovered” numerous versions of the origin of this word.
By 1910, not only black orchestras, but also white ones, appeared in New Orleans. The drummer is considered the “father of white jazz” and the first orchestra, created back in 1888, consisting only of white musicians Jack Papa Lane(1873-1966). Lane called his next orchestra, which was destined for a long forty-year life Reliance Brass Band(white musicians avoided the word “jazz” in their names, considering it derogatory, because jazz was played by blacks!). Some jazz scholars believe that Lane's orchestra imitated the black New Orleans jazz style. And Jack Lane himself called his music ragtime. The orchestra's musicians were very popular among the white population on the dance floors of New Orleans, but, unfortunately, no recordings of this band have survived.
The musical life of New Orleans did not stand still. New musicians began to appear, pioneers of New Orleans jazz, who eventually became stars: Freddie Keppard(trumpet, cornet), Kid Ory(trombone), Joe Oliver(cornet). And a clarinetist Sydney Bechet whose delightful music would amaze listeners for almost fifty years.
Sydney Joseph Bechet(1897-1959) was born into a Creole family. Parents expected that music for little Sydney would be only a light hobby, and not a profession.
But the boy was not interested in anything except music. He realized his musical genius early on. The teachers were amazed at how this child played, as if he was engulfed in fire escaping from his clarinet! Not wanting to study music for a long time, Sidney Bechet, at the tender age of eight, began playing in the bands of famous trumpeters Freddie Keppard and Buddy Bolden. By the age of sixteen, Sydney had completed his school education and devoted himself entirely to music. Bechet was soon considered New Orleans' most unique musician. When we talk about jazz musicians who left a significant mark on music, we first of all talk about personalities and how they were able to express their personality through a musical instrument. Gradually Bechet developed his own individual, inimitable style with a powerful vibrato and a smooth melodic line. Every note of the jazzman trembled, trembled, shook, but the young musician also had the sharpest, “biting attack.” Sidney Bechet loved the blues, and the musician's clarinet moaned and cried as if alive, shaking with sobs.
The right to speak in one’s own voice in jazz music was the main innovation at that time. After all, before the advent of jazz, the composer told the musician what and how to play. And young Sidney Bechet, who was considered a “miracle of nature” in New Orleans, extracted sounds from the instrument that this instrument, it would seem, could not reproduce. In 1914, the musician left his father's house, began to travel around Texas and other southern states with concerts, performed at carnivals, traveled with vaudeville acts on ships, and in 1918 he ended up in Chicago, and later in New York. In 1919 with orchestra Willa Cook Sidney Bechet came to Europe for the first time. The orchestra's concert tour was very successful, and Bechet's performances were assessed by critics and professional musicians as the performance of an outstanding virtuoso clarinetist and a brilliant artist. With the tours of such outstanding New Orleans musicians as Sidney Bechet, a real epidemic of jazz in Europe will begin. In London, the musician purchased a soprano saxophone in one of the shops, which would become the jazzman’s favorite instrument for many years. The soprano saxophone allowed the virtuoso to dominate any orchestra. In the 1920s Sidney Bechet collaborated with pianist, composer, orchestra leader Clarence Williams(1898-1965), recorded with Louis Armstrong and accompanied blues singers. In 1924, Sydney played in an early dance orchestra for three months Duke Ellington bringing blues intonations and the unique deep vibrato of his clarinet to Bond’s sound. Then again toured in France, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Poland. In 1926, Sidney Bechet gave concerts in the USSR with the ensemble Frank Withers. Over the course of three months, the musicians visited Moscow, Kharkov, Kyiv and Odessa. Probably, Europe, which was more tolerant in racial terms, was very fond of the musician, since later, from 1928 to 1938, the jazzman worked in Paris.
After the outbreak of World War II (1939-1945), when France was occupied by the Nazis, Bechet returned to America, worked in a club with a guitarist Eddie Condon(1904-1973), who became famous as the author of unusual musical projects in which many traditional jazz musicians took part. The life of musicians is not always smooth and prosperous. Sidney Bechet in the 1930s, during the economic crisis, was forced to interrupt his active musical activity. Sydney even had to open a tailor's shop, but the income from it turned out to be small, and the jazzman there was more involved in music than in tailoring. For the whole musical career Bechet was invited to many orchestras, but the quarrelsome and prickly character of the temperamental musician, who did not always control his passions, often harmed the genius of the soprano saxophone. Sydney was expelled from England and France for fighting; the jazzman spent almost a year in a Paris prison. The musician also felt like an outcast in his homeland, the USA, where jazz music was heard only in restaurants, dance halls or black revues. And Sidney Bechet, who was not devoid of star narcissism, wanted world recognition and worthy halls.
Bechet was always a supporter of New Orleans jazz. In the 1940s, when bebop replaced swing, the musician initiated the revival of traditional jazz, took part in the “revival” movement - recorded records with such jazz veterans as Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Willie Bunk Johnson, Eddie Condon and etc.
In 1947, Sidney Bechet returned to his beloved Paris. Playing with French musicians, performing at festivals, and touring in many countries, Bechet contributed to the development of traditional jazz in Europe. The musician became famous, and his song theme Le Petite Fleure was incredibly popular and loved throughout the music world, a unique business card jazz pioneer. Sidney Bechet was the “adopted son” of France and died on French soil in 1959. In 1960, after his death outstanding musician, his autobiographical book was published Treat It Gently. France has not forgotten its favorite, in Paris there is a street named after Sidney Bechet and a monument to the jazzman has been erected, and one of the best French traditional jazz orchestras bears his name - Sidney Bechet Memorial Jazz Band.
From New Orleans, jazz music spread throughout America, and then throughout the world, slowly but inevitably. This was also facilitated by the emergence of the recording industry, since 1901 a company of “talking” machines Victor released the first gramophone record. The largest editions of records were published with recordings of classical music and great Italian singer Enrico Caruso. Recording jazz on records at the beginning of the 20th century. It hasn't occurred to anyone yet. In order to listen to jazz, you had to go to those places where jazz was played: to dances, to entertainment venues, etc. Jazz recordings appeared only in 1917, around the same time the American press began writing about jazz. Therefore, we will never hear how the legendary Buddy Bolden played the cornet, or how pianist Jelly Roll Morton or cornetist King Oliver sounded at the very beginning of the century. Morton and Oliver began recording later, after 1920. And they caused a sensation in the 1910s. Cornetist Freddie Keppard refused to make records for fear that other musicians would "steal his style and music."
Freddie Keppard(1890-1933) - cornetist, trumpeter, one of the leaders of the New Orleans Bond, was born into a Creole family. Next to Buddy Bolden, Keppard is considered the most significant figure in early jazz. As a child, Freddie learned to play many instruments, but as a teenager, having mastered the cornet, he began performing with New Orleans orchestras. In 1914, Keppard left New Orleans for Chicago in 1915-1916. performed in New York. In 1918, the cornetist returned to Chicago and played with Joe King Oliver, Sidney Bechet, impressing listeners with his signature trumpet sound, which was so powerful that its power was compared to the sound of a military brass band. This sound was given to the instrument by the “croaking” mute. But Keppard, as eyewitnesses recall, knew how to play not only bravura, the sound of his trumpet, when the composition required it, was soft or loud, lyrical or rude. The trumpeter mastered the entire spectrum of tones.
In Los Angeles, Keppard and six other musicians organized The Original Creole Orchestra. They performed in New York and Chicago, where Freddie was always received as "King Keppard". They say that the musician hit such high notes on his trumpet that people in the front rows tried to move further away. Keppard was a tall and strong man, and the sound of his trumpet was that of a musician. One day, a jazzman made such a powerful sound that the mute of his trumpet flew onto a nearby dance floor. All Chicago newspapers wrote about this unprecedented incident. Keppard was a self-taught musician who had no musical literacy, but he had a phenomenal memory. When it was necessary to learn something new, Freddie first listened carefully as one of the musicians played a new melody, and then he himself played back what he heard. New Orleans musicians often
they didn’t know sheet music, but they were virtuoso performers. For all the artistry and power of his playing, Freddie Keppard was so afraid of imitators that he played the trumpet, covering his fingers with a handkerchief, so that no one could repeat his music and remember his improvisations.
