A Short History of JAZZ
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Africa and Europe: Cross Culturalization
3. Time, Place, and Opportunity
4. New Orleans
5. The Birth of Jazz
6. The Jazz Age
7. The Passage to Swing
8. Ritz Crackers
9. The Old and the New.
10. Bop Till You Dro
11. A Fork in the Road
12. Yin and Yang and all that Jazz
13. Searching
14. Which Way Now
15. The Age of Aquarius
16. The Times they are a Changin’
17. Up, Up, and Away
18. Let Freedom Ring: Introduction
19. Let Freedom Ring: John Coltrane
20. Let Freedom Ring: Charles Mingus
21. Let Freedom Ring: Ornette Coleman and a New Way-Part 1
22. Let Freedom Ring: Ornette Coleman and a New Way-Part 2
Michael Morangelli [Composer and Sound Designer]
Has performed extensively both in New York City and Boston. His credits include the Angelo Tallaracco and Bob January Big Bands, Fire & Ice Jazz Octet, and the Blue Rain Lounge Quartet. He was also staff guitarist for South Park Recording Studio. In Boston since 1985, he has played with the George Pearson Group (local headliners at the Boston Jazz Society Jazz Festival in 1990), Urban Ambience, and was founder and leader of the Whats New Septet (1995). His Jazz compositions have been recorded by Comraderie Tapes and included in the missing links Tape Sampler. Composing for film since 1996, he has provided scores for Board Stories, Rules of Order, the independent production American Lullaby, and the CityScape production Wastebasket. He has also provided music, efx, and sound design for Eric Mauro and his work has appeared on theBitscreen.com, the Seoul Animation Festival, Aspen Shortfest, and the ExCentris New Media Festival in Montreal.
1 Introduction
This series of articles for JazzFriends will hopefully offer a perspective on Jazz in a historical and cultural context -and I hope spark some discussion pro and con related to the themes covered in each. I will try to provide my research sources and some recordings to support the views expressed.
As this in an introduction to what I hope will be a complete series [over time], I thought I would outline the future content and also attempt to articulate the context in which I view the development of Jazz and the forces which shaped this music.
The outline is 7 broad categories:
. The earliest African/European cross culturalization
. The roots of Jazz before the turn of the Century
. The New Orleans/Chicago/Big Band Period to Mid-1950’s
. The development of Bop and the resulting emphasis on Jazz as Concert Music [rather than a Functional Music]
. The immediate Post-Bop era to mid-1960
. The Modal/Fusion development to late-1970
. The stylistic fractionalization from l980 to the present
The context is a little longer. So first, I wish to state, that I am self taught in this. I have no formal training in Jazz History - I am a Guitarist. That training was through private lessons and the musicians I worked with [all of whom worked or were taught by others who lived through the period from the late 20’s on]. Second, I have no prejudices about what is Jazz [and I’m not going to define what is or is not Jazz] - if it is honest and comes from a “Jazz” esthetic I will accept it, though I might not like it . And finally, I consider the Arts of a particular culture or era an access point into that culture or time period -provided you are willing to learn the esthetic language of the particular Art form [Music is often described as the Universal Language and I would disagree].
I view the history of Jazz as a cultural history of the United States- the good and the bad. It’s roots developed from the mingling of cultures, the circumstances of which were, euphemistically, not the best.
That such a beautiful and enduring art form could spring from such circumstances is an amazement to me and a tribute to the strength and endurance of the human spirit . That it has become, in reality, an underground music in our present era is a constant grief.
When I decided to write this series I originally was going to jump right in and start on the subject
immediately - I decided not to. Instead, this introduction became an important prelude for me. I teach Jazz Ensembles at small music center in Boston. I constantly, in that role, deal with highly motivated people who want to learn, want to play, and, for the most part, force time out of very busy schedules to participate. I thought it would be all theory and more theory. It was not. I found myself dealing with two major issues - Repertoire and Performance Practice. Neither of these are solely theory specific and so learning “Jazz Theory”,which essentially is the bebop tradition, will not generate an adequate vocabulary for performance. What was lacking, was an understanding of the different stylistic periods, the repertoire associated with those periods, and how to realize the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic conventions within these styles - to my mind, a lack of historical perspective about the musical styles within the genre we call Jazz.
There is another consequence - a realization that Jazz is not a static language, but is constantly evolving. The Music responds to the cultural environment which surrounds it - and our culture is certainly not static.
Recently, in response to ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ about styles, I recorded some tapes for class use. I recorded them chronologically from the early 1900’s to mid 1990’s. I had done this type of listening regularly when I was in college but that was 20 years ago. It turned out to be an education for me. I was comfortable with everything up to the early 1980’s - then I had to struggle with what was new. The music had evolved and I had to catch up ! Yet, I was able to find familiarity in much of what I listened to. But, I had to listen and draw upon my knowledge of what came before. This whole episode put into perspective a simple statement from my college days - new is often a logical outgrowth or a reaction against previous practice - listening in this fashion illuminated this statement. By the way, this was advice from a professor in a History of Western Music Class. I had admitted no knowledge of the Classical repertoire or history. His advice preceding this statement was listen chronologically, choose what you like, identify what you don’t, study both to understand why. I hope I never forget this and always apply it to my musical pursuits.
Again, I hope this Introduction will provide an orientation for the subsequent articles and spark some interaction with the themes of each.
2 Africa and Europe : Cross Culturalization
One of the things I find fascinating about Jazz is how two musical cultures found a common ground for interaction and I thought I would relate some of the things I discovered in searching for these common areas. It might be helpful to look at some generalizations about music and society and then cover the similarities which are found between African and European attitudes and practices regarding music.
