From the advent of jazz, the piano had a crucial, yet ever-changing, role. In the beginning, the piano player was only there to keep rhythm and chord changes. This is seen easily from the piano players in New Orleans jazz bands. Ragtime showed that the piano had certain traits that could be integrated into jazz in a more interesting way. Stride allowed the piano to continue its important jobs in the rhythm section as well as become a solo instrument. Stride also provided a new type of driving force behind piano playing. Though stride in its original form would eventually fade from the limelight, portions of stride are still found in jazz piano today. Many great pianists before and in the Swing Era led their own bands or solo careers that cemented the place of a piano in a jazz band. Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fats Waller, Art Tatum, Luckey Roberts, and many others had pushed the piano to its limits and shown the country exactly what they could do.
All of these different discoveries and styles of playing would become intrinsically important as the Swing Era ended. After World War II came to an end, America changed and, as America's music, it was natural that jazz would change as well. The end of World War II had been accompanied by a great sense of American pride and victory, but that would soon change. Clashes with communist Russia, the possible infiltration of all levels of American society by those communists, and the ever more clear racial inequalities would cause this new America to be full of struggles and confusion and the new jazz form showed that. This new jazz was called bebop.
Bebop was (and still is) very different from the jazz that came before it. Instead of big bands, small groups were formed. Jazz was no longer a music meant for dancing, nor did it have that same comforting swing beat. Bebop was generally not based on popular tunes which was another big change. Bebop was more hard driving with fast tempos and abstract ideas. Harmonies were more complex and riffs less easy to follow.
The piano was suited for this new type of music. The ability of a pianist to see their entire instrument and most pianists natural grasp of their instrument in strange keys or rhythms made bebop a natural progression. Thelonious Monk once said, "Where is jazz going? I don't know. Maybe it's going to hell. You can't make anything go anywhere. It just happens". Bebop seems to personify this idea--that the music had reached the top of an art (in regards to swing) and needed somewhere else to go.
Bebop would be the answer to the question, "Where is jazz going?". It's easy to trace its coming in hindsight. Ragtime and stride took the technique of different ideas in either hand of the pianist to a new level. Count Basie taught us about space and time, while Duke Ellington educated us on things like "jungle music". Art Tatum would prove to be extremely influential with his showy runs and quick fingers. Though the older generation would not accept bebop as readily as it had accepted swing, bebop was there to stay.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Critical Listening #5: Everybody Wants to be a Cat
Jazz is an extremely pervasive music in our culture even though the Jazz and Swing Eras ended decades ago. This song is from the Disney movie "The Aristocats". Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmQe_tFEvz0&feature=related
starting at 1:10
8 bar A
8 bar B
8 bar A
8 bar B
8 bar A
4 bar drum fill
8 bar trumpet solo
....
This is an interesting piece. If we start at time 1:10, it's a 32-bar popular tune with a duple beat. You can hear a piano, a trumpet, drums, bass, saxophone, trombone, accordion, and some type of xylophone, as well as vocalists. The dialogue makes the beat a bit hard to follow but it follows the same basic 32-bar form.
The song has a very New Orleans sounds with an almost polyphony sound during the trumpet solo. It also includes many other types of jazz. Personally, my favorite is the boogie-woogie piano during one of the fills. They also include a sort of jazz ballad with a harp accompaniment.
The solo in this piece is very appropriate for the New Orleans feel, as it is simply a variation on the main themes of the song. The rhythm section keeps things swinging (one could even say groovy) and the instrumentation gives it that New Orleans/marching band feel.
The lyrics of this song make it interesting as well. It shows a great deal about the culture of jazz. they include scat singing which is very typical of jazz vocalists. The use of words like swing, square, dig, gig, and modulate show the writer's understanding of the jazz terminology. The best word they use is simply the word "cat". In this song it becomes a play on words since Louis Armstrong first referred to people as "cats".
The characters of this jazz band also show the diversity of jazz. You have a clearly Oriental cat, a Russian cat, as well as other very distinct and colorful cats.
This song shows an awful lot about the culture of jazz and how we both perceive it and choose to portray it. Jazz has become so ingrained into our media and entertainment that we barely even notice it's there, but we never fail to enjoy it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmQe_tFEvz0&feature=related
starting at 1:10
8 bar A
8 bar B
8 bar A
8 bar B
8 bar A
4 bar drum fill
8 bar trumpet solo
....
