Jazz Midterm

Question 1

What city did jazz music originate in?

Answer 1

New Orleans

Question 2

Who was one of the very first jazz band leaders and musicians and early ‘inventor’ of jazz music?

Answer 2

Buddy Bolden

Question 3

What is one of the most important jobs, or roles, of a bassist in a jazz group?

Answer 3

Keeping the time and groove consistent, ‘Walking’ bass lines, often with quarter notes, through a tune’s chord changes.

Question 4

New Orleans is known as the:

Answer 4

Crescent City

Question 5

Which one of these musicians was a great early jazz era pianist and composer from New Orleans?

Answer 5

Jelly Roll Morton

Question 6

What is the musical term for a trombonist sliding up to a note?

Answer 6

Glissando

Question 7

What does the musical term vibrato mean?

Answer 7

Moving the pitch up and down of a single note to create an interesting effect.

Question 8

Which early jazz musician, trumpet player, and band leader hired a young Louis Armstrong to be in his group?

Answer 8

King Oliver

Question 9

Congo Square, where many African dance and music inspired performances took place in the 18th century, was located in which city?

Answer 9

New Orleans

Question 10

Congo Square, where many African dance and music inspired performances took place in the 18th century, was located in which city?

Answer 10

New Orleans

Question 11

Besides drum sticks, what other items do jazz drummers often use to keep time with, especially when playing at softer volume?

Answer 11

Brushes

Question 12

How many measures does a typical jazz blues have in it’s form?

Answer 12

12

Question 13

What does ‘Polyrhythm’ mean?

Answer 13

The simultaneous use of contrasting
rhythms.

Question 14

‘AABA’ is a common form of a:

Answer 14

32 bar popular song, where each letter equals 8 bars.

Question 15

Which vocalist in early jazz music was known as “The Mother of the Blues”?

Answer 15

Ma Rainey

Question 16

Of the names below, who was one of the greatest Ragtime pianists and composers?

Answer 16

Scott Joplin

Question 17

A composition is:

Answer 17

An original song written by a composer

Question 18

An arrangement is:

Answer 18

Taking a song or melody and creating and expanding the way it’s played, often with new harmonies, melodic lines and multiple instruments. A big band or a string orchestra is a perfect example of the sound of
arrangements in music.

Question 19

One of the great early jazz musicians,
Sidney Bechet played what instrument?

Answer 19

Soprano saxophone

Question 20

Which famous female vocalist did we listen to in class sing the standard “All Of Me”

Answer 20

Billy Holiday

Question 21

Which great big band leader famously wrote arrangements high-lighting the sound of specific musicians his band?

Answer 21

Duke Ellington

Question 22

The original composition by Billy Strayhorn, that we listened to Duke Ellington play in class, was called ‘UMMG’. What does this title stand for?

Answer 22

Upper Manhattan Medical Group

Question 23

Which famous American songbook composer, mainly writing in the 1920’s-40s’, wrote many popular songs not only for jazz musicians, but also for symphony orchestra, including an opera called “Porgy and Bess”.

Answer 23

George Gershwin

Question 24

What was the name of the famous, yet segregated, Harlem nightclub in NYC that helped launch Duke Ellington’s career?

Answer 24

The Cotton Club

Question 25

Who wrote the tune ‘Take The A Train’?

Answer 25

Billy Strayhorn

Question 26

The 1920’s and 1930’s was when big bands were the most popular form of popular music in the U.S. This time period in jazz history is known as:

Answer 26

The Jazz Era

Question 27

A ‘rhythm section’ refers to
what combination of instruments?

Answer 27

Piano, guitar, bass and drums

Question 28

How many musicians are in a
typical jazz big band?

Answer 28

18

Question 29

What great, super swinging big band leader hailed from Red Bank, New Jersey?

Answer 29

Count Basie

Question 30

Who was considered the first major soloist and star of jazz music?
(Hint: he played trumpet and sang, and grew up in New Orleans)

Answer 30

Louis Armstrong

Question 31

Which tenor saxophonist helped popularize the saxophone as a major jazz instrument with his famous 1939 recording of “Body and Soul”

Answer 31

Coleman Hawkins

Question 32

What was Louis Armstrong’s nickname?

Answer 32

Satchmo

Question 33

What instrument did the great inventor of Bebop music, Charlie Parker, play?

Answer 33

Alto saxophone

Question 34

What was the tenor saxophonist Lester Young nickname?

Answer 34

Prez

Question 35

Who did we listen to in class play a version of the song “Just Friends” with string arrangements?

Answer 35

Charlie Parker

Question 36

Around the time of WW2, The invention of Bebop music featuring mostly smaller groups, ushered in the end of which era of jazz?

Answer 36

Swing Era and big bands

Question 37

Which great pianist did we listen to
in class, who also was one of the fathers
of Bebop music and played and recorded
with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie?

Answer 37

Bud Powell

Question 38

Bebop jazz tended to be played by mainly:

Answer 38

Small groups - trios, quartets &
quintets

Question 39

Which trumpet player below was also one
of the inventors/creators of bebop music?
He played trumpet in many groups
with Charlie Parker, and also wrote a lot
of great bebop tunes.

Answer 39

Dizzy Gillespie

Question 40

Which bebop tenor saxophonist did we
listen to in class playing one of his original
tunes called “Cheese Cake”?

Answer 40

Dexter Gordon

Question 41

Did Count Basie write his own arrangements
for his big band?

Answer 41

No, he hired professional arrangers like
Neal Hefti to write his big band arrangments.
( and in the early days of the Basie big band, the players
in the band would improvise arrangements on the spot.)

Question 42

Did Duke Ellington write his own arrangements
for his big band?

Answer 42

Yes, always.

Question 43

Where did Harry Carney play his baritone sax in 1958?

Answer 43

In Holland (featured in Duke Ellington’s “sophisticated lady”)