First, Music in any culture is integrated with the activities of the society at large - it is defined and placed into the fabric of daily life and this results in the way music is ordered in society and how people think about what music is and should be. This integration varies by culture - but it is not the differences but the commonalities which enable cross culturalization. It is these common areas that can be the most difficult to identify - I think the new and unusual can often overwhelm the similarities between different cultures. Just dealing with how music functions in a society breaks down into numerous parts and not all Genres and Styles function the same within each society and not all functions are specifically musical or artistic.
Music can function as : Aesthetic enjoyment, Entertainment, Communication, Symbolic representation, Physical response, Enforcing conformity and Social norms,Validate social institutions and religious rituals, Contribute to continuity & stability,Contribute to the integration of society, and Emotional expression.
You should know this is not my own list - I found it in “The Anthropology of Music” by Alan P. Merriam [Northwestern University Press, 1964]. It started me thinking about music beyond the Notes and Chord Changes. What I did was take a style of music I was familiar with and try to identify the functions it might or might not have in our culture. It was surprising to see how music works in our culture - and more so, that even in our corporate mass entertainment media these functions still have validity. Ours is a complex society and the components of this culture are complex. All of the music I worked with had more than one function ascribed to it. - it could be Physical response as dance music, Emotional expression as words describing lost love, Aesthetic enjoyment as OK I did like the Notes and Chord Changes, Entertainment as it was fun and enjoyable to listen to.
This was with musics I was familiar with ! Something new and “foreign” would require a little set up work. That set up work was easy - listening. The following list is what I used:
. Roots of Black Music In America-music of the slave areas of West Africa and the music of the United States and the Caribbean; Folkways FA2694
. Music Down Home-an introduction to negro folk music, USA; Folkways FA 2691
. Negro Folk Music of Africa and America; Ethnic Folkways FE 4500
. Ballads of Black America; Folkways FC 7751
. Bantu High Life; Folkways FW 8857
. The Columbia World Library of Folk and Primitive Music, British East Africa; Columbia Ethnic Series 91A.02017
. Black Music of South America; Nonesuch H-72036
. The Country Blues:Vol 2, Edited by Samuel Charters; Folkways RBF 9
It’s not an all inclusive list - nor restricted to solely Tribal music. What I wanted was an overview -could I hear similarities in this mix of Traditional and Modern, Native and Transplanted, Authentic and Derivative musics. Well, I could not at first. I needed something to focus my listening. A good reference is a short book - “Folk and Traditional Music of the Western Continents”, Bruno Nettl, [Prentice Hall History of Music Series, 1973]. Two chapters were very relevant: Music of Black Africa and Afro-American Folk Music In North and Latin America. One caution: when we speak of African music don’t assume all music from Africa is the same - there are very many cultural differences and variations. The term African is just a geographical reference, not a single musical entity - the same can happen when Latin Music is used to describe all music from or rooted in the various genres and styles from Latin America.
One of the interesting items is that some of the general characteristics for tribal music are not found in African music. For instance, in tribal society [Nettl uses the term “non literate” or primitive. I don’t agree with this description for a tribal society], participation in musical activities is general and all persons participate equally. To the contrary, in African music, there are many instances of a class of professional musicians who earn their living from music and are regarded as specialists. In some tribes, there is a classification of different types of musicians. The status of musicians vary by culture but Nettl mentions one tribe the Basongye who:
“regard musicians as being of low status. Musicians are said to be heavy drinkers, debtors, unreliable, impotent, adulterers, poor marriage risks...................People do not want their children to become musicians, but the musicians are nevertheless tolerated because they are essential to the life of the whole group”
As a working musician, I thought this statement sounded rather familiar - except for impotent [I just thought that should be mentioned].
The functions of African music are many and varied as in any complex society - and Tribal society is a complex society. Nettl indicates that the uses of music in Africa “parallel those of European folk music”. There is a large quantity of music used for religious and ceremonial purposes, for entertainment, social songs, songs of political expression [royal drums, fanfares, criticism/praise of authority], to spread news and gossip, and work songs. These functions are all found in the folk music of 18th Century England and America.
There is also a large variety of instruments - flutes, tuned/untuned percussion, strings both plucked and bowed. The one unifying characteristic is the percussive ideal in instruments [not percussion!] - plucked strings outnumber bowed. Also, there are musical performance groups of varying sizes - up to small orchestras of 30 with a conductor. Again, much similarity with European music, but with one notable difference - a different sound ideal.
Performance practice is probably the one element most retained by African cultures displaced to the New World. Most often mentioned is call and response and improvisation -as a variation on the theme. Call and response has a leader singing a musical phrase and a chorus responding with another. Improvisation as variation works off of the original melody and adds variations to the melody each time it is repeated. The improvisational aspect of the performance also gave:
“ rise to polyphonic forms which utilize melodic and rhythmic polyphony organized by short melodic units”-the performers developed more than one melody while singing together, a percussion section more than one rhythm superimposed. These African characteristics resulted in a:
“sophistication of musical form rivaling those of European art music - based upon the basic musical principles of brevity, repetition and variation, binary structure, and improvisation”-any complex musical composition follows an organization in linear time that the listener can make sense of - provided they are familiar with the musical language being used. In melody, African music sounds familiar. It does not have an exotic or unintelligible sound to it that some other cultural musics have. It seems to fit the “diatonic scheme that is the basis for Western Art Music” - there is not a strangeness to what we hear in African music. Here too, it parallels European Folk music - not exactly but close enough to sound familiar.
