After Christopher Columbus discovered a new continent and Europeans settled there, ships of traders in human goods increasingly followed the shores of America.
Exhausted by hard work, homesick and suffering from the cruel treatment of their guards, the slaves found solace in music. Gradually, Americans and Europeans became interested in unusual melodies and rhythms. This is how jazz was born. What is jazz and what are its features, we will consider in this article.
Features of the musical direction
Jazz includes music of African-American origin, which is based on improvisation (swing) and a special rhythmic structure (syncopation). Unlike other genres, where one person writes the music and another performs it, jazz musicians are also composers.
The melody is created spontaneously, the periods of composition and performance are separated by a minimum period of time. This is how jazz comes about. orchestra? This is the ability of musicians to adapt to each other. At the same time, everyone improvises their own.
The results of spontaneous compositions are stored in musical notation (T. Cowler, G. Arlen “Happy All Day”, D. Ellington “Don’t You Know What I Love?”, etc.).
Over time, African music was synthesized with European music. Melodies appeared that combined plasticity, rhythm, melody and harmony of sounds (CHEATHAM Doc, Blues In My Heart, CARTER James, Centerpiece, etc.).
Directions
There are more than thirty styles of jazz. Let's look at some of them.
1. Blues. Translated from English, the word means “sadness”, “melancholy”. Initially, the blues was the name given to the solo lyrical song of African Americans. Jazz blues is a twelve-bar period corresponding to a three-line poetic form. Blues compositions are performed in at a slow pace, there is some understatement in the texts. blues - Gertrude Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and others.
2. Ragtime. The literal translation of the name of the style is torn time. On the tongue musical terms"rag" denotes additional sounds between the beats of a bar. The movement appeared in the USA after people overseas became interested in the works of F. Schubert, F. Chopin and F. Liszt. The music of European composers was performed in the jazz style. Later original compositions appeared. Ragtime is typical for the works of S. Joplin, D. Scott, D. Lamb and others.
3. Boogie-woogie. The style appeared at the beginning of the last century. Owners of inexpensive cafes needed musicians to play jazz. It goes without saying that such musical accompaniment presupposes the presence of an orchestra, but inviting large number it was expensive for musicians. Sound different instruments The pianists compensated by creating numerous rhythmic compositions. Boogie features:
- improvisation;
- virtuosic technique;
- special accompaniment: the left hand performs a motor ostinant configuration, the interval between the bass and the melody is two or three octaves;
- continuous rhythm;
- pedal exclusion.
Boogie-woogie was played by Romeo Nelson, Arthur Montana Taylor, Charles Avery and others.
Style legends
Jazz is popular in many countries around the world. Everywhere has its own stars, surrounded by an army of fans, but some names have become real legends. They are known and loved all over. Such musicians, in particular, include Louis Armstrong.
It is unknown what the fate of the boy from a poor black neighborhood would have been like if Louis had not ended up in a correctional camp. Here the future star was enrolled in a brass band, although the band did not play jazz. and how it was performed, the young man discovered for himself much later. World fame Armstrong acquired through diligence and perseverance.
Billie Holiday (real name Eleanor Fagan) is considered the founder of jazz singing. The singer reached the peak of her popularity in the 50s of the last century, when she changed the scenes of nightclubs to the theater stage.
Life was not easy for the owner of a three-octave range, Ella Fitzgerald. After the death of her mother, the girl ran away from home and led a not very decent lifestyle. The start of the singer's career was a performance at music competition Amateur Nights.
George Gershwin is world famous. The composer created jazz works based on classical music. The unexpected manner of performance captivated listeners and colleagues. The concerts were invariably accompanied by applause. Most famous works D. Gershwin - “Rhapsody in Blue” (co-authored with Fred Grof), operas “Porgy and Bess”, “An American in Paris”.
Also popular jazz performers were and remain Janis Joplin, Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughn, Miles Davis and others.
Jazz in the USSR
The emergence of this musical movement in the Soviet Union is associated with the name of the poet, translator and theatergoer Valentin Parnakh. The first concert of a jazz band led by a virtuoso took place in 1922. Later, A. Tsfasman, L. Utesov, Y. Skomorovsky formed the direction of theatrical jazz, combining instrumental performance and operetta. E. Rosner and O. Lundstrem did a lot to popularize jazz music.
In the 1940s, jazz was widely criticized as a phenomenon of bourgeois culture. In the 50s and 60s, attacks on performers stopped. Jazz ensembles were created both in the RSFSR and in other union republics.
Today jazz is freely performed on concert venues and in clubs.
