The History and Development of Jazz

[Hotep Idris Galeta]

The History And Development Of Jazz


By Hotep Idris Galeta



One cannot write objectively about an art form without taking into account the various socio- political influences responsible for its development and evolution. The development of Jazz and its effect on popular music in the United States and the rest of the world is the direct result of the African slave trade and the African Diaspora in the southern part of the United States. This unique art form initiated by African Americans during the later part of the 19th century is probably the most influential musical phenomenon produced on the North American Continent. It possesses an identifiable history and a describable stylistic evolution. The social conditions which spawned this dynamic art form is rooted in the human rights abuses and oppressive conditions experienced by Africans captured and uprooted from their traditional cultures then transported to an alien environment as slaves. These dynamics coupled over the years with exposure to and the assimilation of European arts and cultural forms gave rise to new modes of musical expression that began to develop within the slave and Creole communities in and around the city of New Orleans and other areas of the United States with large populations of people of African descent. These were the embryonic beginnings and early developmental stages of Jazz. Since its beginnings Jazz has branched out into so many styles that no single description fits all of them with total accuracy. A few generalizations however can be made, bearing in mind that for all of them exceptions can be cited. Jazz and popular music therefore cannot be completely divorced. The most durable popular tunes of the past and present have been and continue to be played in the current styles and serve as important vehicles for Jazz improvisation.



Chord Progressions and Improvisation
Performers of Jazz improvise within the conventions of their chosen style. Typically the improvisation is accompanied by the repeated chord progression of a popular song or an original composition. Included within these melodic parameters are the use of glissandi, nuances of pitch including blue notes, the micro tonally altered intervals of a scale pattern related to the choral structure of a song.

Melody
Although exceptions occur in some styles, most Jazz is based on the principle that an infinite number of melodies can fit the chord progression of any song, The musician improvises new melodies that fit the chord progression which is repeated again and again as each soloist is featured for as many choruses as desired.

Rhythm
In striving to develop a personal sound or tone color, a idiosyncratic sense of rhythm and form and a individual style of execution, performers create rhythms characterized by constant syncopation, accents in unexpected places and also by swing, a sensation of pull and momentum that arises as the melody is heard alternately together with and then slightly at variance with the expected pulse or division of a pulse.

Notation
Written scores if present are merely used as guides, providing structure within which improvisation occurs. Jazz musicians call these scores “Lead Sheets or Charts” The “Lead Sheet or Chart” could be a simple piano score or a series of lead sheets arranged specifically for a trio or larger Jazz ensembles such as quartets, quintets, sextets as well as fifteen to eighteen piece Jazz bands.

Instrumentation
The typical instrumentation in a Jazz ensemble is rooted in the rhythm section consisting of piano, string or electric bass, drums and optional guitar or percussion instruments, to which might be added any number of wind or brass instruments. In a big band for example, the rhythm section is augmented by the wind instruments normally consisting of 2 Alto Saxophones, 2 Tenors and a Baritone. The Brass section would normally consist of 4 trumpets plus 3 tenor trombones and a bass trombone.
Form
Although compositions with many different patterns are used in Jazz improvisation, two formal patterns in particular are frequently found. That is the blues pattern which normally has a twelve measure or bar cycle and the thirty two bar pattern which has an “A-A-B-A” structure. A good example of this pattern is the composition of George Gershwin “I’ve Got Rhythm”.

The Early Beginnings of Jazz
Jazz music started to developed around 1895 in New Orleans. It began as a synthesis and fusion of Ragtime, Spirituals, Slave Worksongs, European Classical, Minstrel, Martial music and the blues. The first Jazz was developed and performed by Creole and African American musicians resident in New Orleans during that period. The Creoles were free French and Spanish speaking light skinned blacks who originally came from the West Indies, living under Spanish and then French rule in the Louisiana Territory.
They acquired American citizenship as the result of the purchase of Louisiana from the French by the American Government in 1803 and the granting of Louisiana Statehood in 1812. The Creoles rose to the highest levels of New Orleans society during the 19th century. Residing in the French Quarter of the city east of Canal Street they became prominent in the economic and cultural life of that section of town. Creole musicians, many of them conservatory trained in Paris, France played at the Opera House and in chamber Ensembles. Some even led the best society bands in New Orleans. They prided themselves on their formal knowledge of European music and on having all of the social and cultural values that characterized the upper class. In sharp contrast to the Creoles, were the blacks from the American part of New Orleans who lived west of Canal Street. They were the recently emancipated slaves, poor, uneducated, totally lacking in the economic advantages prominent amongst the Creoles. The musicians from the American section also called “Back O’ Town” section, were well schooled in the blues, Ragtime, Spirituals and Worksongs that they sang and played mostly by ear. Memorization and improvisation were the characteristics of the “Westside” bands whereas sight reading and “correct” performance in the European tradition were the normal modes of operation in the Creole bands.



