Tuesday and Friday 12:30-1:50 Slosberg Room TBA Textbook: Jazz 101(a complete guide to learning and loving jazz) Author: John F. Szwed Hachette Books

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1 Music 32B Elements of Jazz Prof. Bob Nieske Tuesday and Friday 12:30-1:50 Slosberg Room TBA Textbook: Jazz 101(a complete guide to learning and loving jazz) Author: John F. Szwed Hachette Books Recommended Reading: On ITunes U: Jazz Insights by Dr. Gordon Vernick Jazz Styles, Mark Gridley Pearson/Prentice Hall [this can be purchased cheaply used on amazon] Jazz Changes, Martin Williams Oxford Univ. Press 1992 Jazz Talking, Max Jones Da Capo Press 1987 Musings, Gunther Schuller, Oxford Univ Press 1986 Early Jazz, Gunther Schuller, Oxford Univ. Press 1968 The Making of Kind of Blue, Eric Nisenson St. Martins Griffen 2000 Studio Recordings of Miles Davis Quintet , Keith Waters Oxford Univ Press 2011 Jazz from its origins to the present, Lewis Porter Prentice Hall 1993 Jazz the first 100 years, Henry Martin and Keith Waters Schirmer 2002 Success in this 4 credit hour course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (LISTENING, readings, homework, discussion sections, preparation for exams etc.) This is not a sociology course. It is a music class although there is no music prerequisite. The primary focus will be the important musicians in Jazz, identifying standard song forms and distinguishing historic performance styles. There will be a lot of important musicians left out but I ll talk about the musicians who I find the most interesting and important based on my experience. I am not an academic or a historian but I am a Jazz Musician and will be talking from the perspective of someone who has played with and known musicians who are some of the most important in Jazz history. At the end of the course you should be able to have a SENSE of what Jazz music is. Not necessarily be able to define it but to know it when you here it and understand it s basic concepts. You should be able to tell instrumentalists from one another. For example: Miles Davis from Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Hodges from John Coltrane or Ornette Coleman. Count Basie from Duke Ellington. A 12 bar blues from a 32 bar AABA form. This will require some very basic musical training which we will spend the first few weeks covering. You will be given my notes for each class to use as study guides. GRADING PERCENTAGES *3 Main Exams 43% *1 10 page paper on these singers: 14% Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, Betty Carter Include: 1- short bio, 2- brief analysis of one representative performance by each (include instrumentation, form of piece, accompaniment style) 3- vocal style comparison [go into some detail, due last class] *6 Listening Guides 13% *3 Quiz 6% *Blues Form Poem 4% *Maple Leaf Rag Comparison 2% *Parker/Gillespie half page 2% *Hawkins / Young comparison 2% *Schuller Jazz Jazz half page 2% *One page written response on Sun Ra films 4% *One page written response on 1959 film 4% *One page written response to Ornette film 4%

2 *All students must sign in at start of class. *Missing 4 classes will result in 1/3 of one grade deduction 5 classes will be 2/3 6 classes will be one full grade *Work will not be accepted after 3 classes from due date. one class late = 1/3 of a grade two classes late = 2/3 three classes late = one full grade *The assignments listed here for each class are due at the NEXT class meeting unless otherwise noted. 1-Friday 1/12 [What is / is it Jazz?] Elements of Jazz: Improvisation, Swing, Syncopation, Call and Response, Riff, Chorus, Instrumentation, Personal Sound *Read: Szwed - Chapters 1-3, and Gridley Appendix 1 *Listen: Bernstein, jazz insights what is jazz 2- Tuesday 1/16 [Listening techniques] *Practice following listening guide with Song for My Father *Listen: How jazz works 1: Jazz Insights: ITunes U Dr. Gordon Vernick *Read: Gridley chapter 3 and Szwed chapter 4 3-Friday 1/19 [Basic Instrumental Roles] [Live Demonstration] *Read: Gridley blues form [ ] and Szwed chapter 5 Watch history of Drums video 1 st 15 minutes [Pay Attention!]

