Jazz 2

Front 1

Fletcher Henderson

Back 1

--Don Redman wrote and arranged for Henderson's Band 1923-37
--riffs (repeated melodic figure) and call and response patterns-->swing era
--rerecordings by Benny Goodman
--Walter Johnson (drummer) kept time by playing the high-hat
--Coleman Hawkins on tenor sax
--Jimmy Harrison on trombone
--Louis and Roy Eldridge on trumpet
--walking on 4

Front 2

Chick Webb and Jimmy Lunceford

Back 2

Webb as prototype for the modern big band drummer (flashy)
--jitterbug originated
Webb’s residency at Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom
--was the best band at Savoy
--challenged benny goodman
--big dance hall
Lunceford’s Orch. and the premier showband of the swing era; emphasis on ensemble precision
--showmen, dance ability, execution, organization, call and response, riff patterns
--horns thrown up, choreography

Front 3

Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw

Back 3

Goodman popularized Fletcher Henderson’s concept of big band swing

Goodman’s playing set new standards of technical brilliance for clarinetists

The Goodman trio and quartet with Teddy Wilson (black,fast piano) and Lionel Hampton became the first nationally known racially integrated jazz combos

Shaw’s orchestra featured his highly lyrical clarinet playing and a string section
--russian-jewish immigrant son
--hired billy holliday

Front 4

Territory Bands

Back 4

defining “territory bands” as a regional phenomenon
--bands located in mid-sized urban cities
--would drive out as far as a one days drive

the relationship between the Oklahoma City Blue Devils, the Bennie Moten Orch. and Count Basie
--The Oklahoma City Blue Devils were a territorial band with a legendary reputation among musicians in the Southwest.
--They were a rival of the Bennie Moten band from Kansas City,Several Blue Devils, Durham, Rushing, Basie, and Hot Lips Page among them, joined Moten's orchestra,
--OKC became the benny moton orch. and count basse was in both of them.
Mary Lou Williams pioneering arrangements for Andy Kirk’s Twelve Clouds of Joy
--arranger, pianist, mentor
Kansas City as the midwestern jazz capitol
--edge of western prairie
--blues country

Front 5

Count Basie

Back 5

the integrated rhythm section concept: Basie-piano, Freddie Green-guitar, Walter Page-bass, Jo Jones-drums
--page (flat 4, when played quarter notes, he gave equal weight to each one)
--hi-hat time keeper
--teamwork approach
use of “head arrangements” over blues progressions and other simple forms
--unscored collaborative arrangement
worked out by the players themselves, memorized immediately and never written down
use of the riff as a defining melodic/rhythmic element
--rhythm section plays solo--just keeping time
--riff=brief, relaxed phrase repeated over changing melodies
role of Lester Young as an innovative soloist
--band hated the way he plays
--relaxed style unlike coleman hawkins (replaced)
the band’s roots in Kansas City jazz traditions

Front 6

Duke Ellington

Back 6

The Ellington effect: handling of color, mood, melody, rhythm; the singularity of Ellington’s writing style
--extended compositions, broadly based repetoir
--had a band to play it for him immediately
--tempo changes, resembled european work.

Front 7

Duke Ellington

Back 7

voicing across sections of the orchestra

1. Washington, D.C. roots & stride piano
2. 1927-31 Cotton Club
3. extended works: “Reminiscing in Tempo”
4. 1939-41: “The Blanton/Webster Band”
6. the breadth of Ellington’s compositional output: mood/color pieces, romantic ballads, exotic pieces, swinging instrumentals, “concertos”, extended works, sacred concerts

Front 8

Duke Ellington

Back 8

important sidemen
1. Bubber Miley, trumpet (mutes)
2. Tricky Sam Nanton, trombone 3. Harry Carney, baritone saxophone
4. Johnny Hodges, alto saxophone
5. Cootie Williams, trumpet (growl)
6. Jimmy Blanton, bass (increases duration of quarter note)
7. Ben Webster, tenor saxophone
8. Billy Strayhorn, arranger (“Take the A Train”)

Front 9

Coleman Hawkins:

Back 9

“father” of the tenor saxophone
--1. found his voice w/Fletcher Henderson
--2. jagged, aggressive, vertical style
improviser
very well informed on musci theory
--reharmonizing
--loud

Front 10

Lester Young:

Back 10

offered a new model for saxophonists w/
Count Basie recordings
--soft player

Front 11

Benny Carter

Back 11

(alto sax, trumpet, and arranger) 1. highly versatile “musician’ musician”
--musician's musician
--first AA regularly employed in studios

Front 12

Django Reinhardt

Back 12

first influential European jazz soloist
1. blended Gypsy music and jazz 2. innovative guitar stylist
--gypsy camp in Paris
--outer two fingers were paralyzed in fire, relearned guitar vs. jazz
--couldn't read or write
-upbeat, syncopated figures
--rhythmically diverse

Front 13

Billie Holiday

Back 13

definitive understated vocal stylist
1. limited range, minimalist approach, emotional depth
2. didn’t scat
--influenced by Louis (raspy, vibrado)
--laid back rhythm
--resembles trumpet playing (realy compressed range)
--discovered by john hammond

Front 14

Ella Fitzgerald

Back 14

virtuoso vocal stylist
1. definitive scat singer
2. came to prominence w/Chick Webb
--scat-goddess

Front 15

drum innovators

Back 15

Chick Webb, Gene Krupa, Sid Catlett

Front 16

Roy Eldridge

Back 16

the major trumpet innovator of the 30’s
1. use of high notes at any point in a solo 2. saxophone like dexterity at the fastest tempos 3. melodic use of dissonant notes

Front 17

count basie band

Back 17

--four beats to the bar
--every instrument was balanced
--dueling tenor saxophones (Lestery young, herschel evans)
--unified time keeping
--relaxed rhythm feel
--2 bar AABA form
--short riffs