The Evolution of Jazz Music: From Work Songs to Be-Bop
The Origins of Jazz Music
Origin of Jazz: Jazz originated from the songs of enslaved people who worked on plantations in the southeastern United States. There are three primary genres: Work Song, Blues, and Gospel song.
Work Songs
Work Song: Work songs helped slaves coordinate their efforts on plantations. The pace of work provided the basis for the chants, accompanied by the sound of the tools. These songs had a sad and melancholy character, but were rhythmic. One worker would start singing, and the others responded by repeating the same verses.
Gospel Songs
Gospel Song: These were religious songs sung by Black Americans. The enslaved people gathered in church, where they sang with the hope of finding a better world after death, a world that was the same for everyone. The structure typically involved a soloist (preacher) and a chorus (response of the people).
Blues
Blues: The blues expressed the sadness of the enslaved people’s situation, accepting their fate with resignation. The climate is slow, sad, and tense, often with some irony.
Swing Era Features
Swing Features:
- Big bands (12 to 16 musicians) with soloists of great importance in contrast to the ensemble.
- Rhythm section: piano, guitar, bass or tuba, and drums.
- Melodic section: two sections of brass (trumpets and trombones) and a section of woodwinds (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, and clarinet). The instruments are tuned up when they are welcomed. The melodies of the pieces are much more elaborate.
- Style: Riff. Phrases of question and answer.
- Marked rhythmic beat four times. The two previous styles had a pace twice as slow. The four-stroke swing accentuates beats 2 and 4 with a special rhythm (dotted eighth note sixteenth note).
- Need for arrangers for the orchestra. This style loses in improvisation and orchestral spontaneity but gains complexity, becoming more like European music.
New Orleans Jazz
New Orleans: In 1865, Lincoln declared freedom for enslaved people. Some acquired brass instruments and learned to play with proper technique, trying to imitate what they did with their voices when singing. They formed bands and played in local slums of cities, especially New Orleans.
Be-Bop Characteristics
Characteristics of Be-Bop: Be-bop abandons the regularity of the drums, converting it into an autonomous instrument within the basic ensemble. The heartbeat moves away from traditional jazz. With be-bop, jazz ceases to be primarily dance music and becomes music to listen to.
The instruments are played at a speed so fast that it eliminates any comparison with the Black voice. The emotions of traditional jazz were replaced by the great technical skill of the performers. The interval of a descending diminished 5th is more popular at this time and characterizes the be-bop style.
Improvisations are framed by the issue presented in unison at the beginning and end of the piece, usually played by trumpet and saxophone.
Chicago Jazz Characteristics
Chicago characteristics:
- From 6 to 9 musicians, although some orchestras exceed 10.
- Rhythm section: piano, banjo or guitar, bass or tuba, and drums.
- Melody section: trumpet, clarinet, trombone, and, for the first time, saxophone.
- Single improvisation.
- Dominance over the soloists in the ensemble. When there are several melodic lines, they usually go parallel.
- Rhythmic pulsation in weak time, moving towards rhythmic time 2 and 4, especially in the drums.