These similarities provide a bridge between the two cultures. For any kind of interaction, some common areas need to exist. The more common areas, the easier it is for two cultures to influence each other. These influences are never one way - each culture’s music is affected by the other. The resultant musical mix is a true “Fusion” music. Some African elements and some European elements finding an common ground, interacting, and producing a new music based on elements of both cultures. Similarities are not enough however. In our day of electronics, recording, radio and TV it is easy to forget that without these communication tools some other means of cultural interaction is necessary - the two cultures must be geographically close to communicate and there must be a way for each to contact and experience the others’ music.
Before I sign off for this month, I want to emphasize two points. When comparing two cultures it is too easy to create a perspective where comparison is judged against a fixed standard and influence is only in one direction. There is no fixed standard of comparison - only a methodology for comparing two musical systems. Also, influences must be bi-directional to accommodate the new musical elements that musicians manipulate to create music - and these new aspects may require new skills, perspectives, and theory. I’ve already mentioned the Rhythmic polyphony of African music, but there is also another characteristic I find more interesting. A feature of West African music is the “ability of musicians to keep the same tempo for minutes and hours”. I spend a lot of time developing this ability as a Jazz player - it also is not a characteristic of European Art music. One speaks of the groove or time feel when dealing with Jazz. It is a elemental part of being able to improvise - you must be able to hear where you are going in a tune to successfully improvise and an expectation of what lies ahead is essential. The one thing that ties this together is a common time reference - and this is a purely African element.
I’m sure there are many other similarities between the two cultures besides the ones I mentioned -function, variety and type of instruments, ensemble organization, music specialists, cultural attitudes about music and musicians, performance practice, use of musical forms, and mutually intelligible melodic elements. But even with this brief list, there is enough common ground to communicate musically - what’s needed is time, place, and opportunity.
3 Time, Place, and Opportunity
Last month, I talked about cultures and how they borrow from each other - hopefully stressing the musical similarities between African and European traditions. But I left out one important element - the two cultures must have the opportunity to interact, a geographical proximity for that interaction, and a place in time and over time for the cultural elements to mingle.
Bruno Nettl (Prentice Hall History of Music Series mentioned last month), identifies:
“One of the truly important developments in the recent history of world music was initiated by the forced migration of great numbers of Africans, as slaves, to various parts of the Americas.”
This is the one thing which set the stage for the development of Jazz, and Latin musics in the Americas. It brought two cultures into intimate contact and what evolved from that contact: “had an impact on all strata of twentieth-century music in the West and elsewhere.” These African elements, imported to the Americas through institutionalized Slavery, have a major responsibility for not only Jazz and Latin musics but also much of Western popular music - gospel, rock, R&B, Blues, etc.. These African heritages are:
“major forces in everyday musical life; and their effect on composers of art music in the United States and Latin America as well as on such Europeans as Antonin Dvorak and Igor Stravinsky has been considerable”.
That such a cultural impact and such a diversity of musics - such beauty in Art - came from such a
dismal and degrading practice is for me the ultimate tribute to the human spirit. It never ceases to amaze me that such music as Jazz came from such origins.
In the Americas, the African tradition spread through North, Central, and South America, and also the Caribbean. In each of these areas, the mingling of musical cultures resulted in a unique style. In brief, the differences in which European Colony and native Indian population - as well as the particular African identity imported to that region - resulted in a different musical fusion. The common thread for this spread of African musical culture was the Slave Trade Routes of the period - and slavery was common in all of the Americas (it should be noted that the indigenous Indian population was likewise exploited). I am going to remain true to my original intent and not sidetrack into the musics of Latin America - that is a separate though adjunct study. It is time to focus on North America and the circumstances peculiar to this geographical region in the development of Jazz.
One of the circumstances which shaped the evolution of African music in North America has to do with the nature of slavery as practiced in this region - and where slaves were obtained. Both of these elements shaped the musical evolution toward Jazz.
First, the majority of slaves were brought to the United States from the West Indies (the Rum, Sugar, and Slave Triangle Trade). Rather than being able to live in:
“closed communities in which African Tribal groups could still function, the Blacks were brought to the United States from the West Indies, where elements of African culture had already begun to change and disappear…”
Here, the African slave was first influenced by the European country controlling the particular part of the Caribbean - either French or Spanish - and the particular music of that country was the first encounter (‘Jelly Roll’ Morton’s Spanish Tinge?). The Black slave often remained in this area for months to years before relocation to the US - time enough to assimilate many European influences.
Second, the dominant religion of the region greatly effected how much of the cultural heritage the Black slave could retain:
“the impact of Protestant denominations in the United States was of such a nature as to annihilate many, if not most of the West African religious practices.”
It was this difference in religious orientation which shaped some of the differences between North and South America. The Catholic colonies, for the most part, were not too concerned with the religious life of the slave. As such, they were allowed much more latitude in retaining the musical and religious culture of West Africa - also, Catholicism had a similarity to West African religions which eased assimilation into the religious practices of the Slave population. Protestant denominations actively proselytized for conversion in the United States and replaced to a much greater degree the religious culture of the Black slave. I feel that this is one reason the music of Latin America retains much more direct African elements than that of North America. Also,coupled with the closer contact between master and slave in North America, the African heritage (while certainly not disappearing) was retained less as specifics and more as a value structure.
Risking a very general “generalization”, the European countries involved in the slave trade had markedly different ways of dealing with the African. The Catholic countries of France and Spain allowed the African to function in a closed group which allowed the African to retain more of his culture. The North American area - mainly English and Protestant - did not. Here, the African was forced to assimilate to a greater degree and as a result lost more of his particular culture - and was influenced to a greater degree by the culture of the slave masters. The process also worked in the other direction - the African slave had a greater impact on the surrounding European culture. It was the closeness of the cultural contact which was so different - and that closeness extended to the musics of both cultures. It seems to be that:
“on the whole, those features of music that were most strongly developed in Africa have to some extent also been retained in Afro-American music; and, conversely, those which were not developed to any great degree of complexity or distinctiveness (such as scale) seem to have given way to traits bearing the European trademark.”