3 4-Tuesday 1/23 [Blues Form] SHORT QUIZ Assignment *Make listening guide to Fine and Mellow, Billie Holiday [due 1/26] write in everything you notice for each chorus. [How many choruses total? (a chorus is one time through the form of the song) Write in everything you notice for each chorus. (what instrument, what backgrounds) Use time markers to indicate significant events] *Write poem based on 12 bar Blues chord tension progression. This means there will be 12 lines in the poem. One for each bar of the Blues (due next Tuesday 1/30) 5- Friday 1/26 [Blues through the decades] *Read: Gridley review aaba and blues in appendix *Listen to blues recordings *Finish poem based on Blues form (different tension levels) 6- Tuesday 1/30 [AABA song form] Not necessary but of interest: Arthur Morris Jones Africa Collection: [first track Ghana, poly rhythm clapping Agbadza drumming] Look at for your enjoyment and interest: Not Required pdf download: *Read Szwed chapter 7 [and Schuller, if you want but not required] *Be responsible for your listening! Only need to do listening guides when I ask for them but need to know the pieces I put up on LATTE

4 7- Friday 2/2 [Origins of Jazz] QUIZ something on listening and reading Ghana postal workers One Day Angelic Gospel singers with Dixie Hummingbirds *Read: Szwed chapters *Listen to both versions of MAPLE LEAF RAG, and write the differences and similarities you hear in the performances. Doesn t have to be long. Write what you hear but listen many times to each. *Listen to: WOLVERINE BLUES with Gridley guide YOU VE GOT TO BE MODERNISTIC with Gridley guide DIXIE JAZZ BAND ONE STEP with Gridley guide *History of Drumset 15:00 23: Tuesday 2/6 [Early Jazz] *Read: Krupa on recording 9-Friday 2/9 FIRST EXAM *Read: Szwed chapter 13 *Bix by McPartland 10- Tuesday 2/13 [Armstrong, Hines, Biderbeck] *Read: Szwed chapter 14 *Make listening guide to Moten swing 1932 Benny Moten band predecessor to Basie band [aaba form starting from the beginning. There is No intro. Label each section of each chorus and tell which instrument is playing. Who is in foreground and background] *Listen with Gridley guide: Seven come eleven, Goodman Nieske out sick BREAK

5 11- Tuesday 2/27 [Swing/the big band]and Ellington *Read: Bigard on Ellington 12- Friday 3/2 [more Ellington] *Make listening guide to When Lights are low (Lionel Hampton plays vibes) *Watch Coleman Hawkins, Lester young video and write paragraph on difference in approach and tone. Young plays first [3:07] then Hawkins [6:30] then they trade [7:32] 13-Tuesday 3/6 [Basie, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins] *Read: Schuller What makes Jazz Jazz? [On the pdf there are two page 30 and 31, scanned improperly] *Write a half page on your observations *Read: Szwed chapter 17 *Watch: Jazz History Lesson Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and write half page on your observations Friday 3/9 [Be Bop: Monk, Powell, Parker, Gillespie] *Make Listening guide to Rhythm-a ning 15- Tuesday 3/13 [More bop] NO HOMEWORK 16- Friday 3/16 [Listening EXAM] *Watch: 1959 the year that changed jazz and Write one page on the video (about 250 words) *Read: Szwed chapter 19 Giuffre/Tristano Rehearsing with Giuffre Giuffre Obituary

6 17- Tuesday 3/20 [Jimmy Giuffre] *Read: Lydian Odyssey of George Russell, Making of kind of blue 18- Friday 3/23 Live Performance 19- Tuesday 3/27 [George Russell] Russell s Modal influence on Kind of Blue *READ: Gridley Modes, * Kind of Blue sessions *Listen to Flamenco sketches with Gridley listening guide *Make listening guide to Footprints first 3 minutes BREAK 20- Tuesday 4/10 [Miles and Kind of blue and 2 nd quintet] *Read: Szwed *Make Listening Guide to St Thomas 21- Friday 4/13 [Coltrane, Rollins] *Read: Tristano Free Form *Listen Bill Evans Scott Lafaro *Listen to solar with Gridley listening guide 22- Tuesday 4/17 [Bill Evans, Ahmad Jamal, Lennie Tristano] Differing approaches to small group piano *Read: Schuller-Ornette *Williams-Ornette Coleman-The Musician and the Music *Watch: Ornette film Write a half page to a full page about Ornette s process and or feelings on music and or life. What do you think? What did you get about him from this? 23- Friday 4/20 [Ornette,Mingus] *Watch Sun Ra and write page on your thoughts.

7 24- Tuesday 4/24 [Free Jazz, Sun Ra] *Read Szwed Ch Wednesday 4/25 [jazz rock/fusion] FINAL EXAM DURING FINALS WEEK Wednesday May 2 6:00-9:00 PM room tba

Tuesday and Friday 12:30-1:50 Slosberg Room TBA Textbook: Jazz 101(a complete guide to learning and loving jazz) Author: John F. Szwed Hachette Books

Music 32B Elements of Jazz Prof. Bob Nieske Tuesday and Friday 12:30-1:50 Slosberg Room TBA Textbook: Jazz 101(a complete guide to learning and loving jazz) Author: John F. Szwed Hachette Books Recommended