• Form: Embraced the Classical conception of a form based on purely musical elements but with a movement away from clear cut symmetry - irregular phrases, repetition [basic principle of form] is disguised, varied, spaced in irregular intervals and unexpected places [a Dynamic Symmetry instead of Equal Symmetry - exact repetition]. It was a true adaption of established forms to the modern age.
The changes listed are a brief description of the many changes brought about in Contemporary Western Concert music. They do not constitute one style but are a statement of the many influences and directions within the genre. There would no longer be one dominating style - but rather many off shoots loosely labeled 20th Century Concert Music. Jazz in sharing these changes would also follow this pattern - many experiments and musical directions constituting not one dominant style but many directions of exploration and influence. What is common and universal are the demands on the listener as these trends redefined or abandoned long developing musical landmarks. The listener had to actively study and assimilate the new landmarks to make sense of the new music - it was a new language.
One on the consistent and fundamental aspects of the Jazz Genre was its basis in utilizing preexisting material and styles - it was the distinctive manner of performance which identified the particular jazz style. This nature of this material, in many ways, defined the particular jazz style: spirituals, hymns, marches, blues, dance tunes, popular songs [to name a few]. The general characteristics were a melody oriented music, a distillation of 19th Century European Music, and to varying degrees a reflection of middle-class American musical taste. Jazz began with this fundamental characteristic and evolved within its strictures until the 1960’s. With this new generation, the music underwent a very fundamental change - the search for new expressiveness and a vocabulary to address modern life and culture broke the bounds imposed by a use of preexisting material. Jazz which previously had been defined by this material now was to be defined by the new, the evolutionary, and the exploratory.
The History of Jazz has been relatively neat and concise in its course. One major effect of the change would be a splintering of current directions - producing many identifiable and concurrent ‘schools’. The History was no longer neat with clearly defined styles and time lines. Because of the many directions jazz took in the 1960’s, it would be beneficial to summarize the different style characteristics of the preceding eras - if just to provide a reference for what was to develop:
NEW ORLEANS DIXIELAND [1910 - 1925]
• RHYTHMIC PULSE was Flat 4
• FRONT LINE consisting of Cornet [melody], Clarinet [obbligato of smaller note values], Trombone [counter melody]
• RHYTHM SECTION of Tuba, Banjo, Drums
• PERFORMANCE STYLE was group improvisation above a triadic harmonic underpinning
• TEXTURE was polyphonic
• IMPROVISATION was a melodic paraphrasing of the original melody - Chorus’ were embellishments of the original theme in a ‘theme and variation’ format; the Break was only true improvisational solo but usually no more than a brief connecting link between group solo passages
CHICAGO DIXIELAND [1920 - 1928]
• RHYTHMIC PULSE was an accented 4 [‘2 beat’] to accommodate a new function as dance music
• FRONT LINE was similar to NOD but with addition of Sax and Trumpet
• RHYTHM SECTION included String Bass, Piano, and Guitar
• PERFORMANCE STYLE was still group improvisation
• TEXTURE was polyphonic
• IMPROVISATION began to stress individual soloist, utilized harmonic variation based on chord structure, and a greater emphasis on individual virtuosity
SWING [1935 - 1945]
• RHYTHMIC PULSE was accented 2 amp; 4
• FRONT LINE was developed into large sections of reed and brass
• RHYTHM SECTION of Bass, Drums, Piano, and Guitar
• PERFORMANCE STYLE was a large group written arrangement with ‘open’ solo sections - arranger became a central figure; stress on clean and precise sound ideal
• TEXTURE was homophonic - a vertically conceived ensemble sound contrasting the tone qualities of reeds and brass
• IMPROVISATION still greater emphasis on the individual soloist but within the confines of the Section and the Arrangement
BOP [1945 - 1950]
• RHYTHMIC PULSE was an accented 2 amp; 4 but now freed from the confines of providing a dance music function
• FRONT LINE returned to a smaller ensemble classically a Trumpet and Sax - but some larger groupings in this style
• RHYTHM SECTION of Piano, Bass, Drums, with Guitar achieving solo instrument status. Redefined functions with the Bass and HiHat holding down pulse definition
• PERFORMANCE STYLE was Head/Solo/Head with the soloist the central figure
• TEXTURE was homophonic - a horizontally conceived solo based on the underlying harmonic structure
• IMPROVISATION was completely soloist oriented with multiple chorus’ the rule rather than the exception and virtuosity a major element
COOL [1950 - 1955]
• RHYTHMIC PULSE was accented 2 amp; 4 but understated and implied
• FRONT LINE - small groups with larger groups utilizing ‘unusual’ instrumental colors
• RHYTHM SECTION was handled with understatement with pianoless or drummer less ensembles appearing
• PERFORMANCE STYLE was Head/Solo/Head but with seamless and interwoven entrances - emphasis on the rational and ‘classical’
• TEXTURE was almost a return to the polyphony of Dixieland
• IMPROVISATION completely soloist oriented
HARD BOP [1955 - 1960]
• RHYTHMIC PULSE was accented 2 amp; 4 hard, driving, and emotional
• FRONT LINE - small groups
• RHYTHM SECTION of Piano, Bass, Drums
• PERFORMANCE STYLE was Head/Solo/Head with the emphasis on the emotional with R amp;B and Gospel influences. A disregard for the ‘European’ mannerisms of the Cool School
• TEXTURE was homophonic
• IMPROVISATION completely soloist oriented
This history chronicles a steady evolution with the revolutionary a reaction or rejection of past practice. Yes, there were some very fundamental changes which occurred - but these changes did not reinvent or reject the musical elements of Jazz. Each of the styles maintained a link with these musical elements varying only in emphasis - the foundations remained common and firm only the structures built upon the foundations were varied. The 60’s were to work on the very foundations of the music.
This is not to say that all was changed - actually two main trends emerged. The era continued with the evolutionary pattern: an exploration within the limitations of already existing styles and their accompanying performance characteristics, a maintenance of functional harmony, a division of labor between the Rhythm Section and the Front Line, and a continuing and reoccurring accented pulse. The era was also characterized by a disintegration of the very structural background of Jazz: an intentional assault on the rigidity of the historical framework, a replacement by a new system of order to fill the vacancy left by the assault on this historical framework [first evident in the area of harmony - melody, rhythm, meter, and structure to soon follow with a return to group improvisation based on new conceptions], a growing interest in ‘world music’, a new attempt to synthesize Jazz and the music of the European Fine Art Tradition, revitalization of the large group, and continued incorporation of ‘Popular Music’ into the Jazz Style - but a very different ‘Pop Music’.