This is an interesting piece. If we start at time 1:10, it's a 32-bar popular tune with a duple beat. You can hear a piano, a trumpet, drums, bass, saxophone, trombone, accordion, and some type of xylophone, as well as vocalists. The dialogue makes the beat a bit hard to follow but it follows the same basic 32-bar form.
The song has a very New Orleans sounds with an almost polyphony sound during the trumpet solo. It also includes many other types of jazz. Personally, my favorite is the boogie-woogie piano during one of the fills. They also include a sort of jazz ballad with a harp accompaniment.
The solo in this piece is very appropriate for the New Orleans feel, as it is simply a variation on the main themes of the song. The rhythm section keeps things swinging (one could even say groovy) and the instrumentation gives it that New Orleans/marching band feel.
The lyrics of this song make it interesting as well. It shows a great deal about the culture of jazz. they include scat singing which is very typical of jazz vocalists. The use of words like swing, square, dig, gig, and modulate show the writer's understanding of the jazz terminology. The best word they use is simply the word "cat". In this song it becomes a play on words since Louis Armstrong first referred to people as "cats".
The characters of this jazz band also show the diversity of jazz. You have a clearly Oriental cat, a Russian cat, as well as other very distinct and colorful cats.
This song shows an awful lot about the culture of jazz and how we both perceive it and choose to portray it. Jazz has become so ingrained into our media and entertainment that we barely even notice it's there, but we never fail to enjoy it.
Monday, February 20, 2012
The Beginning of a New Art
This week I want to drift away a bit from a general history and talk about a pianist that I think was integral to the progression of jazz piano: Art Tatum.
Art Tatum was born in 1909 in Toledo, Ohio. His parents were amateur musicians who encouraged his interest in music. He studied not only piano, but violin and guitar at the Toledo School of Music. Most impressive, however, is that he was legally blind.
Art Tatum had a distinct style that would change the way people played the piano. He had a extremely strong grasp on chord theory and technique which allowed him to slip between classical and jazz piano easily. His performance of Dvorak's Humoresque is a good example of this.
Tatum pushed the bounds of jazz piano and in the process left important lessons with a new generation. Even in my own playing I have found great comfort and encouragement in his words:
Art Tatum was born in 1909 in Toledo, Ohio. His parents were amateur musicians who encouraged his interest in music. He studied not only piano, but violin and guitar at the Toledo School of Music. Most impressive, however, is that he was legally blind.
Art Tatum had a distinct style that would change the way people played the piano. He had a extremely strong grasp on chord theory and technique which allowed him to slip between classical and jazz piano easily. His performance of Dvorak's Humoresque is a good example of this.
Dvorak's Humoresque
Dvorak's Humoresque performed by Art Tatum
Art Tatum was regarded as a virtuoso (or an artist of masterly technique and skill), but he took his playing beyond his natural talent and continued to push himself. In his performance we can see not only portions of the stride piano that was so famous, but also an arabesque playing type and the beginning of a swing feel. Tatum also furthered the popularity of solo pianists, playing as one for most of his life.
Though Tatum's style was not one of completely original melodies, he introduced a number of new techniques into piano solos. This techniques include the many "flowery" cadenzas and arpeggios his music is rife with as well as complex harmonies. Even Tatum's interpretation of stride was different. Of that style, Dick Hyman (another jazz pianist) said, "When Tatum got to (stride), it became less obvious, more fluent, and began to take on the dimensions of the right hand, something that pianists hadn't heard before". Tatum moved jazz piano away from the realm of the rhythm section and into its' own spotlight.
Besides Tatum's technical proficiency, his speed was enormously impressive. Listening to any of his recordings is almost guaranteed to leave the listener in shock. When pianist Hank Jones first heard Tatum's records, he was certain that they were tricks of overdubbing. While listening to this next piece, try to see past the tempo and noise to the complex harmonies and various techniques that Tatum is employing.
Tiger Rag
Though Tatum lived for less than 50 years, he left a great legacy and inspiration to jazz pianists throughout the ages. I think the best tribute to his work are the words spoken by Johnny Guarnieri. In an interview in 1977, just over 20 years after Art Tatum's death, Guarnieri spoke of him:
Tatum, of course, was the best of all the pianists including stride, but he wasn't satisfied just to play stride. You couldn't call him a boogie woogie pianist, but you could be sure that if he played boogie woogie, he'd do it better than anybody else.
