Jazz - created from Mind Map

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General traits

Improvisation and soloing by skilled performers.

Horn section solo

Scat singing

Blues notes, modal and chromatic scales

Extended chords with 6th, 7th and 9th notes.

Use of augmented and diminished chords.

Swing rhythms and polyrhythms.

Syncopation

Stride piano

Piano used alternating bass note and chords in the left hand to create the pulse.

Melodic improvisation in the right hand.

Blues scale for melody and improvisation.

Influenced by ragtime and blues

Often solo performance

Sometimes features drums, vocals and bass.

James Price Johnson

Fats Waller

Willie "The Lion" Smith

Boogie Woogie

Left piano hand plays heavily swung quaver patterns alternating between a walking scale pattern on the beats and octave root notes on the offbeats.

Right hand plays melodies and improvises as in stride.

Fast tempo

Singers and other instrumentalists feature more than in stride.

Often based around the 12 bar blues.

Influenced by ragtime and blues.

Meade "Lux" Lewis

Pinetop Perkins

Purple - performance and arrangment

Blue - artists

Orange - influences

Yellow - instruments

Red - history

New Orleans (Dixieland, Trad) jazz

Brass band/marching band instruments.

Trumpet, trombone, clarinet, double bass, drums, guitar, banjo, piano, occasional vocals.

Lively and fast.

Rhythmic emphasis on back beat.

Guitar, banjo and piano play chords.

Relatively simple harmony

Bass plays 2 notes per bar.

Less syncopation than in later styles.

Main melody followed by improvisation on chords

Improvisation is often shared between 2 instruments and has long runs of fast scales.

Some use of blues notes and chromatics.

Earliest recording in 1917.

Mechanical process or acoustic recording.

Large metal horn used to capture live performance (where the phrase forwards and backwards in the mix comes from)

Poor reproduction of dynamics and frequency range.

Victor records were the first commercially successful company to sell records and signed artists to exclusive contracts.

Joe (King) Oliver

Kid Ory

Jelly Roll Morton

Original Dixieland Jass Band

Influenced by: work songs, marching band/brass bands, ragtime, blues

Spread from New Orleans to Chicago and New York

Rapidly gained popularity through records and radio.

Popularised by sales of sheet music.

Played by black and white musicians.

Segregation still existed in some public places despite the abolition of the slave trade.

Big Band and Swing

Big band: rhythm section of drums, double bass, piano/guitar, sometimes banjo.

Top line of instruments of large brass and reed section - trumpets, trombones, saxes, clarinets.

Vocals feature occasionally but mostly instrumental

Jazz combo, same rhythm section with fewer topline instruments.

Head (main melody) played by whole ensemble

Rich, complex harmony from the brass section.

Improvised solos over the same chord pattern.

Jazz tunes in 32 bar song form (AABA).

Brass section play supporting role under solos with rhythmic, syncopated stabs or harmony lines.

Piano and guitar comp.

Swing rhythm.

Walking bass.

Many bands play jazz standards with their own interpretation.

Improvements during 20s and 30s.

Development of carbon microphones, condenser and dynamic and valve amplification.

Commercial success of Gramophone players (78rpm) and radio helps to transmit music.

Frequency and dynamic response improving at the time.

Direct to disc recording medium and playback systems still limit ultimate quality.

Recording remains the capture of live performance only though spot mics start to be used.

A clear and balanced recording was still hugely dependent on the skill of the musicians.

Duke Ellington

Count Basie

Louis Armstrong (scat singing)

Cab Calloway

Benny Goodman

Glen Miller

Influenced by: ragtime, New Orleans jazz, blues, brass bands, popular songs/Tin Pan Alley

1920s and 30s are known as the jazz age with big bands gaining popularity in the USA and Europe.

Social difficulties in the US (Great Depression) and Europe (1st world war)

Early record companies start released jazz recordings.

E.g: Victor and Columbia

Initially released by white bands but were also recording black artists by the 30s

BeBop

Smaller combos

Top line is usually sax or trumpet, less often trombone and clarinet.

Piano and guitar plays both rhythm and solos.

Fast tempo

Rhythm section uses syncopation extensively, driven by swing patterns on ride cymbal.

Snare and bass drum add question and answer accents in response to lead line.

Very complex harmonies and improvisation.

Unusual phrasing

Bass uses walking patterns but diverts to rhythmically complex ones.

Virtuoso performances.

Extended jazz chords with passing chords and substitution chords.

Can be quite dissonant.

Difficult to play and listen to.

In the 1950s use of tape recorders, improvements in mics and amplification/mixing desks plus the introduction of vinyl records led to some fine recordings of live groups.

Charlie Parker

Dizzy Gilespie

Thelonius Monk

Influenced by: swing, big band

Cool jazz

Small combos mainly sax and trumpet as lead.

Usually instrumental

Generally slower than bebop, sometimes very.

Spacious arrangement, still syncopated but less jarring with a smoother feel.

Complex but less dissonant harmonies.

Complex drum and bass lines still driven by swing.

Long melodic lines, improvisations feature a lot of space.

Softer instrumental tones.

Arrangements influenced by classical music, themes developed over extended sections.

Engineers were learning how to capture clear precise recordings. More use of close or spot mic techniques.

Little use of multi-track.

Still mostly live performances.

Miles Davis

Gerry Mulligan

Dave Brubeck

Bill Evans

Influenced by: blues, bebop, swing

Jazz