The African features retained are the emphasis on rhythm, the use of syncopation and complicated rhythmic figures, an emphasis on “beat”, adherence to strict meter and tempo, call and response patterns, love of instruments and instrumental musics, and vocal techniques, improvisatory techniques, and use of short theme variation. The European features incorporated are musical forms, harmonic structure, instruments, and scale.
These are the common musical aspects mentioned in any discussion of Jazz Origins. But, to my mind, it is not Jazz - yet. The Afro-American musical culture is more than just the idiom of Jazz. There is a rich tradition of Afro-American folksongs and other musics - they are just not as widely known. I mentioned some recorded sources last month for listening. To my ear, the Folksongs are closer to the European/American Folk Idiom than the African - with African elements present but not predominant.
Both cultures borrowed freely in this area and that of Religious musics, and Popular musics of the period -1800’s. We still need the unique set of circumstances which produced Jazz.
The three European cultures mentioned [Spanish, French, and English] exchanged colonial possessions -some areas living under the rule of each of these in succession. In these areas, the African slave was subjugated under the different attitudes about slavery and variations of music of each colonial power. Also, I should mention that each of these colonial powers had previous experience in Africa - Spain was occupied by the Moors [often mentioned as an influence on the unique nature of that countries music]. But still, one last element is needed - a geographical area - one where all the influences can converge and intermingle; where the social factors were present to allow these four cultures to function concurrently; a period of relative political stability; and a heritage of freely accessible musical activity.
4 New Orleans
Before we visit New Orleans, we’re going to stop in the West Indies. Last month, I mentioned the factors of the slave trade and how the European Colonial Powers imported the slave population to the New World and the Islands of the West Indies as the first major stop in this forced migration. Remember also, that the treatment and attitudes toward the African Slave varied between the Latin-Catholic and the British-Protestant colonies. A more detailed description to the West Indies will provide some necessary background for New Orleans.
I will be using two sources for this next section:
. “The Story of Jazz”, Marshall W. Sterns,Oxford University Press, New York, 1958. “A Story of Jazz”. Paul Tanner & Maurice Gerow, W.C. Brown Co.,Iowa, 1973 Each island in the West Indies represents a unique blend of African and European elements. Dutch Guiana - now the Republic of Suriname - had a large element of slaves who escaped into the interior jungle and they retained almost all their African heritage; those who remained on the coast and in close contact with the predominant European culture lost most of the African heritage. Haiti is a predominately Dohomean/French culture and the music is a blend of French folk melodies with African elements. Cuba is a predominately Yoruba/Spanish culture and the music also reflects this - the Habanera, Guajira, Punto, and Guaracha contain strong Spanish elements; the Rhumba, Conga, Son Afro-Cubano, Mambo, and the Cha-Cha are predominately African. Trinidad is a mixture of Spanish, French, and English influences - Spain and England held it as a colonial possession and the French entered as colonists. Important for us is a group of people called Shouters. This group were in effect a culture of African, Latin-Catholic, and with a final overlay of Protestantism (by conversion). The resultant religious music of this group is very close to a style of Revival music found in the United States.
These examples show how the particular European/African blend resulted in a uniquely different musical hybrid. The Shouters experienced the closest circumstances to that of the United States - and developed a music very similar to the Revival style in the United States. But, New Orleans added more to the mix. The circumstances here were similar but additional factors were present. It is the sum of these circumstances and influences which made New Orleans the Place in Time with the Opportunity for Jazz to develop.
The colonial history of New Orleans is a microcosm of the period. It was a French colony for its first 46 years. Customs were established that have endured to this day and during this period resembled the French West Indies. It was ceded to Spain in 1764 and then briefly back to France in 1800. In 1803, as part of the Louisiana Purchase, it was sold to the United States. In short, it was a Latin-Catholic colony of both France and Spain for 82 years and then part of a British-Protestant country. This history of the city created an environment very different from the rest of the US.
The slave population reflected each colonial preference - Yoruba with Spanish and French sovereignty (as France had taken over many Spanish possessions); Dahomeans, again, with French sovereignty. But, this population was mostly imported from the West Indies. Later, many were obtained from San Domingo with a stop over in Cuba. Also, there was still an influx directly from Africa. It is in New Orleans that the many African Tribal Cultures were able to also influence each other - right up to the Civil War.
The city, however, remained a predominately Latin-Catholic area. This - even with the increasing Protestant influence - enabled the African to retain much of his music and culture. But the increasing range of musical influences upon the African was unique. The Creoles who combined Spanish, French and African ancestry attained considerable social status and assimilated much of European Culture -many sent their children to school in Europe; the slave population in the large surrounding plantations were able to maintain most of their African heritage; and the economic prosperity of the city opened the paths of cross-culturalization.
With the Louisiana Purchase the great western migration started in the US. The opening of the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys created a demand for supplies most easily transported up the Mississippi river from New Orleans. New Orleans prospered and the city population doubled in seven years - from 10,000 (1/2 white & 1/2 black). This created a demand for entertainment and a singular mixing of the European and the African. Early on, the city was segregated along economic lines rather than racial - this spread the black population across the city and did not concentrate it in any one area (till the import of Northern prejudice after the Civil War). Sterns maintains that this economic prosperity is really what enabled this mixing of cultures to take place.
