...Jazz and jizz Jazz is a music genre that originated from African American communities of New Orleans in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African American andEuropean American musical parentage with a performance orientation.[1] Jazz spans a period of over a hundred years, encompassing a very wide range of music, making it difficult to define. Jazz makes heavy use of improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation and the swing note,[2] as well as aspects of European harmony, American popular music,[3] the brass band tradition, and African musical elements such as blue notes and African-American styles such as ragtime.[1] Although the foundation of jazz is deeply rooted within the black experience of the United States, different cultures have contributed their own experience to the music as well. Intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as "one of America's original art forms".[4] As jazz spread around the world, it drew on different national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to many distinctive styles. New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass-band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collectivepolyphonic improvisation. In the 1930s, heavily arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz, a hard-swinging, bluesy, improvisational style and Gypsy jazz (a style...
Words: 415 - Pages: 2
...December 6, 2012 Brass Instruments The brass family has a variety of instruments that have the ability to cover a wide range of sounds. Brass instruments have changed greatly since the beginning of time. Throughout history, the manufacturing of brass instruments has become more complex by using different materials, dimensions, and including valves. Compositions have been composed to show off the capabilities of brass instruments through concertos and solos. With that being said, famous musicians have created a reputation for their musical talents by playing instruments in the brass family. The sacbut and piccolo trumpet are two instruments included in the brass family and will be focused on due to their unique qualities. The brass family is a unique group of instruments that has helped change the compositions of music throughout history. History of Brass Instruments Before the history of brass can be described, people have to understand what a brass instrument entails, “a brass instrument is defined as an “aerophone,” which means it is an instrument where the musician must blow air into the instrument. The musician produces the tone by buzzing the lips into what is generally a cup-shaped mouthpiece. It doesn’t mean that the instrument is necessarily made of brass, since instruments that are made of other metals, wood, horn, or even animal bone are included in the family of brass instruments.” (Wilken) Before the Renaissance period, the brass instruments were very...
Words: 2568 - Pages: 11
...about 1915 New Orleans Style – Also known as Dixieland. Played by a small group of 5 to 8 performers Swing – Developed in the 1920’s and flourished from 35 to 45. Big Band era or Swing era. 14 to 15 performers in a swing band. 3 sections, saxophone, brass, rhythm. More composed than other Jazz Bebop – Smaller group of musicians, complex style. Often extremely fast with the beat not marked by the drums. Created to rebel against the swing era. Vocabulary Jazz – Rooted in improvisation and characterized by syncopated rhythm, steady beat and performance techniques. Blues – Ragtime – Call and response – Occurs when a voice is answered by an instrument or when an instrument is answered by another instrument. Chorus – Breaks – Briefs unaccompanied solos Riff – Short repeated phrases played by the saxophone and brass during the swing era Head – Rhythm section – The backbone of the jazz ensemble. Usually made up of piano, plucked double bass, percussion and banjo/guitar. Front line – Melodic Instruments – Cornet, clarinet and trombone. Main source of improvisation. Performers/Composers Scott Joplin – King of Ragtime. Famous composer and pianist. Known for maple leaf rag and the entertainer. Bessie Smith – Empress of Blues – Known for her “Lost your head blues” Louis Armstrong – Known for his gravelly voice and scat singing. Also nicknamed Satchmo. He was part of King Oliver’s Band. Duke Ellington – “My band is my instrument”...
Words: 294 - Pages: 2
...time called Ragtime. Blues songs gave artists a method of expressing their emotions and feelings. As one person stated, “The emotion expressed is generally one of sadness or melancholy, often due to problems in love.” The musical elements that made blues very popular also sparked the development of a very distinct and unique style of music called jazz. “Jazz was born in New Orleans through the fusion of African-American elements such as ragtime and blues with other traditional styles – spirituals, work songs, and shouts.” What made jazz music unique was that musicians often improvised the melodies on the spot which many people thought would not work, but it in fact did. The vital role jazz and blues music played, sparked the evolution of other musical styles and the acceptance of African-Americans among the white community throughout the twentieth century. One of the earliest composers to contribute to jazz and who also considered himself “the inventor of jazz” was Jelly Roll Martin. Martin began his career playing ragtime piano in New Orleans, but as his musical style progressed, he embraced a new musical style from his blues and ragtime influence. Another important figure in the development of jazz and widely considered as one of the all-time great jazz musicians was Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong. “Louis Armstrong’s originality and charisma were largely responsible for the growing popularity of jazz across color boundaries during the 1920s and 1930s” (Holmes 6). Armstrong’s...
