Popularization of jazz
Write a 30 word min response to each paragraph starting with ” I agree with you” 1-16
1) Title: Have you met miss Jones?
Personnel: Ellis Marsalis (Piano), Ray Brown (Bass), Billy Higgins (Drums).
This song is played in a smaller ensemble and is put together with the piano, drums and bass. The general character of this song is mid-tempo and harmonious. The song begins with a piano solo that then goes into a mid-tempo Jazz feel that includes the bass and the drums. The piano gets faster and faster in the middle of the song creating an upbeat melody. Towards the end of the song there is a bass and drum solo that does a call and response. One plays and the next responds creating dialogue using instruments. The song ends with all the instruments playing together in unison again and at the very end the piano keys ends the song in a soft melody.
2)Title: Triste
Personnel: Bruce Barth
The instruments being used in this piece include drums, piano, and saxophone. The atmosphere of this song is soft and a little quiet. The mood that is given throughout this piece is calm and relaxing. It gives a vibe such as “finally I get to rest” after a long day. The tempo throughout this wonderful piece by Bruce Barth is medium throughout the whole song. While I would consider this piece to be consonant (harmonious) is does have just a tiny bit of dissonance (clashing) in it when the drums are played. From beginning to end this piece doesn’t have a change in aspects of the character of the music. As the piece is played the mood changes a little bit but in a positive way. The mood is changed in that you just feel more relaxed as the piece is played. You get more relaxed as the piece goes on. The atmosphere stayed on the soft side for this piece. One thing I found neat about this piece was the drum solo that was around the middle/end of the song. As the drums were being played you can hear the different cords and follow along with the structure that was played which was awesome to observe! I also think the transition after the drum solo was very smooth. I think that the combination between the drums, piano, and saxophone was unique as I’m new to listening to the genre of Jazz music but the saxophone definitely shocked me as I thought it would overrule the other instruments in terms of loudness.
3) Title: Soultrane
Ensemble: John Coltrane (tenor saxophone), Red Garland (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums)
This musical performance is a slow tempo piece that combines all the instruments above beautifully and harmoniously. It starts off very melancholy with the sax by itself and then the piano joins in making it seem like dance between two people, in harmony but standing out on their own. It maintains the same slow tempo until the piano has a solo about half way through, slowing it down a little more. When the solo is finished, the saxophone and the rest of the ensemble come back sounding a bit more faster in tempo then gradually slowing down like it was in the beginning. To me it sounds like a man and woman who are in a relationship and the different stages. Over all it was a very relaxing, almost romantic performance.
4) Title: A Love Supreme Part II – Resolution
Band leader: John Coltrane
I believe it is a smaller ensemble with a drum set, piano, stand up base, and saxophone. It started off with a somber, mellow base solo and then at about 20 seconds in, the whole ensemble kicks in with an excited, fast paced tempo with the saxophone out in front. It sounds almost like Coltrane is improvising with the sax in a dissonant sound that is kind of chaotic and sporatic. The mood seems excited and antsy, almost like someone would feel in a passionate moment with a lover. The drums keep a constant, upbeat tempo the majority of the tune. About two minutes in the piano starts a solo with the drums and bass keeping the tempo in the background. The piano also starts to get dissonant with improvised notes that seem to come from all over the scale. In the end, Coltrane jumps in with the sax and brings the melody and tempo down to a harmonious resolution.
Overall, I found the song to be a little too disorderly for my taste. I can tell that the band members are quite talented and I bet that fellow musicians (I am not one…yet) probably appreciate this piece much more due the technical aspect of the song.
5) Title: Raincheck
Personnel: Sonny Rollins (Saxophone), Ray Bryant (Piano), George Morrow (Brass), Max Roach (Drums).
This song utilized the saxophone, drums, piano, and double brass throughout its entirety, opening with just the saxophone and drums, starting out with a moderate tempo and slowly picking up faster as the song progressed. The all round character of the piece is upbeat and for the instruments were very harmonious with each other, never drowning another out. While all the instruments seem to talk with each other, each instrument is given multiple solos which really gave me a chance to appreciate each instrument individually before they would all flair back up and allow me to enjoy the harmony and organization between the four separate instruments. The song ends just as it began, with the drums and the saxophone trailing off and bringing the tempo back to a medium pace just before cutting off.
6)Title: West End Blues
Personel: Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, Jimmy Strong, Fred Robinson, Mancy Carr, and Zutty Singleton
The instruments included were the trumpet, piano, clarinet, trombone, banjo, hand cymbals, and vocals. The trumpet and vocals are by Louis Armstrong.The piano is played by Earl Hines. The clarinet is played by Jimmy Strong. The trombone is played by Fred Robinson. The banjo is played by Mancy Carr. Finally, the hand cymbals are played by Zutty Singleton. The atmosphere of this piece calm creating an emotion of happiness and a vibe of relaxation. The tempo of this song is medium and the music is consonant. The song began with the trumpet and then goes into the other instruments except for the hand cymbals, but the hand cymbals are played shortly after. Armstrong’s vocals are very quit and in the background causing a feeling of softness and relaxation. After some of his vocal the piano begins to play and after once again all the other instruments. This song ended with one clap of the hand cymbals.
