Download Jazz - All American Music

Name
Jazz - All American Music
By Sharon Fabian
It was the latest thing. Americans
loved it, and soon, so did people all
over the world. The brassy, bluesy
sound of jazz was a truly American
creation; some even say that it was the
only truly American art form.
Even though jazz seemed brand new in
the 1920's, it had actually been
developing over many years. In the
early 1900's, African-American blues
along with music from other traditions
combined with a New Orleans style of
band music played for funeral processions. The result of that
combination was a brand new sound - jazz.
New Orleans was home to some of the original Jazz masters. Louis
Armstrong - the famous jazz trumpet player, Jelly Roll Morton - the
famous pianist, and Joe "King" Oliver - the famous cornet player all
called New Orleans home.
Louis Armstrong was applauded for his trumpet and cornet playing
and for his famous, gravely singing voice. In the 1920's, he played in
King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. Jelly Roll Morton was a great jazz
composer as well as a piano player.
From New Orleans, jazz made its way up the Mississippi River. It
landed in Chicago. Soon Chicago became the place to go to hear the
best and the latest music - the syncopated, changing-with-the-moment
sound of jazz. Jazz soon spread from Chicago to other major cities
across the country.
One common feature of jazz everywhere was improvisations. Soloists
took center stage to play their own variations on whatever piece of
music the band was performing. Individual musicians were given the
chance to show off not just their playing skills, but also their skills at
composing on the spot. Jazz gave the rest of America a chance to see
the depth of the musical talent that been developing quietly for so
many in years in African-American communities.
Another feature of jazz was the use of brass instruments. The sounds
of shining trumpets and slide trombones were heard everywhere jazz
was played. The muffled sound of a trumpet or a trombone played
with a mute became a characteristic of jazz music.
There were jazz soloists, there were small jazz bands called combos,
and then there were big bands. Big bands were large jazz orchestras
that played dance music. Band leaders like Duke Ellington, Count
Basie, and others brought the style of music and dance known as
swing to America.
One of the most famous big band leaders was Duke Ellington.
Ellington was one of jazz's greatest musicians; he was a bandleader, a
piano player, and a composer. Many of the most famous jazz titles
were Duke Ellington songs. He wrote "Sophisticated Lady," "Take the
A Train," and "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing."
Big band music had to be arranged for many instruments playing
together at the same time, but it still featured improvised solos too.
This combination of arranged music combined with improvisation
continued even after the end of the big band era. In the 1940's a style
of jazz known as cool jazz developed. Cool jazz was carefully
arranged like big band music, but once again like in the early days of
jazz, it was played by smaller jazz combos. Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie
Parker, Thelonius Monk, and Miles Davis were all famous musicians
from the cool jazz era. Many of Miles Davis' greatest songs were
released together in an album, "The Birth of the Cool."
In the 1950's, jazz became even more experimental, trying new scales
and new ways of combining sounds. The 1970's brought fusion, a
combination of jazz and rock. Modern day jazz features a variety of
styles. Some artists go back to the early sounds. Some like to
experiment with new sounds.
No wonder jazz has remained popular for so long! It is often
considered one of America's greatest cultural achievements. It
expresses the creativity, the freedom, and the spirit of America. Jazz
is an American phenomenon. It is also a showcase of some of the
skills and talents nurtured in African-American communities from
their earliest days.
Name
Jazz - All American Music
Questions
1. Jazz music began ______.
A. in 1920
B. suddenly
C. gradually
D. in 1900
2. Duke Ellington was a ______.
A. painter
B. novelist
C. dancer
D. musician
3. Duke Ellington was a ______.
A. big band leader
B. composer
C. pianist
D. all of the above
4. Louis Armstrong played ______.
A. piano
B. trumpet
C. trombone
D. none of the above
5. There is one city that is often considered the birthplace of jazz.
From the information in the article, you can infer that that city
is ______.
A. New Orleans
B. Mississippi
C. Chicago
D. New York
6. In the 1950's ______.
A. jazz was no longer played
B. new styles of jazz were being played
C. jazz was replaced by classical music as the popular
favorite
D. big bands were very popular
7. A combination of jazz and rock music is called ______.
A. rap
B. the big band sound
C. fusion
D. blues
8. This word means variations within a piece of music created by
the performer on stage.
A. jazz
B. improvisations
C. phenomenon
D. arrangement
If you were the leader of a big band, like Duke Ellington, and had a
chance to play dance music for a big event, what style of music would
you choose to play? Name a few of the songs that you would choose
for your band to play. Why would you choose this type of music and
these songs?
Name
Jazz musicians, like Louis Armstrong, were masters of improvisation.
Improvisation is music created on the spot by the musician. It must be
original, but also fit in with the piece of music being played. What
skills do you think a musician would need to have to be good at
improvisation?