History of music: jazz. Jazz: what is (definition), history of appearance, birthplace of jazz
After Christopher Columbus discovered a new continent and Europeans settled there, ships of traders in human goods increasingly headed to the shores of America.
Exhausted by hard work, homesick and suffering from the cruel treatment of their guards, the slaves found solace in music. Gradually, Americans and Europeans became interested in unusual melodies and rhythms. This is how jazz was born. What is jazz and what are its features, we will consider in this article.
Features of the musical direction
Jazz includes music of African-American origin, which is based on improvisation (swing) and a special rhythmic structure (syncopation). Unlike other genres, where one person writes the music and another performs it, jazz musicians are also composers.
The melody is created spontaneously, the periods of composition and performance are separated by a minimum period of time. This is how jazz comes about. orchestra? This is the ability of musicians to adapt to each other. At the same time, everyone improvises their own.
The results of spontaneous compositions are stored in musical notation (T. Cowler, G. Arlen “Happy All Day”, D. Ellington “Don’t You Know What I Love?”, etc.).
Over time, African music was synthesized with European music. Melodies appeared that combined plasticity, rhythm, melody and harmony of sounds (CHEATHAM Doc, Blues In My Heart, CARTER James, Centerpiece, etc.).
Directions
There are more than thirty styles of jazz. Let's look at some of them.
1. Blues. Translated from English, the word means “sadness”, “melancholy”. Initially, the blues was the name given to the solo lyrical song of African Americans. Jazz blues is a twelve-bar period corresponding to a three-line poetic form. Blues compositions are performed at a slow tempo, and there is some understatement in the lyrics. blues - Gertrude Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and others.
2. Ragtime. The literal translation of the name of the style is torn time. In the language of musical terms, "rag" refers to additional sounds between the beats of a measure. The trend appeared in the USA after people overseas became interested in the works of F. Schubert, F. Chopin and F. Liszt. The music of European composers was performed in the jazz style. Later original compositions appeared. Ragtime is typical for the works of S. Joplin, D. Scott, D. Lamb and others.
3. Boogie-woogie. The style appeared at the beginning of the last century. Owners of inexpensive cafes needed musicians to play jazz. It went without saying that such musical accompaniment requires the presence of an orchestra, but inviting a large number of musicians was expensive. The pianists compensated for the sound of different instruments, creating numerous rhythmic compositions. Boogie features:
- improvisation;
- virtuosic technique;
- special accompaniment: the left hand performs a motor ostinant configuration, the interval between the bass and the melody is two or three octaves;
- continuous rhythm;
- pedal exclusion.
Boogie-woogie was played by Romeo Nelson, Arthur Montana Taylor, Charles Avery and others.
Style legends
Jazz is popular in many countries around the world. Everywhere has its own stars, surrounded by an army of fans, but some names have become real legends. They are known and loved all over. Such musicians, in particular, include Louis Armstrong.
It is unknown what the fate of the boy from a poor black neighborhood would have been like if Louis had not ended up in a correctional camp. Here the future star was enrolled in a brass band, although the band did not play jazz. and how it was performed, the young man discovered for himself much later. Armstrong gained worldwide fame thanks to diligence and perseverance.
Billie Holiday (real name Eleanor Fagan) is considered the founder of jazz singing. The singer reached the peak of her popularity in the 50s of the last century, when she changed the scenes of nightclubs to the theater stage.
Life was not easy for the owner of a three-octave range, Ella Fitzgerald. After the death of her mother, the girl ran away from home and led a not very decent lifestyle. The start of the singer’s career was her performance at the Amateur Nights music competition.
George Gershwin is world famous. The composer created jazz works based on classical music. The unexpected manner of performance captivated listeners and colleagues. The concerts were invariably accompanied by applause. The most famous works of D. Gershwin are “Rhapsody in Blue” (co-authored with Fred Grof), the operas “Porgy and Bess”, “An American in Paris”.
Also popular jazz performers were and remain Janis Joplin, Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughn, Miles Davis and others.
Jazz in the USSR
The emergence of this musical movement in the Soviet Union is associated with the name of the poet, translator and theatergoer Valentin Parnakh. The first concert of a jazz band led by a virtuoso took place in 1922. Later, A. Tsfasman, L. Utesov, Y. Skomorovsky formed the direction of theatrical jazz, combining instrumental performance and operetta. E. Rosner and O. Lundstrem did a lot to popularize jazz music.
In the 1940s, jazz was widely criticized as a phenomenon of bourgeois culture. In the 50s and 60s, attacks on performers stopped. Jazz ensembles were created both in the RSFSR and in other union republics.
Today, jazz is performed freely in concert venues and clubs.
Jazz - form musical art, which arose at the beginning of the 20th century in the USA as a result of the synthesis of African and European cultures and subsequently became widespread.
Jazz is amazing music, alive, constantly evolving, incorporating the rhythmic genius of Africa, the treasures of the thousand-year-old art of drumming, ritual and ceremonial chants. Add choral and solo singing of Baptist and Protestant churches - opposite things merged together, giving the world amazing art! The history of jazz is unusual, dynamic, filled with amazing events that influenced the world musical process.
What is jazz?
Character traits:
- polyrhythm based on syncopated rhythms,
- bit - regular pulsation,
- swing - deviation from the beat, a set of techniques for performing rhythmic texture,
- improvisation,
- colorful harmonic and timbre range.
This type of music emerged in the early twentieth century as a result of the synthesis of African and European cultures as an art based on improvisation combined with a preconceived, but not necessarily written, form of composition. Several performers can improvise at the same time, even if a solo voice is clearly heard in the ensemble. Finished artistic image the work depends on the interaction of the ensemble members with each other and with the audience.
Further development of the new musical direction occurred due to the mastery of new rhythmic and harmonic models by composers.
In addition to the special expressive role of rhythm, other features of African music were inherited - the interpretation of all instruments as percussion, rhythmic; the predominance of conversational intonations in singing, imitation of conversational speech when playing the guitar, piano, and percussion instruments.
The history of jazz
The origins of jazz lie in the traditions of African music. The peoples of the African continent can be considered its founders. The slaves brought to the New World from Africa did not come from the same family and often did not understand each other. The need for interaction and communication led to unification and the creation of a single culture, including music. It is characterized by complex rhythms, dances with stamping and clapping. Together with blues motifs, they gave a new musical direction.
The processes of mixing African musical culture and European, which has undergone major changes, have occurred since the eighteenth century, and in the nineteenth led to the emergence of a new musical direction. Therefore, the world history of jazz is inseparable from the history of American jazz.
History of jazz development
The history of the birth of jazz originates in New Orleans, in the American South. This stage is characterized by collective improvisation of several versions of the same melody by a trumpeter (main voice), clarinetist and trombonist against the backdrop of marching accompaniment of brass bass and drums. A significant day - February 26, 1917 - then in the New York studio of the Victor company, five white musicians from New Orleans recorded the first gramophone record. Before the release of this record, jazz remained a marginal phenomenon, musical folklore, and after that, in a few weeks it stunned and shocked all of America. The recording belonged to the legendary "Original Dixieland Jazz Band". This is how American jazz began its proud march around the world.
In the 20s, the main features of future styles were found: a uniform pulsation of the double bass and drums, which contributed to swing, virtuoso soloing, and a manner of vocal improvisation without words using individual syllables (“scat”). Blues took a significant place. Later, both stages - New Orleans, Chicago - are united by the term "Dixieland".
In American jazz of the 20s, a harmonious system emerged, called “swing”. Swing is characterized by the emergence of a new type of orchestra - the big band. With the increase in the orchestra, we had to abandon collective improvisation and move on to performing arrangements recorded on sheet music. The arrangement became one of the first manifestations of the composer's beginnings.
A big band consists of three groups of instruments - sections, each of which can sound like one polyphonic instrument: a saxophone section (later with clarinets), a "brass" section (trumpets and trombones), a rhythm section (piano, guitar, double bass, drums).
Solo improvisation based on the “square” (“chorus”) appeared. “Square” is one variation, equal in duration (number of bars) to the theme, performed against the background of the same chord accompaniment as the main theme, to which the improviser adjusts new melodic turns.
In the 1930s, American blues became popular and the 32-bar song form became widespread. In swing, the “riff”—a two- to four-bar rhythmically flexible cue—has begun to be widely used. It is performed by the orchestra while the soloist improvises.
Among the first big bands were orchestras led by famous jazz musicians - Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Glen Miller, Duke Ellington. The latter already in the 40s turned to large cyclic forms based on Negro and Latin American folklore.
American jazz in the 1930s became commercialized. Therefore, among lovers and connoisseurs of the history of the origin of jazz, a movement arose for the revival of earlier, authentic styles. The decisive role was played by small black ensembles of the 40s, which discarded everything designed for external effect: variety, dancing, singing. The theme was played in unison and almost never sounded in its original form; the accompaniment no longer required dance regularity.
