Download The Swing Era

The Swing Era
Swing Era
• swing era was the period of time (1935–1946)
when big band swing music was the most popular
music in the United States. Though the music had
been around since the late 1920s and early
1930s, being played by black bands led by such
artists as Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford,
Benny Moten, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Louis
Armstrong and Fletcher Henderson, most
historians believe that the Swing Era started with
Benny Goodman's performance at the Palomar
Ballroom on August 21, 1935, bringing the music
to the rest of the country.
Swing Era:Big Band
• The big band is a type of musical ensemble
associated with jazz, a style of music which
became popular during the Swing Era from the
early 1930s until the late 1940s. Big bands
evolved with the times and continue to today. A
big band typically consists of approximately 12 to
25 musicians and contains saxophones, trumpets,
trombones, singers (or vocalists), and a rhythm
section. The terms jazz band, jazz ensemble,
stage band, jazz orchestra, society band and
dance band may be used to describe a specific
type of big band
Big Band
• In contrast to smaller jazz combos, in which
most of the music is improvised, or created
spontaneously, music played by big bands is
highly "arranged", or prepared in advance and
notated on sheet music. The music is
traditionally called 'charts'. Improvised solos
may be played only when called for by the
arranger
Big Band
• There are two distinct periods in the history of
popular bands. Beginning in the mid-1920s, big
bands, then typically consisting of 10–25 pieces,
came to dominate popular music. At that time
they usually played a form of jazz that involved
very little improvisation, which included a string
section with violins, which was dropped after the
introduction of swing in 1935. The dance form of
jazz was characterized by a sweet and romantic
melody. Orchestras tended to stick to the melody
as it was written and vocals would be sung (often
in a tenor voice) and in tune with the melody.
Swing Characteristics
• 1) Generally, it was music for dancers.
• 2) Played and performed in larger ballrooms and
concert halls.
• 3) Large rooms needed big ensembles to be able to fill
the halls with sound.
• 4) The need for written arrangement increases, as
dances are made to accommodate
• songs. Dances such as the “Jitterbug”, “Foxtrot”, and
“Cheek to Cheek” , made arrangers
• consider the need for a consistent version of songtitles
people could recognize.
Characteristics
• 5) Saxophone becomes the leading soloistic voice in this
era.
• 6) Banjo becomes an outdated sound, as the rhythm
section begins to take the shape of
• Bass, Piano and Drums. This leads to a more consistent
“swing” feel.
• 7) The idea of the improvisational soloist becomes the
mainstay in this era as collective
• improvisation fades out and remains associated with
Chicago and New Orleans style.
• 8) Instrumentalists are better equipped and more
‘technically’ trained. They read at a
• higher level (because the business demanded this).
Characteristics
• 9) despite the Big-band era being associated with the
“Swing” era, the soloists continue
• to master and perfect improvisation at higher and loftier
standards.
• 10) There were many great bands in this period, the
greatest “Jazz” groups, (those who
• focused on improvisation) were probably the Basie and
Ellington Bands. Benny
• Goodman’s band was also one of the great ensemble
bands. The difference was Goodman
• did primarily all of the improvising with his group.
Therefore, his bands did not serve as
• a training ground for the great Jazz improvisers of his day.
characteristics
• * From Chicago’s “Hot Style” evolved the concept of ‘dance’ bands.
Larger ensembles
• equipped to play in larger ballrooms to accommodate the hundreds
sometimes thousands
• of dancers. Furthermore, the bands would grow in size from
generally 9-10 piece bands
• to the commonly thought of 17 piece big band. Most big bands
today are modeled after
• Miller’s 1945 “Airmen of Note” group which consisted of:
• 4 Trumpets
• 4 Trombones
• 5 Saxes
• 4 Rhythm
Characteristics
• There were several versions of this size group before the
end of W.W.II and ironically
• the end of the “Swing” era, which ends rather abruptly in
1946 when the bands of Benny
• Carter, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman,
Jack Teagarden, Harry James
• and Woody Herman disbanded nearly overnight.
• *This is not to say the vehicle for jazz using the big band
has ever gone away. But in
• 1946, times changed overnight as to the popularity of these
ensembles to the American
• public.
Innovations
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A) The Changing Role of the Rhythm Section:
1) Primarily the rhythm section consisted of: piano, bass, rhythm guitar and drums.
Key Innovations seen in the Big Band movement:
2) The piano playing in this periods much more focused on the idea of “comping”,
which
means to accompany. With the roles of drums and bass changing and expanding,
pianists
no longer have to play all the ensemble roles as in stride and ragtime. Rhythm
responsibilities become shared by all of of members of the R-section.
3) The upright bass replaces the tuba. String bass was much better suited for
uptempo 4/4
quarter notes as well as adequately suited for playing longer more stringent
arrangements.
• 4) Drummers were now relying on the expanding role of the hi-hat.
