Origins of Jazz

• Blend of European and African cultures

• New Orleans – the right place at the right
time
 European Influences
• Instruments—first common jazz
instruments
• Trumpet, trombone, clarinet, saxophone,
tuba, piano
• Banjo is from Africa
• Drum set from USA
 European Influences
• Form/Structure—
• Jazz adopted the 8 measure phrase, 4
measure phrase, 4 beats per measure
 European Influences
• Harmony—
• Chord progression (“changes”) came
from European music
 African Influences
• Music has always been an integral part
of African musical culture
 African Influences
• Call and response – a dialogue
between leader and a group
 African Influences
• Rhythm—emphasis on drumming and
“polyrhythm” (similar to “cross-
rhythm”)
 African Influences
• Rhythm—
• Musical groups consist entirely of
drummers playing various instruments.
– In musical groups with other instruments,
drums still very important
 African Influences
• Rhythm—
• Polyrhythm is likely the seed for the
swing rhythmic feel in jazz
 African Influences
• Vocal characteristics of African music
Applied to instruments
 Why New Orleans? (11:40-11:41)
• Cultural melting pot
• Band instruments
• Party town
Congo Square – French Quarter
 Early Jazz: The Features
• Collective Improvisation
Featured during melody presentations
– Trumpet, clarinet, and trombone all “improvise”
at the same time (trumpet sticks close to
melody)
– Al Hirt example: Darktown Strutter’s Ball (r.
1959)(:00-:26) then (2:30-2:55)
 Early Jazz: The Features
• Collective Improvisation
• Instrumentation differs from many eras
that follow
• Short selections
 Early Jazz: The Features
• Collective Improvisation
• Instrumentation differs from many eras
that follow
• Short selections (technology)
• Function of music: social (dancing,
carousing)
 Early Jazz: The Features
• Collective Improvisation
• Instrumentation differs from many eras that
follow
• Short selections (technology)
• Societal:
– Function of music: social (dancing, carousing)
– Happy, fast-paced music
 Early Jazz: The Features
• Societal:
– Function of music: social (dancing, carousing)
– Happy, fast-paced music
 Early Jazz: The Features
• The “jazz funeral”
 Hearing The Difference:
Swing, Early Jazz, and other eras
• Focus on three major differences
– Collective improvisation: important feature of
Early Jazz
– Instrumentation
– The sound of Louis Armstrong: a hallmark of
Early Jazz
 Collective Improvisation
• Early Jazz: During melody presentation, front line
(trumpet, trombone, clarinet) improvise at the same
time
 Early Jazz: The Features Review
• Musical features:
– Collective Improvisation
– Instrumentation: front line often trumpet,
clarinet, trombone; banjo; tuba
– Short selections
 Early Jazz: The Features Review
• Societal features:
– Function of music: social (dancing, carousing)
– Happy, fast-paced music
– The jazz funeral
 Early Jazz: The Players

• “Jelly Roll” Morton

• Original Dixieland Jazz Band
• Bessie Smith
• Louis Armstrong
“Jelly Roll” Morton
 Jelly Roll Morton
• 1890-1941
• Pianist/bandleader
• Claimed he “invented” jazz
• One of the first jazz arrangers
 Jelly Roll Morton
• Creole –mixed black and European (often
French) ancestry
• Upper class – valued arts
 Black Bottom Stomp (r. 1926)

• Fast tempo; happy music

• Collective improvisation
• Jelly Roll’s arranging touch – breaks,
exchanges – “cartoon-ish”
• Banjo; clarinet
 Black Bottom Stomp (r. 1926)

• Banjo solo! (includes break)

• Collective improvisation with cymbal break;
later a trombone break
• Loud drum on 2 and 4 in final phrases
 Jelly Roll Morton
• Other recommended selections:
• “Grandpa’s Spells” (r. 1923)
• “Dead Man Blues” (r. 1926)
 Original Dixieland Jazz Band
• Caucasian
• First jazz record 100 years ago (1917) – made
in Chicago – “Livery Stable Blues”
Original Dixieland Jazz Band
Bessie Smith (1894-1937)
 Bessie Smith (1894-1937)
• “The Empress of the Blues”
• One of the most popular singers of the 1920s and
1930s
• “Lost Your Head Blues”
• Statement-repetition-commentary
• Joe Smith answers
• Audio Clip 3 next – intro (4 bars) then 2 choruses
Louis Armstrong (1901-1971)
 Louis Armstrong
• Born in 1901 in New Orleans – absorbed the
musical traditions of the city
• Went to Chicago in 1922
• Started recording as a leader in 1925
 Louis Armstrong
• “Hot Five” and “Hot Seven”
• Highly regarded recordings
• Most artistic efforts, even though they were
made while he has in his mid-20s
 Louis Armstrong
• Front line: trumpet/clarinet/trombone
• Rhythm section: Hot Five—piano and banjo;
Hot Seven—piano, banjo, tuba, percussion
 Louis Armstrong
• Powerful sound
• Surety and freedom of phrasing
• Rhythmic sophistication and authority
 Louis Armstrong
• West End Blues (r. 1928)
– “Cadenza”
– extended range
Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five
 Spotlight Song
• “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue” (r. 1927)
• The Hot Five
• Forward rhythmic momentum maintained
even without bass and drums
• Louis: powerful sound, assertiveness, rhythmic
sophistication (with just banjo on 2 and 4)
 Struttin’ With Some Barbecue
• Cross-rhythm: 3 against 2
 Louis Armstrong
• First scat singing
• Singing resembles improvisation
 “Hotter Than That”
• Recorded in 1927 on a session where the Hot
Five became the Hot Six
• Added Lonnie Johnson on guitar
• On Cerego Deep Listening 2
 “Hotter Than That”
• Collective improvisation
• Happy, fast-tempo music
• Forward motion is maintained even without
a drummer
 “Hotter Than That” Items to Note
• Opening features collective improvisation:
– Trumpet-melody
– Clarinet-arpeggios around and above the
melody (busy)
– Trombone-smears into notes by using slide
 “Hotter Than That” Items to Note
• Louis Armstrong’s Improvisation
– Many syncopations keeps the momentum
moving forward
– Upper register
 “Hotter Than That” Items to Note
• Louis Armstrong’s “scat singing”
– Scat singing similar to the trumpet
improvisation
– Even more rhythmic flexibility in his
vocal improvisation
 “Hotter Than That” Items to Note
• Famous cross-rhythm: Louis sings in groups
of 3; while the guitar plays in 2
– 25 notes in a row in a 3 against 2 cross-rhythm
– Audio Clip 8 next
 Louis Armstrong
• Long career after these Hot Five and Hot Seven
recordings, international traveling, over 30
movies, singing
• 1964—replaced the Beatles at the top of the
Billboard Hot 100 charts with Hello, Dolly
• Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1972)
• 11 recordings in “Grammy Hall of Fame”