This style, which ushered in the modern era, was called "bop" or "bebop". Experiments by talented American musicians and performers jazz-Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and others - actually laid the foundation for the development of an independent art form, only externally related to the pop-dance genre.
From the late 40s to the mid-60s, development took place in two directions. The first included the styles "cool" - "cool", and "west coast" - "west coast". They are characterized by a wide use of the experience of classical and modern serious music - developed concert forms, polyphony. The second direction included the styles of “hardbop” - “hot”, “energetic” and close to it “soul-jazz” (translated from English “soul” - “soul”), combining the principles of old bebop with the traditions of black folklore, temperamental rhythms and intonations spirituals.
Both of these directions have much in common in the desire to free themselves from the division of improvisation into separate squares, as well as to swing waltz and more complex meters.
Attempts were made to create works of large form - symphonic jazz. For example, “Rhapsody in Blue” by J. Gershwin, a number of works by I.F. Stravinsky. Since the mid-50s. experiments to combine the principles of jazz and modern music have again become widespread, already under the name “third movement”, also among Russian performers (“Concerto for orchestra” by A.Ya. Eshpai, works by M.M. Kazhlaev, 2nd concert for piano with the orchestra of R.K. Shchedrin, 1st symphony by A.G. Schnittke). In general, the history of the emergence of jazz is rich in experiments and is closely intertwined with the development of classical music and its innovative directions.
Since the beginning of the 60s. active experiments begin with spontaneous improvisation, not even limited to a specific theme song- Freejazz. However, the mode principle is even more important: each time a series of sounds is selected anew - a mode, and not clearly distinguishable squares. In search of such modes, musicians turn to the cultures of Asia, Africa, Europe, etc. In the 70s. come electric instruments and the rhythms of youth rock music, based on smaller beats than before. This style is first called "fusion", i.e. "alloy".
In short, the history of jazz is a story about search, unity, bold experiments, and ardent love for music.
Russian musicians and music lovers are certainly curious about the history of the emergence of jazz in the Soviet Union.
In the pre-war period, jazz in our country developed within pop orchestras. In 1929, Leonid Utesov organized a pop orchestra and called his group “Tea-jazz”. The “Dixieland” and “swing” styles were practiced in the orchestras of A.V. Varlamova, N.G. Minha, A.N. Tsfasman and others. Since the mid-50s. Small amateur groups begin to develop ("Eight TsDRI", "Leningrad Dixieland"). Many prominent performers received a start in life there.
In the 70s, training began in the pop departments of music schools, teaching aids, sheet music, and records were published.
Since 1973, pianist L.A. Chizhik began performing at “jazz improvisation evenings.” Ensembles led by I. Bril, “Arsenal”, “Allegro”, “Kadans” (Moscow), and the quintet D.S. perform regularly. Goloshchekin (Leningrad), groups of V. Ganelin and V. Chekasin (Vilnius), R. Raubishko (Riga), L. Vintskevich (Kursk), L. Saarsalu (Tallinn), A. Lyubchenko (Dnepropetrovsk), M. Yuldybaeva (Ufa ), orchestra O.L. Lundstrem, teams of K.A. Orbelyan, A.A. Kroll ("Contemporary").
Jazz in the modern world
Today's world of music is diverse, dynamically developing, and new styles are emerging. In order to freely navigate it and understand the processes taking place, you need knowledge of at least brief history jazz! Today we are witnessing the mixing of an increasing number of world cultures, constantly bringing us closer to what, in essence, is already becoming “world music” (world music). Today's jazz incorporates sounds and traditions from almost every corner of the globe. African culture, with which it all began, is also being rethought. European experimentalism with classical overtones continues to influence the music of young pioneers such as Ken Vandermark, an avant-garde saxophonist known for his work with such notable contemporaries as saxophonists Mats Gustafsson, Evan Parker and Peter Brotzmann. Other young musicians of a more traditional orientation who continue to search for their own identity include pianists Jackie Terrasson, Benny Green and Braid Meldoa, saxophonists Joshua Redman and David Sanchez and drummers Jeff Watts and Billy Stewart. The old tradition of sound continues and is actively maintained by artists such as trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, who works with a team of assistants, plays in his own small groups and leads the Lincoln Center Orchestra. Under his patronage, pianists Marcus Roberts and Eric Reed, saxophonist Wes "Warmdaddy" Anderson, trumpeter Marcus Printup and vibraphonist Stefan Harris grew into great masters.
Bassist Dave Holland is also a great discoverer of young talent. His many discoveries include saxophonists Steve Coleman, Steve Wilson, vibraphonist Steve Nelson and drummer Billy Kilson.
Other great mentors to young talent include legendary pianist Chick Corea and the late drummer Elvin Jones and singer Betty Carter. The potential for further development of this music is currently large and varied. For example, saxophonist Chris Potter releases a mainstream release under his own name and at the same time participates in recordings with another great avant-garde drummer Paul Motian.
We still have to enjoy hundreds of wonderful concerts and bold experiments, witness the emergence of new directions and styles - this story has not yet been written to the end!
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Jazz is a direction in music characterized by a combination of rhythmicity and melody. A separate feature of jazz is improvisation. The musical direction gained its popularity due to its unusual sound and the combination of several completely different cultures.
The history of jazz began at the beginning of the 20th century in the USA. Traditional jazz was formed in New Orleans. Subsequently, new varieties of jazz began to emerge in many other cities. Despite all the variety of sounds of different styles, jazz music can be immediately distinguished from another genre due to its characteristic features.
Improvisation
Musical improvisation is one of the main features of jazz, which is present in all its varieties. Performers create music spontaneously, never thinking ahead or rehearsing. Playing jazz and improvising requires experience and skill in this area of music-making. In addition, a jazz player must remember rhythm and tonality. The relationship between the musicians in the group is of no small importance, because the success of the resulting melody depends on understanding each other’s mood.
Improvisation in jazz allows you to create something new every time. The sound of music depends only on the inspiration of the musician at the moment of playing.
It cannot be said that if there is no improvisation in a performance, then it is no longer jazz. This type of music-making was inherited from African peoples. Since Africans had no concept of notes and rehearsal, music was passed on to each other only by memorizing its melody and theme. And each new musician could already play the same music in a new way.
Rhythm and melody
The second important feature of the jazz style is rhythm. Musicians have the opportunity to spontaneously create sound, as the constant pulsation creates the effect of liveliness, play, and excitement. Rhythm also limits improvisation, requiring sounds to be produced according to a given rhythm.
Like improvisation, rhythm came to jazz from African cultures. But it is precisely this feature that is the main characteristic of the musical movement. The first free jazz artists abandoned rhythm completely in order to be completely free to create music. Because of this, the new direction in jazz was not recognized for a long time. Rhythm is provided by percussion instruments.
Jazz inherited the melody of music from European culture. It is the combination of rhythm and improvisation with harmonious and soft music that gives jazz its unusual sound.
Ibrasheva Alina and Gazgireeva Malika
presentation on the topic "Jazz", which talks about the origin of the innovation of jazz and its varieties
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Main movements Varieties of jazz Compiled by: Alina Ibrasheva and Malika Gazgireeva, 7th grade, school No. 28. Teacher: Kolotova Tamara Gennadievna
Jazz is a form of musical art that arose in the late 19th - early 20th centuries in the USA as a result of the synthesis of African and European cultures and subsequently became widespread. The characteristic features of the musical language of jazz initially were improvisation, polyrhythm based on syncopated rhythms, and a unique set of techniques for performing rhythmic texture - swing. What is Jazz?