In December 1915 the company Victor invited Keppard and his orchestra to record a record, even though jazz had never been recorded before and record companies had no idea whether the records would sell. Of course, for a musician it was a unique chance to be a pioneer in this matter. Amazingly, Freddie refused, afraid that other musicians would buy his record and be able to copy his style and steal his fame. Keppard missed his chance to be the first jazz musician to be recorded on record.
It should be noted that the entire history of jazz, which occurred in the 20th century, turns out to be incomplete, since the main evidence of this history - recordings - is not comprehensive evidence. After all, jazz is undocumented music, unlike classical music. The improvisational nature of jazz has caused vast gaps in its history. Many jazz musicians who did not have a chance to record remained forever unknown to the history of jazz. Fashion, the commercial attractiveness of the musical product, and even the personal tastes of representatives of this business also influenced the publication of recordings. However, without the people of the music industry, we must give them their due, the creation of jazz music and bringing it to listeners would be impossible.
But let's go back to the historical year 1917, when jazz finally hit the gramophone record. The group was first Original Dixieland Jazz Band, which consisted of five white musicians from New Orleans who moved from their hometown to NY. This team was led by Nick LaRocca (1889-1961), who had previously played cornet in Jack "Papa" Lane's orchestra. Other musicians in the quintet played clarinet, trombone, piano and drums. And although in their playing the musicians used the techniques of black New Orleans jazzmen, even in the name of their ensemble, Nick and his comrades used the term “Dixieland” (from the English. Dixieland- land of Dixie - comes from the name of the southern states of the country used in the USA), wanting to emphasize some difference from African Americans.
Dixieland leader Nick LaRocca was the son of an Italian shoemaker. An assertive and ambitious man, Nick taught himself to play the cornet while locking himself in a barn, away from his skeptical father. (It should be noted that at this stage of the development of jazz, many white families were categorically against their offspring’s passion for incomprehensible, “vulgar and immoral” music). Nick's careful study of the performing techniques of New Orleans musicians Lane and Oliver bore fruit.
Band records - Livery Stable Blues, Tiger Rag, Dixie Jass One Step- were a huge success. (You should pay attention to the spelling of the word jass; that’s how it was spelled in those days.) The record, released in March 1917, immediately became a hit. Most likely because the music was danceable, fun, hot and lively. The musicians played as fast as they could. The sound engineer demanded this: two pieces had to be placed on one side. The play was especially funny Livery Stable Blues("Stable Blues") Jazz musicians imitated animals on their instruments: the cornet neighed like a horse, the clarinet crowed like a rooster. The circulation of this record exceeded one hundred thousand copies, which was several times more than the circulation of records by the great Italian tenor Enrico Caruso!
This is how jazz entered American life. Many famous musicians subsequently listened to this record and learned to play new rhythms from it. “Musical anarchists,” as LaRocca himself called his comrades, left their mark on the history of early jazz. In 1919, the musicians of Nick LaRocca's ensemble toured England, where they had stunning success. The jazz band recorded its music at an English company Columbia. From Europe, the musicians brought many popular themes at that time, which were included in the ensemble’s repertoire. But the band soon broke up (the war and the death of one of the musicians intervened). Nick himself sheathed his pipe in 1925 and returned to New Orleans to the family construction business.
However, until the end of his life, LaRocca continued to insist that he invented jazz, and black musicians stole this invention from him. One thing is certain: the credit for popularizing jazz belongs to Nick LaRocca and his team. Although we now know how this wonderful music was born, which is inevitably connected with all of American history and mythology, the black race and skin color.
Jazz is a special type of music that has become especially popular in the United States. Initially, jazz was the music of black citizens of the United States, but later this direction absorbed completely different musical styles, which developed in many countries. We will talk about this development.
The most important feature of jazz, both originally and now, is rhythm. Jazz melodies combine elements of African and European music. But jazz acquired its harmony thanks to European influence. The second fundamental element of jazz to this day is improvisation. Jazz was often played without a pre-prepared melody: only during the game did the musician choose one direction or another, giving in to his inspiration. Thus, right before the eyes of the listeners, as the musician played, music was born.
Over the years, jazz has changed, but it still managed to retain its basic features. An invaluable contribution to this direction was made by the well-known “blues” - lingering melodies, which were also characteristic of blacks. On this moment Most blues melodies are an integral part of the jazz movement. In truth, the blues has had a special influence not only on jazz: rock and roll, country and western also use blues motifs.
Speaking about jazz, it is necessary to mention the American city of New Orleans. Dixieland, as New Orleans jazz was called, was the first to combine blues motifs, black church songs, and elements of European folk music.
Later, swing appeared (it is also called jazz in the “big band” style), which also received widespread development. In the 40s and 50s, “modern jazz” became very popular, which was a more complex interaction of melodies and harmonies than early jazz. A new approach to rhythm has emerged. Musicians tried to come up with new works using different rhythms, and therefore the technique of drumming became more complicated.
The “new wave” of jazz swept the world in the 60s: it is considered the jazz of the very aforementioned improvisations. When going out to perform, the orchestra could not guess in what direction and what rhythm their performance would be; none of the jazz players knew in advance when the change in tempo and speed of performance would occur. And it must also be said that such behavior of the musicians does not mean that the music was unbearable: on the contrary, a new approach to performing already existing melodies has emerged. By tracing the development of jazz, we can be convinced that it is a constantly changing music, but which does not lose its foundation over the years.
Let's summarize:
- At first, jazz was the music of black people;
- Two tenets of all jazz melodies: rhythm and improvisation;
- Blues - made a huge contribution to the development of jazz;
- New Orleans jazz (Dixieland) combined blues, church songs and European folk music;
- Swing is a direction of jazz;
- With the development of jazz, the rhythms became more complex, and in the 60s, jazz orchestras again indulged in improvisation during performances.
“Jazz” message will briefly help you prepare for music classes and deepen your knowledge in this area. Also, the report on jazz will tell you a lot detailed information about this form of musical art.
Message about jazz
What is jazz?
Jazz is a form of musical art. The birthplace of jazz is the USA, where it emerged in the twentieth century in the process of synthesis of European and African cultures. Then this art spread throughout the planet.
Jazz is a living, amazing music that has absorbed the rhythmic African genius and the treasures of many years of playing ceremonial and ritual chants and drums. Its history is dynamic, unusual and filled with wonderful events that influenced the musical world process.
Jazz was brought to the New World by slaves - the peoples of the African continent. They often belonged to different families and, to better understand each other, they created a new musical direction with blues motifs. Jazz is believed to have originated in New Orleans. The first gramophone record was recorded on February 26, 1917 at Victor Studios, New York. His march around the world began with the composition of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band.
Features of Jazz
The main characteristics of this musical direction are:
- The beat is a regular pulsation.
- Polyrhythm, which is based on syncopated rhythms.
- Improvisation.
- Timbre range.
- Colorful harmony.
- Swing is a set of techniques for performing rhythmic texture.
Several performers can improvise at the same time. Ensemble members interact with each other artistically and “communicate” with the audience.
Jazz styles
The stylistic diversity of jazz since its inception is amazing. Let's name only the most common types of jazz:
- Vanguard. Originated in 1960. It is characterized by harmony, rhythm, meter, traditional structures, program music. Representatives: Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, Archie Shepp.
- Acid Jazz. This is a funky musical style. The emphasis is not on words, but on music. Representatives: James Taylor Quartet, De-Phazz, Jamiroquai, Galliano, Don Cherry.
- Big Bend. Formed in the 1920s. Consists of the following orchestral groups - saxophones - clarinets, brass wind instruments, rhythm section. Representatives: The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, Benny Goodman And His Orchestra.
- Bop. Formed in the 1940s. It is characterized by complex improvisations and a fast tempo, which are based not on changing the melody, but on changing the harmony. Jazz bebop performers - drummer Max Roach, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, pianists Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell.
- Boogie Woogie. This is an instrumental solo that combines elements of jazz and blues. Originated in the 1920s. Representatives: Alex Moore, Piano Red and David Alexander, Jimmy Yancey, Cripple Clarence Lofton, Pine Top Smith.
