Ch.
6-8 Lecture Outline
& Exam 2 Study Guide
Ch. 6: The Swing Era
• Swing Era Elements:
– Swing era jazz had vocals
– Fewer solo improvisations: usually one
– Solos were short: usually 16-32 bars
– Solos were melodically conservative
Ex.: Glenn Miller, “In the Mood”
Ch. 6: The Swing Era
• How swing differs from early combo jazz:
– Written arrangements
– Less emphasis on ragtime-like compositions
– Less collective improv and more solo improv
– Less tuba; more string bass
– More eighth-note swing feeling
– High-hat cymbals
– Banjo replaced by guitar
– Big band instrumentation (orchestral sections)
– Saxophone is predominant instrument (=string section)
Ch. 6: The Swing Era
– Big band instrumentation (seating)
– Big band arrangements (orchestration)
– Rhythm section: bass, drums, piano, guitar
– Early big band leaders/conductors:
• Fletcher Henderson
• Count Basie
• Duke Ellington
• Jimmie Lunceford
• Benny Goodman
Ch. 6: The Swing Era
– “Sweet” bands v. “Hot” bands
• (arrangements v. improvisations)
Glenn Miller, “Moonlight Serenade”
Count Basie, “Swingin’ the Blues” (1941)
Ch. 6: The Swing Era
– Early big band leaders/conductors:
• Fletcher Henderson:
– Transition from Dixieland to Swing
– Saxes v. Brass
– Block voicing (melody on top)
– “My Pretty Girl”
– “Stampede” (1926)
– “Wrappin’ It Up” (1934)
Contributions to jazz:
Benny Goodman;
New York jazz (Louis Armstrong);
defined swing;
merged jazz and dance styles in New York
Ch. 6: The Swing Era
– Early big band leaders/conductors:
• Duke Ellington (Ch. 7)
• Count Basie (Ch. 8)
Ch. 6: The Swing Era
–Early big band leaders/conductors:
• Jimmie Lunceford
• “Rhythm is Our Business”
• “I’m Nuts About Screwy Music”
• “I Want the Waiter With the Water”
• “White Heat”
• LP: “Lunceford Special” (1939)
• Loose swing; balanced sections
• Disciplined band: precision, punctuality, presentation
• Vaudeville
Ch. 6: The Swing Era
–Early big band leaders/conductors:
•Benny Goodman (1909-1986)
•“I’ve Found a New Baby”
•(same song, on LP w/ Charlie Christian)
•“Sing, Sing, Sing”
•“Stompin’ At the Savoy”
•“Dinah”
•“Sweet Georgia Brown” (1980)
•Hard-driving swing
•Internationally famous (along with Armstrong & Ellington)
•Racially integrated ensembles
•Quartet; sextet; septet; big band; septet/sextet
•Introduced:
–Pianist Teddy Wilson
–Guitarist Charlie Christian
–Vibraphonist Lionel Hampton
Ch. 6: The Swing Era
– Early big band leaders/conductors:
– Other Clarinetists:
• Jimmie Noone and Artie Shaw
• Artie Shaw (1910-2004): Clarinetist
• Influenced by Armstrong, Earl Hines, and clarinetist Jimmie Noone;
• Also influenced by Debussy and Stravinsky (he liked dissonant classical music)
• Writing aspirations; 1938 hit: “Begin the Beguine”
• 8 marriages (Lana Turner, Ava Gardner)
• Made $30,000 a week; retired in 1954
• “Stardust” (1940)
Ch. 6: The Swing Era
– Early big band leaders/conductors:
