Chapter 4 - Early Jazz

Question 1

How did early jazz musicians begin to improvise?

Answer 1

By embellishing the melodies of pop tunes.

These embellishments later became more important than the tunes themselves.

Question 2

What were some others ways to refer to improvisation?

Answer 2

• riffing
• jassing
• jazzing up

Question 3

Ways in which early jazz differs from ragtime, blues and brass:

Answer 3

1. Much of each performance was improvised
2. Rhythmic feeling was looser and more relaxed, thus anticipating jazz swing feeling
3. It generated much of its own repertory of compositions
4. Collective improvisation created a more complex musical product than was typical in ragtime, blues or marching band music

Question 4

What and where were some of the earlistest jazz forms recorded?

Answer 4

• Collective Improvisation (all group members playing at the same time)
• Chicago

Question 5

Instruments tended to fulfill set musical roles similar to those established in what?

Answer 5

Brass bands

Question 6

Who made the first New Orleans recordings in Chicago and New York?

Answer 6

The Original Dixieland Jazz Band

• cornet
• clarinet
• trombone
• piano
• drums

Question 7

Where was the centre for a very active jazz scene during the 1920s?

Answer 7

Chicago

Question 8

What three main categories could musicians be described by?

Answer 8

1. The transplanted New Orleans African American musicians
2. Their white New Orleans counterparts
3. Young white Chicagoans who imitated the older players, also called “The Chicago School”

Question 9

What style did early jazz styles evolve from?

Answer 9

Ragtime, which it did not always necessitate reading or memorizing written music.

Question 10

What is stride style?

Answer 10

A jazz piano style with its roots in ragtime.

Question 11

What instruments were common for the front line (musicians appearing directly in front of the audience)?

Answer 11

• trumpet
• clarinet
• trombone
• occasional saxophone

Question 12

What instruments typically made up the rhythm section?

Answer 12

• guitar
• banjo
• tuba
• bass saxophone
• string bass
• piano
• drums
  No bands had all these instruments, rather just combinations of them.

Question 13

Was it unusual for early jazz to be without string bass or drums?

Answer 13

No.

Question 14

Why were early jazz drummers poorly heard on recordings?

Answer 14

Early studio equipment was not well-suited to record drums.

Question 15

How were records made?

Answer 15

By playing into acoustic recording horns, but the loud blow of the drum could knock off the needle of the cutting surface. See p. 39 for more details.

Question 16

When listening to old recordings, are we able to hear any drumming?

Answer 16

Yes, but it is extremely limited. We were only left with a clickety clicking sound of the drumsticks since most other equipment was omitted for recordings.

Question 17

Who is known as “Pops”, “Dippermouth Blues”, “Satchmo” and “The Father of Jazz”?

Answer 17

Louis Armstrong

Question 18

T or F: The music that Armstrong played in his dramatic solo style recordings became a model for the swing era that followed.

Answer 18

True.

Question 19

How many movies did Armstrong appear in?

Answer 19

Fifty and sang most of his performances.

Question 20

With the song “Hello, Dolly”, who did he get ahead on the popularity charts?

Answer 20

The Beatles. The song remained #1 for a whole week on the charts of popularity.

Question 21

T or F: Most people knew Armstrong as an innovative jazz improviser rather than as an entertainer. Why?

Answer 21

False. Most people are not aware of his monumental contributions to the history of jazz.

Question 22

T or F: Armstrong was the most widely imitated jazz improviser prior to the later appearance of Charlie Parker.

Answer 22

True.

Question 23

What two instruments is Armstrong known to play?

Answer 23

Trumpet & cornet.

Question 24

How did Armstrong show that the New Orleans technique of collective simultaneous improvisation was not the only approach to jazz horn work?

Answer 24

He intelligently developed solos that could be effectively improvised apart from the lines of other band members.
In other words, Armstrong was one of the first great soloists in jazz history.

Question 25

The rhythmic conception that Armstrong refined included: (3)

Answer 25

• the abandonment of the stiffness of ragtime
• the employment of swing eighth-note patterns
• a graceful syncopation of selected rhythmic figures

Question 26

T or F: Despite the excellent players who came after Armstrong, few equal him as musical architects. Why?

Answer 26

True. Few had his degree of control over the overall form of a solo. He thought ahead, yes the phrases managed to sound spontaneous rather than calculated.

Question 27

T or F: He brought a superb sense of drama to jazz solo conception. Why?

Answer 27

True. His double-time solo breaks were constructed to achieve maximum excitement. Additionally, his high-note endings ensured a properly timed peak of intensity and resolution.

Question 28

What became the main approach for the improvisation in the next fifty years of jazz history?

Answer 28

Armstrong’s breaking away from the melody and improvised original, melody-like lines that were compatible with the tune’s chord progressions.

Question 29

T or F: Armstrong popularized the musical vocabulary of New Orleans trumpet style and then extended it.

Answer 29

True.

Question 30

How did Armstrong extend the vocabulary of the jazz soloists?

Answer 30

He provided jazz with a repertory of phrases and way of going about constructing improvisations with his fertile melodic imagination.

Question 31

Armstrong’s ____, influenced Louis Prima, Billie Holiday and Bing Crosby.

Answer 31

singing style

Question 32

What type of singing did Armstrong popularise?

Answer 32

Scat singing. A vocal technique in which lyrics are not used. The voice improvises in the manner of jazz trumpeter or saxophonist.

Question 33

How were vocal blues influential in jazz?

Answer 33

Hornmen often decorated their melody lines with the ornaments of pitch and tone quality that blues singers used.

Question 34

Who did early jazz appeal to?

Answer 34

Young audiences and social dancers.

Question 35

Did New Orleans and Chicago styles live and die in the 1920s?

Answer 35

No, it has persisted and there’s been continuous revivals. It has been common to find a few good Dixieland bands in every major American city.

Question 36

Were the very first jazz bands recorded?

Answer 36

No. The equipment was too poor.

Question 37

T or F: Armstrong possessed a larger tone, wider range and better command of the trumpet than most early players.

Answer 37

True.

Question 38

Early jazz summary #1

Answer 38

The first forms of jazz resulted from blending improvisation approaches to ragtime, blues, spiritual marches and popular tunes.

Question 39

Early jazz summary #2

Answer 39

The first jazz bands used the instruments of brass bands: trumpet, clarinet, trombone, tuba, drums and saxophone.

Question 40

Early jazz summary #3

Answer 40

The earliest jazz was not recorded. We can only infer how it sounded on the basis of recordings made by New Orleans players after they had moved to Chicago.

Question 41

Early jazz summary #4

Answer 41

The first jazz group to recorded was the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1917.

Question 42

Early jazz summary #5

Answer 42

Chicago was the jazz centre of the world during the 1920s.

Question 43

Early jazz summary #10

Answer 43

Earl Hines devised the “trumpet-style” of piano playing in which phrases are more “horn-like” than pianistic.

Question 44

Early jazz summary #11

Answer 44

Louis Armstrong was one of the first combo players to effectively demonstrate solo improvisation instead of retaining the New Orleans tradition of collective improvisation.

Question 45

Early jazz summary #12

Answer 45

Louis Armstrong possessed a larger tone, wider range, and better command of the trumpet than most early players. His solo improvisations were especially well constructed.