Overview
Despite their apparent stylistic diversity, different jazz pieces share common elements, such as improvisation and swing feeling, and on a more basic level, common forms and instrumentation. This section’s focus on form and timbre in jazz will hopefully give you a deeper understanding of jazz improvisation. To fully appreciate jazz improvisation, you should be familiar with the standard jazz forms, the sound of various instruments and their role in an ensemble—whether a musician is playing written parts or improvising.
This section also looks at the various cultures that contributed to the early development of jazz’s distinctive style and flavor. Learning where and how jazz was first created will help you understand it better.
Objectives
Upon completion of this part of the lesson, you will be able to do the following:
- Recognize the standard forms of jazz.
- Understand the roles of the various jazz instruments.
- Identify the sounds of these instruments.
- Identify the cultural origins of jazz.
- Identify the musical contribution of brass bands to jazz.
- Identify the significance of ragtime music.
- Identify the blues as a musical style.
- Identify some call-and-response genres that predate jazz.
- Identify New Orleans as a fertile culture that “birthed” jazz.
Origins of Jazz
Jazz originated among African Americans in New Orleans, a group that combined a diversity of musical styles and elements. Some of these styles had roots traceable to Africa, while others derived from European practices.
The early genres of African-American song — slave songs, spiritualsA religious song, especially one associated with enslaved Africans in America., field hollersA class of rural African American vocal performance performed by an individual while engaged in manual labor., street cries, gospel hymns, the bluesA genre of vocal music developed among African Americans and derived from field hollers, street cries, and gospel hymns. — were fundamental to this emerging art form. Also essential were various instrumental genres exhibiting both European and African-American influence: military marches, assorted dances, and the piano rags so well exemplified by the works of Scott Joplin (Maple Leaf Rag ♫).
Essential Features
As we noted in our introduction, jazz is a uniquely American art, a marvelous blending of African Americans' musical heritage with that of European Americans. Throughout the history of jazz, African Americans have been the major innovators, furthering its evolution by creating new jazz styles. Yet, the music has drawn practitioners from all quarters, not only in America, but around the world.
So... what is jazz? In truth, it is a music that remains difficult to define. When asked to define it, jazz great Louis Armstrong's response was quintessential: "If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know."
With the variety of jazz styles that have developed over the last century, we might ask questions such as the following: What are the elements common to all of these styles? What makes it jazz? Many jazz musicians and scholars would identify three essential features:
- ImprovisationSpontaneous composition of music in the moment of performance., or performances that are made up on the spot by one or more of the players
- Rhythms that create a swing feelingA term used to describe the groove or rhythm of jazz music.
- A bluesy flavorA musical quality that suggests, or is reminiscent of, blues music. is present.
"Blues developed in the southern United States after the American Civil War (1861–65) and was largely played by Southern black men, most of whom came from the milieu of agricultural workers."
