jazz

jazz (etymology obscure). A term, which came into general use c.1913–15, for a type of mus. which developed in the Southern States of USA in the late 19th cent. and came into prominence at the turn of the century in New Orleans, chiefly (but not exclusively) among black musicians. Elements which contributed to jazz were the rhythms of W. Africa, European harmony, and Amer. ‘gospel’ singing. Before the term jazz was used, ragtime was the popular name for this genre. Ragtime lasted from c.1890 to c.1917. It was an instr. style, highly syncopated, with the pf. predominant (though a few rags had words and were sung). Among the leading exponents of the pf. rag were Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton, and J. P. Johnson, with the cornettists Buddy Bolden and King Oliver. Some rags were notated (e.g. Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag) but the majority were improvised. About 1900 also, the ‘blues’ craze began. ‘Blues’ implies a largely vocal form and a depressed frame of mind on the part of the perf. The form originated from Negro spirituals, and made use of a blend of major and minor harmony, and non-tempered scale intervals. In instr. blues the prominent instrs. were tpt., cornet, cl., sax., or tb. A leading figure of the blues era was the black composer W. C. Handy whose Memphis Blues (1909) and St Louis Blues (1914) are jazz classics. Outstanding blues singers have been Bessie Smith and, later, Billie Holiday.

The subsequent history of jazz has embraced a diversity of styles, e.g. Dixieland, from c.1912, which borrowed elements from both ragtime and blues and made a feature of group improvisation led by the trumpeter. The principal Dixieland musicians included the trumpeters King Oliver and Louis Armstrong, the trombonists Kid Ory and Jack Teagarden, the saxophonist Sidney Bechet, the pianists Jelly Roll Morton and Earl Hines. In the 1920s, jazz became more sophisticated as it spread to New York, Paris, and London and became a social ‘rage’. The jazz arranger emerged and with him the bigger band: harmony became more conventional, melodies were played by a full instr. section with the solos as central display-pieces, like cadenzas. These ‘big bands’ had marked individual styles. Paul Whiteman popularized ‘symphonic jazz’ using vns. and elaborate arrs. At the other extreme was the Negro style of Duke Ellington, the first great jazz composer. A ‘Chicago’ style revived smaller bands and more improvisation (its star was the trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke).

The 1930s coincided with the style known as ‘swing’. The swing bands—led by such virtuoso instrumentalists as Benny Goodman (cl.), Jimmy Dorsey (alto sax.), Gene Krupa (drums), Glenn Miller (tb.), Tommy Dorsey (tb.), Artie Shaw (cl.)—concentrated on precision, arr., and good ens. work. Though Ellington's band was influenced by swing, its members were such superb players and such strong individualists that improvisation still played a large part in his comps. Swing yielded in the 1940s to ‘be-bop’, principally for smaller groups of perhaps 7 players. Rhythm was the prime feature of be-bop, allied to scat singing (vocalizing to nonsense syllables). Tempi were fast and great virtuosity was needed. The dominant player was the alto saxophonist Charlie Parker (1920–55). Also important were Dizzy Gillespie (trumpeter), Stan Getz (tenor saxophonist), and Kenny Clarke and Max Roach (drummers). ‘Be-bop’ was later rechristened ‘modern jazz’. Among its derivatives were ‘cool’ jazz, led by Getz and Miles Davis, and by Shorty Rogers (tpt.) and Lennie Tristano (pf.). In the 1960s ‘free jazz’ was pioneered but the jazz scene was overshadowed by the emergence of ‘pop’ and the pop groups, e.g. the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and many others, these comprising usually a vocalist, guitarist(s), and perc. ‘Hard rock’ was a development from this period, and elec. instrs. were commandeered, as in other branches of mus.

The influence of jazz on so-called ‘serious music’ has been widespread and beneficial. Ives composed ragtime pieces for th. orch. as early as 1902; Debussy in 1908 wrote the Golliwogg's Cakewalk; Ravel used the blues in his vn. sonata, and both his pf. concs. are jazz-influenced; Stravinsky wrote ragtime pieces and composed the Ebony Concerto (1945) for Woody Herman; Hindemith, Poulenc, Weill, Krenek, Lambert, Copland, and Tippett all used jazz features, as did Berg in Lulu. Duke Ellington and Bill Russo are among the leading composers of jazz, while those who have written works throwing a bridge between jazz and symphonic forms incl. Gershwin, Rolf Liebermann, Leonard Bernstein, Gunther Schuller, Richard Rodney Bennett, and John Dankworth.