During the 1890’s two events occurred that deeply affected the development of Jazz in New Orleans. In 1894 the city enacted a segregation code that sent the Creoles to live in the “Back O Town” section and consequently brought them in closer contact with the emancipated slave community. This was a cultural catastrophe for the Creoles but they soon gained musical dominance of the American section. It was the musical sparks that flew from the fusing of these two very distinct cultures in the ensuing decades that ignited the flames of Jazz. In 1897 the city passed another resolution that instituted vice segregation, setting up a “Redlight District” later to be called “Storyville” named after the resolution’s sponsor, Alderman Sidney Story. Eventually the best musicians,Creole and emancipated slave, found their way to Storyville where the wages were good and the work was regular. They played together in bands exchanging musical ideas and teaching each other the things they knew best. The Creole “Professors” giving formal music lessons, the emancipated slaves teaching them to understand and enjoy Ragtime, Spirituals and the Blues. Basin Street was the important street in the district. The street later became immortalized in the song “Basin Street Blues”
Most of the early Jazz was played in small marching bands or by solo pianists. Beside Ragtime and marches, the repertoire also included Hymns, Spirituals and the Blues. The bands played music modified frequently by syncopation and acceleration in saloons, brothels weddings, picnics, parades and funerals. Characteristically the bands would play dirges on the way to the cemetery and lively marches on the way back.
These were the legendary pioneering Jazz generation of New Orleans:
Trumpeter, Charles “Buddy Bolden” (1877-1931) clarinetists, Alphonse Picou (1879-1961) Lorenzo Tio (1865-1920) and his brother louis Tio (1863-1927) and Frank Lewis (1870-1924) Cornetist, William Geary “Bunk” Johnson (1879-1949) Theogene baquet (1858-1920) Manuel Perez (1879-1946) and Henry Allen Sr. (1877-1952) Trombonist Frank Dusen (1881-1936) Guitarist, Charles “Happy” Galloway (1865-1921) Bassist, Jimmy Johnson(1884-1937) and Drummers, Edward “Dee Dee” Chandler (1870-1925 and Henry Zeno (1870-1917) All of these men contributed greatly to Jazz in its formative stages either as leaders or as sidemen in each others bands. Despite the variation in ages amongst the men they may be regarded as contemporaries for they played alongside each other in the groups of that period.



The same statement could be made about the men of the next generation of whom two were sons of the older men and several were students. The sons were clarinetist George Baquet (1883-1949) and Lorenzo Tio Jr. (1884-1933). The students of those early Jazz masters were cornetist Peter Bocage (1887-1967) Freddy Keppard (1880-1933) and Joseph “King” Oliver (1885-1938) Charles “Buddy” Bolden is generally regarded as the patriarch of Jazz. He was celebrated for his tone ,technique and hard driving ragged music. He became “ King” Bolden the trumpeter to be emulated by Freddy Keppard, Joe Oliver and Louis Armstrong and many others who came after him. The songs he made famous included, “Make Me A Pallet On The Floor” “The House Got Ready” “Bucket Got A Hole In It” and “Buddy Bolden Blues”. The exodus of black musicians from New Orleans began in the first decade of the 20th century to places such as Memphis, Kansas City, Chicago, St Louis and New York. These large metropolitan commercial / industrial areas were to become the spawning grounds for the development of the many new styles of Jazz that were to emerge over the coming years.


Copyright: Hotep Idris Galeta

Zebtepi Music

[Dean daniel Dean]

Hotep, this is an incredibly good and necessary lesson in Jazz history. I have been sitting here all morning with my 12 yr.old daughter using this wonderful information to educate her and enrich myself. I will forward this and subscribe to your blog. Please keep writing, researching and disseminating this rich musical knowledge.