- Bossa Nova. This is a unique synthesis of Brazilian samba rhythms and jazz improvisation in the cool style. Representatives: Antonio Carlos Jobim, Stan Goetz and Charlie Bird.
- Classic Jazz. Developed at the end of the 19th century. Representatives: Chris Barber, Aker Bilk, Kenny Ball, The Beatles.
- Swing. It took shape at the turn of the 1920s and 30s. Characterized by a combination of European and Negro forms. Representatives: Ike Quebec, Oscar Peterson, Mills Brothers, Paulinho Da Costa, Wynton Marsalis Septet, Stephane Grappelli.
- Mainstream. This is a fairly new type of jazz, which was characterized by a certain interpretation of musical works. Representatives - to Ben Webster, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Hodges, Buck Clayton.
- Northeast jazz. Originated at the beginning of the twentieth century in New Orleans. The music is hot and fast. Northeastern jazz representatives are Art Hodes, drummer Barrett Deems and clarinetist Benny Goodman.
- Kansas City style. The newfangled style originated in the late 1920s in Kansas City. It is characterized by the penetration of blues-tinged pieces into live jazz music and energetic solos. Representatives: Count Basie, Benny Mouthen, Charlie Parker, Jimmy Rushing.
- West Coast Jazz. It arose in the 50s of the twentieth century in Los Angeles. Representatives are Shorty Rogers, saxophonists Bud Schenk and Art Pepper, clarinetist Jimmy Giuffre and drummer Shelley Mann.
- Cool. Began to develop in the 1940s. This is a less frantic, smooth style of jazz. Characterized by a detached, flat and homogeneous sound. Representatives: Chet Baker, George Shearing, Dave Brubeck, John Lewis, Leni Tristano, Lee Konitz, Ted Dameron, Zoot Sims, Gerry Mulligan.
- Progressive jazz. It was characterized by bold harmony, frequent seconds and blocks, polytonality, rhythmic pulsation, and colorfulness.
Jazz today
Modern jazz has absorbed the traditions and sounds of the entire planet. There was a rethinking of African culture, which was its source. Representatives of modern jazz include: Ken Vandermark, Mats Gustafsson, Evan Parker and Peter Brotzmann, Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman and David Sanchez, Jeff Watts and Billy Stewart.
HISTORY OF JAZZ DEVELOPMENT
Jazz
It is unlikely that anyone will dare to explain what jazz is, since even the great man in the history of jazz, Louis Armstrong, did not do this, who said that it just needs to be understood and that’s all. Indeed, jazz, its history, origins, modifications and branches are too diverse and multifaceted to give a simple comprehensive definition. But there are moments that clarify the nature of this musical direction.
Jazz arose as a combination of several musical cultures and national traditions. Initially, it arrived in its infancy from African lands, and under the influence of developed Western music and its movements (blues, reg-times) and the combination of musical African folklore with them, the result was a style that has not died to this day - jazz.
Jazz lives in rhythm, in inconsistency, in intersections and in non-compliance with keys and pitches. All music is built on confrontation and contradiction, but in one piece of music it all comes together harmoniously and amazes with its melody and special appeal.
The first jazzmen, with rare exceptions, created the tradition of a jazz orchestra, where there are improvisations with sound, speed or tempo, it is possible to expand the number of instruments and performers, and involve symphonic traditions. Many jazzmen have contributed their art to the development of the tradition of the art of playing jazz ensembles.
After the appearance of the brilliant performer, who lived his entire life in the rhythm of jazz, and still remains a legend - Louis Armstrong, the art of performing jazz saw new and unusual horizons: vocal or instrumental solo performance becomes the center of the entire performance, completely changing the idea of jazz.
And this is where it becomes possible to explain another feature of the jazz style: this is the unique individual performance of a virtuoso jazzman, this is his performance and his and the listeners’ enjoyment of the music at the moment. And the key to the eternal youth of jazz is improvisation. Jazz has a spirit, but it doesn't have a skeleton to support it all. You can change the saxophone to the piano, or you can put down the chair and take the microphone, and if that doesn’t work, then go back to the trumpet and try to play something that Armstrong and Bechet didn’t play.
Jazz is not only a certain type of musical performance, it is also a unique, cheerful era.
Origins
The question of the birthplace of jazz is well known - this is America, but where does it originate?
Jazz appears as a unique fusion. And one of its components, which ensured its origin, is considered to be African origin. African settlers brought with them their culture, which developed against the backdrop of strong European and American influence.
The community and its rules (norms of behavior, traditions) are in the blood of those who came, although the connection with their ancestors is actually severed. And music, as an integral manifestation of the original culture, became one of the connecting links of that native African culture and new life on another continent.
The vocal music of African-Americans, flavored with rhythm and dancing, body plasticity, and clapping, has grown into a new musical subculture. African music is completely different from European samples, it does not have a galaxy of instruments, it has largely retained ritualism and a connection to customs.
Origins / History of Jazz
This slave music ultimately broke the totalitarian regimes where classical orchestras reigned, completely subordinate to the will of the conductor's baton. According to the research of history and American culture professor Penny Van Eschen, the US State Department tried to use jazz as an ideological weapon against the USSR and the expansion of Soviet influence into third world countries. The origins of jazz are connected with the blues.
Jazz originated in late XIX centuries as a fusion of African rhythms and European harmony, but its origins should be sought from the moment of the importation of slaves from Africa to the territory of the New World. The brought slaves did not come from the same family and usually did not even understand each other. The need for consolidation led to the unification of many cultures and, as a result, to the creation of a single culture (including musical) of African Americans. The processes of mixing African musical culture and European (which also underwent serious changes in the New World) took place starting from the 18th century and in the 19th century led to the emergence of “proto-jazz”, and then jazz in the generally accepted sense.
Improvisation plays a fundamental role in true jazz. In addition, jazz is distinguished by syncopation (emphasis on weak beats and unexpected accents) and a special drive. The last two components arise in ragtime, and then are transferred to the playing of orchestras (bands), after which the word “jazz” appears, written first as “Jass”, then as “Jasz”, and only since 1918 it has acquired mine modern look. In addition, many styles of jazz are distinguished by a special performance technique: “swinging” or swing. The cradle of jazz was the American South and, above all, New Orleans. On February 26, 1917, in the New York studio of the Victor company, five white musicians from New Orleans recorded the first jazz record. The significance of this fact is difficult to overestimate: before the release of this record, jazz remained a marginal phenomenon, musical folklore, and after that it stunned all of America within a few weeks. The recording belonged to the legendary "Original Dixieland Jazz Band".
Origins / Birth of Jazz
The origins of this musical movement should be sought in a mixture of African and European cultures. Oddly enough, but jazz began with Christopher Columbus himself. Of course, the great traveler and discoverer was not the first jazz performer. By opening America to Europe, Columbus marked the great beginning of the interpenetration of African and European musical traditions.
While exploring the American continent, Europeans transported here a large number of black enemies, the number of whom by 1700 exceeded hundreds of thousands. Slaves were transported from the west coast of Africa across the Atlantic.
Europeans could not even guess that, along with slaves, they transported African musical culture, characterized by stunning musical rhythm, to America. In Africa, music has been an indispensable component of various rituals from time immemorial. Musical rhythm played a huge role here.
European culture introduced harmony, minor and major standards, melody, as well as a solo melodic principle into jazz.
Singing in jazz
Jazz singing cannot be equated to singing in the general sense of the word. Initially, there was no solo voice in jazz, there was only an instrument, and only since the performances of Louis Armstrong (meaning his later work) vocals became part of the “toolkit” of jazzmen. But again - jazz vocals, and this is something else.
Jazz vocals must have some special features, meaning the performer's voice. Considering the basis of jazz - improvisation, the absence of rules, one must understand that the same applies to the performer’s voice: the ability to expand the scope of a “regular” song, play with the voice, improvise easily, have a good range. The performer must adhere to the jazz style of performance: phrasing and “attack”.
