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Unit 5 (The Swing or Big-Band Era (Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (Take…
Unit 5
The Swing or Big-Band Era
1930s-40s
Written, arranged, and composed vs. improvised
Larger group of players
2 Trumpets, one cornet, 3 trombones, 4 saxophones
(double on clarinet), 2 basses, guitar, drums, vibraphone, and piano
Wide audience- both white and black cultures
Edward Kennedy “Duke”
Ellington
(1899–1974)
Born in Washington, D.C.
Studied piano
1920s played in NYC jazz clubs
Washingtonians
Composer/arranger
Composed music for his band with Billy Strayhorn
Concern for structure resulted in
complex forms
Major figure in the Harlem Renaissance
Take the A Train (LG 48)
Swing style
32-bar song form – AABA
Intro followed by three choruses then coda
Lush, composed-out jazz style
Billy Strayhorn composed
Chapter 56: Jazz & Blues Tradition
Pre-Jazz: Ragtime Dances
1890s
African American style that modified EuroAmerican
traditions
Rhythmic and melodic variation
Pianists accompanying social dancing
Scott Joplin
(1868–1917)
Born in Texas
Left home at age fourteen; played in
honky-tonks and piano bars
Preformed Ragtime at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893
The “King of Ragtime”
Balanced phrasing and key structures
with highly syncopated melodies
Strove to elevate ragtime to a serious art
form
Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag (LG 42)
Published 1899
Syncopated melody with steady accompaniment
4 sections
A-A-B-B-C-C-D-D
Maple Leaf Rag sold a million copies
Joplin insisted on royalties rather than a flat
payment
Jazz Roots
Jazz traditionally associated with the U.S.
Roots
West African traditions from 18th century slaves
Call and response
Vocal inflections
Euro-American vernacular traditions
New Orleans
Composed from pulling from many different regions and combining them with an African twist
Famous Jazz Artists
Louis Armstrong
Ella Fitzgerald- SCAT
Billie Holiday
Duke Ellington
Blues Roots:
Like Jazz, Blues traditionally associated with the U.S.
Roots:
Civil war: Mississippi Delta Blues
Voiced difficulties of everyday life
Three-line stanzas
Twelve-measure harmonic patterns (12 bar blues)
Famous Blues Artists:
Charlie Patton
Bessie Smith
B.B. King
Louis Armstrong
(1901-1971)
New Orleans Jazz scene
Trumpet player
Band Leader
Singer and Actor
Billie Holiday
(1915-1959)
1933 discovered by a talent scout who arranged to
record with Benny Goodman
1935 recording with best jazz musicians of her day
Most famous song
Strange fruit in 1939
Born in Philadephia, PA
Moved NYC- sang at clubs in Brooklyn and Harlem
No formal training
Learned by listening to Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong
Billie’s Blues (LG 47)
1936
12 bar blues
Intersection between Jazz and Blues, also jazz and dance
Six choruses
Pattern of melody and
harmony pattern
Ch. 37
19th Century American Music POP Culture
European immigrants brought cultivated repertories to the US
Chamber Music
Symphonies
Opera
American Style Developed
Lighter music
Vernacular
American Popular Identity
"Popular"
Meaning "Belongs to the people"
POP Music
Parlor Music
Minstel Shows
Marketing
Tended to be variety shows
White performers
Black face and Plantation life
Marketing and POP Culture
The birth of Publishing companies
Help of new technology
Amateurs and professionals
Parlor songs
Stephen Foster
(1826-1864)
Mostly wrote parlor songs but
some for minstrel shows
Professional Songwriter
Pittsburgh, PA
Songs from minstrel shows
published later as ballads and
love songs
Abolitionist
Foster’s Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (LG 28)
Parlor Song
Wrote 1853-54 after separate from wife
Anglo-Irish folk song tradition
Voice and piano
Strophic A A’ B A
Major key
Homophonic
Ch 51: End of and Era
Music for Marching bands
The Band Tradition
Music for brass bands in Britain
the roots:
Revolutionary War regimental bands
18th century US Marine Band
Civil War era bands
Concert & dance assemblies
Patrick S. Gilmore- leader
John Philip Sousa
(1854-1932)
Born in Washington, DC
The “March” King
Wrote over 130 marches for band
Stars and Stripes Forever
• Semper Fidelis
• The Liberty Bell
Conducted US Marine Band
1892 Formed civilian group
Sheet music sold incredibly well
Mass-marketing of recording
Very successful sheet music sales