Tatum helped me a lot. He said something I have never forgotten. Every time you want to get people's attention, play softly. It's easy to play loud, but if you want to play both fast and loud, your arms tense up and you can't go on. My first reaction to him was like the other pianists. They were saying, "Well, we're going to cut off our wrists or give up piano playing." He inspired you to practice. I wanted him to know that I was a better pianist than I had been when he heard me earlier.Though Tatum preferred to expand upon others' melodies rather than write his own, he changed the style of jazz with his flawless technique and beautiful ornamentation. Though some will say that his music is unjazzlike or too busy, I believe critic Gary Giddins (who also helped co-author our book) said it best when he said of Tatum's style, "That is the essence of Tatum. If you don't like his ornament, you should be listening to someone else. That's where his genius is".
Tatum pushed the bounds of jazz piano and in the process left important lessons with a new generation. Even in my own playing I have found great comfort and encouragement in his words:
"You have to practice improvisation, let no one kid you about it!"
"There is no such thing as a wrong note."
Sources:
Stride! by John L. Fell and Terkild Vinding
Jazz by Scott DeVeaux and Garry Giddins
NPR's "Art Tatum: A Talent Never to Be Duplicated"
Critical Listening #4: Song of the Volga Boatmen
The song I'd like to examine this week is Glenn Miller and his Orchestra's version of "Song of the Volga Boatmen". "Song of the Volga Boatmen" is originally a traditional Russian which is a sea shanty sung by barge-haulers on the Volga River. Glenn Miller's arrangement of this song reached number one in the US charts in 1941. For anyone interested in a more original version of the song, this link is the Russian Red Army Choir's performance of it. I chose this song because it shows the prevalence of swing in American society. Like the Ellington song suggests, it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing, and if a song didn't have that "swing" people were likely to make it swing.
8 bar intro--piano, bass, drums
8 bar A--trombones!
8 bar A--louder trombones, saxophone, fills by trumpet using mute
8 bar B--whole band, builds in intensity
8 bar C--whole band, more growth
4 bar saxophone soli
8 bar saxophone solo, with brass fills
4 bar drum fill
22 bar polyphony theme variation
4 bar bridge (two sax, two brass)
8 bar A'
8 bar ending
"Song of the Volga Boatmen" is clearly a big band piece of the swing era. It has a rather slow tempo, but what it lacks in speed in makes up for in intensity and drive. In this piece we hear piano, bass, drums, trumpet, saxophone, and trombone. Since this piece is adapted from a traditional Russian piece, it makes sense that it follows a loose 32 bar form.
The 8-bar introduction to this piece features the piano playing the basic riff of the piece supported by drums and bass. The trombones then take up this melody for 8-bars before they are joined by a trumpet player who fills in the empty spaces. The trumpet players unique sound comes from the fact that he is using a mute. Through the B and C sections the band builds in intensity to the saxophone soli that brings the tone back down for the saxophone solo. After a 4-bar drum fill, we see a new turn in the music. The band plays a sort of planned polyphony that combines variations of all the main themes (A, B and C). The band continues to swing with an intensity that is impressive all the way until the very end of the piece that ends with a piano glissando followed by two chords from the band accompanied by drum hits.
There is only one real soloist in this piece and that's the saxophonist. The solo is only 8 bars long, but it plays an important roll in bringing the tone of the piece down a little while still keeping with the same intensity. One can almost imagine the lazy river that the saxophone seems to portray, while the brass in the background reminds us that there's still a danger and a work to be done.
The rhythm section in this piece is most apparent at the beginning when they introduce the theme. Beyond that we hear the drums most. The drummer accents all the large "hits" in the music as well as keeping time. The bassist must also be excellent, though hard to hear, because he keeps a rather slow tempo-ed song from speeding up.
This song is a great example of the desire to make everything "swing". This song goes from being a traditional sea shanty to a swing tune without losing any of the feeling that it is supposed to contain. The bands' drive towards the high point at the end just makes a person want to dance. The polyphony at the end is an impressive show of what a good arranger could do for a band and also shows the faint influence that New Orleans jazz still had almost 100 years later.
8 bar intro--piano, bass, drums
8 bar A--trombones!
8 bar A--louder trombones, saxophone, fills by trumpet using mute
8 bar B--whole band, builds in intensity
8 bar C--whole band, more growth
4 bar saxophone soli
8 bar saxophone solo, with brass fills
4 bar drum fill
22 bar polyphony theme variation
4 bar bridge (two sax, two brass)
8 bar A'
8 bar ending
"Song of the Volga Boatmen" is clearly a big band piece of the swing era. It has a rather slow tempo, but what it lacks in speed in makes up for in intensity and drive. In this piece we hear piano, bass, drums, trumpet, saxophone, and trombone. Since this piece is adapted from a traditional Russian piece, it makes sense that it follows a loose 32 bar form.
