Jazz

The instruments of jazz are a key component to jazz (pk). One instrument is the trumpet, which has been called the “royal instrument of jazz”. It’s been called this because the trumpet is usually assigned the lead of the piece (Berendt 183-193). The trumpets are featured in marching bands, funeral bands, dance bands, and jazz bands (Fordham 56-58). Not only is there the trumpet, but also two relatives of the trumpet, the cornet and flugelhorn. The cornet slowly got replaced by the trumpet because of the trumpet’s greater range and its ever-growing possibilities (Berendt 183-185). The sound of the trumpet could be as unique as improvisation of the players sharing ideas in a jam session and creating new ideas (Fordham 56-58). In more modern jazz forms, the flugelhorn has been chosen because of its beautifully flowing sound (Berendt 183-185).

The trombone is also an important instrument in jazz (pk). The trombone began as a harmony and rhythm instrument, and in early jazz, it was almost as if it were nothing more than a blown bass (Berendt 190-195). Another source states that the first jazz role for the trombone was to really open up the melody lines for other brass instruments in New Orleans music, and it also doubled as a bass. In the coming of Big Bands, it played a supportive and solo role, and its tonal flexibility gave it vivid effects. When Bebop came around, the trombone had to keep up, which allowed trombonists to acquire outstanding techniques to mirror trumpets and saxophones (Fordham 56-62).

The ideal jazz instrument was one that is as expressive, yet is as mobile, as the clarinet, and the saxophone met this need. People who played saxophone back in New Orleans were actually regarded as odd people (Berendt 200-210)! The alto and tenor saxophones were big around the 1930s and 1940s. The heavier tenor gave a broad swing to the music of the big bands, punchy funk to blues, and also poignancy to hard bop and the 1960 New Thing. The clarinet was also put into jazz but fell of it after the 1940s. This was when Bebop confirmed the rise of the saxophone. The clarinet was still influential all the way from New Orleans and it harnessed accessibility for expressive bluesness or high-register wailing. (Fordham 63-69).

When the person in European concert music would hear drums, they would think, “oh, just another noise maker” but that was their very purpose in European concert music (Berendt 220-230). When the Africans arrived here, they gave some dominance to rhythm and melody that was held in the west (Fordham 72-73). When people think about it, music just kind of “happens” and it would not break down if the drums were left out; however, music would be disrupted if music was unable to be measured in the beat of the drummer who is swinging. Rhythm is very important to all jazz, and music in its entirety (Berendt 220-230). Drummers of the 1960s have very complex styles to jazz, merging bop and free approaches, punk, hip hop, and Latin rhythms (Fordham 72-73). There were apparently no drum solos in the early days of jazz, for the fact that there was no individuality, and it was used and made to mark beats steadily as possible. Then jazz could have added tension though the individuality of the drummer (Berendt 220-230).

The banjo and the guitar are two stringed instruments and they both played a part in jazz (pk). With the banjo, the guitar has the longest history out of every jazz instrument. The guitar, and the banjo, were very important and were sole instruments in West African-influenced field music of the Southern Slaves (Berendt 231-240). The guitar replaced the banjo in early jazz bands and was primarily the rhythm instrument for a while. Amplifiers heightened the guitar’s potential in the 1930s, where it allowed it to slice though brass sections of the big bands. When the 1940s bebop was really rolling along, the electric was played with the good phrasing of a saxophone or a bop pianist’s right hand (Fordham 74-76). The bass and its stead murmur were usually missed when hearing the jazz band, yet the bass was vital. There also seems to be nothing supporting the music when the bass is missing, but when it is there, it thickens and provides color to low-register textures (Fordham 77-79). There is also a rumor about how plucked strings started. Bill Johnson, organizer of the Original Creole Jazz Band, played the bowed bass. One night in Shrevport, he broke his bow and was therefore forced to pluck strings. It is amusing, often told by jazz veterans, but may be made up (Berendt 241-251). In the 1970s, many bassists took up the bass guitar, in which they discovered it was a unique instrument with its own sound and one-of-a-kind demands (Fordham 77-79). All instruments play a very important role in jazz, whether it be keeping tempo or playing the enticing melody, every instrument has its own unique role and sound (pk).

Not only does jazz arrive with a variety of instruments and sounds, but it also has a deep history (pk). Lore states that jazz started in the smoky depths of a town called Storyville. The US navy wanted to protect their sailors, so they closed down the area in 1917. Then, musicians took the music up along the Mississippi River; however, jazz did not originate in Storyville (Hasse 2). Jazz wasn’t actually recorded until 1917, yet it existed for at least a decade before that. Historians can look at an early form of jazz, Ragtime. Ragtime was big in St.Louis, Missouri, and other cities that were located in a rear Midwestern American cities in the 1800s. In a normal Ragtime piece, there would be several different melodies (Davis 57-58). Ragtime was also used, and was big in, New Orleans (Blumenthal 2). One melody was followed by another melody, and was sometimes repeated, and is also worked in syncopation, which showed jazz. Most of the time, Ragtime was played on a piano, with the exception of some people that played Ragtime with a banjo. Scott Joplin was a very good Ragtime music writer, and he made a famous piece, “The Maple Leaf Rag” and with this, Ragtime soon became the twentieth century’s first popular music craze. Ragtime was very popular music in the twentieth century, and was one of the first types of jazz (Davis 57-58).