7) Sweet Jazz is a tamer type of jazz music compared to hot jazz which was higher energy and fast tempo (Week 2 Notes). Sweet jazz had more of an “orchestral” sound and is a lot easier to dance to (Week 2 Notes). Hot jazz emerged from New Orleans and it led to swing dancing (Week 3 Notes). Hot jazz was also very popular in Chicago (Week 2 Notes). Sweet jazz was popularized by white bands (Week 2 Notes). Hot jazz was known as a “fiery improvisation” while sweet jazz was known as “jazzy sounding high society dance music” (Week 2 Notes). Due to the heavy racism in the United States, black musicians were not as famous as white musicians (Week 2 Notes). Paul Whiteman and Benny Goodman were considered the faces of jazz (Week 2 Notes). King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band and The Creole Jazz Band were some black faces known for jazz.
8)Although Sweet and Hot Jazz have their similarities, they also have their differences. Hot and Sweet jazz come from how musicians classified themselves and what style of jazz they were portraying because of the newest Tin Pan Alley hits. (Week 2 lecture notes) Hot Jazz embraced a style of New Orleans, It contained high energy and fiery improvisations. (week 2 lecture notes) Because of the circumstances between blacks and whites at this time, whites had to take the rolls of black performers/musicians as Vernon and Irene Castle were for Ragtime, and Elvis Presley was for Rock N Roll. (week 2 lecture notes) Sweet Jazz was a calm more mellow type of music, it used moderate tempos and created more of an orchestra sound. Sweet and Hot Jazz impacted the 20th century. Paul Whiteman the lead man was so successful with his team he was crowned “King of Jazz”. (week 2 lecture notes)
9)Hot jazz originated in New Orleans and was very specific to the multicultural inspiration and musical experimentation characteristic of its origin. Two characteristics of hot jazz include improvisation and fast tempo. Sweet jazz also originated in New Orleans in the 1920’s and presented a more organized, less sporadic sound. Two characteristics of sweet jazz include focused attention on melody and steady tempo. Racially, hot jazz was coded as the African American interpretation of jazz and sweet jazz was coded as the White/European interpretation of jazz. Sweet jazz gained more steam in popularity than hot jazz due to racial bias as well as widespread accessibility and familiarity due to its performance by, “white society bands” (Week 2 Lecture Notes). Sweet jazz was popularized by Jelly Roll Morton, and leading musicians of hot jazz included Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Ellington even pioneered “jungle sound,” which was experimental and utilized muted tones.
10) What would be the difference between Sweet jazz and Hot jazz? Well let’s start off by talking about sweet jazz. Now this particular jazz has a light swinging sound. I would consider this type of jazz to be the “best” study music in my opinion. It carries a soothing sound of medium tempos. It has less improvisation than Hot jazz. Hot jazz is what I would describe as something for faster paced dancing. It has a vigorous rhythmic drive that made individuals want to get off their seat with a high-energy type of sound. It was common to find Sweet jazz in hi class settings and social parties. Not until the 1960s was it possible for Black musicians to overpass their music to a white audience (Week 2 Lecture Notes). There was a huge increase in the number of African Americans coming from the south and migrated towards the Northeast and Midwest areas in 1920 (Week 2 Lecture Notes). This caused an increase of musicians and talent to increase into further areas. This migration also increased the popularity of Jazz. In the 1920s, Jazz eventually became the most popular music around. Today we look at how Jazz has a major influence on most music we can identify in. During the mid-1920s professional recording technology increased with the use of condenser microphones and devices that could save audio recordings for others to keep their own copy.
11) Sweet jazz was much more relaxed compared to hot jazz and was able to please an entire audience. Hot jazz was much more upbeat which caused this music to be easy to dance to and drew the audience of the younger generation. Two musical characteristics of sweet jazz include, “moderate tempos and mellifluous melodies” (Lecture Notes). Musical characteristics of hot jazz include faster tempos and spirited improvisations. In racial terms sweet and hot jazz were coded by generally being separated as to what their interpretations were. African Americans performed hot jazz whereas Europeans performed sweet jazz. Due to these circumstances of course sweet jazz was more popularized due to racism at the time. This impacted the popularization of Jazz during the Jazz Age because hot and sweet jazz were both unique and many people loved their musical characteristics.
12) Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson where almost polar opposites of each other when it came to the commercial world of jazz. Ellington was seen almost as a pioneer, employing many techniques and arrangements that would set him apart from many of his peers ultimately leading him towards a more “classical” form of jazz as opposed to the popular demand of “swing”, or “dance” jazz. Fletcher on the other hand kept driving his arrangements on towards the swing side of things which was very popular among the younger generation and on the radio. Duke Ellington was like a painter (lecture notes – week 3) when it came to his music, helping to elevate jazz as an art form, in no way saying Fletcher Henderson did not contribute to jazz, he is seen more as someone that bridged the gap of Dixieland to Swing era jazz, but I see that has a vast difference between the two, Ellington carved his own path in a sense, and Fletcher catered to the masses delivering what the market wanted. A final comparison between the two is that Ellington seemed much more driven on the harmony of his pieces, ensuring that all the instruments blended together perfectly and painted a picture for the listener, as opposed to Fletcher’s fast paced swing style that seemed driven vastly by rhythm and tempo.
13) New Orleans was New York/London type of city after the civil war of USA when it comes how diverse the city was. It was a trade hub for all over the world. History shows that rich French men rule most of the city but also there were a lot of Anglo white people. The city was really diverse and people were integrating within. The creoles “half black – have french” emerged and become the middle-class citizens. the creoles went to schools, open business like their white french decent. They also had orchestras playing at the New Orleans festivals when most of the city come together. But some of the creoles did not see themselves equal to the other black people because they went to schools and also they grew up in better situations than slave blacks. the creoles did not associate with other blacks also because they felt, they were better but after Plessy vs Ferguson, all that changed because it made all color people including the creoles second class citizens. The creoles had to integrate back to the black community and it was awkward timing for them. Since the ruling of Plessy v Ferguson took place, a lot has changed and the creoles could not be part of the white. with their musical instruments, they joined other blacks and started mixing blues and other types of music. and that when Jazz emerged and became a household genre.
14) In the late 1800s, there was three main social classes in New Orleans. The affluent white land owners of mostly French immigrants who had obtained wealth thru land ownership. They were the upper class of the city and reveled in many of the same arts and activites as the aristocrats of France. Another group was the African-American freed slaves or descendants of former slaves. They were considered the bottom of the social hierarchy but during this period in New Orleans, “colored folk” had the right to vote and some even served as government officials. The third class of people, or the middle social class, was the Creole. “Interracial descendants of French-oriented whites and their black mistresses or wives” (Week 2 Lecture Notes). The Creole had many of the same social allowances as the white upper class, some were even slave owners. The Creole class were educated and trained like other European descendants and were taught in the classical style of music.
But in 1896, Plessy vs Fergusson changed the social landscape of New Orleans by fortifying the “one drop rule”. The one drop rule meant even Creoles were subject to the Jim Crow laws that barred people of color from white establishments and upper class advantages. This forced Creoles to coerce and mingle with the African-American population that they previously looked down on. This resulted in the mixture of the classical musical style of the Creoles and the bluesy, Ragtime sound of the southern freed slaves. Some scholars believe this formed the basis for the current day Jazz band and sound.
15) Sweet Jazz can be characterized by its medium tempo and its lack of improvisation. Hot Jazz was upbeat, fiery, and kept it going with a fast tempo. There was a lot of ragtime influences and a lot of improvisation as well. Hot Jazz was played on radio shows and it gained a lot of popularity. This was played on white channels, by white bands. However, there was a black composer and arranger curating the whole performance. This was due to the fact that America wanted to hear black music, but that did not necessarily mean they wanted to hear it from black people. America’s strange attraction to black culture would make more sense if they listened to actual black artists. But instead, they preferred to have it mediated by white musicians. They popularized black music simply by playing to a different audience using musicians who look like the audience. In a way, one could claim that the exploitation of black music could be considered as cultural appropriation. They didn’t want to air a black band because that was too modern and forward for the time period, but yet they wanted masses to enjoy the beauty in it.
16) New Orleans was known for its music. Jazz was one genre that was developed in New Orleans in the beginning of the swing era. Jazz was broken up into two styles which were sweet Jazz and hot Jazz. Sweet Jazz is characterized by sounding relaxed, full of emotion and it consisted of medium tempos. Sweet Jazz was also popularized by white society bands and were often played in high class places. On the other hand, Hot Jazz was characterized by its up-beat sound, improvisations and its experimental rhythmic drive. After Plessy Vs Fergusson race became very segregated. Sweet Jazz and Hot Jazz was coded as white Jazz and Black Jazz. Due to the music being so segregated this impacted the popularization of jazz. Interracial bands became obsolete due to the recording industry being white owned. Because of the Plessy ruling Creoles and African Americans were looked at as the same and because of this the mixture created new musical practices and new types of ensembles.
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I agree with you. The Mid- Tempo jazz is picked from the 00:26 minute and the piano gets faster at 1:21 minute.
I agree with you. The musical piece is soft but only up to a certain point where the pitch of the piano becomes high and the sounds are combined in somewhat a chaotic manner. It is no longer as soft as it should be. The same is maintained till towards the end where it resumes the softness that was at the…………………………….
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