The 8-bar introduction to this piece features the piano playing the basic riff of the piece supported by drums and bass. The trombones then take up this melody for 8-bars before they are joined by a trumpet player who fills in the empty spaces. The trumpet players unique sound comes from the fact that he is using a mute. Through the B and C sections the band builds in intensity to the saxophone soli that brings the tone back down for the saxophone solo. After a 4-bar drum fill, we see a new turn in the music. The band plays a sort of planned polyphony that combines variations of all the main themes (A, B and C). The band continues to swing with an intensity that is impressive all the way until the very end of the piece that ends with a piano glissando followed by two chords from the band accompanied by drum hits.
There is only one real soloist in this piece and that's the saxophonist. The solo is only 8 bars long, but it plays an important roll in bringing the tone of the piece down a little while still keeping with the same intensity. One can almost imagine the lazy river that the saxophone seems to portray, while the brass in the background reminds us that there's still a danger and a work to be done.
The rhythm section in this piece is most apparent at the beginning when they introduce the theme. Beyond that we hear the drums most. The drummer accents all the large "hits" in the music as well as keeping time. The bassist must also be excellent, though hard to hear, because he keeps a rather slow tempo-ed song from speeding up.
This song is a great example of the desire to make everything "swing". This song goes from being a traditional sea shanty to a swing tune without losing any of the feeling that it is supposed to contain. The bands' drive towards the high point at the end just makes a person want to dance. The polyphony at the end is an impressive show of what a good arranger could do for a band and also shows the faint influence that New Orleans jazz still had almost 100 years later.
Friday, February 10, 2012
The Limitations of Ragtime and Stride
As music developed in the bars and brothels of Storeyville and other such suspect places, it became something new, something different, something called ragtime. Before jazz really evolved, there was ragtime. While ragtime is very, very different from jazz, it influenced the jazz piano of the 1920s considerably.
Ragtime is a type of playing that is characterized by its polyrhythm and excessive syncopation, or emphasis of the weak beat. Though it is heavily syncopated, ragtime is supposed to be played at a very steady and certain beat with no variation from the original tempo. A rag is generally played in 16 bar theme in duple meter. It has a lively, dancing tempo.
Some of the most famous rags were produced by Scott Joplin. Scott Joplin composed many rags but some of his most famous are Maple Leaf Rag and The Entertainer. I, however, have chosen to include his Peacherine Rag and Elite Syncopations.
Ragtime and its predecessor stride piano are both important to the progression of jazz piano, but their shortcomings would ultimately leave jazz pianists wanting more and would force pianists to come up with new ways to express themselves in jazz.
Sources:
Stride! by John L. Fell and Terkild Vinding
That American Rag by David A. Jasen and Gene Jones
parlorsongs.com/insearch/ragtime/ragtime.php
Ragtime is a type of playing that is characterized by its polyrhythm and excessive syncopation, or emphasis of the weak beat. Though it is heavily syncopated, ragtime is supposed to be played at a very steady and certain beat with no variation from the original tempo. A rag is generally played in 16 bar theme in duple meter. It has a lively, dancing tempo.
Some of the most famous rags were produced by Scott Joplin. Scott Joplin composed many rags but some of his most famous are Maple Leaf Rag and The Entertainer. I, however, have chosen to include his Peacherine Rag and Elite Syncopations.
Elite Syncopations
Peacherine Rag
From these two pieces you can clearly hear some of the key traits of ragtime. It has that very steady tempo. It makes you want to dance (that's not really a requirement, but it certainly helped in the popularity of ragtime). It does not "swing" at all--the rhythm is very straight even if it is syncopated. Most importantly, if you listen closely to the left hand (the lower part), you can occasionally hear something that sounds like early stride piano.
Ragtime is a very interesting form of music in that it both stays the same and changes. Joplin's rags are still famous over 100 years later and yet there are a great number of derivations of original ragtime. I think that can be heard in Jelly Roll Morton's piece Wolverine Blues which is featured below. Keep in mind as you listen that this piece came out over 20 years after either of the aforementioned rags.