Words: 993 - Pages: 4
...Armstrong. He was a famous Jazz musician that was known around the world. The instrument he was most famous for was the trumpet. Louis Armstrong transformed jazz in the 1920's and gave it a meaning. Louis Armstrong's trumpet playing changed the world of music and continues to have an impact on American music. Early life: Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His mother’s name was Mary Albert and his father’s name was William Armstrong. As a child he was left with his grandmother to be raised but later moved back in with his mother at five years old. He went to the Fisk School for Boys where he first started to learn about music. At eleven he drop out of school and joined an all-boys singing group. As he got older he started to play the trumpet with a band all over New Orleans. He played in many of the city’s brass bands and parades and started to become locally famous. Achievements: All his life he struggled with being poor and not having many things. He worked as a paper boy, in a band and had many other jobs. Some awards Louis Armstrong got were King Zulu on Mardi Gras day in New Orleans in 1949. Armstrong was put into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame. US Postal Service gave Louis Armstrong his own stamp. Later in life: Later on in his life he became a famous jazz musician. Some of the songs he was most famous for were “What a Wonderful World, Hello Dolly, Heebie Jeebies, and When the Saints Go Marching In. He was known all over the world for...
Words: 398 - Pages: 2
...a cultural and artistic boom that attracted black musicians,artist, writers, and scholars to Harlem, New York. It was home to many of the successful black jazz musicians. The Opportunity for Black Upward Social Mobility and Acceptance Throughout the Jazz Age, black jazz musicians were given the opportunity to showcase their music towards a wider audience, especially middle aged white men. Large Record companies such as Paramount and Columbia “began to market special labels of "race records" — music by and for an African-American audience” (PBS) Race records began to sell up to 5 million copies a year. Due to the growing appeal of African American jazz band records, white record producers strove to showcase more black jazz musicians to a white audience. Recording companies allowed black musicians to be recorded, however were in total control of what songs they were able to...
Words: 1093 - Pages: 5
...Sevens are considered the most important in jazz history (The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings, Remastered). In this research paper, I attempt to trace the history of Louis Armstrong’s musical development, beginning with his early years in New Orleans, on through to his life on the road as a traveling musician, and, finally, to his last years in New York. Childhood in New Orleans Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans in 1901. His family was extremely poor, so poor that young Louis had to work from a very early age in order to help put food on the table. [Add more about Louis Armstrong’s early life in New Orleans.] First Cornet Young Louis was surrounded by music in New Orleans. Dance halls and street parades featured a host of talented musicians, from which he could learn a great deal. However, he might not have become a truly disciplined musician without the guidance of several teachers he encountered at a school for poor boys (Robbins 35). At school, he played the cornet seriously for the first time. [Add more about his early years as a cornet player.] Early Career After he left school, Armstrong plunged into the world of New Orleans music. He began playing at dance halls and in the city’s frequent brass band parades. At that time he...
Words: 382 - Pages: 2
...the saxophone in 1838 in Belgium. Sax was the son of an instrument maker and by the age of six, was an expert musical instrument maker (The-Saxophone, 2012). He produced such instruments as the flute and clarinet and learns to play them by testing the ones he made. Sax studied both instruments at the Brussels Conservatory. As a skilled musician, Sax was aware of a tonal disparity between certain instruments. He noticed that there was a disparity between the strings and wind instruments and the brasses and woodwind instruments (The-Saxophone, 2012). To him, it appeared that the brasses overpower the woodwind and the winds were overpowering the string instruments. He saw a need for an instrument that would create a balance between the brass, woodwind, and the strings. Sax was looking for a sound that was somewhere between the clarinet in the trumpet. He experimented by combining...
Words: 1272 - Pages: 6
...push us onto the winning side of the war. Imagine a time when the United States only consisted of nineteen states, and James Monroe has just been elected president. This time would be the year 1817 and it was also the year that the world of jazz would begin. I use the word begin in a very loose way, because jazz music didn’t just pop out of the ground one day. What I am referring to is that in New Orleans in 1817 Congo Square was designated as the official site for slave music and dance. This was what began what lead up to become jazz music. The music itself wasn’t started until at the very earliest 1892 when African American artist, Tommy Turpin writes what is considered to be the first ragtime song on his piano. [2] Ragtime music is a music style that would eventually turn into Jazz. It started around the beginning of the twentieth century and continued to be popular in African American culture. Its upbeat rhythm made it fitting for the times and it was purely an American style of music so it became almost patriotic to listen to ragtime. In the early twentieth century a ragtime band would usually consist of just a few pieces such as; a piano, and the occasional...
Words: 2054 - Pages: 9
...of Louis Armstrong summed up the achievements of New Orleans jazz style and indicated the way to the later...