Two African-american practices have direct influence on the development of Jazz - the practice of Vodun and the pre & post Civil War performances by slaves and former slaves in Congo Square. The Vodun ceremonies (a African/Catholic mixture) tended to act as a preservation of many of the African cultural elements. It flourished in the city because of the long Latin-catholic history and the importation of slaves from the West Indies. Sterns indicates that ‘Jelly Roll’ Morton was a devout believer. The Congo Square performances (outdoor dances held 1817 - 1885) were legalized by the city’s Municipal Council in 1817 - in part to combat the underground practice of Vodun (which was illegal) and to provide a safety valve to keep the slaves contented. The performances brought the sounds of Vodun out into the open and hastened the blending of European and African elements. Each of these, in varying degrees, used melodic elements which were French-creole, were sung in a French-creole patois, and gradually mixed with European instruments as the century wore on. The Latin-catholic heritage of the city pervades this pre-jazz period in many ways. The most direct link (to my mind) is the French Military Band. This particular performance group reached its peak in Napoleonic France. It spread throughout the United States as entertainment and New Orleans followed the French tradition. These Bands were employed at almost all functions - including funerals. The Afroamerican followed this tradition and organized similar musical organizations early on. Coupled with the development of the ‘secret society’ and ‘fraternal organizations’ which provided employment for these groups; they became a focus for the blending of European and African musics and instruments. It should be noted that the fraternal/secret societies and the forms of funeral ceremonies utilizing the Bands have parallels in the West African Traditions of the slave and former slave populations - the mixing of cultural influences is now in earnest.
One last factor needs to be expanded upon - the Creoles of Color. The Black Code of 1724 provision for the manumission (freeing) of slaves in which the children shared the status of their mothers created a new social class in the city. When a white aristocrat died, he frequently willed that his part-african mistress/slave should be freed and his children by this mistress were also freed. These people became know as Creoles of Color - with French, Spanish, and African ancestry. The children were often given all the advantages the family could provide - including a European education - and as such, assimilated a distinctly European heritage. The Creoles of Color attained status and wealth, some, by 1830, owning cotton and sugar plantations and slaves of their own. Their status however ebbed and flowed with the tide of prejudice in the city. By 1889, they were no longer considered a separate class and assumed a place in the Black community. Here, their European training in music combined with the influences of the former slave population and again provided a means for European and African musical cultures to mix. The Marching Bands provided the focal point of much of the musical contact. But, it’s still not Jazz - yet.
5 The Birth of Jazz
Last month I felt I had covered all the background that was necessary to discuss the accepted start of Jazz in New Orleans at the turn of the century. After 4 articles, and the research associated with them, the actual writing had become routine. Starting this month’s article - I thought - would be just the same. It was not. First, the material I had on hand was very light on the specifics of the period; second, I had only a few cuts of what was supposed to be New Orleans Dixieland (as opposed to the Chicago style), and lastly, I could not focus on a particular artist’s work for epitomizing the era. This article became difficult; but the mentioned reasons were not enough to diagnose a writers block - so I pulled out an old book (“A Pictorial History of Jazz”, Orrin Keepnew & Bill Grauer, Crown Publishers, Inc, 1966). I’m glad I did. The hard part about writing a historical perspective (for me) is getting caught up in facts - but Jazz is not about facts, it is about people and the times they lived in. Looking at the pictures in this book put a human face to the words I had written and the facts I had researched. The deck of a slave ship, the sale of slaves after landing, streets with no cars, a view of the riverfront in New Orleans with clearly visible Paddle Wheel Steamers - all reiterating a ‘picture is worth a Buddy Bolden thousand words’. The reality of reading about historical facts and the danger of interpreting and imagining with a modern ‘minds eye’ does often distort our perspective, for what I saw was a society and musical environment far different from mine. The pictures of the early New Orleans bands are most striking to me. There is one of Buddy Bolden taken before 1895. Much has been written about him -he is the musician (Trumpet) with whom Stearns starts his discussion of New Orleans Jazz. They are posed in dark suits and bow ties - not much different from today.
There are also two pictures - one of the Original Superior Orchestra (with Bunk Johnson) and the Imperial Band (with Manuel Perez) in uniforms - almost as if they took the picture before a street ‘gig’. It was here that these pictures became a window into their time and place In picture after picture, what I felt and saw in my ‘minds eye’ were people - people who lived, played music, worked hard to make a living, and had no idea they were making Jazz History. One aspect however is missing. The sounds of the bands and the people and the city. The names had no sounds linked to them:
Superior Band
. Buddy Bolden, Willie Cornish, Frank Lewis, Frankie Duson, Bunk Johnson, Louis Nelson, Manuel Perez, Paul Barbarin, Luis Russell, Albert Nicholas, Peter Bocage, Lorenzo Tio,Jr. , Oscar “Papa” Celestin, Jimmy Noone, John Lindsey, Johnny St. Cyr, Buddy Petit, Zue Robertson, Armand J. Piron, Louis Cotrelle, Freddie Keppard, Adie Venson, George Baquet, Bill Johnson, Dink Johnson, Jimmie Palao, Norwood Williams, Sidney Bechet, Joe Oliver, Baby Dodds, Honore Dutray, Louis Armstrong, Fate Marable, Johnny Dodds, Pops Foster, Bill Ridgeley, Dave Jones, Joe Howard, Kid Ory, Mutt Carey, Ed Garland.
just faces staring back from the page. Yes, some were eventually recorded later on but by then the music of Early New Orleans had already been influenced by the Chicago Dixieland style. What we know about this period is through reminiscences by the musicians who lived through it - it is the last era with no contemporary sound recordings (first jazz recording was done in 1917).
These people were working musicians and I felt an affinity for who they were and what they did. I think I would feel comfortable with them as I do with anyone I play music with today. The recording industry and the public had not created superstars - though some were. They were people playing the music they knew and loved - trying to make some income while doing it. I doubt if they thought about and analyzed this music as we do - I am sure they studied it - but for them, Jazz History was not yet a subject for study, they were writing the first chapter.