Wolverine Blues
Though Wolverine Blues clearly shares some traits with ragtime, it also has more of what we might call a "jazz" feeling. For one thing, ragtime was usually just a piano whereas here we have a trio of piano, drums, and clarinet. The beginning of the piece sounds like a rag but it is more flashy with a bit more swing then a typical ragtime piece would have, as well as some impressive glissandi.
Stride piano was roaring by this time. James P. Johnson, Luckey Roberts, and Duke Ellington all used this style and it is apparent in many tunes, both solo piano and in an ensemble. Stride piano allowed a pianist to not only play a solo, but to help set down a chord progression as well. For this reason it is a very important addition to the art of playing the jazz piano.
Though stride piano contained solos, it was also rather limited because of its lack of original melodies. Dick Wellstood, a stride pianist who played in the 1940s despite the advent and rise of bebop, explained it this way:
One of the weaknesses of stride playing is that it is not melodic in the manner of, say, the playing of Earl Hines or the boppers, but rather consists often of pianistic filigree over the melody of a tune. That is to say, the stride players loved to take a reasonably simple melody ("Liza", "I Know That You Know") and state it, and restate it, on the beat, off the beat, in thirds, in sixths, with syncopated bass, in different keys, etc. But the restatements themselves seldom had much melodic interest; they were usually just arpegiated figures, ornamenting the melody or establishing a rhythmic pattern.It is easy to see this by listening to one of the songs that Wellstood mentions: Liza. Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away) was written by George Gershwin and then played by many other musicians after him. The first video is of Gershwin's piece (it is not, however, performed by him), while the second video is a version performed by James P. Johnson (usually considered the father of stride piano).
Liza (as written by George Gershwin)
Liza (performed by James P. Johnson)
It is easy to see what Wellstood meant. Though both of these versions are beautiful, Johnson's is never much different from the original score that Gershwin wrote. Johnson's piece lacks a new idea, a higher improvisational form than just variation.
Ragtime and its predecessor stride piano are both important to the progression of jazz piano, but their shortcomings would ultimately leave jazz pianists wanting more and would force pianists to come up with new ways to express themselves in jazz.
Sources:
Stride! by John L. Fell and Terkild Vinding
That American Rag by David A. Jasen and Gene Jones
parlorsongs.com/insearch/ragtime/ragtime.php
Critical Listening #3: Golliwog's Cakewalk
Claude Debussy was born in France in 1862. He began playing the piano as a child and, between then and his death in 1918, became one of the most famous composers known to man. There are few who do not know the name of Debussy and at least a few of his works, such as Clair de Lune or Deux Arabesques.
Though Debussy is considered an impressionist pianist by some, he was always kicking against the standards of his day. He even once said, in regards to his desire to choose his own way of playing, "I am sure the Institute would not approve, for, naturally it regards the path which it ordains as the only right one. but there is no help for it! I am too enamoured of my freedom, too fond of my own ideas". It comes as no surprise that someone who felt this way would find a certain attraction to a predecessor of jazz -- ragtime.
In 1908, Debussy wrote his Children's Corner Suite dedicated to his daughter. It contains a series of songs that are supposed to remind a person of certain children's toys. One of these songs has a decidedly ragtime feel -- Golliwog's Cakewalk.
A cakewalk was a type of minstrelsy in which the most bizarre and exaggerated dancer would receive a cake. A golliwog was a type of doll that was similar to the black-face minstrels of the time. With that small explanation, here is Golliwog's Cakewalk performed by Arturo Michelangeli.
Though Debussy is considered an impressionist pianist by some, he was always kicking against the standards of his day. He even once said, in regards to his desire to choose his own way of playing, "I am sure the Institute would not approve, for, naturally it regards the path which it ordains as the only right one. but there is no help for it! I am too enamoured of my freedom, too fond of my own ideas". It comes as no surprise that someone who felt this way would find a certain attraction to a predecessor of jazz -- ragtime.
In 1908, Debussy wrote his Children's Corner Suite dedicated to his daughter. It contains a series of songs that are supposed to remind a person of certain children's toys. One of these songs has a decidedly ragtime feel -- Golliwog's Cakewalk.
A cakewalk was a type of minstrelsy in which the most bizarre and exaggerated dancer would receive a cake. A golliwog was a type of doll that was similar to the black-face minstrels of the time. With that small explanation, here is Golliwog's Cakewalk performed by Arturo Michelangeli.
Though this piece is not a "jazz" piece and therefore cannot be analyzed in quite the same manner, I believe that it is worth looking at because it shows the far reaching effects of jazz and, more especially, ragtime.
