Hannah Song

The Genre of Jazz

Introduction

Jazz is a diverse and dynamic genre of music which can be hard to define as it holds a

variety of styles. Because of its numerous subgenres that spread all across the world. When

people think of jazz, they generally envision the big band swing of the 30s or the bebop of the

40’s. But in reality, jazz is a much more complex genre of music that shouldn’t be so easily

categorized. For instance, there’s jazz fusion of the 80s which is a mixture of jazz, rock, and

funk, that utilizes every instrument from saxophone to synthesizers. Latin jazz like the Bossa

Nova which is a relaxed style of jazz from Brazil, or even the Samba, an uptempo, faster

predecessor to the Bossa Nova. When it comes to learning music, it is important to study jazz

because it not only develops your ears to be able to hear melodies, chord progressions, and

intervals, but it also provides every tool necessary to be able to play all styles of music. The

world of jazz continues to expand as even in the present day, new subgenres are being created.

But what makes jazz, jazz? To understand the genre better, this paper will explore the history of

jazz with its development in the US, its three core elements, and a specific piece analysis.

History

The birthplace of jazz is in New Orleans, Louisiana. Being a port city, New Orleans was

home to many different cultures, each of them having their own unique styles of music and
sounds. New Orleans had great traditions of celebrations seen with opera, military marching

bands, folk music, blues, different types of church music, ragtime and traditional African music;

when these sounds came together, jazz was born. As early as 1904, a bold and innovative

cornette player named Buddy Bolden started mixing elements of blues and ragtime music, and is

today regarded as the initiator of jazz music. Even from a young age, Louis Armstrong can recall

him listening to Bolden’s blues and ragtime music. Saying, “He was just a one-man genius that

was ahead of them all … too good for his time.” When the roaring 20’s came around, jazz

became more widestream, catching the attention of radio stations and spreading to cities like

New York and Chicago. It was New York that established jazz as a touchstone of American

culture and as jazz grew larger, so did the bands. Big bands were led by bandleaders like Duke

Ellington and Fletcher Henderson performing for nightclub audiences. The 40’s were a dark time

for jazz as WWII started, causing these big bands to get broken up and separated. Post-big band,

having fewer moving parts to worry about timing and cues meant creative freedom was restored

to the genre. Soon after, musicians like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, and Art

Blakey developed a new subgenre of jazz called bebop which really pushed the genre to evolve

faster than ever before.

Elements

Because of Jazz’s considerable number of subgenres, it can be hard to distinguish what is

and what isn’t jazz. But the genre can be defined by three major core elements, the first and most

common being Improvisation. Improvisation is the spontaneous creation of music in real-time,

allowing musicians to express their creativity and emotions without following sheet music. To

visualize how expressive improversation is, jazz musician and educator Dave Frank said “With
jazz improvisation, instead of playing Beethoven, you are Beethoven.” The second core element

of jazz is its Musical Communication. Musical Communication is the interactions played

between musicians during live performances, this is where improvisation and call-and-response

creates a dynamic and expressive exchange of ideas. Lastly, the third core element in jazz is its

complex harmony which refers to the use of intricate chord structures and progressions, often

incorporating extended chords, altered tones, and unconventional scales that make up the genre's

unique characteristics.

Piece Analysis

In 1956, jazz musicians who were sponsored by the US State Department were sent out

internationally to places like Eastern Europe, the Middle East, central and southern Asia and

Africa to tour as part of cultural diplomacy initiatives to promote American values globally. In

1958, Dave Brubeck went on a jazz ambassador tour to the Middle East which would change the

course of jazz. Listening to Turkish folk music on his trip, Brubeck discovered for the first time

the use of 9/8 time signatures, when asked the musicians “what is this rhythm?” they respond

with “This rhythm is to us, what the blues is to you.” A year later, Brubeck would release an

album called “Time Out” with novel time signatures as the guiding concept. The song from

“Time Out” that I will be analyzing is the album's centerpiece which is “Take Five.”

Link To Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmDDOFXSgAs

soon after, a piano vamp gets added on and repeated. This smooth groove of drums and piano

stays repeating for the first 22 seconds until a pair of saxophone melodies gets added on top. The

saxophone is smooth and almost doesn’t sound like it’s being played in 5/4 time. The saxophone

solo plays, changing the pattern of notes fluently until 1 minute and 50 seconds when only the

piano and drum play their familiar groove. While the piano stays the same, the drums slowly

switches into a solo still playing in 5/4 time but experimentes with choppy snares that intercuts

the complex cymbal. Eventually the cymbal stops completely and a pattern of growing rolls

begins to repeat. This Drum solo lasts for 2 minutes and 27 seconds until the song hits 4 minutes

and 22 seconds when the saxophone gets reintroduced and the song replays the solo from the

first half. Near the end the instruments change to a slower pace before the saxophone finishes its

last note and the drum and piano fall silent.

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2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SS9EnD_-_Y.

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmDDOFXSgAs.

Damage, DB. “Origins and History of Jazz | Sound of Life | Powered by KEF.” Sound of

Life, 22 June 2023, www.soundoflife.com/blogs/mixtape/jazz-origins-history.

Effman, Paul. “Jazz Music Explained - How to Play, Listen To, and Enjoy Jazz Music for

Beginners!” Www.youtube.com, 23 May 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=StM6blsh-

Xg. Accessed 13 Apr. 2022.

MasterClass. “What Is Jazz? A Guide to the History and Sound of Jazz.” MasterClass, 7

June 2021, www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-jazz. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.

Polyphonic. “Time Out: How Dave Brubeck Changed Jazz.” YouTube, YouTube Video,

22 Aug. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUFiKSmqivo.

Portland State Graphic Design. “Peter Le: A Brief History of Jazz.” YouTube, 9 Oct.

2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3u-nx0NT38. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.

www.liveabout.com/ten-early-jazz-musicians-2039550.