"Scat singing" - this term appeared at the time when Louis Armstrong was on stage, who sang as well as played: the sounds made by his voice were very similar to the sounds made by his trumpet. Jazz vocals will begin to change and become more complex a little later, when the bop style comes into fashion. The time comes for the “bop” sket,” and the “first lady of jazz” - Ella Fitzgerald - becomes the star.
If the connection between jazz and blues is not so strong, then the connection between vocals has a more obvious connection. The possibilities of extracting sounds (the work of the larynx, wheezing and whispering, falsetto, etc.) of the blues were gladly accepted by the traditions of jazz.
The names of vocalists who became famous in the history of jazz for their singing: of course, the founder is Louis Armstrong, followed by Bing Crosby, followed by him, simply nicknamed “the voice,” Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole. Women made their contribution and a considerable one: Bessie Smith, who was nicknamed the “Empress of the Blues”, followed by the names Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, unique singer Sarah Voen.
THE ORIGINS OF JAZZ AND ITS STYLES.
Introduction
Once, during an interview, the editor-in-chief of the most famous American jazz magazine, “Down Beat,” which is distributed in 124 countries, was asked by a reporter: “What is jazz?” “You have never seen a man so quickly caught in the act by such a simple question!”, this editor later said. In contrast, some other jazz figure could answer the same question by talking to you about this music for two hours or more, without explaining anything specifically, since in reality there is still no accurate, concise and then At the same time, it is time for a complete and objective definition of the word and the very concept of “jazz”.
But there is a huge difference between the music of King Oliver and Miles Davis, Benny Goodman and the Modern Jazz Quartet, Stan Kenton and John Coltrane, Charlie Parker and Dave Brubeck. Many of the components and the constant development of jazz over 100 years have led to the fact that even yesterday's set of its exact characteristics cannot be fully applied today, and tomorrow's formulations may be diametrically opposed (for example, for Dixieland and bebop, swing big band and combo jazz-rock).
The difficulties in defining jazz also lie in... The point is that they always try to solve this problem head-on and talk a lot about jazz with little results. Obviously, it could be solved indirectly by defining all those characteristics that surround this musical world in society and then it will be easier to understand what is in the center. Moreover, the question “What is jazz?” is replaced by "What do you mean by jazz?" And here we discover that this word has very different meanings for different people. Each person fills this lexical neologism with a certain meaning at his own discretion.
There are two categories of people who use this word. Some people love jazz, while others are not interested in it. Most jazz lovers have a very broad use of this word, but none of them can determine where jazz begins and ends, because everyone has their own opinion on this matter. They can find a common language with each other, but each is convinced that he is right and knows what jazz is, without going into details. Even professional musicians themselves, who live jazz and perform it regularly, give very different and vague definitions of this music.
The endless variety of interpretations does not give us any chance to come to a single and indisputable conclusion about what jazz is from a purely musical point of view. However, a different approach is possible here, which in the 2nd half of the 50s was proposed by the world famous musicologist, president and director of the New York Institute of Jazz Research Marshall Stearns (1908-1966), who invariably enjoyed boundless respect in jazz circles of all countries of the Old and the New World. In his excellent textbook The History of Jazz, first published in 1956, he defined this music from a purely historical point of view.
Stearns wrote: “First of all, wherever you hear jazz, it is always much easier to recognize than to describe in words. But as a very first approximation, we can define jazz as a semi-improvisational music that arose as a result of 300 years of mixing on North American soil of two great musical traditions - Western European and West African - that is, the actual fusion of white and black culture... And although musically the European tradition played a predominant role here, those rhythmic qualities that made jazz such a characteristic, unusual and easily recognizable music undoubtedly lead "its origins are from Africa. Therefore, the main components of this music are European harmony, Euro-African melody and African rhythm."
But why did jazz originate precisely in the territory North America, and not South or Central, where there were also enough whites and blacks? After all, when they talk about the birthplace of jazz, America is always called its cradle, but they usually mean the modern territory of the United States. The fact is that if the northern half of the American continent was historically inhabited mainly by Protestants (the British and the French), among whom there were many religious missionaries seeking to convert blacks to the Christian faith, then in the southern and central part of this huge continent Catholics (the Spaniards) predominated and the Portuguese), who looked at black slaves simply as draft animals, without caring about the salvation of their souls. Therefore, there could not have been a significant and deep enough interpenetration of races and cultures, which in turn had a direct impact on the degree of preservation of the native music of African slaves, mainly in the area of their rhythm. To this day, pagan cults exist in the countries of South and Central America, secret rituals and rampant carnivals are held accompanied by Afro-Cuban (or Latin American) rhythms. It is not surprising that it is precisely in this rhythmic respect that the southern part of the New World has already in our time noticeably influenced all of the world’s popular music, while the North has contributed something different to the treasury of modern musical art, for example, spirituals and blues.
Consequently, Stearns continues, in the historical aspect, jazz is a synthesis obtained in the original from 6 fundamental sources. These include:
1. Rhythms of West Africa;
2. Work songs (work songs, field hollers);
3. Negro religious songs (spirituals);
4. Negro secular songs (blues);
5. American folk music of past centuries;
6. Music of minstrels and street brass bands.
1. The origins of jazz
The first forts of white people in the Gulf of Guinea on the coast of West Africa arose already in 1482. Exactly 10 years later, a significant event occurred - the discovery of America by Columbus. In 1620, the first black slaves appeared on the modern territory of the United States, who were conveniently transported by ship across the Atlantic Ocean from West Africa. Over the next hundred years, their number grew there to one hundred thousand, and by 1790 this number increased 10 times.
If we say “African rhythm”, then we must keep in mind, of course, that West African blacks never played “jazz” as such - we are just talking about rhythm as an integral part of their existence in their homeland, where it was represented by a ritual “drum choir” " with its complex polyrhythms and much more. But slaves could not take any items with them to the New World. musical instruments, and at first in America they were even forbidden to make homemade drums, examples of which could only be seen much later in ethnographic museums. In addition, no one of any skin color is born with a ready-made sense of rhythm, it’s all about traditions, i.e. in the continuity of generations and the environment, therefore, Negro customs and rituals were preserved and transmitted throughout the United States exclusively orally and from memory from generation to generation of African-American Blacks. As Dizzy Gillespie said: "I don't think God can give any one more than others if they find themselves in the same environment. You can take any person, and if you put him in the same environment, then his The path of life will definitely be similar to ours."
Jazz arose in the United States as a result of the synthesis of numerous elements of the resettled musical cultures of the peoples of Europe, on the one hand, and African folklore, on the other. These cultures had fundamentally different qualities. African music is improvisational in nature; it is characterized by a collective form of music-making with strongly expressed polyrhythm, polymetry and linearity. The most important function in it is the rhythmic beginning, rhythmic polyphony, from which the effect of cross-rhythm arises. The melodic, and even more so the harmonic principle, is developed to a much lesser extent in African music-making than in European music. Music for Africans has a more practical significance than for Europeans. It is often associated with work activity, with rituals, including worship. Syncretism different types arts affects the nature of music-making - it does not act independently, but in combination with dance, plastic arts, prayer, and recitation. In the excited state of Africans, their intonation is much more free than that of Europeans chained to a standardized scale. In African music, the question-answer form of singing (call & response) is widely developed.
For its part, European music made its rich contribution to the future synthesis: melodic constructions with a leading voice, modal major-minor standards, harmonic possibilities and much more. In general, relatively speaking, African emotionality, the intuitive principle, collided with European rationalism, especially manifested in the musical policy of Protestantism.
2. "Third Current"
The term "third stream" was coined by critic John Wilson. He outlined an alternative, or more precisely, options for the synthesis of the first and second trends, i.e. academic music and jazz. This trend was formed in the 50s and is not associated with a specific style. The experimental works of various musicians captured symphonic jazz, jazz rock, and avant-garde movements.
Jazz, as one of the most unique types of musical arts of the 20th century, gradually began to conquer the whole world and, in the end, acquired an international character. This happened primarily due to the fact that its composers and performers in their work often turned to the music of other countries and peoples - Indian, South American, Arabic and, of course, their own folklore. The most important source of inspiration for jazzmen in search of new directions in the evolution of their genre were also the best examples of European classical music and its several more popular varieties.