• Gene Krupa (1909-1973)
• CD: After You’ve Gone (1941)
• “Lover Leave Us Leap” (1942)
• Gene Krupa Drum Solo (1:10 in)
• Gene Krupa Having a Good Time (1945) (:30 in)
• Gene Krupa & Buddy Rich Drum Battle (1966)
• “Big Noise from Winnetka” (1967)
• Expanded drum set: added tom-toms, several cymbals
• Highly syncopated, flashy (sweaty) style
• Drummer becomes a soloist
Ch. 6: Great Swing Musicians
– Trombone:
• Jack Teagarden (1905-1964)
• “Dinah” (1929)
• On “International Hour” (1963)
• Tommy Dorsey
• “Song of India” (1938)
• “Bugle Call Rag” and “Ole Miss” (1942)
• “Opus One”
Ch. 6: Great Swing Musicians
– Trumpet:
– Roy Eldridge (1911-1989)
• Bridged improv gap between Armstrong & Gillespie
• Rapid, fiery solos
• High register, sax-like solo lines
• “Rockin’ Chair”
• “After You’ve Gone” (1941) (Gene Krupa) CD 1, Tr.16
• Influenced Cooty Williams (Duke Ellington’s trumpet player)
Ch. 6: Great Swing Musicians
– Tenor Saxophone:
• Coleman Hawkins (1904-1969)
– “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”
• Don Byas ((1912-1972)
– “I Got Rhythm” (1945)
– Alto Saxophone:
• Benny Carter (1907-2003)
– “Angel Eyes”
• Johnny Hodges
– “I Got it Bad and That Ain’t Good”
Ch. 6: Great Swing Musicians
Piano:
Art Tatum (1909-1956)
-Influences: James Johnson, Fats Waller
-highly technical solos (rapid runs, sometimes two melodies at once)
-changed chords within a phrase (led to bi- and polytonality)
-Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1989)
Tiger Rag
LP 5, Tr. 1: Willow Weep For Me
LP 5, Tr. 2: Too Marvelous for Words
“Yesterdays”
Dvorak’s “Humoresque”
“Over the Rainbow” (1953)
Ch. 6: Great Swing Musicians
• Influences of Art Tatum:
• Earl Hines (1903-1983)
– “All of Me” (1965)
– Wolf Trap Park Jazz Festival, 1976
• Teddy Wilson (1912-1986)
– “Body and Soul” (LP 4, Tr. 3)
– On “International Hour-American Jazz” (1963)
Ch. 6: Great Swing Musicians
• Nat “King” Cole (1917-1965)
– Light style with short, light comping
– Influenced Peterson, Bill Evans, Horace Silver
– Piano playing waned as he became a singer; sold millions of albums
– One of 1st African-Americans to have his own show (“The Nat King
Cole Show---1956)
– Capital Records Building: “The House that Nat Built”
– “Nature Boy”
– “Nat King Cole Piano Blues”
– Class choice: “Fly Me to the Moon”; “Mona Lisa”; “Stardust”; “Blue
Moon”; “Unforgettable”
Ch. 6: Great Swing Musicians
• Erroll Garner (1923-1977)
– Cross between Swing and Modern jazz
– Self-taught; never learned to read music
– Classical music influence; lush, Debussy-like harmonies
– Left hand ‘strums’ the piano like a guitar
– “Fantasy on Frankie and Johnny” (1947)
– (Debussy, “The Sunken Cathedral” and “Clair de Lune”)
– “Autumn Leaves” (Concert by the Sea), 1955
• Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981)
– Eclectic style: boogie-woogie, swing, modern, free, etc.