In the simplest of terms, Golliwog's Cakewalk can be said to have a format of A-B-A. In reality it is slightly more complicated then this:
8 bar introduction
(A section)
8 bar theme 1
8 bar theme 1 with variations
8 bar theme 2
8 bar theme 2 with variations
6 bar transition
(B section)
14 bar theme 3 (split 8-6)
12 bar theme 4 (split 4-4-4)
17 bar theme 4 variation (split 3-3-4-4-3)
(A section)
8 bar theme 1
8 bar theme 1 with variations
8 bar theme 2 with variations
7 bar theme 2 with variations
8 bar ending
As we can see, Debussy does not conform to the typical 16 bar phrase of basic ragtime. Even though his form is completely different, this piece still has a ragtime feel to it. For one there is the dance feeling. This is a cakewalk--you can just imagine people dancing extravagantly to it--and it has that peppy upbeat attitude. It also has the quick walking tempo of most ragtime and sounds deceptively easy which is not a requirement for ragtime, but is something that frequently occurs. In keeping with that New Orleans sound, we feel a very strong emphasis on every other beat (two and four) instead of every beat like is found in later jazz.
Debussy pays careful attention to the "touches" he uses on the piano. Throughout the A section and at appropriate times in the B section, there is this very sharp and precise staccato which only enhances the dancing feeling of this piece. In the B section, Debussy departs from ragtime to play a mocking shadow of Richard Wagner's opening prelude from Tristan and Isolde.
This piece though not a purely ragtime idea, nonetheless shows the far reaching effects of the ever changing music scene in America. Even though it had to cross an ocean, ragtime, and eventually jazz, would reach the world and influence all kinds of people and musics.
Sources:
Debussy: Man and Artist by Oscar Thompson
www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/golliwog/
In the simplest of terms, Golliwog's Cakewalk can be said to have a format of A-B-A. In reality it is slightly more complicated then this:
8 bar introduction
(A section)
8 bar theme 1
8 bar theme 1 with variations
8 bar theme 2
8 bar theme 2 with variations
6 bar transition
(B section)
14 bar theme 3 (split 8-6)
12 bar theme 4 (split 4-4-4)
17 bar theme 4 variation (split 3-3-4-4-3)
(A section)
8 bar theme 1
8 bar theme 1 with variations
8 bar theme 2 with variations
7 bar theme 2 with variations
8 bar ending
As we can see, Debussy does not conform to the typical 16 bar phrase of basic ragtime. Even though his form is completely different, this piece still has a ragtime feel to it. For one there is the dance feeling. This is a cakewalk--you can just imagine people dancing extravagantly to it--and it has that peppy upbeat attitude. It also has the quick walking tempo of most ragtime and sounds deceptively easy which is not a requirement for ragtime, but is something that frequently occurs. In keeping with that New Orleans sound, we feel a very strong emphasis on every other beat (two and four) instead of every beat like is found in later jazz.
Debussy pays careful attention to the "touches" he uses on the piano. Throughout the A section and at appropriate times in the B section, there is this very sharp and precise staccato which only enhances the dancing feeling of this piece. In the B section, Debussy departs from ragtime to play a mocking shadow of Richard Wagner's opening prelude from Tristan and Isolde.
This piece though not a purely ragtime idea, nonetheless shows the far reaching effects of the ever changing music scene in America. Even though it had to cross an ocean, ragtime, and eventually jazz, would reach the world and influence all kinds of people and musics.
Sources:
Debussy: Man and Artist by Oscar Thompson
www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/golliwog/
Sunday, February 5, 2012
The Facets of One Face
By 1890, piano sales worldwide had reached into the hundreds of thousands and by 1900 just America's piano sales alone were in the hundreds of thousands. As mentioned last time, the piano had become a common household item, not just for richer, upper-class citizens, but for the middle class as well.
Novels from that time and earlier show that the ability to play the piano was deemed a marriageable quality. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Ionych by Anton Chekhov are two novels that show this idea perfectly. Because of the marriageability factor, the enjoyment derived from the piano, and its advancing availability, many people, especially women, played the piano. Piano playing was so prevalent that Oscar Wilde, an Irish author and poet, is quoted to have said, "The typewriting machine, when played with expression, is no more annoying than the piano when played by a sister or near relation".
