History of Jazz Music Jazz music, one of the most popular genres there is today in American culture. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines jazz as a type of music with lively rhythms and melodies that is often made up by musicians as they play. American music developed especially from ragtime and blues and characterized by propulsive syncopated rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, varying degrees of improvisation, and often deliberate distortions of pitch and timbre. Although the jazz has been defined in the dictionary there is no common definition of this music has been reached according to musicians. Jazz music consists of several layers and the process is very difficult with composing and performing joined together.
Founded in New Orleands in the early 1900's was the greatest platform for success. New Orleans was a heaven beacuse there were various coultures in a confind musical city. When Jazz became trendy everyone wanted it play, letting people from all walks of life add thier personal flare to it. That is the beauty of Jazz, though there are guidlines to what makes Jazz music there are also infanite amount of possiblities to create something unique. One of Jazz's greatest weapons for success is improvization.
As it often refers to Gerry Mulligan and his associates in California, "West Coast" merely becomes synonymous with "cool jazz", although Lester Young, Claude Thornhill, and Miles Davis were based in New York. At the same time, many musicians associated with West Coast jazz "were much more involved in a hotter approach to jazz. Communication being what it is, it is hardly likely that any style of jazz was fostered exclusively in one area." Some jazz critics, such as French critic Hugues Panassié, looked down upon West Coast jazz because most of its musicians were white. However, there was a sizable number of African American musicians who played in the style, including Curtis Counce, Chico Hamilton, Buddy Collette and Hampton Hawes.
This fall from American attention also led to a new form of music that was just developing in the streets of New York City during the same time period, a new form of music that derives from the same culture, spirit, and same principles as jazz music. A form of music that in time became accepted and integrated into the jazz community. This form of music was Hip Hop. Growing up amidst terrible discrimination within society, many African American’s channeled their pain and suffering into a musical movement. In the 20’s this music was Jazz.
My music stretched and influenced various other genres such as blues, gospel, film scores, popular, and classical genres. My career spanned more than 50 years and included leading my orchestra, composing an “inexhaustible” songbook, scoring for movies, composing stage musicals, and world tours. I am generally considered to have “elevated the perception of jazz to an art form on a par with other traditional genres of music” due to my charisma and eloquence. I refer to my music as “American Music” rather than jazz. I melded the “beyond category” individuals of my orchestra into the most well-known jazz orchestral units in the history of jazz.
Born in the heart of New Orleans, it is lead to believe that jazz is both a popular music style and serious art form. This is proven to be correct through its development in the 19th and early 20th century, being heavily influenced through ragtime, marching bands, blues and African American spirituals. Throughout history, jazz has created serious use of improvisation, individuality and complexity that has shaped and aspired artists of today’s music. Before 1920, ragtime was seen to be a popular music style consisting of syncopated melodies and steady beats that had high contribution in creating a style of jazz. Primarily developed by African American Pianists who traveled throughout the south playing in saloons, dance halls and brothels, Ragtime flooded throughout America the music publishing industry, a music interest for whites and blacks.
Jazz Band II 18 October 2013 Mike Vax: BigBandJazz.net Mike Vax is an outstanding trumpeter who specializes in Jazz studies. On his album “BigBandJazz.net” he plays in a Ferguson-esque manor, not in terms of range, but style—playing over the band as the featured soloist. The first track on this album is “Royal Rendezous”, a Mike Vax original, which is a nice and mellow swing chart featuring tenor Scott Peterson and trumpeter Mike Olmos on the solos. I really enjoy this song because it contrasts in balance and dynamics. For example, the song at times changes from a quiet saxophone soli, to a loud shout chorus, to a uniquely created improvised solo.
It also had deeper roots in a style of music called “Blues,” which was used to express the daily experiences of the community (History). Other influences include the combination of West African folk music with the popular classical music of Europe, developing into syncopated rhythms and chord variations on classical pieces (Passion). Jazz started when World War I had just ended and a social revolution was on it's way. Customs and values of previous were rejected. Life was to be lived to the fullest.
The Swing Bands The music industry has redefined itself over the years to accommodate the ongoing changes in American culture. During the thirties and forties band music began to transcend toward a younger generation (Starr, Waterman, 2010, p. 118). The most popular bands that erupted airways and venues during this time were swing bands (Starr, waterman, 2010, p. 119). In retrospect, swing bands followed the same chord patterns of Tin Pan Alley’s blues compositions that was common in the early twenties and thirties (Starr, Waterman, 2010, p. 131) In addition, both styles of music were formed from African-American culture (Starr, Waterman, 2010). Moreover, each band also used specific techniques in their music to gain attention from a variety of ethnic groups and often promoted dancing during the band’s performances (Starr, Waterman, 2010).
Becoming a Jazz Singer There are countless different aspects that should be thoroughly examined when reviewing assets that are essential to becoming a successful jazz singer. To be clear, a jazz singer is a vocalist who brings his or her own interpretation to a song and improvises through sounds, notes, words and/or phrasing. A jazz singer has spontaneous elements as well as solid technique, and an excellent example of always singing how you feel. Through technique, great influences, and practice, we will explore different ways of becoming a flourishing jazz vocalist. Jazz technique is something that can be interpreted differently to each individual, but generally the following are summarized methods that can greatly influence overall exceptional execution.