Jazz bands are the most popular performers at events from the site. This is because jazz bands are great for almost any event, regardless of whether they are the highlight of the program or simply provide musical accompaniment. Jazz originated in New Orleans at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Traditional New Orleans jazz is still alive on the site, breaking away from other styles in the 1940s, as well as the performance of large jazz groups. Jazz music is unique in that it has continued to evolve and has split into several genres over the years, many of which are still thriving today. Looking for a large band or a jazz ensemble with just a few players? The site has large selection jazz bands that can please the audience of almost any event. Do you want your guests to dance? A jazz band is a great way to get everyone excited.
Jazz bands can provide wonderful music during both cocktail hour and the main event. In order to choose the most suitable jazz group for a wedding, corporate party or other event, we recommend that you first decide on the desired repertoire, as well as your budget. You also need to know for what period you will need a jazz group and in what intervals you want it to perform. We recommend that you select at least 5-6 teams and send them your request. Often musicians are busy on the required date or do not have the opportunity to perform in your city.
Please note that if you order an artist’s performance through our service, you do not overpay to intermediaries, receive the service of our managers and can select an excellent musician for your event in a few minutes.
How the musical direction of jazz was formed in the USA in late XIX- the beginning of the twentieth century, representing a synthesis of cultures: African and European. Since then it has evolved greatly and has become the impetus for the development of many other musical styles. At the beginning of the last century, jazz bands gained popularity, musical ensembles, which featured wind and percussion instruments, as well as piano and double bass. The brightest jazz performers were forever inscribed in the history of music.
Cult jazzmen
Perhaps the most famous jazzman in the world is Louis Armstrong. This name is known not only to fans of this musical style, for a wide audience it is so closely associated with jazz that it has become its personification. Armstrong is a representative of traditional New Orleans jazz, thanks to him this style developed and became popular in the world, and his influence on the music of the last century can hardly be overestimated. He is also called the "Jazz Maestro" or "King of Jazz". Louis Armstrong's main instrument was the trumpet, but he was also an excellent vocalist and jazz band leader.
And Frank Sinatra was legendary jazz vocalist with an incredible voice timbre. In addition, he was also a wonderful actor and showman, a standard musical taste and style. For my musical career he received 9 of the highest music awards - a Grammy, and also won an Oscar for his acting skills.
The most famous jazz performers
Ray Charles - a real genius jazz, awarded America's main music award as many as 17 times! He is ranked 10th out of 100 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the greatest artists. In addition to jazz, Charles also performed compositions in the genres of soul and blues. This great artist went blind as a child, but this did not stop him from achieving worldwide fame and making a huge contribution to the history of the music industry.
Miles Davis, the most talented jazz trumpeter, gave rise to new varieties of this musical style, such as fusion, cool jazz and modal jazz. He was never limited to one direction - traditional jazz, this made his music multifaceted and unusual. He was the one who can be said to have founded modern jazz. Performers of this style today are often its followers.
Great women
The best jazz performers are not necessarily men. Ella Fitzgerald - greatest singer with a unique voice with a three-octave range. This magnificent vocalist was a master of voice improvisation and received many awards during her long career, including 13 Grammys. 50 years of the singer’s work is a whole era in music, during which this jazz diva released more than 90 albums.
Billie Holiday had a much shorter career, but no less colorful. Her singing style was unique, and therefore the legendary vocalist is considered the founder of jazz vocals. Unfortunately, the singer's unhealthy lifestyle led to her death at the age of 44, and in 1987 she was awarded a Grammy posthumously. These great singers are far from the only women- jazz performers. But they are definitely one of the brightest.
Other artists
There are undoubtedly others famous performers jazz of yesteryear. Sarah Vaughan - " greatest voice 20th century,” her voice was truly unique, mannered and refined, and over the years it became deeper and deeper. Throughout her career, the singer honed her skills. And Dizzy Gillespie was a virtuoso trumpet player, vocalist, composer and arranger. Dizzy founded modern improvisational jazz (bebop) with Charlie Parker, an amazing saxophonist who became so through diligent practice and 15 hours of music lessons.
