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 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 1965-68, 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 45% *1 10 page paper on these singers: 16% 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 *6 Listening Guides 15% *1 Quiz 4% *Blues Form Poem 4% *Maple Leaf Rag Comparison 2% *Parker/Gillespie half page 2% *Hawkins / Young comparison 2% *One page written response on Sun Ra films 5% *One page written response on 1959 film 5%
*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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3dnz6rg3vi 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 *Watch history of Drums video 1 st 15 minutes [pay attention, may be a quiz] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh-jvnctjbg *Read: Gridley chapter 3 and Szwed chapter 4 3-Friday 1/19 [Basic Instrumental Roles] [Live Demonstration] *Read: blues form Gridley and Szwed chapter 5 4-Tuesday 1/23 [Blues Form] Assignment *Make listening guide to Fine and Mellow, Billie Holiday [due 1/26] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykqxg09wlia write in everything you notice for each chorus. (a chorus is one time through the form) 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] http://sounds.bl.uk/world-and-traditional-music/arthur-morris-jones Look at for your enjoyment and interest: Not Required pdf download: http://www.davidbruce.net/studiesinafrican_vol1.pdf http://www.davidbruce.net/studiesinafrican_vol2.pdf *Read Szwed chapter 7 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 7- Friday 2/2 [Origins of Jazz] Ghana postal workers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=por5sopwhdc One Day Angelic Gospel singers with Dixie Hummingbirds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npnv4cfrdxa *Read: Szwed chapters 11 + 12 *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 23:41 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh-jvnctjbg
8- 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. No intro. Label each section of each chorus and tell who is playing. Who is in foreground and background] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr42hm6gvkq *Listen with Gridley guide: Seven come eleven, Goodman 11- Friday 2/16 [Swing/the big band]and Ellington *Read: Bigard on Ellington BREAK 12- Tuesday 2/27 [more Ellington] *Make listening guide to When Lights are low https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5fsdj3th-i *Watch Coleman Hawkins, Lester young video and write paragraph on difference in approach and tone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dmtpvfa_w8 13-Friday 3/2 [Basie, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins] *Read: Schuller What makes Jazz Jazz? 14- Tuesday 3/6 [Live Performance] *Read: Szwed chapter 17 *Watch: Jazz History Lesson Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and write half page on your observations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhezt43wxdg
15- Friday 3/9 [Be Bop: Monk, Powell, Parker, Gillespie] *Make Listening guide to Rhythm-a ning 16- Tuesday 3/13 [More bop] NO HOMEWORK 17- Friday 3/16 [EXAM] *Watch: 1959 the year that changed jazz and Write one page on the video (about 250 words) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dou3aszmeg0 *Read: Szwed chapter 19 Giuffre/Tristano Rehearsing with Giuffre 18- Tuesday 3/20 [Jimmy Giuffre] *Read: Lydian Odyssey of George Russell, Making of kind of blue 19- Friday 3/23 [George Russell] Russell s Modal influence on Kind of Blue *READ: Modes, *Listen to Flamenco sketches with Gridley listening guide *Make listening guide to Footprints first 3 minutes 20- Tuesday 3/27 [Miles and Kind of blue and 2 nd quintet] *Read: Szwed 22 + 23 *Make Listening Guide to St Thomas BREAK 21- Tuesday 4/10 [Coltrane, Rollins] *Read: Tristano Free Form *Listen Jazz insights Bill Evans Scott Lafaro *Listen to solar with Gridley listening guide
22- Friday 4/13 [Bill Evans, Ahmad Jamal, Lennie Tristano] Differing approaches to small group piano *Read: Schuller-Ornette *Williams-Ornette Coleman-The Musician and the Music 23- Tuesday 4/17 [Ornette,Mingus] *Watch Sun Ra and write page on your thoughts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ammwnwvhq5k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmqe_v11q3u 24- Friday 4/20 [Free Jazz, Sun Ra] *Read Szwed Ch 27 25- Tuesday 4/24 [jazz rock/fusion] 26- Wednesday 4/25 (Brandeis Friday) EXAM