Jazz was played all over New Orleans, and when Storyville was closed down, some musician left and some didn’t. None of the musicians took the river to Chicago at all. Yet, historians are still far from the origins and the early development of jazz. Even the word “jazz” is somewhat in doubt! The word had various spellings differing from books and newspapers of the day, some of which called it jas, jass, jaz, and, jazz. There are a lot of theories about its derivation, one of which thinks jazz is a “speed up” as an Aero-Caribbean term (Hasse 2).

Another early form of jazz to be looked at is blues. The origins of blues are even far more mysterious than jazz itself! It kind of all began with W.C. Handy’s “Memphis Blues”, and then he had another song, “St.Louis Blues”, which became a very successful hit. Someone might think this makes W.C. Handy the first person to make blues, but that is wrong. Blues goes back farther than Handy. Blues was thought to have been created in the slave days, or even brought to here from Africa by the slaves. The early blues blended different music elements from different cultures, which made it sound African. Blues is twelve measures in length and also happens to be a form of poetry. The opening line is sung twice, and then is succeeded by a third line that rhymes. A blues performer who sings and plays sounds as if they are creating both ends of a conversation. The performer would sing a line, and then bend the guitar to sound like its singing also, and because of that, this method of playing has been called Call and Response (Davis 57-58). Blues is a very prominent form of jazz, and is highly influential everywhere, and is a great part to jazz. Early jazz had only a select number of forms, but it has even developed more into a wider variety of ways (pk).

Modern jazz is all the forms of jazz that sprouted out of its older ways (pk). Jazz musicians used classical forms and styles in their arrangements and improvisation. New harmonic elements and varied rhythms were shown, and the music gained complexion. Modern jazz was not a single idea but was many branches. Stan Kenton lead progressive jazz, which is known for its loud dissonances and Mile Davis preferred the relaxed and laid back approach, which helped form cool jazz. Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, George Benson, and Miles Davis helped in making jazz fusion popular and big (Jazz J40d-J40e).

Bebop was the next big development after big-band swing. Bebop was associated with small groups, not big bands. The usual ensemble was a trumpet, piano, bass, one or two saxophones, and drums. Young’s band had Basie on piano and it featured a rhythm section that accompanied soloists and it also had a flowing feeling that was all new to jazz. When musicians improvised, they used more of the underlying chords. Charlie Parker improvised with a logic and quickness that surprised both the audience and even his band! Some famous people that were involved with bebop are trumpeter John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, trombonist J.J. Johnson, pianist Earl “Bud” Powell, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Ray Brown, and drummers Kenny Clarke and Max Roach (Davis 61-63).

Bebop eventually formed into two different things that have come to be known as cool and hard bop (Davis 61-63). Cool jazz has been identified with lighter, vibrato-free lines. Cool jazz tended to use flute, French horn, tuba, and other instruments that were definitely uncommon in earlier jazz styles (Blumenthal 104-108). Miles Davis led one of the most influential bands. Davis then had a band in 1960, and this time, Davis’ band included the tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter and pianist Herbie Hancock, who both had a great impact in jazz in the succeeding decades (Davis 61-63). A person named Jim Guiffre explored compact and folkish themes in a band called the Guiffre 3. The guitarist was named Jim Hall and was in the quintet of former Mulligan drummer Chico Hamilton. The Hamilton Quintet contained two LA natives, Hamilton and woodwind player Buddy Collette, both of whom were leading figures in the style of cool jazz (Blumenthal 104-108).

Hard bop was the other style from bebop (pk). Hard bop was associated with the east coast. The difference between hard bop and bebop was that hard bop mixed in some gospels and blues, both in harmony and rhythm. Compositions that were of hard bop were based upon original chord changes rather than blues progressions and pop songs. Hard bop was often fast, and this added excitement (Sabatella 1-2). Another type of jazz developed right around the civil rights movement. This type of jazz was called free jazz. Free jazz was able to extend contemporary jazz, so it was helpful for the extension of jazz (Fordham 42-43).

The deep history, varied and interesting forms, and the cool instruments of jazz really show what an awesome thing it is. It has influenced a lot of music, including some of the rock many people listen to today. Jazz has been around longer than a lot of music except for classical, which shows it can survive for decades and still retain its effects on the people who listen to it. Its birth from different cultures, and being able to branch out into the various jazz forms, show how it is an amazingly unique subject.