The origins of jazz are connected with the blues. It arose at the end of the 19th century 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. Any African music is characterized by a very complex rhythm; the music is always accompanied by dancing, which consists of rapid stamping and clapping. The need for consolidation led to the unification of many cultures - to the creation of a single culture of African Americans. The processes of mixing African and European culture occurred starting from the 18th century, and in the 19th century led to the emergence of “proto-jazz”, and then jazz. Origins
The term New Orleans, or traditional, jazz usually refers to the style of musicians who performed jazz in New Orleans between 1900 and 1917, as well as New Orleans musicians who played and recorded in Chicago from about 1917 through the 1920s. . This period of jazz history is also known as the Jazz Age. And this concept is also used to describe the music performed at various historical periods by representatives of the New Orleans revival, who sought to perform jazz in the same style as the musicians of the New Orleans school. New Orleans jazz or traditional jazz
The term has two meanings. Firstly, it is an expressive means in jazz. A characteristic type of pulsation based on constant deviations of the rhythm from the supporting beats. Thanks to this, the impression of great internal energy is created, which is in a state of unstable equilibrium. Secondly, the style of orchestral jazz, which developed at the turn of the 1920s and 30s as a result of the synthesis of Negro and European stylistic forms of jazz music. Performers: Joe Pass, Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman, Norah Jones, Michel Legrand, Oscar Peterson, Ike Quebec, Paulinho Da Costa, Wynton Marsalis Septet, Mills Brothers, Stephane Grappelli. Swing
Jazz style, an experimental creative direction in jazz, associated mainly with the practice of small ensembles (combos), which developed in the early to mid-40s of the 20th century and ushered in the era of modern jazz. Characterized by fast tempo and complex improvisations. The bebop phase marked a significant shift in the emphasis of jazz from popular dance music to more highly artistic ones. Main musicians: saxophonist Charlie Parker, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, pianists Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, drummer Max Roach. Bop
The classic, established form of big bands has been known in jazz since the early 1920s. This form remained relevant until the late 1940s. The musicians who joined most big bands played very specific parts, either memorized at rehearsals or from notes. Careful orchestrations coupled with large brass and woodwind sections brought out rich jazz harmonies and created a sensationally loud sound that became known as the “big band sound.” big band sound"). The most famous: Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Artie Shaw, Chick Webb, Glen Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Lunsford. Big bands
After the end of the prevailing fashion of large orchestras in the era of big bands, when the music of large orchestras on the stage began to be crowded out by small jazz ensembles, swing music continued to be heard. Many famous swing soloists, after concert performances in ball rooms, liked to play for fun at spontaneous jams in small clubs on 52nd Street in New York. Moreover, these were not only those who worked as “sidemen” in large orchestras, such as Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, being initially soloists, and not just conductors, were also looking for opportunities to play separately from their large ensemble, in a small composition. Mainstream
Although the history of jazz began in New Orleans with the advent of the 20th century, the music really took off in the early 1920s when trumpeter Louis Armstrong left New Orleans to create revolutionary new music in Chicago. The migration of New Orleans jazz masters to New York, which began shortly thereafter, marked a trend of constant movement of jazz musicians from the South to the North. Chicago took the music of New Orleans and made it hot, raising its intensity not only with the efforts of Armstrong's famous Hot Five and Hot Seven ensembles, but also with others. Northeastern jazz. Stride
The high intensity and pressure of bebop began to weaken with the development of cool jazz. Beginning in the late 1940s and early 1950s, musicians began to develop a less violent, smoother approach to improvisation, modeled after the light, dry playing of tenor saxophonist Lester Young during his swing days. The result was a detached and uniformly flat sound, based on emotional “coolness”. Trumpeter Miles Davis, one of the pioneers of bebop who cooled it down, became the genre's greatest innovator. His nonet, who recorded the album “The Birth of a Cool” in 1949-1950, was the embodiment of the lyricism and restraint of cool jazz. Cool (cool jazz)
In parallel with the emergence of bebop, a new genre was developing among jazz - progressive jazz, or simply progressive. The main difference of this genre is the desire to move away from the frozen cliché of big bands and outdated, worn-out techniques of the so-called. symphonic jazz, introduced in the 1920s by Paul Whiteman. Unlike boppers, progressive creators did not strive for a radical rejection of the jazz traditions that had developed at that time. The greatest contribution to the development of the concept of “progressive” was made by pianist and conductor Stan Kenton. Progressive jazz of the early 1940s actually began with his first works. The sound of the music performed by his first orchestra was close to Rachmaninoff, and the compositions bore the features of late romanticism. Progressive jazz
Hard bop (English - hard, hard bop) is a type of jazz that emerged in the 50s. XX century from bop. It is distinguished by expressive, brutal rhythms, based on blues. Refers to the styles of modern jazz. Around the same time that cool jazz was taking root on the West Coast, jazz musicians from Detroit, Philadelphia, and New York began developing harder, heavier variations of the old bebop formula, called Hard Bop or Hard Bebop. Closely resembling traditional bebop in its aggressiveness and technical demands, hard bop of the 1950s and 1960s relied less on standard song forms and began to place more emphasis on blues elements and rhythmic drive. Hard bop
Soul jazz (English soul - soul) - soul music in the broad sense is sometimes called all black music associated with the blues tradition. It is characterized by its reliance on the traditions of blues and African-American folklore. A close relative of hard bop, soul jazz is represented by small, organ-based mini-formats that emerged in the mid-1950s and continued to perform into the 1970s. Based on blues and gospel, soul-jazz music pulses with African-American spirituality. Soul jazz
Perhaps the most controversial movement in jazz history arose with the advent of free jazz, or "New Thing" as it was later called. Although elements of free jazz existed within the musical structure of jazz long before the term itself was coined, it was most original in the "experiments" of such innovators as Coleman Hawkins, Pee Wee Russell and Lenny Tristano, but not until the late 1950s through the efforts of such pioneers as saxophonist Ornette Coleman. and pianist Cecil Taylor, this direction took shape as an independent style. Free jazz
The post-bop period encompasses music performed by jazz musicians who continued to create in the field of bebop, shying away from the free jazz experiments that developed during the same period in the 1960s. Just like the aforementioned hard bop, this form was based on the rhythms, ensemble structure and energy of bebop, the same horn combinations and the same musical repertoire, including the use of Latin elements. What distinguished post-bop music was the use of elements of funk, groove or soul, reshaped in the spirit of the new era marked by the dominance of pop music. Best known as: saxophonist Hank Mobley, pianist Horace Silver, drummer Art Blakey and trumpeter Lee Morgan. Postbop
The term acid jazz or acid jazz is used loosely to refer to a very wide range of music. Although acid jazz is not entirely legitimately classified as jazz styles that developed from the general tree of jazz traditions, it cannot be completely ignored when analyzing the genre diversity of jazz music. Emerging in 1987 on the British dance scene, acid jazz as a musical, predominantly instrumental style was formed on the basis of funk, with the addition of selected classic jazz tracks, hip-hop, soul and Latin groove. Actually, this style is one of the varieties of jazz revival, inspired in this case not so much by the performances of living veterans, but by old recordings of jazz from the late 1960s and early jazz funk from the early 1970s. Acid jazz
Evolving from the fusion style, smooth jazz abandoned the energetic solos and dynamic crescendos of previous styles. Smooth jazz is distinguished primarily by a deliberately emphasized polished sound. Improvisation is also largely excluded from the genre's musical arsenal. Enriched with the sounds of a variety of synths combined with rhythmic samples, the glossy sound creates a sleek and highly polished packaging of a musical product in which the ensemble harmony matters more than its component parts. The most famous: Michael Franks, Chris Botti, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Larry Carlton, Stanley Clarke, Bob James, Al Jarreau, Diana Krall, Bradley Lighton, Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin, Jeff Lorber, Chuck Loeb. Smooth jazz
Jazz has always aroused interest among musicians and listeners around the world, regardless of their nationality. It is enough to trace the early work of trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and his synthesis of jazz traditions with the music of black Cubans in the 1940s or the later combination of jazz with Japanese, Eurasian and Middle Eastern music, famous in the work of pianist Dave Brubeck. Jazz has constantly absorbed and not only Western musical traditions Since globalization world continues, jazz continues to be influenced by other musical traditions, providing ripe fodder for future research and demonstrating that jazz is truly a world music. Spread of jazz
Thank you for your attention
Jazz – unique phenomenon in world musical culture. This multifaceted art form originated at the turn of the century (XIX and XX) in the USA. Jazz music has become the brainchild of the cultures of Europe and Africa, a unique fusion of trends and forms from two regions of the world. Subsequently, jazz spread beyond the United States and became popular almost everywhere. This music takes its basis in African folk songs, rhythms and styles. In the history of the development of this direction of jazz, many forms and types are known that appeared as new models of rhythms and harmonics were mastered.
Characteristics of Jazz
The synthesis of two musical cultures made jazz a radically new phenomenon in world art. The specific features of this new music were:
- Syncopated rhythms giving rise to polyrhythms.
- The rhythmic pulsation of music is the beat.
- Complex deviation from the beat - swing.
- Constant improvisation in compositions.
- A wealth of harmonics, rhythms and timbres.
The basis of jazz, especially in the first stages of development, was improvisation combined with a thoughtful form (at the same time, the form of the composition was not necessarily fixed somewhere). And from African music this new style took the following characteristic features:
- Understanding each instrument as a percussion instrument.
- Popular conversational intonations when performing compositions.
- Similar imitation of conversation when playing instruments.
In general, all directions of jazz are distinguished by their own local characteristics, and therefore it is logical to consider them in the context of historical development.
The emergence of jazz, ragtime (1880-1910s)
It is believed that jazz originated among black slaves brought from Africa to the United States of America in the 18th century. Since the captive Africans were not represented by a single tribe, they had to seek a common language with their relatives in the New World. Such consolidation led to the emergence of a unified African culture in America, which included musical culture. It was not until the 1880s and 1890s that the first jazz music emerged as a result. This style was driven by global demand for popular dance music. Since African musical art abounded in such rhythmic dances, it was on its basis that a new direction was born. Thousands of middle-class Americans, unable to learn the aristocratic classical dances, began dancing to ragtime pianos. Ragtime introduced several future bases of jazz into music. Thus, the main representative of this style, Scott Joplin, is the author of the “3 versus 4” element (cross-sounding rhythmic patterns with 3 and 4 units, respectively).