The historical contacts of classical composers with jazz are well known, and dozens of famous names could be cited here as examples (Dvorak, Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel, Milhaud, Honegger, Kshenek, as well as Copland, Gershwin and Bernstein), but their attempts were guided by the desire to introduce only certain elements of jazz into academic music. Conversely, there is a lot of experimental work on the part of interested jazzmen who tried to apply certain principles of symphonic development and use the original principles of classical music in their jazz scores.
In different decades, such experiments sometimes even led to the emergence of new, if not styles, then, in any case, independent branches on the family tree of the history of jazz - for example, in the 20s it was “symphonic jazz” (Paul Whiteman, who wanted “make a lady out of jazz”), in the 40s - “progressive” (Stan Kenton), and in the 60s - “third movement”.
The “third movement” is mentioned specifically in jazz history, because jazzmen, not classics, came to it then. This was an experimental direction of modern jazz, whose representatives tried to create extensive works for mixed orchestras, including both academic performers and jazz improvisers.
The compositions of the “third movement” are characterized by a more organic fusion of European compositional techniques with jazz traditions. The most prominent representatives of this trend in the USA were musicians and composers Gunther Schuller, John Lewis (leader of the Modern Jazz Quartet), Gary McFarland, Jimmy Giuffre and others.
For example, Duke Ellington’s joint performances (and recordings) with the La Scala and London Symphony orchestras are known. With this combination, new harmonic and instrumental shades arise; the result is, so to speak, modern “intellectual music.” It has a classic approach to the theme, but remains very jazzy at its core. It is entirely possible to synthesize these two components in one type of music, close to both jazz (freedom of improvisation, a sense of swing, the freshness of new timbres) and the technique of “serious” compositions (techniques from the field of 12-tone music, polyphony, polytonality, polyrhythm, general thematic evolution, etc.).
Significant contribution to the third movement with works for jazz quartet and symphony orchestra contributed by Dave Brubeck. The tradition of combining a symphony orchestra and a jazz ensemble or even an orchestra is continued by Wynton Marsalis and his Lincoln Center Orchestra.
3. Modern blues. Big bands of the post-swing era
Historically, blues gradually penetrated into large industrial centers and quickly gained popularity there. They established themselves in it characteristics, inherited from the music of African Americans, and the 12-bar form was clearly defined (as the most typical) and harmonic accompaniment based on the blues scale was determined. Among the most famous jazz blues performers in the 50s and 60s. there were Jimmy Rushing (1903-1972) and Joe Williams (1918-1999).
In the late 40s and early 50s, a new variety arose - “rhythm and blues” - it was an urban modification of the classic blues, which became widespread in the black areas of the largest US cities. Using the basic melodic-harmonic means of blues, “r&b” is distinguished by a significant increase in instrumental accompaniment, an expressive manner of performance, faster tempos, a clearly defined rhythm and an energetic beat, which is achieved in the form of alternating massive and booming beats on 1 and 3 beats of the measure with a dry and abrupt accent on beats 2 and 4. The performance is characterized by unrelenting emotional tension, loud sound, emphasizing “blues notes”, frequent transitions of the vocalist to falsetto, maximum intensity (pressure, “drive”) of the sound and is built on the antiphon of short “riffs” of the singer and accompaniment.
Until the end of the 40s. "R&B" in "live" sound and on records (in a series of so-called "racial records") was known mainly only to the black population in large industrial cities. The favorites of this trend in those years were saxophonists Louis Jordan and Earl Bostic, guitarists "T-Bone" Walker and Muddy Waters, pianists Jay McShann and, somewhat later, Ray Charles and vocalist Big Joe Turner.
However, in the early 50s, interest in this rhythmic music also appeared among whites. Gradually, a growing demand for R&B plays arose from white youth, and a number of musicians turned to this direction, and they became active promoters of R&B in those years, which then revolutionized popular music and led to the emergence of rock and roll. When white guitarist Bill Haley recorded the famous rhythm and blues number "Rock Around the Clock" with his band on April 12, 1954, the date of its release has since been considered the birthday of "rock and roll" and the theme itself. his anthem.
During those years, a white disc jockey, Alan Freed (1922-1965), appeared on a Cleveland radio station and began regularly airing recordings of "rhythm and blues" artists, and now Freed can be said to be almost single-handedly responsible for changing the entire course American popular music. It was he who brought black rhythm and blues writers and artists out from behind the racial curtain and introduced them to a wide audience of white teenagers. In a fit of inspiration, he called these recordings "rock and roll" and popularized the term among young people around the world.
This adapted version of "r&b" boiled down to three basic chords, a few simple electric guitar "riffs" and a heavy, monotonous beat with strong accents on the 2nd and 4th beats of the measure (i.e. the "off-beat"). However, the harmony of “rock and roll” was still based on the 12-bar blues scheme, so its main merit was that it established the fundamental concept of blues in the mass musical consciousness of white Americans, and after them Europeans , which has enormous potential for the development of rhythm, melody and harmony. The blues not only revitalized popular music as a whole, but also changed its previous "white" European orientation and opened the door to a wide stream of innovations and borrowings from musical cultures in other areas of the globe, such as Latin American music.
Difficult economic conditions after World War II and changes in the interests of the public and managers radically affected many big bands of the swing era. Most of them have disappeared forever. However, in the early 50s, a revival of the genre began. With difficulty, but the orchestras of Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and a little later the Duke Ellington orchestra were restored. The public again wanted to listen to pre-war hits. Despite the significant renewal of the lineups and the arrival of young musicians, the leaders, indulging the wishes of the listeners, restored the old repertoire. Of these three pillars of the swing era, only Duke Ellington was on the path to change. This concerned his widespread use of the suite form, which began during the war years. Large-scale suites with programmatic content appeared in his repertoire. A significant stage was the creation of “Concerts of Sacred Music” (1965-66) for orchestra, choir, soloists and dancer. The energetic performances of the big band of vibraphonist Lionel Hampton continued, focused primarily on the musicality and charm of their leader.
Gradually, some orchestras turned into memorial formations that support established traditions. As such, we can name the Glenn Miller Orchestra, who died in 1944, the Count Basie Orchestra, which exists under the same name after the death of the leader in 1984, led by Mercer Ellington (son of Duke), and then by his grandson Paul Mercer Ellington, the Duke Ellington Orchestra (d. . 1974).
Progressive orchestras gradually lost their spirit of experimentation and acquired a relatively standard repertoire. The orchestras of Woody Herman and Stan Kenton, having produced some interesting soloists, passed the baton to younger colleagues. Among them, it is necessary to note the bands that created a new sound based on bright arrangements, polystylistics, and a new use of the sound of brass instruments, primarily trumpets. Such centers of progress in orchestral sound in the 60s were the bands of trumpeters Maynard Fergusson and Don Ellis. Consistent movement in the chosen direction took place in the creative laboratory of one of the founders of the group, Gil Evans. His own performances, recordings with Miles Davis at the turn of the 50s and 60s, and further experiments with modal music and elements of jazz rock in the 70s were an important individual trend in jazz history.
In the 70s, a powerful impetus to the band movement was given by an orchestra assembled from young and very strong musicians of the New York jazz scene by trumpeter Thad Jones, a former member of the Basie band, and drummer Mel Lewis, who played in the orchestra Stan Kenton. For a decade, this band was considered the best, thanks to its magnificent modern arrangements and high level of instrumentalists. The orchestra disbanded due to Jones' move to Denmark, but Mel Louis tried to support it for a long time in collaboration with trombonist and arranger Bob Brookmyer. In the 80s, the first place in the world hierarchy was occupied by a band created by Japanese pianist and arranger Toshiko Akiyoshi together with her husband, saxophonist Lew Tabakin. This orchestra is unusual in that it was created by a woman; it performs primarily her works, but continues to follow American orchestral traditions. In 1985, the orchestra was disbanded, and Akiyoshi organized a new band called "Toshiko Akiyoshi's New York Jazz Orchestra."