Words: 1104 - Pages: 5
...composers reacted to the influences of Post-Romantic and Impressionist styles and wrote works from it. 2. Name and describe the characteristics of twentieth-century music before 1945; for full credit include information on tone color, harmony, alternatives to the traditional tonal system, rhythm, and melody. (2 points) Tone color became a crucial element creating variety, continuity, and mood. New sounds on old instruments and uncommon playing techniques became the norm. Percussion instruments became prominent and numerous, reflecting the interest in unusual rhythms and tone colors. Harmony brought changes to in the way chords were treated. The traditional relationship between consonance and dissonance was challenged. New chord structures were created such as the polychord, the fourth chord, and the tone cluster. Alternatives to the traditional tonal system, known as tonality or key, governed the organization of pitch. Use of scales other than major and minor and chords other than triad were used as the central tone. Rhythm drew it new ideas from jazz, folk music from all over the world, and older European art music from the Middle Ages through the 19th century. Rapidly changing meters the use...
Words: 1724 - Pages: 7
...The Big Band Era of the 1930s The Big Band Era of the 1930s Introduction- The Great Depression during the 1930s was an extreme struggle for all Americans, but the music of the Big Band Era lifted the spirits of struggling citizens. I. Revival of music during the Great Depression A. Effects of the Great Depression on the music industry B. How music started to regain its popularity during harsh times C. The role of technology in reviving the music culture II. Impact of the Big Band Era A. Evolution of Jazz into Swing B. Characteristics of the swing culture III. “Big Bands” of the Big Band Era A. How the jazz genre began B. The components of a “big band” C. Louis Armstrong: prominent music icon of the 1930s Conclusion- The Big Band Era during the 1930s helped many Americans escape the hardships of their every day lives during the Great Depression and has left a huge impact on America which still resides in people today. The Big Band Era of the 1930s Music affects the lives of people all around the world, and it plays a major role in the development of all cultures. People use music to express themselves, an event, or thoughts in a way simple, ordinary words cannot. Because people are constantly changing, music also changes throughout the times. Many different eras of music are well known, but one very prominent timeframe in music is America’s Big Band Era of the 1930s. The Big Band Era uplifted the broken...
Words: 1905 - Pages: 8
...1) Timbre Encompasses: The difference in sound quality that distinguishes one instrument from a different type of instrument. (e.g. a piano has a different timbre than a flute) & Jazz performers strive to produce variety of timbres on their instruments often through mutes. 2) Jazz soloists -‐clarinet, Alto and or tenor saxophone, trumpet and/or cornet, trombone 3) Blue notes -‐frequencies that fall in between that standard pitches of the major and minor scales. 4) Triads - Basic chord of European and American harmony. It consist of 3 pitches. ‐may be either a consonant or dissonant 5) Extended chords -‐triads with extra thirds added, commonly used in Jazz. 6-‐7) Meter -‐the organization of stressed and unstressed beats into regular patterns. -‐duple meter 8) Principal/characteristic rhythmic traits of jazz -‐Be able to list them 9) Syncopation ...
Words: 1196 - Pages: 5
...16, he was not only creating good examples of existing instruments, but he also was inventing new ones. When he was 20 he has displayed an original 24-key clarinet, and his invention of the new bass clarinet won the admiration of François Antoine Habeneck, who was the conductor of the Paris Opera Orchestra, who had passed through Brussels. At the Belgian Exhibition, an industrial fair, in 1840 Sax presented nine of his inventions; they included an organ, a piano tuning process and a sound-reflecting screen. The judges felt that he was too young to receive the top prize and they instead awarded him with the vermeil. Sax was intrigued by an early version of the saxophone from a French opera composer, Fromental Halévy and he quickly made a decision to head for Paris with only 30 francs in his...
Words: 760 - Pages: 4
...seated on the ground _________ instrument the body of which is rashly fashioned from the calabash. Another calabash which has been made into a drum and a woman beats at it with two short sticks. One voice then another voice, then other voices join in a dance of scene contradictions __________ give and take ___________ one handed performance spontaneous yet on closer inspection ritualize and precise is a dance of massive proportions, a dense crowded _________ performed in circular groups perhaps five or six hundred individuals moving in time to the pulsations of the music some swaying gently and others aggressively stumping their feet. A number of women in the group begin chanting. This scene could be Africa, in fact it is 19th century in New Orleans scattered first handed accounts provide us with analyzing details of these slay dances that took place in the open area then known as Congo Square. Today Luis Armstrong Park stands on roughly the same ground and there perhaps are no intriguing documents in the history of African-American use it. Benjamin ¬¬¬_____ the architect witnessed one of these collective dances on February 21, 1819 and not only that _____ event...
Words: 5816 - Pages: 24