New Orleans (1910-1920s)
Classic jazz appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century in the southern states of America, and specifically in New Orleans (which is logical, because it was in the south that the slave trade was widespread).
African and Creole orchestras played here, creating their music under the influence of ragtime, blues and songs of black workers. After the appearance in the city of many musical instruments Amateur groups began to emerge from military bands. The legendary New Orleans musician, creator of his own orchestra, King Oliver, was also self-taught. Important date In the history of jazz it became February 26, 1917, when the Original Dixieland Jazz Band released its first gramophone record. The main features of the style were laid down in New Orleans: the beat of percussion instruments, masterful solos, vocal improvisation with syllables - scat.
Chicago (1910-1920s)
In the 1920s, called the “Roaring Twenties” by classicists, jazz music gradually entered mass culture, losing the titles “shameful” and “indecent.” Orchestras begin to perform in restaurants and move from the southern states to other parts of the United States. Chicago becomes the center of jazz in the north of the country, where free nightly performances by musicians become popular (during such shows there were frequent improvisations and outside soloists). More complex arrangements appear in the style of music. The jazz icon of this time was Louis Armstrong, who moved to Chicago from New Orleans. Subsequently, the styles of the two cities began to be combined into one genre of jazz music - Dixieland. The main feature This style became collective mass improvisation, which elevated the main idea of jazz to the absolute.
Swing and big bands (1930-1940s)
The continued rise in popularity of jazz created a demand for large orchestras to play dance tunes. This is how swing appeared, representing characteristic deviations in both directions from the rhythm. Swing became the main style direction of that time, manifesting itself in the work of orchestras. The performance of harmonious dance compositions required a more coordinated playing of the orchestra. Jazz musicians were expected to participate evenly, without much improvisation (except for the soloist), so the collective improvisation of Dixieland became a thing of the past. In the 1930s, similar groups flourished, which were called big bands. A characteristic feature of orchestras of that time was competition between groups of instruments and sections. Traditionally, there were three of them: saxophones, trumpets, drums. The most famous jazz musicians and their orchestras are: Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington. The last musician is famous for his commitment to black folklore.
Bebop (1940s)
Swing's departure from the traditions of early jazz and, in particular, classical African melodies and styles, caused discontent among history experts. Big bands and swing performers, who increasingly worked for the public, began to be opposed by the jazz music of small ensembles of black musicians. Experimenters introduced super-fast melodies, brought back long improvisation, complex rhythms, and virtuoso control of the solo instrument. The new style, which positioned itself as exclusive, began to be called bebop. The icons of this period were outrageous jazz musicians: Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. The revolt of black Americans against the commercialization of jazz, the desire to return intimacy and uniqueness to this music became a key point. From this moment and from this style, the history of modern jazz begins. At the same time, big band leaders also come to small orchestras, wanting to take a break from the big halls. In ensembles called combos, such musicians adhered to a swing style, but were given freedom to improvise.
Cool jazz, hard bop, soul jazz and jazz-funk (1940s-1960s)
In the 1950s, the genre of music such as jazz began to develop in two opposite directions. Supporters of classical music “cooled down” bebop, bringing academic music, polyphony, and arrangement back into fashion. Cool jazz became known for its restraint, dryness and melancholy. The main representatives of this direction of jazz were: Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Dave Brubeck. But the second direction, on the contrary, began to develop the ideas of bebop. The hard bop style preached the idea of returning to the roots of black music. Traditional folklore melodies, bright and aggressive rhythms, explosive soloing and improvisation have returned to fashion. Known in the hard bop style are: Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane. This style developed organically along with soul jazz and jazz-funk. These styles moved closer to the blues, making rhythm a key aspect of performance. Jazz-funk in particular was introduced by Richard Holmes and Shirley Scott.
Free music (1960s–present)
After the “jazz Renaissance” in the mid-1950s, when this style became equal to other styles of music, a kind of liberation of jazz occurred. Experiments were carried out to find new improvisations, new genres appeared (fusion - combination with rock music - jazz-rock and pop music - jazz-pop, free jazz - refusal to regulate tone and rhythm). The creators of new music were Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Pat Metheny, Wayne Shorter, Lee Wrightnaur. Jazz developed in the USSR, and then in the CIS, where the main representatives were Valentin Parnakh (creator of the first orchestra in the country), Alexander Varlamov, Oleg Lundstrem, Konstantin Orbelyan. In the modern world, similar experiments in jazz music continue, a completely new style is created by interspersing new cultures and mixing with other styles. Currently developing talents such as Mats Gustafson, Evan Parker, Benny Greene, Chick Corea, Elvin Jones.
Jazz is a musical movement that originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States. Its emergence is the result of the interweaving of two cultures: African and European. This movement will combine spirituals ( church hymns) American blacks, African folk rhythms and European harmonious melody. Its characteristic features are: flexible rhythm, which is based on the principle of syncopation, the use of percussion instruments, improvisation, and an expressive manner of performance, characterized by sound and dynamic tension, sometimes reaching the point of ecstasy. Jazz was originally a combination of ragtime and blues elements. In fact, it grew out of these two directions. The peculiarity of the jazz style is, first of all, the individual and unique play of the jazz virtuoso, and improvisation gives this movement constant relevance.
After jazz itself was formed, a continuous process of its development and modification began, which led to the emergence of various directions. Currently there are about thirty of them.
New Orleans (traditional) jazz.
This style usually means exactly the jazz that was performed between 1900 and 1917. It can be said that its emergence coincided with the opening of Storyville (New Orleans' red light district), which gained its popularity due to bars and similar establishments where musicians playing syncopated music could always find work. The previously widespread street orchestras began to be replaced by the so-called “Storyville ensembles,” whose playing was increasingly acquiring individuality compared to their predecessors. These ensembles later became the founders of classical New Orleans jazz. Vivid examples of performers of this style are: Jelly Roll Morton (“His Red Hot Peppers”), Buddy Bolden (“Funky Butt”), Kid Ory. It was they who carried out the transition of African folk music into the first jazz forms.
Chicago Jazz.
In 1917, the next important stage in the development of jazz music began, marked by the appearance of immigrants from New Orleans in Chicago. New jazz orchestras are being formed, the playing of which introduces new elements into early traditional jazz. This is how an independent style of the Chicago school of performance appears, which is divided into two directions: hot jazz of black musicians and Dixieland of whites. The main features of this style: individual solo parts, changes in hot inspiration (the original free ecstatic performance became more nervous, full of tension), synthetics (the music included not only traditional elements, but also ragtime, as well as famous American hits) and changes in instrumental playing (the role of instruments and performing techniques has changed). Fundamental figures of this movement (“What Wonderful World”, “Moon Rivers”) and (“Someday Sweetheart”, “Ded Man Blues”).
Swing is an orchestral style of jazz of the 1920s and 30s that grew directly from the Chicago school and was performed by big bands (The Original Dixieland Jazz Band). It is characterized by the predominance of Western music. Separate sections of saxophones, trumpets and trombones appeared in the orchestras; The banjo is replaced by a guitar, tuba and sassophone - double bass. The music moves away from collective improvisation; the musicians play strictly adhering to pre-written scores. A characteristic technique was the interaction of the rhythm section with melodic instruments. Representatives of this direction: , (“Creole Love Call”, “The Mooche”), Fletcher Henderson (“When Buddha Smiles”), Benny Goodman And His Orchestra, .
Bebop is a modern jazz movement that began in the 40s and was an experimental, anti-commercial movement. Unlike swing, it is a more intellectual style that places a lot of emphasis on complex improvisation and places more emphasis on harmony than melody. Music of this style is also characterized by a very fast tempo. The brightest representatives are: Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Max Roach, Charlie Parker (“Night In Tunisia”, “Manteca”) and Bud Powell.
Mainstream. Includes three movements: Stride (northeastern jazz), Kansas City style and West Coast jazz. Hot stride reigned supreme in Chicago, led by such masters as Louis Armstrong, Andy Condon, and Jimmy Mac Partland. Kansas City is characterized by lyrical plays in the blues style. West Coast jazz developed in Los Angeles under his leadership and eventually evolved into cool jazz.
Cool jazz (cool jazz) emerged in Los Angeles in the 50s as a counterpoint to the dynamic and impulsive swing and bebop. Lester Young is considered to be the founder of this style. It was he who introduced a style of sound production unusual for jazz. This style is characterized by the use symphonic instruments and emotional restraint. Such masters as Miles Davis (“Blue In Green”), Gerry Mulligan (“Walking Shoes”), Dave Brubeck (“Pick Up Sticks”), Paul Desmond left their mark in this vein.
Avante-Garde began to develop in the 60s. This avant-garde style is based on a break from the original traditional elements and is characterized by the use of new techniques and expressive means. For the musicians of this movement, self-expression, which they carried out through music, came first. Performers of this movement include: Sun Ra (“Kosmos in Blue”, “Moon Dance”), Alice Coltrane (“Ptah The El Daoud”), Archie Shepp.