In the 90s, the big band genre did not dry out, but, perhaps, strengthened. At the same time, the range of orchestral stylistics has expanded. The conservative wing, in addition to the memorial orchestras, is represented by the Lincoln Center Orchestra, led by one of the most favored jazz musicians by the officialdom, the talented trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis. This orchestra tries to follow Duke Ellington's line of creating works of large form and programmatic nature. More diverse is the work of the very strong and more modern orchestra named after Charles Mingus (The Mingus Big Band). This band attracts creatively minded musicians. More radical ideas are professed by various "workshops" that are temporary in nature, and by diverse bands professing more avant-garde ideas. Among such orchestras are the bands of Sam Rivers, George Gruntz, and numerous European conglomerates.
4. Hardbop. Funky
In contrast to the refinement and coolness of the cool style, the rationality of progressive on the East Coast of the United States, young musicians in the early 50s continued the development of the seemingly exhausted bebop style. The growth of self-awareness of African Americans, characteristic of the 50s, played a significant role in this trend. There was a renewed focus on staying true to African-American improvisational traditions. At the same time, all the achievements of bebop were preserved, but many developments of cool were added to them both in the field of harmony and in the field of rhythmic structures. Musicians of the new generation, as a rule, had good musical education. This trend, called "hardbop", turned out to be very numerous. It included trumpeters Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Donald Byrd, pianists Thelonious Monk, Horace Silver, drummer Art Blakey, saxophonists Sonny Rollins, Hank Mobley ( Hank Mobley), Cannonball Adderley, double bassist Paul Chambers and many others.
Another technical innovation turned out to be significant for the development of the new style: the appearance of long-playing records. It became possible to record long solos. For musicians, this has become a temptation and a difficult test, since not everyone is able to speak out fully and succinctly for a long time. Trumpeters were the first to take advantage of these advantages, modifying Dizzy Gillespie's style to a calmer but deeper playing. The most influential were Fats Navarro and Clifford Brown (both of them were given too short a life span). These musicians paid the main attention not to virtuosic high-speed passages in the upper register, but to thoughtful and logical melodic lines.
The musical complexity achieved, for example, by Art Blakey, who used complex rhythmic structures, did not lead to a loss of jazz, emotional spirituality. The same applies to new forms in the improvisations of Horace Silver or in the polyrhythmic figurations in the solos of Sonny Rollins. The music took on an edge, acerbity and a new swing dimension. A special role in the development of hardbop was played by Art Blakey, who created the Jazz Messengers ensemble in 1955. This composition played the role of a school in which the talent of numerous representatives of this direction was identified and flourished. These include pianists Bobby Timmons and Horace Silver, saxophonists Benny Golson, Hank Mobley, trumpeters Lee Morgan, Kenny Dorham, Wynton Marsalis and many others. "Jazz Messengers" still exist in one form or another, having outlived their leader (1993).
Tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins occupies a special place in the galaxy of hard bop musicians. His style was composed of Parker's lines and the broad tone of Coleman Hawkins, and his innovation was associated with his temperament and spontaneity as an improviser. It is characterized by a special freedom in the use of harmonic material. In the mid-50s, Rollins attracted attention with the peculiarities of his phrasing, which represents magnificent polyrhythmic figures that tear apart the harmonic material coming from the theme. In his melodic improvisations, harshness of sound and musical sarcasm appear.
Some of the music that appeared during the "hardbop" period naturally absorbed the blues, used at a slow or medium tempo with special expression, based on a pronounced beat. This style is called "funky". The word is slang and means an intensifying definition of a pungent, pungent smell or taste. In jazz, it is synonymous with down-to-earth, “real” music. The appearance of this branch is not accidental. In the 50s, jazz began to move away from the old Negro essence of jazz, and a weakening of the jazz idiom became noticeable. It became increasingly difficult to determine what kind of music should be perceived as jazz. Jazz musicians experimented with folklore different nations, they were attracted by impressionism and atonalism, they began to get carried away ancient music. Not everyone found these processes convincing enough. A number of musicians turned to compositions heavily flavored with the sound of traditional blues and religious chants. Initially, the religious element had a decorative rather than functional purpose. Sometimes the old-fashioned screams of the cotton fields played the role of an introduction to quite traditional bebop figures. Sonny Rollins shows signs of this style, but its greatest expression can be found in pianist Horace Silver, who created funky blues. The sincerity of his music was reinforced by the religious motives that guided the musician.
From the funky style grew the figure of Charles Mingus - double bassist, composer and bandleader, a musician who did not fit into the framework of a certain style. Mingus set himself the task of evoking very specific emotional sensations in the listener. At the same time, the load was distributed between the composition itself and the musicians, who had to improvise, experiencing precisely these emotions. Mingus can easily be classified as one of the very few jazz composers. He considered himself a follower of Duke Ellington and turned to the same area of African-American culture, religiosity, mysticism - an area that required the use of funky style techniques.
5. Free jazz
In the early 60s, the next round of development of jazz styles was largely due to the strengthening of racial self-awareness of black musicians. Among the youth of that time, this process was expressed in very radical forms, including in jazz, which has always been an outlet in the culture of African Americans. In music, this again manifested itself in the desire to abandon the European component and return to the root sources of jazz. In the new jazz, black musicians turned to non-Christian religions, primarily Buddhism and Hinduism. On the other hand, this time is characterized by the emergence of waves of protest, social instability, regardless of skin color (hippie movement, anarchism, passion for Eastern mysticism). “Free jazz” that appeared at this time made a sharp turn away from the entire main path of development of jazz, from the mainstream. The combination of the fullness of spiritual and aesthetic experiences with a fundamentally new approach to the organization of musical material completely fenced off new jazz from the sphere of popular art. This was a sharp acceleration of the process that was started by the boppers.
Dixieland and swing stylists created melodic improvisations, bebop, cool and hardbop musicians followed chord structures in their solos. Free jazz was a radical departure from previous styles, since in this style the soloist is not obliged to follow a given direction or build a form in accordance with known canons, he can go in any unpredictable direction. Initially, the main aspiration of the leaders of free jazz was a destructive orientation in relation to rhythm, structure, harmony, and melody. The main thing for them was extreme expressiveness, spiritual nakedness, and ecstasy. The first experiments of new jazz musicians Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler did not break ties with the norms of the mainstream. The first free jazz recordings still appealed to harmonic patterns. However, gradually this process reaches extreme point break with tradition. When Ornette Coleman fully introduced free jazz to New York audiences (despite the fact that Cecil Taylor was known earlier and quite well), many of the bebop musicians and jazz connoisseurs came to the conclusion that this music could not be considered not only jazz, but also , actually, music. Thus, former radicals became conservatives in less than 15 years.
One of the first destroyers of canons was Cecil Taylor, who at the time of his majority was a very trained musician. He graduated from the conservatory, knew jazz well, and was thinking about applying the principles of composer music to the improvisational process. By 1956, he, together with saxophonist Steve Lacy, managed to release a record containing some ideas of new jazz. The early deceased pianist and composer Herbie Nichols was following approximately the same path, emanating largely from Thelonious Monk. Despite the difficulty of perceiving music that does not contain conventional reference points, Cecil Taylor became a famous figure already in 1958, which was facilitated by his performances at the Five Spot club.
Unlike Taylor, another founder of free jazz, Ornette Coleman, had extensive experience performing before and, at the same time, never played “correctly.” Perhaps Coleman, without realizing it, became a master of primitivism. This, in turn, gave him the basis for an easy transition to non-standard music, which he accomplished together with the trumpet player who played the pocket trumpet - Don Cherry. The musicians were lucky; double bassist Red Mitchell and pianist John Lewis, who were influential in the musical community, became interested in them. In 1959, the musicians released the album "Something Else!!" and got an engagement in Five Spot. A milestone for new jazz was Ornette Coleman's double-team "Free Jazz" in 1960.