Although they still
• played 4 1/4tr notes to the beat on the bass drum (called “feathering”),
the hi-hat help
Innovations
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5) The quintessential example of rhythm guitar in this period was the playing of Freddie
Green. The 4/4 quarter note strumming supported the quarter note time feel of the bassist
(Walter Page) and the drummer (Jo Jones). The Basie Rhythm section became a model
for nearly all the bands of this period.
B) The Influx of the Modern Arrangements:
1) Redman was the first to build a formula of featuring prominent soloists around tight
riff backgrounds.
2) The Basie band had a very similar approach. They also geared there arrangements
around call and response antiphonal backgrounds, while featuring some of the best
soloists in Jazz.
3) Ellington had a very original approach to all of this. He believed you wrote each part
for the ability of the musician playing it. He created a philosophy known as crossvoicing,
where the individual parts effected the layer and colored the score in a unique
way. Thus, it is very difficult to truly imitate an Ellington score. For it had intentions for
the players it was it was written for.
Kansas City
• K.C. developed their own style in the Swing era. They seemed immune to
the
• depression as music was played in a variety clubs and concert halls. One of
the highlights
• in K.C. was the after hour jam sessions. During these sessions where
musicians would
• jam, much trading and improvisational exploration took place. Legend has
it that Hawkins
• and Young could spar for hours and hours.
• K.C. has a city alderman by the name of Teddy Pendergast. During these
• depression years, Pendergast ran a corrupt regime which allowed
gambling, liquor and
• prostitution to be ready available. In this way nightlife flourished. Not
interested in music
• per se, Pendergast’s practices made possible for a new style of Jazz in K.C.
to flourish.
Kansas City Sound
• a) Developed charts based on head arrangements.
• b) Within these arrangements prominent soloists were featured.
• c) Much of the melodic ideas both compositionally and
improvisation were based on
• “riff” playing.
• d) riffs-a short melodic idea which is usually one or two measures
long. These ideas are
• used for both melodic composition and improvisational ideas.
Antiphonal/call and
• response happened frequently between sections in both soli
passages and backgrounds for
• soloists.
• e) Much of the time the blues was the basis for many of the tunes
in this style.
Artists
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Coleman Hawkins
* One of the first musicians to gain wide acclaim as a top tenor soloist.
* Many consider him the first major sax virtuoso.
* Harmonically based improviser. Improvised vertically, as to outline the
harmony
(chords) while he played.
* Gained much attention for his work with the Fletcher Henderson Band.
He also played
bass and clarinet in the band.
* Originally influenced by Armstrong, later his biggest influence was Art
Tatum.
* His solo on “Body and Soul” is one of the most analyzed and listed solo
in the history
of Jazz.
Artists
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Benny Carter
* Contributions in several key areas:
-Created a definitive Alto style that was widely imitated.
-Great Swing trumpeter.
- Wrote many Jazz standards. (“When the Light are Low”)
-As an arranger, he was a chief architect of the Big Band Style. ( 2 i.e.s”Lonesome
Nights”, “Symphony Riffs”)
- Scored television specials “The Bob Hope Special”, “The Sarah Vaughn
Special”, “The
Alfred Hitchcock Show”, “Ironside”, M Squad” and “Chrysler Theater”.
-Movies credits include, “A Man Called Adam”, The Five Pennies”, The
Gene Krupra
Story”, “Buck and the Preacher” and “The Louis Armstrong Story”.
Artists
• Ben Webster
• * Became the prominent soloist of the Duke
Ellington Orchestra.
• * A leading exponent of the style of Coleman
Hawkins.
• * A leader in the tenor school in the late Swing
period.
• * Helped bring the Ellington to prominence.
• * Boasted a big sound which has been imitated
by many tenor players.
Artists
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Johnny Hodges
* Created a definitive Alto style as lead Alto with the Ellington Band.
* This style was built around pitch bending and expressive phrasing.
* Many Ellington Ballads were written for his beautiful sound.
* Also had an interesting way of using rhythm in his solo’s.
* One of the many players who played all but a few years (1951-55
had his own combo)
• with Ellington.
• * His personality is distinctive of the Ellington sound and vice a
versa.
• * One of his chief influences was said to be Sidney Bechet.
Artists
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Roy Eldridge
*Nickname was “Little Jazz”
* Leading trumpet improviser of his day.
* Influenced by saxophonists Coleman Hawkins and Benny
Carter.
* Extreme high Register, with great instrumental technique.
* Important link to modernist Dizzy Gillepsie.
* Made giant leaps for black musicians by playing with
prominent White Bands. Most
notable may have been his time with Gene Krupra.
* “Rocking Chair” a most notable solo with Krupra Band.
Artists
• Mary Lou Williams
• * Another great K.C. performer.
• * Arranger, Player, Composer, her compositions fill many of the
great Swing Band
• libraries.
• * Had strong affiliation with luminary bands of Ellington, Any Kirk
and Benny
• Goodman.
• * Set up foundation to help musicians.
• * Received many honorary Doctorates and taught on the faculties
of Duke University and
• University of Mass..
• * First woman to compose and arrange for big-time Swing acts.
• * Considered one of Jazz great pianists.
Artists