Progressive jazz arose in parallel with bebop in the 40s, but it was distinguished by its staccato saxophone technique, a complex interweaving of polytonality with rhythmic pulsation and elements of symphonic jazz. The founder of this trend can be called Stan Kenton. Prominent representatives: Gil Evans and Boyd Rayburn.
Hard bop is a type of jazz that has its roots in bebop. Detroit, New York, Philadelphia - this style was born in these cities. In its aggressiveness, it is very reminiscent of bebop, but blues elements still predominate in it. Featured performers include Zachary Breaux (“Uptown Groove”), Art Blakey and The Jass Messengers.
Soul jazz. This term is commonly used to describe all black music. It draws on traditional blues and African-American folklore. This music is characterized by ostinato bass figures and rhythmically repeating samples, due to which it has gained wide popularity among various masses of the population. Hits in this direction include the compositions of Ramsey Lewis “The In Crowd” and Harris-McCain “Compared To What”.
Groove (aka funk) is an offshoot of soul, but is distinguished by its rhythmic focus. Basically, the music of this direction has a major coloration, and in structure it consists of clearly defined parts for each instrument. Solo performances fit harmoniously into the overall sound and are not too individualized. Performers of this style are Shirley Scott, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Gene Emmons, Leo Wright.
Free jazz got its start in the late 50s thanks to the efforts of such innovative masters as Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor. Its characteristic features are atonality and a violation of the chord sequence. This style is often called “free jazz”, and its derivatives include loft jazz, modern creative and free funk. Musicians of this style include: Joe Harriott, Bongwater, Henri Texier (“Varech”), AMM (“Sedimantari”).
Creative appeared due to the widespread avant-garde and experimentalism of jazz forms. Such music is difficult to characterize in certain terms, since it is too multifaceted and combines many elements of previous movements. The first followers of this style include Lenny Tristano (“Line Up”), Gunter Schuller, Anthony Braxton, Andrew Cirilla (“The Big Time Stuff”).
Fusion combined elements of almost all musical movements existing at that time. Its most active development began in the 70s. Fusion is a systematic instrumental style characterized by complex time signatures, rhythm, elongated compositions and the absence of vocals. This style is designed for a less broad masses than soul and is its complete opposite. At the head of this trend are Larry Corall and the band Eleventh, Tony Williams and Lifetime (“Bobby Truck Tricks”).
Acid jazz (groove jazz" or "club jazz") arose in Great Britain in the late 80s (heyday 1990 - 1995) and combined funk of the 70s, hip-hop and dance music of the 90s. The emergence of this style was dictated by the widespread use of jazz-funk samples. The founder is considered to be DJ Giles Peterson. Performers in this direction include Melvin Sparks (“Dig Dis”), RAD, Smoke City (“Flying Away”), Incognito and Brand New Heavies.
Post-bop began to develop in the 50s and 60s and is similar in structure to hard bop. It is distinguished by the presence of elements of soul, funk and groove. Often, when characterizing this direction, they draw a parallel with blues rock. Hank Moblin, Horace Silver, Art Blakey (“Like Someone In Love”) and Lee Morgan (“Yesterday”), Wayne Shorter worked in this style.
Smooth jazz is a modern jazz style that arose from the fusion movement, but differs from it in the intentional polishing of its sound. A special feature of this area is the widespread use of power tools. Famous performers: Michael Franks, Chris Botti, Dee Dee Bridgewater (“All Of Me”, “God Bless The Child”), Larry Carlton (“Dont Give It Up”).
Jazz-manush ( gypsy jazz) is a jazz movement specializing in guitar performance. Combines the guitar technique of the gypsy tribes of the Manush group and swing. The founders of this trend are the Ferre brothers and... The most famous performers: Andreas Oberg, Barthalo, Angelo Debarre, Bireli Largen (“Stella By Starlight”, “Fiso Place”, “Autumn Leaves”).
Jazz has its origins in the mixture of European and African musical cultures that began with Columbus, who opened America to Europeans. African culture, represented by black slaves transported from the western shores of Africa to America, gave jazz improvisation, plasticity and rhythm, European culture - melody and harmony of sounds, minor and major standards.
There is still debate about where jazz music was first performed. Some historians believe that this musical movement originated in the northern United States, where Protestant missionaries converted blacks to the Christian faith, and they, in turn, created a special type of spiritual chants, “spirituals,” which were characterized by emotion and improvisation. Others believe that jazz originated in the southern United States, where African-American folk music managed to maintain its originality, only because the Catholic views of the Europeans who inhabited this part of the continent did not allow them to contribute to a foreign culture, which they treated with contempt.
Despite the differences in the views of historians, there is no doubt that jazz originated in the United States, and the center of jazz music was New Orleans, which was inhabited by free-thinking adventurers. On February 26, 1917, it was here in the Victor studio that the first gramophone record of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band with jazz music was recorded.
After jazz became firmly entrenched in people's minds, its various directions began to emerge. Today there are more than 30 of them.
Some of them:
Spirituals
One of the founders of jazz is Spirituals (English: Spirituals, Spiritual music) - spiritual songs of African-Americans. As a genre, spirituals took shape in the last third of the 19th century in the USA as modified slave songs among the blacks of the American South (in those years the term “jubiliz” was used).
The source of Negro spirituals are spiritual hymns brought to America by white settlers. The themes of the spirituals were biblical stories, which adapted to the specific conditions of everyday life and everyday life of blacks and were subjected to folklore processing. They combine the characteristic elements of African performing traditions (collective improvisation, characteristic rhythms with pronounced polyrhythms, glissand sounds, untempered chords, special emotionality) with the stylistic features of American Puritan hymns that arose on an Anglo-Celtic basis. Spirituals have a question-and-answer structure, expressed in a dialogue between the preacher and the parishioners. Spirituals significantly influenced the origin, formation and development of jazz. Many of them are used by jazz musicians as themes for improvisation.
Blues
One of the most widespread is the blues, which is a descendant of the secular music-making of American blacks. The word “blue”, in addition to the well-known meaning of “blue”, has many translation options that fully characterize the features of the musical style: “sad”, “melancholic”. "Blues" is related to the English expression "blue devils", meaning "when cats scratch at the soul." Blues music is unhurried and unhurried, and the lyrics always carry some understatement and ambiguity. Today, blues is most often used exclusively in instrumental form, as jazz improvisations. It was the blues that became the basis for many outstanding performances by Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.
Ragtime
Ragtime is another specific direction of jazz music that appeared at the end of the 19th century. The name of the style itself translates as “torn time,” and the term “rag” refers to the sounds that appear between the beats of a measure. Ragtime, like all jazz, is another European musical hobby that was taken by African-Americans and performed in their own way. We are talking about the romantic piano school that was fashionable in Europe at that time, whose repertoire included Schubert, Chopin, and Liszt. This repertoire was heard in the USA, but in the interpretation of African-American blacks, it acquired a more complex rhythm, dynamism and intensity. Later, improvisational ragtime began to be turned into sheet music, and its popularity was increased by the fact that every self-respecting family had to have a piano, including a mechanical one, which is very convenient for playing the complex ragtime melody. The cities in which ragtime was the most popular musical destination were St. Louis and Kansas City and the town of Sedalia (Missouri), in Texas. It was in this state that the most famous performer and composer of the ragtime genre, Scott Joplin, was born. He often performed at the Maple Leaf Club, from which the famous ragtime song "Maple Leaf Rag", written in 1897, takes its name. Other famous ragtime authors and performers were James Scott and Joseph Lamb.
Swing
In the early 30s, the economic crisis in the United States led to the collapse of a large number of jazz ensembles, leaving mainly orchestras playing pseudo-jazz commercial dance music. An important step in stylistic development was the evolution of jazz into a new, cleaned and smoothed direction called swing (from the English “swing” - “swing”). Thus, an attempt was made to get rid of the slang word “jazz” at that time, replacing it with the new “swing”. The main feature of swing was the bright improvisation of the soloist against the backdrop of complex accompaniment.
Great Jazzmen on Swing:
“Swing is what, in my understanding, real rhythm is.” Louis Armstrong.
“Swing is the feeling of speeding up the tempo even though you are still playing at the same tempo.” Benny Goodman.
“An orchestra swings if its collective interpretation is rhythmically integrated.” John Hammond.
“Swing needs to be felt, it is a feeling that can be passed on to others.” Glenn Miller.
Swing required musicians to have good technique, knowledge of harmony and the principles of musical organization. The main form of such music-making is large orchestras or big bands, which gained incredible popularity among the general public in the second half of the 30s. The composition of the orchestra gradually acquired a standard form and included from 10 to 20 people.
