Jazz Fundamentals

Greg Polanik CoordinatorCorina Iukovici Co-Coordinator

Academy for Lifelong LearningCape Cod Community College

Spring 2015

Chapter 3Swing

It Don't Mean A ThingIf It Ain't Got That Swing

Duke Ellington

Swing

• 1930-1945

• The Second Period of Traditional Jazz

• The Big Band Era

• The most popular period of Jazz

• Jazz Matured in New York

The 1930s & 1940s

• Harlem Renaissance fully matured

• The Great Depression (1929-1932)

• WWII (1939-1945)

• Segregation

• Jim Crow Laws

The Roots of Swing

• Large Dance Bands had sprung up all over America

• They started to incorporate elements of Jazz into their music

• They hired Jazz Soloists to add the new sound to their bands

• Piano players learned Stride and Boogie Woogie styles

Stride Piano

• Stride Piano Players were the stars in Harlem

• Similar to Ragtime Piano except:Improvised rather than ComposedLarger left hand jumpsVariety of Tempos & DynamicsMore Tension & Release

Stride Piano Players

• James P. Johnson

You've Got To Be Modernistic

• Willie The Lion Smith

Ain’t Misbehavin’ / St. Louis Blues

• Fats Waller

Handfull of Keys & Demo

In composition you haveall the time you want to decide

what to say in 15 seconds,in improvisation

you have 15 seconds

Steve Lacy

Improvisation

• Composing While Performing

• The Rhythm Section plays the Harmonic & Rhythmic structure

• The Soloist invents new melodies to fit the structure

• Originality & Personal Expression are required

In Jazz, improvisation isn't a matter of just making any ol' thing up

Jazz, like any language, has its own grammar and vocabulary

Wynton Marsalis

Swing Music

• The Music is for Dancing

• Emphasis is on the Written Arrangements

• Improvisation becomes less important (varies)

• Showmanship and Extravaganza become important

Swing Music

• Melodies are Singable, Memorable

• Black Dances imitated by White youth (and hated by elders)

• Commercialism increases the quality of the musicians

• Commercialism brings homogeneity to the music

Swing Music Style

• More complex harmony (7ths, 9ths)

• Solos based on scales

• Smooth, Swing feel

• Emphasis on beats 2 & 4

• Swing Eighth Notes common

• Call & Response, Riffs used

Swing Band

• Organized into Sections, 10+ players

• Brass: (2-5) Trumpet

(1-5) Trombone (often separate)

• Reeds: (2) Alto Sax, (2) Tenor Sax,

(1) Baritone Sax

• Rhythm Section: Piano, String Bass,

Drums, Guitar

Rhythm Section• Standardized

• Piano: Harmony, Rhythmic AccentsComping, Fills less space

• Bass: Timekeeping, Harmonic BottomAll 4 Beats + Embellishment

• Drums: Timekeeping, Rhythmic AccentsLighter Swing Feel

• Guitar: Timekeeping, HarmonyMore subtle than Banjo

String Bass

High Hat

Drum Set

A Jazz man should be saying what he feels:

humor, sadness, joy... all the things that humans have

Bob Brookmeyer

Important Players

• Paul Whiteman

Whispering

• Fletcher Henderson

The StampedeWrappin' It Up

• Louis Armstrong

Important Players

• Benny Goodman

Sing, Sing, Sing #2

Roast Turkey Stomp

• Artie Shaw

Stardust

I never had much interest inthe piano until I realized that

every time I played,

a girl would appear on thepiano bench to my left

and another to my right

Duke Ellington

Important Players

• Duke Ellington

Harlem AirshaftTake The ‘A’ TrainPrelude To A KissMood Indigo

Music is my mistress and she plays second fiddle to no one

Duke Ellington

Territory Bands

• Achieved fame in their regions• Some moved on to national fame• Kansas City most important city

• White Bands - Sweet, clean, minimal improvisation, songs arranged

• Black Bands – Hot, bluesy, less refined, improvisation important

I haven't a great Jazz bandand I don't want one

Glenn Miller

Important Players

• Count Basie

• Led the Kansas City Sound• Most influential on modern Jazz• Riffs, Call & Response, Blues• Prominent Soloists• Head Arrangements used early years• Notable Arrangers used later• Defined modern Rhythm Section

Basie Rhythm Section

• Count Basie – PianoLight, spare Comping

• Walter Page – BassSupple Walking Bass

• Jo Jones – DrumsLight, loose, relaxed, but precise

• Freddie Green – GuitarCrisp, relaxed, compliments bass

Basie’s Music

Jumpin’ at The WoodsideLester Leaps InOne O’Clock JumpApril in Paris #2

Count don't do nothin‘But it sure sounds good

Band Memberon Basie’s use of silence & spareness

Important Swing Soloists

• Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax)Body and Soul

• Roy Eldridge (trumpet)I Can't Believe That You're

In Love With Me • Lester Young (tenor sax)

Body and Soul

When Lester plays, he almostseems to be singing;

one can almost hear the words

Billie Holiday

Important Swing Soloists

• Charlie Christian (guitar)

Air Mail Special• Art Tatum (piano)

Tiger Rag• Teddy Wilson (piano)

All of Me

Jazz singing is like pornography

You can't say what it is, but you know it when you see it

Kurt Elling

Vocalists

• Billie Holiday

All of Me• Ella Fitzgerald

It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing

• Sarah Vaughan

Lullaby of Birdland

Don’t threaten me with love, baby

Let’s just go walking in the rain

Billie Holiday

Forgive me if I don’t have the words

Maybe I can sing itand you’ll understand

Ella Fitzgerald

There are notes between notes,you know

Sarah Vaughan

Gypsy Jazz

• Django Reinhardt

• Stéphane Grapelli

Minor Swing

I think that band (Glenn Miller)was the beginning of the end

It was a mechanized version of what they called jazz music

I still can't stand to listen to it

Artie Shaw

Big Band Era Ended

• Bands costly to maintain

• Bands too big for small clubs

• New taxes imposed on dance halls

• Musicians strike 1942

• Shortage of gas & rubber

• Bebop

Somebody asked me once,'Do you think that swing

will ever come back?'And I said, 'Do you think the

1938 Ford will ever come back?'

Artie Shaw

Music Theory

Melody

Dominant Scale (keyboard)

Third most common scale

Major Scale with Flat 7th

Pattern of Half/Whole Steps changes

Swing Solos usually based on scales

Harmony

Dominant Triad (Chord)

1, 3 & 5 of Dominant Scale

In Swing, 7ths and 9ths often added

Rhythm

Swing becomes the standardrhythm of Jazz

Form

Other Common Song Forms

ABAC

ABAB

Jazz Vocabulary

• Arpeggio – chords played linear

• Chorus – once through a song

• Comping – accompanying chords

• Riff – short melodic phrase

• Standard – well known popular song

• Walking Bass – bass note on 4 beats

I can’t stand to sing the same song the same way

two nights in succession

If you can, then it ain’t music

Billie Holiday