Free jazz often intersects with other avant-garde movements, which, for example, can use its shaping and sequence of rhythmic structures. Since its inception, free jazz has remained the domain of a small number of people and is usually found underground, yet has greatly influenced the modern mainstream. Despite the total denial, free jazz has developed a certain normativity that allows it to be distinguished from other new jazz movements. These conventions relate to the overall plan of the piece, the interaction of musicians, rhythmic support and, of course, the emotional plane. It should be noted that an old form of collective improvisation has re-emerged in free jazz. Free jazz has become characterized by working with an “open form”, not tied to specific structures. This approach has also begun to appear among musicians who are not purely free jazz - such as, for example, the spontaneous improvisations of Keith Jarrett at his solo concerts.
The rejection of "new jazz" from European musical norms led to enormous interest in non-European cultures, mainly Eastern. John Coltrane was very seriously involved in Indian music, Don Cherry - Indonesian and Chinese, Farrow Sanders - Arabic. Moreover, this orientation is not superficial, decorative, but very deep, with the desire to understand and absorb the entire character of not only the corresponding music, but also its aesthetic and spiritual environment.
Free jazz idioms often became an integral part of polystylistic music. One of the most striking manifestations of this approach is the work of a group of Chicago black musicians who began performing in the 60s under the auspices of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Later, these musicians (Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Rascoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors, Don Moye) created the "Chicago Art Ensemble", which preached a variety of styles from African ritual spells and gospel music to free jazz. Another side of the same process is manifested in the work of clarinetist and saxophonist Anthony Braxton, who is closely associated with the Chicago Art Ensemble. His music is both free and intellectual. Braxton sometimes uses mathematical principles in his compositions, such as group theory, but this does not diminish the emotional impact of his music. Disputes about the possibility of music of this kind do not subside to this day. Thus, the official authority of the American jazz establishment, Wynton Marsalis, contemptuously calls Braxton “a good chess player,” while at the same time, in the polls of the American Association of Jazz Journalists, Marsalis ranks next after Braxton in the category of jazz composers.
It should be noted that by the beginning of the 70s, interest in free jazz began to capture creatively minded musicians in Europe, who often combined its principles of “freedom” with the developments of European musical practice of the 20th century - atonality, serial technique, aleatorics, sonoristics, etc. On the other hand On the other hand, some free jazz leaders were moving away from extreme radicalism and, in the 80s, moving towards some compromise, albeit original versions of music. Among them are Ornette Coleman with the “Prime Time” project, Archie Shepp and others.
6. Development of fusion: jazz-rock. Fusion ECM. World Jazz
The original definition of "jazz rock" was the clearest: a combination of jazz improvisation with the energy and rhythms of rock music. Until 1967, the worlds of jazz and rock existed almost separately. But by this time, rock becomes more creative and more complex, psychedelic rock and soul music emerge. At the same time, some jazz musicians began to get tired of pure hardbop, but they did not want to play difficult avant-garde music. As a result, two different idioms began to exchange ideas and join forces. Beginning in 1967, guitarist Larry Coryell, vibraphonist Gary Burton, and in 1969 drummer Billy Cobham with the group "Dreams", in which the Brecker Brothers played, began to master new expanses of style. By the end of the 60s, Miles Davis had the necessary potential to transition to jazz rock. He was one of the creators of modal jazz, on the basis of which, using 8/8 rhythm and electronic instruments, Miles makes new step, recording the albums "Bitches Brew", "In a Silent Way". Along with him at this time was a brilliant galaxy of musicians, many of whom later became fundamental figures of this movement - John McLaughlin, Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock. Davis's characteristic asceticism, brevity, and philosophical contemplation turned out to be just the thing in the new style. By the early 1970s, jazz rock had its own distinct identity as a creative jazz style, although it was derided by many jazz purists. The main groups of the new direction were “Return To Forever”, “Weather Report”, “The Mahavishnu Orchestra”, and various Miles Davis ensembles. They played high-quality jazz-rock that combined a huge range of techniques from both jazz and rock.
Fusion
For the most interesting compositions Jazz-rock is characterized by improvisation, combined with compositional solutions, the use of harmonic and rhythmic principles of rock music, the active embodiment of the melody and rhythm of the East, the powerful introduction of electronic means of sound processing and synthesis into music. In this style, the range of application of modal principles has expanded, and the range of different modes, including exotic ones, has expanded. In the 70s, jazz-rock became incredibly popular; the most active musicians joined it. Jazz-rock, which is more developed in terms of the synthesis of various musical means, is called “fusion” (fusion, merging). An additional impulse for “fusion” was another (not the first in the history of jazz) bow towards European academic music. In fact, at this stage, fusion continues the line of the “third movement” of the 50s.
The combination of various cultural influences is reflected even in the composition of the most interesting ensembles. A typical example is Weather Report, led at first by the Americanized Austrian keyboardist Joseph Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, each of whom at different times went through the school of Miles Davis. The ensemble brought together musicians from Brazil, Czechoslovakia, and Peru. Subsequently, instrumentalists and vocalists from almost all over the world began to collaborate with Zawinul. In the successor to "Weather Report", the "Syndicat" project, the geography of musicians extends from Tuva to South America.
Unfortunately, over time, jazz rock largely acquires the features of commercial music; on the other hand, rock itself abandons many of the creative discoveries made in the mid-1970s. In many cases, fusion actually becomes a combination of jazz with conventional pop music and light rhythm and blues; crossover. Fusion music's ambitions for musical depth and empowerment remain unfulfilled, although in rare cases the search continues, such as in groups like Tribal Tech and Chick Corea's ensembles.
Electric Jazz
The use of electronic sound converters and synthesizers has proven extremely attractive to musicians who are primarily on the border with rock or commercial music. In reality, there are relatively few fruitful examples among the general mass of electric music. For example, Joe Zawinul achieved a very effective fusion of ethnic and tonal elements in the Weather Report project. Herbie Hancock for a long time became an idol not so much of the public as of musicians, using synthesizers, numerous keyboards and various electronic tricks in the 70s and 80s. In the 90s, this area of music increasingly moved into the non-jazz sphere. This is facilitated by the expanded capabilities of computer music creation, which, with certain advantages and capabilities, loses connection with the main jazz quality - improvisation.
Since the early 70s, a separate niche in the community of jazz styles was occupied by the German company ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music), which gradually became the center of an association of musicians who professed not so much an attachment to the African-American origin of jazz, but rather the ability to solve a wide variety of artistic tasks, without limiting oneself to a certain style, but in line with the creative improvisational process. Over time, a certain personality of the company nevertheless developed, which led to the separation of the artists of this label into a large-scale and clearly defined stylistic direction. The label's founder Manfred Eicher's focus on uniting various jazz idioms, world folklore and new academic music into a single impressionistic sound made it possible to use these means to claim depth and philosophical understanding of life values.
The company's main recording studio, located in Oslo, clearly correlates with the dominant role in the catalog of Scandinavian musicians. First of all, these are the Norwegians Jan Garbarek, Terje Rypdal, Arild Andersen, Nils Petter Molvaer, Jon Christensen. However, the geography of ECM covers the whole world. Here are Europeans John Surman, Dave Holland, Eberhard Weber, Rainer Bruninghaus, Tomasz Stanko, Mikhail Alperin and representatives of non-European cultures Egberto Gismonti , Zakir Hussain, Flora Purim, Trilok Gurtu, Nana Vasconcelos, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Anouar Brahem and many others. The American Legion is no less representative - Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, Don Cherry, Charles Lloyd, Ralph Towner, Redman Dewey, Bill Frisell, John Abercrombie ( John Abercrombie), Leo Smith. The initial revolutionary impulse of the company's publications turned over time into a meditative and detached sound of open forms with carefully polished sound layers. Naturally, Eicher crossed the invisible line that separated numerous attempts to combine jazz and academic European music. This is no longer a third current, but simply a current that smoothly flows into the “New Series” of ECM with academic music, very close in spirit to jazz releases. The direction of the label's policy beyond the borders of mass culture, however, led to an increase in the popularity of this kind of music, which can be seen as a kind of paradox. Some mainstream adherents deny the path chosen by the musicians of this trend; however jazz is like World culture, is developing despite these objections, and is producing very impressive results.
World Jazz
"World Jazz" (World Jazz) - a strange-sounding term in Russian, refers to the fusion of Third World music, or "World Music", with jazz. This very branched direction can be divided into several types.