Boogie Woogie
During the swing era, a specific form of blues performance on piano, called “boogie-woogie,” gained particular popularity and development. This style originated in Kansas City and St. Louis, then spread to Chicago. Boogie-woogie was adopted by Southern pianists from banjo and guitar players. Boogie-woogie pianists typically combine a walking bass with the left hand and blues harmony improvisation with the right hand. The style appeared in the second decade of this century, when it was played by pianist Jimmy Yancey. But it gained real popularity with the appearance of three virtuosos “Mid Lax” Lewis, Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons, who turned boogie-woogie from dance music into concert music. Further use of boogie-woogie occurred in the genre of swing and then rhythm and blues bands and significantly influenced the emergence of rock and roll.
Bop
In the early 40s, many creative musicians began to acutely feel the stagnation in the development of jazz, which arose due to the emergence of a huge number of fashionable dance and jazz orchestras. They did not strive to express the true spirit of jazz, but used replicated preparations and techniques of the best groups. An attempt to break out of the deadlock was made by young, primarily New York musicians, including alto saxophonist Charlie Parker ( Charlie Parker), trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, drummer Kenny Clarke, pianist Thelonious Monk. Gradually, in their experiments, a new style began to emerge, which, with Gillespie’s light hand, received the name “bebop” or simply “bop”. According to his legend, this name was formed as a combination of syllables with which he sang a musical interval characteristic of bop - the blues fifth, which appeared in bop in addition to the blues third and seventh. The main difference of the new style was a more complicated harmony built on different principles. The ultra-fast tempo of performance was introduced by Parker and Gillespie in order to keep non-professionals away from their new improvisations. The difficulty of constructing phrases compared to swing lies primarily in the initial beat. An improvisational phrase in bebop may begin on a syncopated beat, perhaps on a second beat; often the phrase played on an already known theme or harmonic grid (Anthropology). Among other things, a distinctive feature of all bebopists was their shocking behavior. The curved trumpet of “Dizzy” Gillespie, the behavior of Parker and Gillespie, Monk’s ridiculous hats, etc. The revolution that bebop produced turned out to be rich in consequences. At the early stage of their creativity, the following were considered boppers: Erroll Garner, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, George Shearing and many others. Of the founders of bebop, only Dizzy Gillespie's fate turned out well. He continued his experiments, founded the Cubano style, popularized Latin jazz, and discovered the stars of Latin American jazz to the world - Arturo Sandoval, Paquito DeRivero, Chucho Valdez and many others.
Recognizing bebop as a music that required instrumental virtuosity and knowledge of complex harmonies, jazz instrumentalists quickly gained popularity. They composed melodies that zig-zagged and rotated in response to chord changes of increased complexity. The soloists in their improvisations used notes that were dissonant in tonality, creating music that was more exotic and had a sharper sound. The appeal of syncopation has led to unprecedented accents. Bebop was best suited to playing in a small group format such as the quartet and quintet, which proved ideal for both economic and artistic reasons. The music flourished in the city's jazz clubs, where audiences came to listen to inventive soloists rather than dance to their favorite hits. In short, bebop musicians were transforming jazz into an art form that appealed perhaps a little more to the intellect than to the senses.
With the bebop era came new jazz stars, including trumpeters Clifford Brown, Freddie Hubbard and Miles Davis, saxophonists Dexter Gordon, Art Pepper, Johnny Griffin, Pepper Adams, Sonny Stitt and John Coltrane, and trombonist JJ Johnson.
Bebop went through several mutations in the 1950s and 1960s, including hard bop, cool jazz, and soul jazz. The format of a small musical group (combo), usually consisting of one or more (usually no more than three) wind instruments, piano, double bass and drums, remains a standard jazz composition today.
Progressive jazz
In parallel with the emergence of bebop, a new genre was developing among jazz - progressive jazz, or simply progressive. The main difference of this genre is the desire to move away from the frozen cliché of big bands and outdated, worn-out techniques of the so-called. symphonic jazz, introduced in the 1920s by Paul Whiteman. Unlike boppers, progressive creators did not strive for a radical rejection of the jazz traditions that had developed at that time. They rather sought to update and improve swing phrase models, introducing compositions into practice latest achievements European symphonism in the field of tonality and harmony.
The greatest contribution to the development of the concept of “progressive” was made by pianist and conductor Stan Kenton. Progressive jazz of the early 1940s actually began with his first works. The sound of the music performed by his first orchestra was close to Rachmaninoff, and the compositions bore the features of late romanticism. However, in terms of genre it was closest to symphonic jazz. Later, during the years of creating the famous series of his “Artistry” albums, elements of jazz ceased to play the role of creating color, but were already organically woven into the musical material. Along with Kenton, the credit for this also belonged to his best arranger, Pete Rugolo, a student of Darius Milhaud. Modern (for those years) symphonic sound, a specific staccato technique in the playing of saxophones, bold harmonies, frequent seconds and blocks, along with polytonality and jazz rhythmic pulsation - these are the distinctive features of this music, with which Stan Kenton entered the history of jazz for many years, as one of its innovators who found a common platform for European symphonic culture and elements of bebop, especially noticeable in pieces where solo instrumentalists seemed to oppose the sounds of the rest of the orchestra. It should also be noted that Kenton paid great attention to the improvisational parts of soloists in his compositions, including the world famous drummer Shelley Maine, double bassist Ed Safransky, trombonist Kay Winding, June Christie, one of the best jazz vocalists of those years. Stan Kenton remained faithful to his chosen genre throughout his career.
In addition to Stan Kenton, interesting arrangers and instrumentalists Boyd Rayburn and Bill Evans also contributed to the development of the genre. A kind of apotheosis of the development of progressive, along with the already mentioned “Artistry” series, can also be considered a series of albums recorded by the Bill Evans big band together with the Miles Davis ensemble in the 1950-1960s, for example, “Miles Ahead”, “Porgy and Bess” and "Spanish drawings". Shortly before his death, Miles Davis again turned to this genre, recording old Bill Evans arrangements with the Quincy Jones Big Band.
Hard bop
Around the same time that cool jazz was taking root on the West Coast, jazz musicians from Detroit, Philadelphia, and New York began developing harder, heavier variations of the old bebop formula, called Hard Bop or Hard Bebop. Closely resembling traditional bebop in its aggressiveness and technical demands, hardbop of the 1950s and 1960s relied less on standard song forms and began to place more emphasis on blues elements and rhythmic drive. Fiery soloing or improvisational skill along with a strong sense of harmony were of paramount importance for wind players, drums and piano became more prominent in the rhythm section, and the bass took on a more fluid, funky feel.
In 1955, drummer Art Blakey and pianist Horace Silver formed The Jazz Messengers, the most influential hardbop group. This constantly improving and developing septet, which successfully worked until the 1980s, brought up many of the genre's main performers for jazz, such as saxophonists Hank Mobley, Wayne Shorter, Johnny Griffin and Branford Marsalis, as well as trumpeters Donald Byrd, Woody Shaw, Wynton Marsalis and Lee Morgan. One of the biggest jazz hits of all time, Lee Morgan's 1963 tune "The Sidewinder" was performed, although somewhat simplistic, in a decidedly hard-hitting bebop dance style.
Soul jazz
A close relative of hardbop, soul jazz is represented by small, organ-based mini-formats that emerged in the mid-1950s and continued to perform into the 1970s. Based on blues and gospel, soul-jazz music pulses with African-American spirituality. Most of the great jazz organists came on the scene during the soul jazz era: Jimmy McGriff, Charles Erland, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Les McCain, Donald Patterson, Jack McDuff and Jimmy "Hammond" Smith. They all led their own bands in the 1960s, often playing in small venues as trios. The tenorsaxophone was also a prominent figure in these ensembles, adding its voice to the mix, much like the voice of a preacher in gospel music. Such luminaries as Gene Emmons, Eddie Harris, Stanley Turrentine, Eddie "Tetanus" Davis, Houston Person, Hank Crawford and David "Nump" Newman, as well as members of the Ray Charles ensembles of the late 1950s and 1960s, are often regarded as representatives soul jazz style. The same applies to Charles Mingus. Like hardbop, soul jazz differed from West Coast jazz: The music evoked passion and a strong sense of togetherness rather than the loneliness and emotional coolness associated with West Coast jazz. The fast-paced melodies of soul jazz, thanks to the frequent use of ostinato bass figures and repeated rhythmic samples, made this music very accessible to the general public. Hits born of soul jazz include, for example, the compositions of pianist Ramsey Lewis (“The In Crowd” - 1965) and Harris-McCain “Compared To What” - 1969. Soul jazz should not be confused with what is now known as "soul music". Although partially influenced by gospel, soul jazz grew out of bebop, and the roots of soul music go back directly to rhythm and blues, which was popular in the early 1960s.
Cool Jazz
The term cool itself appeared after the release of the album “Birth of the Cool” (recorded in 1949 - 50) by the famous jazz musician Miles Davis.
