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JAZZ PERSPECTIVES
Jazz
Forms -
Evolution
1 - A New Dialogue
Jazz and popular music were
directly linked, if not synonymous, until the late 1950's. The rhythms were the
dance beats of the day, and the popular song was the principle medium for the
jazz improviser. In Jazz in the Sixties, Michael Budds states; "Jazz
began as a distinctive manner of performing pre-existing music ... its' general
framework was almost completely defined by the nature of the borrowed material,
which included spirituals, hymns, marches, blues, dance tunes, and popular
songs." Even Bebop, although revolutionary in rhythmic and melodic ways,
still used chord progressions from popular music as the basis for many new
melodies. An example of this in Charlie Parker's material is Donna
Lee*, a melody written to the chords of an earlier popular standard called
Indiana.
Rock and Roll replaced jazz as
the popular dance music in the late 1950's, leaving many jazz musicians out of
work. Those who chose to continue exploring jazz found the restriction of the
dance beat no longer applied, since a smaller audience sought the sound of jazz
rather than a night of dancing. Social, political, and spiritual influences
overtook economic considerations for many musicians. Jazz began a search for new
musical elements similar to the one which took place in classical music earlier
in the century. One result of these developments was the change in jazz rhythm.
Michael Budds says, "Thanks largely to Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, and
the black avant-garde, the treatment of rhythm and meter in jazz was
substantially enhanced. These leaders demonstrated that jazz did not have to
"swing" in the traditional manner; in the process, the rhythm section
was emancipated from its traditional duties."
As jazz musicians built on the European harmonic and melodic concepts and the
African rhythmic and structural elements, the growing cultural awareness of the
sixties also encouraged many artists to look elsewhere for ideas. The current
explosion of world music grew out of this social and musical search. New
instruments joined the full range of orchestral instruments as legitimate jazz
tools. At the same time electronic keyboards, electric and bass guitars and
other amplified instruments added to the palette of colors. Experimentation and
diversity shaped the music in countless ways. Popular songs were replaced by
original compositions or structural frameworks, as in certain free jazz
concepts. Bands became associated with characteristic sounds, much as
individual musicians were. John Coltrane, Miles Davis and many others created
instantly recognizable groups and launched careers and styles through musical
associations with many now famous sidemen like Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner, and
Tony Williams. Jazz entered into a new dialogue with itself, raising issues
about its own identity and definition, as well as the direction the music should
take. The intrusion of a new reality forced jazz to evolve, but even the
musicians themselves had little idea where it would all lead. [top]
- article by Frank Singer
©2002
* A recording of Donna Lee
can be found on the CD oFF tHE tOP: standards 1
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BACK
TO
JAZZ PERSPECTIVES
CONTENTS
Jazz
Origins
I - Beginnings
II - Jazz and Technology
III - Radio and the Industrial Beat
The
Swing Era
I - Precursors
II - The Decade of Swing
III - The
BeBop Strain
A
First Look Back
New Orleans
Revival
Jazz
Forms
The Blues
The 32 bar Song Form
The Latin Influence
Cool
Hard Bop
Evolution 1 - A New Dialogue
Evolution 2 - Into The Seventies
Evolution Of The Jam Session
Post Modernism
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