– “Walkin’ and Swingin’” (CD 1, Tr. 14)
• Milt Buckner (1915-1977) (Piano & Electric Organ)
– Block chords under melody (4 and 5 voices); “locked hands” style
– “10 Robbins Nest”
– “Blue and Sentimental”
Ch. 6: Great Swing Musicians
• Guitar:
• Charlie Christian (1916-1942)
– Single-note solos; lyrical, melodic lines
– Blues sequence from “Breakfast Feud” (1941) LP 6, Tr. 3
– “Stompin’ At The Savoy” (1941)
• Django Reinhardt (1910-1953)
– Gypsy from Belgium
– Flamboyant, speedy, technically challenging solos
– “Honeysuckle Rose” (1934)
– “Minor Swing”
Ch. 6: Great Swing Musicians
• Singers:
• Billie Holiday (1915-1959)
– “Back in Your Own Back Yard” (1938)
– “God Bless the Child” (1941)
– “Strange Fruit”
– “Gloomy Sunday”
– “She’s Funny That Way” (“He’s Funny That Way”) (1952)
Ch. 6: Great Swing Musicians
• Singers:
• Ella Fitzgerald (1918-1996)….actually never died
– “A-Tisket-A-Tasket” (1938)
– “One-Note Samba” (1977)
– Jazz in Montreux (1979)
– “Lemon Drop” (1949)
– “Lemon Drop” (1982) 5:44 in
– LP
Ch. 6: Other Great Swing Bands
– Benny Moten
– “Moten’s Swing”
– Territory bands of the 30s & 40s (play LP)
• Texas and Tennessee Territory Bands:
Sugar Babe, I’m Leavin’
• Kansas City Six & Five
• Harlan Leonard & His Rockets, “Rock and Ride”
Big Swing/Band Effect:
• Primarily dance music; also popular because of the swing
feeling
• Popularized the language of jazz (TV, radio, Hollywood,
MHIS 120)
• Helped break down racial barriers
• Jazz as a business, not just an art form
• Jazz as an exclusively American art form
• Established jazz language as a new and viable (and
popular) musical form; jazz became global
• Contributed material for Exam II!!
Ch. 7: Duke Ellington
• Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899-1974)
– Over 2,000 compositions
– 12 Grammy Awards (3 posthumously)
– Most recordings of any jazz artist; dozens of record
companies
– Eclectic style: blues, gospel, film scores, pop and classical
– Elevated language of jazz on international level
– Appeared in several films as an actor
– Son, Mercer Ellington, continued band until 1996
– Posthumous Pulitzer Prize winner in 1999
Ch. 7: Duke Ellington
• Duke Ellington (1899-1974)
– Biography:
• Born in Washington, D.C.
• Parents were both pianists
• Wanted to be a baseball player
• First composition: “Soda Fountain Rag”
• Moved to Harlem; joins the Sweatman Orchestra
• Return to Washington; “The Washingtonians”
• James “Bubber” Miley & the Mileage Makers:
– “Without Your Emmaline” (2:00 in)
Ch. 7: Duke Ellington
• Duke Ellington (1899-1974)
– Biography:
• 1924: 7 albums (78s)
• 1925: Cotton Club in Harlem
• 1927: Deal with agent/publisher Irving Mills (45%
profit in all of Ellington’s future)
• 1933-34: Tours to England
• Depression and WWII: lag in career, despite recordings
and concert tours
• 1950’s: Resurgence in fame
Ch. 7: Duke Ellington
• Duke Ellington (1899-1974)
– Biography:
• 1965: Nominated for Pulitzer, but didn’t win. “Fate is
being kind to me. Fate doesn’t want me to be too
famous too young.”
• Sept., 1965: Premiere of Sacred Concerts
• 1969: Presidential Medal of Freedom
• 1974: Last words: “Music is how I live, why I live,
and how I will be remembered.”