Though there is no documentation of this, I believe that the number of women in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries that played the piano had an important role in the beginnings of jazz. Imagine it...a woman, a mother, who plays the piano, who loves that music and her children hearing it and then really listening to it. Maybe she taught them to play, maybe they just acquired a love of music, but I believe that it affected those children. James Weldon Johnson, the author of The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (a fictional story of one young man's experiences with the music of the piano) spoke of his own mother's playing. He reminisced that "...those evenings on which she opened the little piano were the happiest hours of my childhood...". There is no doubt in my mind that the increase of pianos in the home inspired some of these children to the realm of jazz.
Though the piano would eventually come to jazz, it first found its fame in two very contrasting places: the concert halls of the nations and the brothels and bars of the cities. Although the concert halls produced many great pianists, even some who would play jazz type music such as George Gershwin, the brothels and bars are more important to us at this moment.
Many early jazz pianists started their careers as pianists in lowly places. The owners of the brothels and bars knew that the piano was the perfect instrument--it could provide melody, harmony, and rhythm all in one and only required them to pay one person which saved them money. For many black pianists, these brothels and bars would become a heaven-send. Though these talented musicians could not perform in the same venues as their white counterparts, the lowly places they played allowed them a freedom of expression and repertoire that allowed them to expand their own knowledge and push the bounds of musical innovation.
Sources:
Marketing History of the Piano http://www.cantos.org/Piano/History/marketing.html
U.S. Piano Sales History http://www.bluebookofpianos.com/uspiano.htm
Piano Roles: A New History of the Piano by Professor James Parakilas
Novels from that time and earlier show that the ability to play the piano was deemed a marriageable quality. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Ionych by Anton Chekhov are two novels that show this idea perfectly. Because of the marriageability factor, the enjoyment derived from the piano, and its advancing availability, many people, especially women, played the piano. Piano playing was so prevalent that Oscar Wilde, an Irish author and poet, is quoted to have said, "The typewriting machine, when played with expression, is no more annoying than the piano when played by a sister or near relation".
Though there is no documentation of this, I believe that the number of women in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries that played the piano had an important role in the beginnings of jazz. Imagine it...a woman, a mother, who plays the piano, who loves that music and her children hearing it and then really listening to it. Maybe she taught them to play, maybe they just acquired a love of music, but I believe that it affected those children. James Weldon Johnson, the author of The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (a fictional story of one young man's experiences with the music of the piano) spoke of his own mother's playing. He reminisced that "...those evenings on which she opened the little piano were the happiest hours of my childhood...". There is no doubt in my mind that the increase of pianos in the home inspired some of these children to the realm of jazz.
Though the piano would eventually come to jazz, it first found its fame in two very contrasting places: the concert halls of the nations and the brothels and bars of the cities. Although the concert halls produced many great pianists, even some who would play jazz type music such as George Gershwin, the brothels and bars are more important to us at this moment.
Many early jazz pianists started their careers as pianists in lowly places. The owners of the brothels and bars knew that the piano was the perfect instrument--it could provide melody, harmony, and rhythm all in one and only required them to pay one person which saved them money. For many black pianists, these brothels and bars would become a heaven-send. Though these talented musicians could not perform in the same venues as their white counterparts, the lowly places they played allowed them a freedom of expression and repertoire that allowed them to expand their own knowledge and push the bounds of musical innovation.
Sources:
Marketing History of the Piano http://www.cantos.org/Piano/History/marketing.html
U.S. Piano Sales History http://www.bluebookofpianos.com/uspiano.htm
Piano Roles: A New History of the Piano by Professor James Parakilas
Critical Listening #2: What?!
This week I'm going to analyze a tune by the names of "What?!". This wonderful piece is from the album "Bone Structure" by Wycliffe Gordon and Ron Westray which was originally released in 1996. Gordon and Westray explore bounds on the trombone that are both enlightening and astounding. They are accompanied by a wonderful rhythm section: Marcus Roberts on piano, Reginald Veal on bass, and Herlin Riley on drums.
The main theme or "A" section is an 8-bar phrase that is always played twice. It provides a reassuring structure to the piece. The B is strange in that it appears to be 16 bars long. The first 8 bars present a new theme and the next 8 bars present one that it very similar but not exactly the same. The C section is only 8 bars long and is only played completely one time. At the very end of the piece it is began, but then the entire band holds out one note until the final cymbal crash from the drummer.