In terms of sound production methods and harmonies, cool jazz has much in common with modal jazz. Characterized by emotional restraint, a tendency towards rapprochement with composer's music (strengthening the role of composition, form and harmony, polyphonization of texture), the introduction of instruments symphony orchestra.
Outstanding representatives of cool jazz are trumpeters Miles Davis and Chet Baker, saxophonists Paul Desmond, Jerry Mulligan and Stan Getz, pianists Bill Evans and Dave Brubeck.
Masterpieces of cool jazz include such compositions as “Take Five” by Paul Desmond, “My Funny Valentine” performed by Gerry Mulligen, “`Round Midnight” by Thelonious Monk performed by Miles Davis.
Modal jazz
Modal jazz, a movement that emerged in the 1960s. It is based on the modal principle of organizing music. Unlike traditional jazz, in modal jazz the harmonic basis is replaced by modes - Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, pentatonic and other scales of both European and non-European origin. In accordance with this, a special type of improvisation has developed in modal jazz: musicians seek development incentives not in changing chords, but in emphasizing the features of the mode, in multimodal overlays, etc. This direction is represented by such outstanding musicians as Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, George Russell, Don Cherry.
Free jazz
Perhaps the most controversial movement in jazz history arose with the advent of free jazz, or "New Thing" as it was later called. Although elements of free jazz existed within the musical structure of jazz long before the term itself was coined, it was most original in the "experiments" of such innovators as Coleman Hawkins, Pee Wee Russell and Lenny Tristano, but not until the late 1950s through the efforts of such pioneers as saxophonist Ornette Coleman. and pianist Cecil Taylor, this direction took shape as an independent style.
What these two musicians, along with others including John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and groups like the Sun Ra Arkestra and a group called The Revolutionary Ensemble, accomplished was a variety of changes in structure. and the feeling of music. Among the innovations that were introduced with imagination and great musicality was the abandonment of the chord progression, which allowed the music to move in any direction. Another fundamental change was found in the area of rhythm, where "swing" was either revised or ignored altogether. In other words, pulse, meter and groove were no longer essential elements in this reading of jazz. Another key component was related to atonality. Now musical expression was no longer based on the usual tonal system. Piercing, barking, convulsive notes completely filled this new sound world. Free jazz continues to exist today as a viable form of expression, and is in fact no longer as controversial a style as it was in its early days.
Funk
Funk was another popular genre of jazz in the 70s and 80s. The founders of the style are James Brown and George Clinton. In funk, the diverse set of jazz idioms is replaced by simple musical phrases consisting of blues screams and moans taken from the saxophone solos of such artists as King Curtis, Junior Walker, David Sanborn, Paul Butterfield. The word funk was considered slang; it meant dancing in such a way as to get very wet. Jazz musicians often used it, asking the audience to dance and move actively to the accompaniment of their music. Thus, the word “funk” became attached to the style of music. The dance orientation of funk determines its musical features, such as a broken rhythm and pronounced vocals.
The formation of the genre occurred in the mid-80s and is associated with the fashion for using samples from 70s jazz-funk among DJs playing in UK nightclubs. One of the trendsetters of the genre is considered to be DJ Gills Peterson, who is often credited with being the author of the name “acid jazz.” In the USA, the term “acid jazz” is almost never used; the terms “groove jazz” and “club jazz” are more common.
Acid jazz (acid jazz)
The peak of acid jazz popularity occurred in the first half of the 90s. At that time, in addition to the synthesis of dance music and jazz, this direction included jazz-funk of the 90s (Jamiroquai, The Brand New Heavies, James Taylor Quartet, Solsonics), hip-hop with jazz elements (recorded with live musicians or jazz samples) ( US3, Guru, Digable Planets), experiments of jazz musicians with hip-hop music (Doo Bop by Miles Davis, Rock It by Herbie Hancock), etc. After the 1990s, the popularity of acid jazz waned, and the traditions of the genre were later continued in new jazz.
Its direct ancestor in terms of psychedelicity is Acid Rock.
The term “acid jazz” is believed to have been coined by Gilles Petterson, a London-based DJ and founder of the record label of the same name. In the late 80s, the term was popular among British DJs who played similar music and used it as a joke, implying that their music was an alternative to the then popular acid house. Thus, the term has no direct relation to “acid” (that is, LSD). According to another version, the author of the term “acid jazz” is the Englishman Chris Bangs, known as one of the members of the duo “Soundscape UK”.
Jazz is a style of improvisation. The most important type of improvisational music is folklore, but unlike jazz, it is closed and aimed at preserving traditions. Jazz is dominated by creativity, which, combined with improvisation, has given rise to many styles and trends. This is how the songs of dark-skinned African-American slaves came to Europe and turned into complex orchestral works in the style of blues, ragtime, boogie-woogie, etc. Jazz became a source of ideas and methods that actively influence almost all other types of music, from popular and commercial to academic music of our century.
The article includes an excerpt from the article “About Jazz” - Club “Union of Composers” and extracts from Wikipedia.
Mainstream – leading, the main jazz style that appeared in the 30s of the 20th century among the leaders of jazz groups, most of which were big bands. Leading jazz musicians held jams in various clubs just to play jazz. This club jazz, performed by small groups of leading jazzmen and recorded in studios, became known as the mainstream. This is traditional jazz, without any innovation. After the advent of avant-garde jazz, the mainstream was revived in a new quality only in the 70-80s of the 20th century. Currently, modern mainstream refers to any modern jazz music that is far from traditional jazz.
Kansas City Jazz Music took shape in the 20s - 30s of the last century. It was the time of the economic crisis in the United States, or the so-called Great Depression. This is a jazz style with a pronounced blues flavor, the so-called “urban blues”. The brightest representatives of this style were Count Basie, who began his career as a jazz musician in the orchestras of Walter Page and Benny Mouthen, vocalist Jimmy Rushing, and alto saxophonist Charlie Parker.
Cool jazz (cool jazz) took shape in the 40-50s of the 20th century. This is a soft, lyrical style of jazz music, with more subtle improvisation, without the pressure and some aggressiveness that characterized early jazz. Representatives of cool jazz were saxophonist Lester Young, trumpeter Miles Davis, trumpeter Chit Baker, jazz pianists George Shearing, Dave Brubeck, Leni Tristano. The masters of the cool-jazz style were the amazing vibraphonist Milt Jackson, saxophone masters Stan Getz, Paul Desmond. Melodists and arrangers Ted Dameron, Claude Thornhill, and Gil Evans played a significant role in the formation of the style.
West Coast Jazz appeared in the 50s of the 20th century in Los Angeles. Its founders are considered to be the musicians of the famous jazz nonet Miles Davis. This style is even softer than cool jazz. Not at all aggressive, calm, melodic music, in which, however, there is huge space for improvisation. Outstanding West Coast jazz performers included Shorty Rogers (trumpet), Art Pepper, Bud Schenk (saxophone), Shelley Main (drums), Jimmy Joffrey (clarinet).
Progressive Jazz developed approximately in the late 40s of the 20th century. This is largely experimental jazz, music focused on the symphonic achievements of European composers, on experimentation in the field of tonality and harmony. Followers of this style of jazz music strive to move away from the templates and hackneyed techniques of traditional jazz. They focus on the search and application of new forms of swing in jazz: specific techniques for performing music on various instruments, polytonality, and rhythm changes. The development of this style is associated with the name of pianist Stan Kenton and his orchestra, who recorded a whole series of “Artistry” albums. Arrangers Pete Rugolo, Boyd Rayburn and Gil Evans, drummer Shelley Maine, contabassist Ed Safransky, trombonist Kay Winding, and singer June Christie made a huge contribution to progressive jazz. The Gil Evans Big Band and musicians led by Miles Davis recorded a whole series of albums of music in this style: “Miles Ahead,” “Porgy and Bess,” “Spanish Drawings.”
Modal jazz appeared in the 1950s. Its appearance is associated with the names of experimental musicians: trumpeter Miles Davis and tenor saxophonist John Coltrane. These musicians borrowed certain modes from classical music, which became the basis for constructing a jazz melody and replaced chords. This jazz style is characterized by deviations from tonality, which gives the music a special tension, the use of national African, Indian, Arabic and other scales, regularity, and inconsistent tempo. Music began to be built exclusively on melody, which was based on the use of frets.
Soul jazz appeared in the 50s of the last century. Soul jazz chose the organ as its central instrument. Soul jazz is based on blues and gospel. This style of jazz is distinguished by its particular emotionality, passion, use of rapid rhythms and exciting musical transitions and bass figures. The public listening to this music certainly experienced a special feeling of unity. This style was the complete opposite of the hazy, lyrical cool jazz with a bluesy sad base. Organ stars of this style included Jimmy McGriff, Charles Earland, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Les McCain, Donald Patterson, Jack McDuff and Jimmy "Hammond" Smith. Musicians who performed soul-jazz music formed trios or quartets, but nothing more. The tenor saxophone played an equally important role in soul jazz. Prominent saxophonists included Gene Emmons, Eddie Harris, Stanley Turrentine, Eddie "Tetanus" Davis, Houston Person, Hank Crawford, and David "Dumb" Newman. Soul jazz is not the same as soul music. These are musical styles that originate in different musical directions: soul jazz - in gospel and bebop, and soul music - in rhythm and blues, which reached its peak only in the 1960s.