Ch. 7: Duke Ellington
• Duke Ellington (1899-1974)
– Repertoire:
• Popular single jazz tunes: Strayhorn’s “Take the A Train”
• “3-minute” Masterpieces: “Cottontail”; “Harlem Airshaft”
• Orchestral color works: “Transblucency” (CD 1, Tr. 22)
• Concertos & Other Extended Concert works
– “Concerto for Cootie”
– “Creole Rhapsody”
– Diminuendo in Blue & Crescendo in Blue
– Nutcracker Suite: Toot Toot Tootie Toot; Sugar Rum Cherry;
Volga Vouty
– “Jump for Joy”—full-length musical
Ch. 7: Duke Ellington
• Duke Ellington (1899-1974)
– Repertoire:
• Romantic ballads:
– “Mood Indigo”
• Exotic works:
– “Brasilliance” from “Latin American Suite”
• Sacred works:
– “Concert of Sacred Music”
• Film scores:
– “Symphony in Black” (1935)
Ch. 7: Duke Ellington
• Duke Ellington (1899-1974)
– Legacy:
• Work is cornerstone of American culture & heritage
• The Beethoven of jazz: works are principal part of jazz
repertoire worldwide
• Titan of piano, composing, and arranging
• Strange modulations, lush melodies, unusual song
construction
Ch. 8: Count Basie
• Count Basie (1904-1984)
– Early career: Harlem; Kansas City (Benny Moten);
C.B. and His Barons of Rhythm; Chicago; New York
– Legacy & Style: modest, soft, understated swing;
clean sound; emphasis on rhythm section; sparse
accompaniment (“like cutting butter”); silence as
important as sound; precursor of modern jazz
– Lester Young; Kansas City style (riff-based)
– Kansas City Five/Six/Seven
Ch. 8: Count Basie
• Count Basie (1904-1984)
– “Draggin’ Around” (1938) (LP 5, tr. 7)
– “One O’Clock Jump” (1943)
– “Taxi War Dance” (CD 1, tr. 24)
– “Lester Leaps In” (CD 1, tr. 25)
– Live at Carnegie Hall, 1981
The Demise of Swing:
World War II
• The Draft
– Many jazz musicians were called to war, leaving few at
home
• Band Raiding
– Stealing of band members from other bands
• Transportation
– Gas & Rubber shortages
– Dismantling of the railways
The Demise of Swing:
World War II
• Midnight Curfews
– Brown-outs
• Amusement Taxes
– 20% at any club that included dancing
• Unwillingness to Travel
– Good musicians did not need to travel, since they
could make a living right where they were
The Demise of Swing:
Restrictive Musical Formats
• Lack of solo opportunities
– Solos had to be short in Big Band
• Harmonic formulae
– Overworked; same chord progressions used over
and over
• Lack of creativity
– Stereotyped rhythms and rhythm sections
The Demise of Swing:
Restrictive Musical Formats
• General lack of surprise in any given musical
circumstance; jazz had fallen into a rut
• By the early 1940s, with the exception of a
few, most big bands sounded stylistically alike
The Demise of Swing:
The Recording Ban
• American Federation of Musicians (the
musicians union) orders a ban on all
instrumental recordings
– Due to increased numbers of recordings on radio
and in jukeboxes
• Unable to record new material, bands begin to
break up
The Demise of Swing:
Racism
• African American musicians were paid less
than their European American counterparts
• African Americans had to contend with the
most oppressive manifestations of racial
prejudice and segregation
– Ex. Roy Eldridge
The Demise of Swing:
Racism
• African Americans became disenchanted with
swing music
• Wanted to create their “own” music
– Too difficult, too virtuosic, too “hip” for their
white counterparts
• A true African American ART form
– Not for dancing, but for listening
Exam 2 Review
• Chapters 6, 7, and 8
• 25 multiple choice questions (2 pts. ea.)
• “Unknown” listening (5 points)
• 5 paragraphs/essays (9 points ea.)
• You should know:
– Elements of swing era jazz
– Differences between swing and earlier combo jazz
– Who were the major big-band leaders?
– What’s the difference between ‘sweet’ and ‘hot’ swing? Who were the
representative leaders of each?
– What were the contributions of Fletcher Henderson, Bennie Goodman,
and Jimmie Lunceford to jazz?
Exam 2 Review
• You should know (cont’d):
– The major musicians during this era:
• Drums
• Trumpet
• Trombone
• Saxophone (alto and tenor)
• Piano
• Guitar
• Singers
Exam 2 Review
• Essay topics:
– The differences between small combo jazz and big
band (i.e. Swing Era) jazz
– The effect the Swing Era had on future jazz
– The style, contributions and legacy of Duke
Ellington and Count Basie (one essay each)
– Why big bands and the swing era eventually died
out