There are two soloists the pianist and one of the trombonists. The piano solo lasts for quite a few choruses, in fact, it is almost half the song. The pianist emphasizes the off beats quite frequently which creates tension. This whole solo seems to be an experiment in how much tension the pianist can create. Dissonance is also frequently used, as are repeated notes and licks. At the very end of the solo, the pianist mimics the A section to lead into the trombone solo. Though the trombonist plays rather lyrically at the beginning, he then adopts a saxophone-esque playing technique with his many swirling, non-stop eighth notes. He plays a rather short solo as compared to the pianist but it is rife with arpeggios and glissandi, as well as being technically difficult.
The rhythm section is this song is quite excellent. The bass player sets up a walking bass line regardless of the fast tempo and never once looses the beat. The pianist has quite a large solo, but when he's not soloing he adds "hits" much like a drummer would and oftentimes even in conjunction with the drummer. During the trombone solo the pianist helps keep the chord progression in tact, but stays mostly behind the scenes with very few fills and virtually no notes that are not block chords. The drummer plays ride time during the A sections and the solos, but during the B and C sections brings in a Latin style of drumming that fits the melody perfectly. It is impressive to hear his flawless performance at this tempo as well as managing to add fills in the solos and set up the new choruses.
One of the most impressive things about this piece is the two trombonists. There is a common joke that implies that any two trombonists playing in unison will actually be more like a half step or even a second, but though Gordon and Westray play in unison they match not only each others notes but styles and dynamics. They provide an energy with each new chorus (especially the ones after the stop time measures) that keeps you wanting more and (at least in my case) makes you want to move...or learn to play trombone.
Because of the drumming style on sections B and C and the distinctive feeling of movement, this piece gives of a genuine Latin feel that is augmented with strange rhythms and solos making it so much more than just another Latin piece. I would recommend this to any trombone player as well as the rest of the album.
"What?!" is a very lively and fast paced tune. Though the rhythm section never fails to keep the beat it is easy to get lost in amalgamation of sound that this quintet produces. Playing in this quintet are Gordon and Westray on trombone and their rhythm section consisting of piano, bass, and drums.
The form of this tune is a bit strange:
8 bar A x2
16 bar B x1
8 bar A x2
8 bar C x1
piano solo
trombone solo
8 bar A x2
16 bar B x1
8 bar A x2
C type ending
The main theme or "A" section is an 8-bar phrase that is always played twice. It provides a reassuring structure to the piece. The B is strange in that it appears to be 16 bars long. The first 8 bars present a new theme and the next 8 bars present one that it very similar but not exactly the same. The C section is only 8 bars long and is only played completely one time. At the very end of the piece it is began, but then the entire band holds out one note until the final cymbal crash from the drummer.
There are two soloists the pianist and one of the trombonists. The piano solo lasts for quite a few choruses, in fact, it is almost half the song. The pianist emphasizes the off beats quite frequently which creates tension. This whole solo seems to be an experiment in how much tension the pianist can create. Dissonance is also frequently used, as are repeated notes and licks. At the very end of the solo, the pianist mimics the A section to lead into the trombone solo. Though the trombonist plays rather lyrically at the beginning, he then adopts a saxophone-esque playing technique with his many swirling, non-stop eighth notes. He plays a rather short solo as compared to the pianist but it is rife with arpeggios and glissandi, as well as being technically difficult.
The rhythm section is this song is quite excellent. The bass player sets up a walking bass line regardless of the fast tempo and never once looses the beat. The pianist has quite a large solo, but when he's not soloing he adds "hits" much like a drummer would and oftentimes even in conjunction with the drummer. During the trombone solo the pianist helps keep the chord progression in tact, but stays mostly behind the scenes with very few fills and virtually no notes that are not block chords. The drummer plays ride time during the A sections and the solos, but during the B and C sections brings in a Latin style of drumming that fits the melody perfectly. It is impressive to hear his flawless performance at this tempo as well as managing to add fills in the solos and set up the new choruses.
One of the most impressive things about this piece is the two trombonists. There is a common joke that implies that any two trombonists playing in unison will actually be more like a half step or even a second, but though Gordon and Westray play in unison they match not only each others notes but styles and dynamics. They provide an energy with each new chorus (especially the ones after the stop time measures) that keeps you wanting more and (at least in my case) makes you want to move...or learn to play trombone.
Because of the drumming style on sections B and C and the distinctive feeling of movement, this piece gives of a genuine Latin feel that is augmented with strange rhythms and solos making it so much more than just another Latin piece. I would recommend this to any trombone player as well as the rest of the album.
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