Sterns states the dates for New Orleans Dixieland as 1900 - 1917 and as a music which we would recognize as jazz. It was here, that the:
“over-all direction switched from European Elements dominating African elements to European Elements being influenced by a new combination dominated by African Elements”
The influences of French, Spanish, and British music continued to be a part of this new music. The melodies and rhythms of the popular songs of the day were a standard part of the repertoire. The execution of this style had some universal characteristics - The Cornet/Trumpet played the melody line with allowed embellishments (but not to obscure the melodic line), the clarinet played a harmony line above the melody and rhythmically created momentum within the ensemble, the Trombone played the most important note in the current chord change, the rhythm section consisted of banjo, tuba, and drums. This particular instrumentation lent itself well to both outdoor marching events and concerts/dances - not much different in function from the standard Septet format. Eureka Band In conception, it was much different (in my opinion) than our modern jazz one. The rhythm section played a ‘flat four’ rhythm - four unaccented beats to the bar. This made it very close to the European March Rhythm and the 2 & 4 accent of the typical Jazz pulse is still absent. The Front Line (Cornet, Clarinet, & Trumpet) conceived their parts horizontally through the harmonic content of the particular tune. The typical performance practice was ensemble chorus, solo choruses, and a return to the ensemble chorus. This ensemble chorus was not strictly constructed through improvisation over the melody but often contained patterns which crept into the tunes through common practice - but the effect was a collective improvisation with great rhythmic complexity among the Front Line players.
The bands themselves varied greatly in sound - depending on the players available for any particular engagement and according to the dictates of the particular job and the audience present. As such, they often moved between a rough sound or a sweet sound - something which carried through into the Swing Era classification of bands. Also, this music was not an exclusively Afro-American preserve and there were White bands functioning in the same idiom - Pappa Jack Laine for example.
The other musics associated with the birth of Jazz - Blues, Work Songs, Minstrelsy - all contributed to the mix prior to 1900. But, there was still much to be developed before that accented pulse of 2 & 4 emerged with Chicago Dixieland. It would be Ragtime (a piano style), the establishment of Storyville by New Orleans Alderman Sidney Story in 1896,and its closing by the Navy in 1917 which set the stage for the Chicago style.
The date 1917 is a pivotal one - both in general history and this jazz history. The country as a whole moved outward with the involvement of WW I - whether we wanted it or not - we changed into a ‘modern’ country in a ‘modern’ era. For Jazz, the first Jazz recording was made by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band during a stint at Reisenweber’s Cafe in New York City. The music played by this group was to name an entire decade - the Jazz Age of the 20’s. So, just about 300 yrs after the first slave were brought to and sold in this country, the music that they had such a great part in creating was recorded - ironically by a white group -and was to be the popular music for the next 40 yrs.
6 The Jazz Age
I’m still browsing the Keepnews Pictorial History of Jazz - I really haven’t looked at in years till I took it out last month. The pictures have a fascination for me ........... or maybe I’m seeing with different “eyes”. The section on Chicago Dixieland is in some ways very similar to the previous New Orleans chapter but also, very different. The Instrumentation is still basically the same and 5 pieces seem to be the rule. One striking absence is the lack of String Bass in some of the pictures and the inclusion of an additional low brass - Tuba/Sousaphone in others. Also, the similarities in poses for the publicity photos is notable - as well as the number of indoor shots at the clubs and dance halls.
The one thing I found most interesting was the Bandstands. Invariably, they had an appearance of being part of the room - not add ons stuck in as an after thought or in a corner. The area was decorated to frame the musicians as a center of attention and there was room to sit and set up properly - including the Baby Grand piano ........but, no amplifiers, microphones, or wires. The dress was most familiar, only different in style - dark suits or tuxedos, with a hint at a uniformed dress (same ties, or cut of the suit).
The instrumention seems to build on the basic 5 piece unit as the decade of the ‘20’s advanced. The reed players doubled on saxophone, and the units got bigger with two saxes added, the addition of the String Bass (still doubling on Tuba/Sousaphone), and the increased appearance of the Guitar - usually as a double by the Banjo player. By the last pictures in this chapter, the bands seemed to average 7 players.
This seems to support the ‘text book’ resources describing the differences between New Orleans and Chicago Dixieland :
. Tenor Sax was added
. Guitar replaced the Banjo
. Addition of the Piano and String Bass
This change in instrumentation was also accompanied by stylistic changes in the music. For now, the soloist gained in importance and the ensemble supported this soloist; the into’s and ending’s became more elaborate; the voicings moved in parallel; and the flat four pulse was supplanted by the accented 2 & 4. This music was evolving to adapt to different circumstances and environments. With the closing of Storyville by the Navy in 1917, the music on New Orleans fanned out across the country - not just ‘up the river’ to Chicago. It spread to any location that had work opportunities and transportation - Kansas City and New King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band York. But it was Chicago which provided the easiest access. And it was the transplanted New Orleans musicians who created the style (Berendt states that Chicago Dixieland was created by young white musicians trying to copy the New Orleans players). But the New Orleans players dominated the Chicago Jazz scene early on. King Oliver lead the most important New Orleans band in Chicago, Louis Armstrong formed his Hot Five and Hot Seven here, Jelly Roll Morton the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Johnny Dodds his New Orleans Wanderers.