Groove became a type of soul jazz. This jazz style is often referred to as funk. This style is distinguished by bright dance rhythms (slow or fast), lyricism, positive melody, which contains blues shades. This is positive music that creates a good mood and encourages the audience not to stand still and start moving to its exciting rhythms. The style is not alien to improvisation, which, however, does not stray from the collective sound. Prominent musicians of this style were organ masters Richard “Groove” Holmes and Shirley Scott, Gene Emmons (tenor saxophone) and Leo Wright (flute, alto saxophone).
Free Jazz ("New Thing") appeared in the late 50s of the 20th century as a result of experiments that made it possible to find a very flexible musical form, completely free from chord progressions. In addition, the musicians ignored swing. The real revolution in rhythm was the inattention to pulsation, meter and groove, which had previously been the basis of jazz rhythms. In this style they have become secondary. Free jazz abandoned the usual tonal system; music in this style is atonal. The founders of free jazz are saxophonist Ornette Coleman and pianist Cecil Taylor, and later the Sun Ra Arkestra and The Revolutionary Ensemble.
Creative jazz is one of the varieties of avant-garde jazz. This style was born, like many others, as a result of the experimental activities of musicians in the 60s and 70s of the 20th century. It's not much different from free jazz. In this music it was impossible to distinguish between theme and improvisation. Improvisational elements merged with the arrangements, flowing smoothly from them. It was impossible to understand where the beginning and where the end of the soloist’s improvisation was. The founders of creative jazz were pianist Leni Tristano, saxophonist Jimmy Joffrey, and melodist Gunther Schuler. This style is played by pianists Paul Bley, Andrew Hill, saxophone masters Anthony Braxton and Sam Rivers, as well as musicians from the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
Fusion (alloy) is a jazz style that dates back to the 1960s, when jazz began to merge with popular music and rock, and was also influenced by soul, funk, and rhythm and blues. At the beginning, the name fusion was applied to jazz-rock, the prominent representatives of which were the groups “Eleventh House” and “Lifetime”. The appearance of fusion is also associated with the “Mahavishnu Orchestra” and “Weather Report” orchestras. Fusion is a fusion of jazz, swing, blues, rock, pop music, rhythm and blues. Fusion is entertainment, it is a fireworks display of various styles. This is bright, varied, light, interesting music. Fusion is in many ways an experiment and, I must say, a successful one. Prominent musicians of this jazz style were drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson, guitarists Pat Metheny, John Scofield, John Abercrombie and James "Blood" Ulmer. , saxophonist and trumpeter Ornette Coleman.
Post-bebop is a jazz style that emerged in the 1960s with the rise of popular music. Post-bop was formed on the basis of funk (groove, soul) using individual elements of Latin music. Representatives of post-bebop were saxophonist Joe Henderson, pianist McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, and saxophonist Wayne Shorter.
Acid jazz– this not quite jazz style appeared in 1987. It is based on funk, which is intertwined with elements of bebop, hip-hop, soul and Latin. This is British dance music, which has rhythms, but absolutely no improvisation. This is why many people do not include acid jazz in the list of jazz styles. Prominent representatives of acid jazz were “Groove Collective”, “Guru”, James Taylor, as well as the trio “Medeski, Martin & Wood” in the initial period of creativity.
Smooth jazz– this relative of jazz arose on the basis of the fusion style. Smooth jazz is characterized by the absence of solo parts and improvisation. The sound of the whole band is more important than the sound of its individual representatives. Smooth jazz is performed on synthesizer, viola, saprano saxophone, guitar, bass guitar and drums. Representatives of this style are Chris Botti, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Larry Carlton, Stanley Clarke, Al Di Meola, Bob James, Al Jarreau, Diana Krall, Bradley Lighton, Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin.
Apr 16, 2013
“Genuine jazz is opposed to clichéd musical crafts.”
Sergey Slonimsky
Main currents
Jazz is many-sided and versatile. It has many forms and styles due to its improvisational nature. We can distinguish such movements as traditional or New Orleans jazz, swing, bebop, big bands, stride, progressive jazz, cool and many, many other directions.
Jazz is music that enriches, fills and develops us. This is history, people, names, great personalities who created and performed it, who dedicated their whole lives to it...
A jazz musician is not just a performer. He is a true creator, creating his impulsive art in front of the audience - instantaneous, fragile, almost elusive.
Today we will talk about such a truly extraordinary musical genre as jazz, about its styles and directions, and, of course, about the people thanks to whom we can enjoy this amazing music...
“Don’t play what already exists! Play something that doesn’t exist yet!”
These words of the great American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis perfectly demonstrate the essence of jazz, its specificity.
Jazz, as a form of musical art, emerged at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries in the United States of America. This genre is an original shake of European and African culture.
Jazz cannot be confused with other styles, because its character is unique - magical polyrhythm, inexhaustible improvisation, which is based on a hot rhythm.
Throughout the history of its existence, jazz has often changed, transformed, and opened up to performers and listeners from previously unknown sides due to the development of new harmonic models and musical techniques by composers and jazz musicians.
"The First Lady of Jazz"
As we said earlier, when talking about jazz music, it is impossible to leave its authors and performers in the shadow. One of the most iconic people in the history of jazz is Ella Jane Fitzgerald, the owner of a magnificent voice with a range of three octaves, a master of scat and unique voice improvisation. She is a legend and the “First Lady of Jazz.”
“If jazz has a female face, then it is the face of Ella,” one of the authoritative critics in the world of academic music once said. And indeed it is!
Ella Fitzgerald had the kindest and most compassionate heart. She helped those in need at City of Hope National Medical Center and the American Heart Association. And in 1993, the great vocalist opened the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, which provides assistance to young musicians and supplies them with everything they need.
This greatest vocalist in the history of jazz music is a 13-time Grammy Award winner, a recipient of the National Medal of Arts, a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a recipient of the Order of Letters and the Arts, among many other awards.
Jazz in Russia
Along with the development of the jazz scene in the United States of America, jazz began to develop in the USSR around the 20s of the twentieth century.
October 1, 1922 can be called the starting point of Russian jazz. It was on this day that the 1st concert of the jazz orchestra took place under the direction of Valentin Parnakh, a great theater figure, dancer and poet.
Soviet jazz bands mainly specialized in performing compositions for such fashionable dances as the Charleston and foxtrot. This is how jazz began to gain popularity.
Composer and musician Eddie Rosner made a great contribution to the development of Russian jazz. Having started his career in European countries such as Poland and Germany, he later moved to the USSR, becoming the pioneer of swing in the country.
Eddie Rosner, Joseph Weinstein, Vadim Ludvikovsky and other outstanding Russian jazzmen trained a whole galaxy of endlessly talented soloists-improvisers and arrangers, whose work subsequently brought jazz in the USSR closer to world standards and brought it to a qualitatively new level. For example, Alexey Kozlov, being the founder of the legendary jazz group Arsenal and a composer, performer of many virtuoso jazz compositions, became the author of music for many theatrical productions and films.
The birth of jazz
Jazz came to us from African lands. And, as you know, traditional African music is characterized by a very complex musical rhythm. On the basis of this spontaneous and, at first glance, chaotic sound, at the end of the 19th century, an interesting and unusual musical direction was born - ragtime. This style developed, intertwining with elements of classic blues, absorbing them into itself, and as a result it became the “parent” of such a now well-known musical direction as jazz.
Among the many wonderful musicians performing jazz, one can also highlight the work of Igor Butman - People's Artist of Russia, an excellent saxophonist and jazzman. He graduated from the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston with a double major as a composer and concert saxophonist. In the early 90s he moved to New York and became a member of the legendary Lionel Hampton Orchestra.
Since 1996, Igor Butman has lived in Russia. Today this jazz musician received many awards. And since 2009, he has been the owner of his own record label, Butman Music. A year ago he headed the Moscow jazz orchestra. His musical works They stun the imagination with their liveliness and versatility of sound. Unusual jazz notes can be heard in almost every one of his works. He works real miracles!
An inexhaustible source of inspiration
Jazz is music that gives pleasure. She always inspires, helps to find meaning, teaches what is important and meaningful. Many books have been written about this musical genre, many films have been made and many words have been said...
“Jazz is ourselves in our best hours... when elation, frankness and fearlessness coexist within us...” - these are the words of Alexander Genis, a famous literary critic and writer, in our opinion, the best way demonstrate the essence of jazz music, its specificity and beauty.
True love for jazz cannot be measured, it can only be felt. This is complex and at the same time incredibly beautiful music, deep and emotional. Jazz is an art to which our heart responds.
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