Ethnic music that includes jazz improvisations, such as Latin jazz. In this case, sometimes only the solo is improvised. The accompaniment and composition are essentially the same as in ethnic music itself;
Jazz, which incorporated limited aspects of non-Western music. Examples include Dizzy Gillespie's old "A Night in Tunisia" recordings, and the music on some of Keith Jarrett's quartet and quintet records released in the 1970s on the Impulse! label, using slightly modified Middle Eastern instruments and similar harmonic techniques. This includes some of Sun Ra's music from the 50s to the 90s, which incorporates African rhythms, some of Yusef Lateef's recordings using traditional Islamic instruments and techniques;
New musical styles emerging through organic ways of combining jazz improvisation with the original ideas and instruments, harmonies, compositional techniques and rhythms of an existing ethnic tradition. The result turns out to be original, and it clearly reflects the essential aspects of ethnicity. Examples of this approach are numerous and include the ensembles of Don Cherry, Codona and Nu; some of John McLaughlin's music from the 70s to the 90s, based on Indian traditions; some of the music of Don Ellis from the 70s, who borrowed ideas from the music of India and Bulgaria; the work of Andy Narell in the 90s, who mixed Trinidadian music and instruments with jazz and funk improvisations.
This is not the first time “World Fusion Jazz” has followed this path in the history of jazz, and this trend itself does not apply exclusively to American jazz. For example, Polynesian music was mixed with Western pop styles in the early twentieth century, and its sound emerged from some of the earliest jazz musicians. Caribbean dance rhythms became a significant part of American popular culture throughout the twentieth century, and since jazz musicians often improvised on pop music themes, they were mixed almost continuously. Django Reinhardt connected traditions gypsy music, French impressionism with jazz improvisation back in the 30s in France. The list of musicians active in the border region may include hundreds and thousands of names. Among them, for example, are the following different people, like Al DiMeola of Dead Can Dance, Joe Zawinul of Shakti, Lakshminarayana Shankar, Paul Winter, Trilok Gurtu and many others.
7. Pop - jazz : funk, acid jazz, crossover, smooth jazz
Funk
Modern funk refers to popular styles of jazz from the 70s and 80s in which accompanists play in the style of black pop-soul and funk music, while extensive solo improvisations are more creative and jazzy in nature. Rather than using the diverse, accumulated repertoire of jazz idioms found in modern jazz saxophonists (Charlie Parker, Lee Konitz, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman), most saxophonists in this style use their own set of simple phrases that consist of blues shouts and groans. They build on a tradition carried over from saxophone solos on rhythm and blues vocal recordings by the likes of King Curtis with the Coasters, Junior Walker with the Motown vocal groups, David Sanborn Sanborn) with "Blues Band" by Paul Butterfield. A prominent figure in this genre is Grover Washington, Jr., who often played solos in the style of Hank Crawford using funk-like accompaniment. This is how he appears in his most famous recordings, although Washington is capable of playing music in other styles of jazz. Members of The Jazz Crusaders Felder Wilton and Joe Sample achieved widespread popularity by significantly changing their repertoire during the 70s and removing the word “jazz” from the ensemble’s name. Much of the music of Michael Brecker, Tom Scott and their students takes this approach, although they could just as easily be playing in the styles of John Coltrane or Joe Henderson. "Najee", Richard Elliott and their contemporaries also work in the style of "modern funk". Between 1971 and 1992, Miles Davis led ensembles performing a sophisticated variation of the style, although the saxophonists in his groups were influenced by John Coltrane and his guitarists exhibited a modern jazz mindset coupled with the influence of Jimi Hendrix. Much of modern funk can also be classified as "crossover".
Acid jazz
Many consider the later compositions of Miles Davis to be the founder of this trend. The term "acid jazz" has been assigned to one of the types of light jazz music, mainly a dance genre, united by the fact that it is partially played by "live" musicians, and the rest is taken either in sampled form or in the form of sounds, for The production of which uses records, most often old, vinyl forty-fives, which are produced for discos. The musical result can be of any style, however, with a modified sound. Radical “punk jazz”, “soul”, “fusion” are more preferable for these purposes. Acid jazz also has a more radical avant-garde wing - an example is the work of British guitarist Derek Bailey. What distinguishes acid jazz from the disco version is the significant contribution of the “live” playing of the musicians. Apparently, this direction has a future that allows it to develop.
Сrossover
With the gradual decline in the activity of rock music (from an artistic point of view), starting in the early 70s, with a decrease in the flow of ideas from the world of rock, fusion music (a combination of jazz improvisation with rock rhythms) became more straightforward. At the same time, many began to realize that electric jazz could become more commercial, producers and some musicians began to look for such combinations of styles to increase sales. They really successfully created a type of jazz that was more accessible to the average listener. Over the past two decades, many different combinations have emerged for which promoters and publicists like to use the expression " Modern Jazz", used to describe the "fusions" of jazz with elements of pop music, rhythm and blues and "world music". However, the word "crossover" more accurately describes the essence of the matter. Crossover and fusion achieved their goal and increased the audience for jazz, especially thanks to those who are fed up with other styles. In some cases, this music is worthy of attention, although in most cases the jazz content in it is reduced to zero. For a style that is, in fact, pop music with a slight splash of improvisation, which takes the music beyond the boundaries of jazz, "Instrumental pop" fits the bill better than most, with examples of the crossover style ranging from Al Jarreau and George Benson's vocal recordings to Kenny G, Spyro Gyra and the Rippingtons. there is a jazz influence, but, nevertheless, this music fits into the field of pop art, which is represented by Gerald Albright, David Benoit, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, "The Crusaders", George Duke, saxophonist Bill Evans, Dave Grusin, Quincy Jones, Earl Klugh, Hubert Laws, Chuck Mangione, Lee Ritenour, Joe Sample, Tom Scott, Grover Washington Jr.
Smooth
"Smooth jazz" is a product of the fusion style, which emphasizes the softened, smooth side of music. In general, smooth jazz relies more on rhythms and melodic lines instead of improvisation. It uses sound layers of synthesizers, funk rhythms, funk bass, elastic lines of guitar and trumpet, alto or soprano saxophone. The music isn't cerebral like hardbop, but it's not overly energetic like funky or soul jazz. Smooth jazz compositions appear simplistic, superficial, and polished, with the overall sound being more important than the individual parts. Characteristic representatives smooth styles include George Benson, Kenny G, Fourplay, David Sanborn, Spyro Gyra, The Yellowjackets, Russ Freeman.
Jazz is a special type of music that combines American music of previous centuries, African rhythms, secular, work and ritual songs. Fans of this kind of music can download their favorite tunes using the website http://vkdj.org/.
Features of Jazz
Jazz has certain features:
- rhythm;
- improvisation;
- polyrhythm.
It received its harmony as a result of European influence. Jazz is based on a special rhythm of African origin. This style covers instrumental and vocal styles. Jazz exists through the use of musical instruments that are of secondary importance in conventional music. Jazz musicians must have the ability to improvise in solo and orchestral settings.
Characteristics of jazz music
The main feature of jazz is freedom of rhythm, which awakens in performers a feeling of lightness, relaxation, freedom and continuous movement forward. How in classical works, and this kind of music has its own meter, rhythm, which is called swing. For this direction, constant pulsation is very important.
Jazz has its own characteristic repertoire and unusual forms. The main ones include blues and ballads, which serve as a kind of basis for all kinds of musical versions.
This type of music is the creativity of those who perform it. It is the specificity and originality of the musician that forms its basis. It is not possible to learn it from notes alone. This genre entirely depends on the creativity and inspiration of the performer at the moment of playing, who puts his emotions and soul into the work.
The main characteristic features of this music include:
- harmony;
- melody;
- rhythm.
Thanks to improvisation, a new piece is created every time. Never in life will two works performed by different musicians sound the same. Otherwise orchestras will try to copy each other.
This modern style has many features of African music. One of them is that each instrument can act as a percussion instrument. When performing jazz compositions, well-known conversational tones are used. Another borrowed feature is that playing instruments mimics conversation. This type of professional musical art, which changes greatly over time, has no strict boundaries. He is completely open to the influence of performers.