This was a period of flux for the nation as a whole. WW1 would push the nation into the “modern era”, new technologies were emerging - radio, talking pictures, records, and the migration from south to north (of which the New Orleans musicians were only a part) was changing the demographics of the country. With the advent of the ‘20’s, a period of economic prosperity and changing social structure was slowly remaking the face of the United States. In my mind we were evolving from a regional outlook into a national one - not overnight but slowly and steadily aided by the radio, the talking picture, the record player, and the increased ease of transportation. F. Scott Fitzgerald gave the name to this era - the Jazz Age…more a statement of attitude than music. Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five But, the name was descriptive of the excitement that swept the country with this new music. It was spread by the advent of the record and the emerging technology of the radio. The event which marks this is the 1917 debut of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band at Reisenweber’s Cabaret on Columbus Circle in New York - they also made the first Jazz recording in that same year. Jazz moved to New York - Red Nichols, Miff Mole, and Jimmy Dorsey all recorded in the city. A crop of young musicians entered the field - Pee Wee Russell, Dave Tough, Bud Freeman, Gene Krupa, Eddie Condon, Mezz Mezzrow, Benny Goodman, Bix Biederbecke, Muggsy Spanier, Bunny Berrigan .......the “Austin High Gang” and their friends.
The record and the radio were major events in the evolution of Jazz. The timing was just right - 1917 for the first recording (1921 for the first black group - Kid Ory) and Sept. 14, 1920 for the first radio show.
These two technologies made the music not just a live event or service industry but a commodity - you could buy it and walk home with it. Prior to this, the closest was the sheet music industry. The sales of which reached a million units in 1905 and was shown to be a money making commodity by William Handy the American composer (Memphis Blues, Yellow Dog Blues, St. Louis Blues, etc.) - Jazz could be written down and sold; now it was recorded and sold. A secondary effect of the record was it could be shipped, carried, exported, and imported - you no longer had to be in New York or Chicago or New Orleans or Kansas City to hear what the bands were doing ! Jazz became a true popular culture side by side with the radio and the record. The books I use for these articles all state that the ODJB was not the first or the only Jazz group playing the new style but just in the right place at the right time - so was the Music… right at the advent of the technological developments to spread this music nationally and to a large popular audience.
This music is still available - you can buy it and carry it home. Here’s a short list :
1. The Genius of Louis Armstrong, Volume 1:1923-1933; Columbia G 30416; The John Hammond Collection. This includes cuts from The Hot Five and The Hot Seven.
2. The Immortal Johnny Dodds, South Side Chicago Jazz of the 1920’s, Milestone MLP 2002. This has a cut with Freddy Keppard.
3. Louis Armstrong and King Oliver with Lil Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Baby Dodds, Jelly Roll Morton, Milestone M-47017. This has 16 cuts by King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band.
4. Bix Beiderbecke and the Chicago Cornets, Milestone M-47019.
This features Bix with the Wolverines and has cuts with Miff Mole, Frank Trumbauer, Tommy Dorsey, and Muggsy Spanier.This period is for me the start of Jazz - it is alive still. The sounds of the names, bands, and places can still be heard - the pictures from Keepnews are no longer two dimensional but three...........one can still hear their music. From this point on, the one notable fact is the documentation on recording of the musics evolution and the changes brought by a changing society and culture of which it is so much a part. It is this opportunity to listen chronologically which has shaped my attitude about Jazz. Jazz evolves - one style it is not and the new builds or evolves or reacts in relation to what came before…to meet new cultural or technological developments.
7 The Passage To Swing
The Swing Bands which emerged in the early ‘30’s actually owe their development to the tradition of the popular dance bands of the ‘20’s. It was not the Dixieland Jazz groups which evolved into these large units but Dance bands such as Paul Whiteman, Ben Pollack, and Jean Goldkette.
The Paul Whiteman band [to my mind actually a small orchestra or concert band] was a large group which basically adopted European Concert devices and flavored them with Jazz Elements. He did however have a major impact on the popularity of the Jazz Idiom and helped set the stage for the Swing Era. Keepnews’ picture of the band in 1928 shows 25 musicians - including Bix Biederbecke and Frank Trumbauer; another in the same year shows 26 members - a second piano had been added. The instrumentation was very close to the standard Swing Band : 2 piano, 1 accordion, 4 Trumpet, 4 Trombone, 7 Reeds, 5 Violins, 2 Tuba/Bass, 1 Banjo, 1 Percussionist. This band and its leader, while again not a Jazz Band, advanced the popularity of Jazz immeasurably. In February 12, 1924 Whiteman presented a ‘Jazz Concert’ at Aeolian Hall. This was a academic site and his aim was to to gain the jazz approval of the recognized authorities of music - he succeeded. It also paved the way for the popularity of large bands.
Paul Whiteman
Whiteman and Goldkette organizations were aimed at larger venues - big ballrooms, hotels, major vaudeville and movie houses. His orchestra sounded fuller and richer than the Dixieland groups and they utilized carefully rehearsed arrangements. And, he made money -I am sure one of the major factors in the proliferation of the large groups.
Whiteman and later imitators provided much needed income for the Jazz instrumentalist. Beiderbecke, Venuti, Lang, the Dorsey Brothers, and Trumbauer among others found employment with him. This period between the Aeolian Concert and the Depression of 1929 are confusing Whiteman Orchestra years in the Jazz Scene. The ascendancy of the large dance band overshadowed the small Dixieland group, but one of the conventions of the dance bands was to employ a smaller unit generated from the larger group to provide interludes of ‘Hot Jazz’. Dance bands also hired a few accomplished soloists to provide jazz improvisations during the large group performance - Biederbecke with Paul Whiteman. This ability to play sweet - the swing bands doubling as a smooth dance band and the small Jazz group within the larger Swing Band can be traced to this. Because the large venues made more money for the bands than the smaller rooms, the trend was to increase the size of the musical unit. The increase in size was necessary because amplification was in its infancy and the only way to meet the volume requirements of the larger rooms was to increase the number of musicians. It was this trend to larger venues and larger groups which paved the way for the Swing Bands of the following era. But first, some problems needed to be solved - the larger the group, the more written arrangements were necessary. But, the arranger had to find a way of preserving the jazz feel in larger groups and at what point did the band become too top heavy (too many musicians playing over the rhythm section) and rhythmic momentum stop.
Fletcher Henderson (with his arranger Don Redman) is credited with the pattern for Swing arrangements. Originally a pianist, Henderson talent was with arranging and solving the problem with his own expanding group. He first tried an enlarged Dixieland group but with the addition of Redman (studied at the Boston and Detroit Music Conservatories) tighter harmonic control became a major interest. What he finally established as a standard was the independent use of a trumpet, trombone, sax, and rhythm sections with the incorporation of soloists within the arrangement -this was an evolution from the standard ‘20’s dance band of 2 Tpts, 2 Saxs, 1 Tbne, and 4 Rhythm (banjo, piano, drums, tuba) Henderson was well aware of Whiteman (Whiteman purchased 20 of Redman’s charts) and Fletcher Henderson Band tried to imitate the plush arrangements - but when Louis Armstrong joined his band in 1924, the band would never be classified as ‘sweet’. Armstrong’s playing was too strong and ‘hot’ - Redman stated “I changed my style of arranging after I heard Armstrong”..........Redman worked out the swing formula after Armstrong had left the band. At the same time Chicago Dixieland was peaking in popularity New York and Kansas City were also becoming important geographic areas for the developments that were leading to Swing. In New York’s Harlem the emerging bands of Fletcher Henderson (at the Roseland Ballroom), King Oliver (at the Savoy Ballroom), Sam Wooding, Cecil Scott, Chick Webb, Don Redman, Charlie Johnson, William McKinney were appearing regularly. The clubs proliferated such as The Band Box, the Lenox Club, and the Cotton Club (Duke Ellington opened there in 1927). But unlike Kansas City, there was no real New York School - a characteristic of heavily structured arrangements was the only real identifying trait.
Kansas City on the other hand was a well defined sound shaped by a large Black population and supported by several large ballrooms. It was a blues based riff structure - smoother and sweeter than the ‘20’s Dixieland sound but with the drive demanded by the southwest audience still intact. Bennie Moten is a good example of the transition from the Dixieland of the early ‘20’s to the changes started in the late ‘20’s. He started with the traditional sound of the Dixieland groups but expanded the group starting in the middle of the decade - to create more sonority he added reeds to his sax section and had expanded to 3 trumpets and 2 trombones as early as 1931.
This is the band that Count Basie ‘inherited’. Basie was stranded in Kansas City and joined the Moten Band. He left to form his own group and took many Bennie Moten of Moten’s players with him. Moten died just as this was happening and Basie in effect took over the rest of Moten’s organization. But, Moten and Basie were not the only K.C. based bands - Andy Kirk (with Mary Lou Williams) and Walter Page among others were based here.
Count Basie
The years 1924 - 1929 was to my mind a true transition period. The new technologies of the phonograph, radio (by 1925, 563 Radio stations had been licensed), microphone, talking pictures, and the jukebox had great effect on the spread and popularity of Jazz. The big dance bands were influenced by the new music, provided employment for jazz players, brought jazz ‘flavors’ to the general public, and were a start for the evolution to Swing. The centers of Jazz activity moved to New York and Kansas City - and as Jazz dried out in the mid-west attracted the major talent. Then in 1929 the Depression hit. The struggle for economic survival saw some of that talent leave for Europe (Ellington and Armstrong), radio staff jobs (Goodman), and some surviving in ‘sweet’ hotel bands (Lombardo)...............but the music business hurt just like the rest of the country. Jazz would not be heard of again till 1935.
8 Ritz Crackers
The Swing Era lasted 10 years from 1935-1945.The term Swing Music was used originally by the British Broadcasting Company which felt that the term ‘hot jazz’ represented something immoral. The original term was but that was 50 years prior. The name stuck and labels this era and style of Jazz. In a way it mirrors the difficulties the music surmounted in gaining acceptance - as anything labeled ‘new’ must. Rhythmically, it differed greatly from the preceding dance music - often called ‘two beat’ - while at the same time growing out of that older style.It was the popular music of its time and the musical influences still touch us today - 60 years later. The music came of age at a time when the technologies of radio and movies and recording had matured beyond the term ‘new’ and had secured a niche in the life of this country. It was marketed with all the tactics of modern publicity - and made money for those who played it and those who sold it. But not right away.
The Depression had greatly affected the entire country and the Music Business had been no exception. But now the economic environment was recovering. The effects were fading, especially for the better off segment of the middle class, and the music rapidly gained an audience among the college students. Keep in mind this was the early ‘30’s and this audience was smaller and above average in income by today’s standards. Coupled with the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 - which brought the music out of the Speakeasy and into larger venues - it provided a base of popular demand for the Big Bands. The audiences that embraced this new music were young and they danced. The Swing Bands and Swing Music were functional.
The Musical formula which enabled a large group of musicians to still play jazz had been worked out by the Harlem Bands of the preceding decade:
1. It stabilized at 13 musicians organized into sections (5 Brass [3Tpt, 2Tbne]; 4 Reeds; and 4 Rhythm).
2. The ‘hot’ solo line was harmonized and notated for the whole section and this harmonized line had to be written in the same style that a soloist would use if improvising.
3. The use of ‘Riffs’ - the adoption of the West African Call & Response pattern - kept the Brass and Reed Sections answering each other in endless variations.The soloists were supported with background riffs.