Living and popular jazzmen
Diversity and fusion of styles is what modern jazz is all about. Performers often do not limit themselves to one direction, combining jazz with soul, blues, rock or pop music. Today the most famous are: George Benson, a master of voice and guitar for about 50 years, Grammy winner; Bob James is a smooth jazz pianist, one of the founders of this style and the creator of the band called the Bob James Trio, which features saxophone, drums and bass performed by David McMurray, Billy Kilson and Samuel Burgess. Another piano genius and the composer is Chick Corea. A multiple Grammy winner and a very talented musician, in addition to keyboards, he also plays the percussion instruments. Flora Purim is a Brazilian jazz performer with a rare voice with a range of 6 octaves, known for her joint performances with many jazz stars. Georgian Nino Katamadze is one of the most famous jazz singers of our time, she is also a composer of her own songs. He has a surprisingly deep, special voice. She has her own jazz band called Insight, with which she records and performs. The ensemble consists of guitar, bass guitar and drums, performed by Gocha Kacheishvili, Ucha Gugunava and David Abuladze, sound engineer - Gia Chelidze.
Young generation
Modern popular artists jazz are often young talents, among whom girls especially stand out. A real breakthrough was the talented Norah Jones, author and performer of her own songs, singer and pianist. Thanks to the range and timbre of her voice, many compare her to Billie Holiday. During her 10-year career, she managed to release 10 albums, as well as earn a Grammy and many other prestigious awards. Another young one jazz singer is multi-instrumentalist Esperanza Spaulding, the first performer of this genre to receive a Grammy in the category “Best new artist of the Year" in 2011, also won in other nominations in this music award. Plays many instruments and speaks several languages.
Above are the brightest and most outstanding jazz performers. And although there are a lot of excellent musicians in this direction, it is enough to listen to the best to get a basic understanding of such a concept as jazz.
Improvisation is not an exclusive feature of jazz - it is known, for example, that improvisation occupied a significant place in classical music-making in the 19th century. Yet it was jazz, like no other type of music or even art, that in its birth and development turned out to be firmly connected with improvisation. In early jazz - during its origins in New Orleans - this connection was partly accidental, since many jazz performers had little or no knowledge of musical notation and played by ear. However, the very nature of the music, which at first was simply called “hot music”, which indicates a hot temperament as the first quality of a jazz performer, inclined musicians towards spontaneity. Therefore, little by little, so to speak, they pushed the gag, i.e. improvised, all band members - to the best of their temperament and imagination. Moreover, they weren’t playing classics.
Trumpeter Louis Armstrong brought the art of improvisation to a new level. We can say that it was he who created solo improvisation as a complete individual statement - a kind of monologue in a play or a conversation, especially since his playing intonationally sounded like human speech.
Louis Armstrong Hot Seven – Wild Man Blues (1927)
It is not surprising that the title “King of Jazz” was forever assigned to him. For everything jazz performers twentieth century, all improvisers are in one way or another in this sense indebted to him and his invention, thanks to which jazz from a primarily entertaining and dance music has become an art of self-expression.
Famous jazz performers - bandleaders
However, this did not happen immediately. The 30s were a time of dance fever and the heyday of jazz orchestras. The main figure of the swing era is the man who, as a rule, stands in front of the orchestra, obeying the wave of his hand, the man who sets the rhythm, forcing a mass of people to move, sometimes simply squirm in dance; after all, “swing,” according to Duke Ellington’s explanation, means nothing more than rhythm. Therefore, the brightest individuals and popular representatives of jazz of that era are not only and not so much soloists, but orchestra leaders, band leaders, who, as a rule, were also jazz composers and arrangers, as well as... soloists: clarinetist Benny Goodman, pianists Duke Ellington, Count Basie, trombonist Glenn Miller, as well as clarinetists Woody Herman and Artie Shaw, trombonist Tommy Dorsey, saxophonist Jimmy Lunsford, drummer Chick Webb, singer Cab Calloway.
Among more than 200 orchestras, these names have become known throughout the country and outside the United States thanks to the skill of the arrangers and performers, as well as the ability of their leaders to find their own style.
The most common distinction was between “hot” and “sweet” music. As a rule, the “black” big bands played “hot”, while the “white” ones for the most part preferred sentimental “sweetness”. (However, this division is not absolute, and most orchestras mixed these styles in varying proportions.)
However, the best of the best big bands are like collective individuals with their own unique and easily recognizable sound.
Light, fast, airy swing of the orchestra of Benny Goodman (no wonder he received the unofficial title of “King of Swing”).
Benny Goodman – Let's Dance / Minnie's in the Money (1943)
The bluesier, more frantic swing of Count Basie's big band.
Count Basie - Swingin' the Blues (1941)
Impeccably elegant, moderately “hot”, moderately “sweet” (an ideal commercial combination) style of the Glenn Miller orchestra.
The “dark” sound of the Duke Ellington orchestra, which received the special name “jungle style” (mainly due to the muted sound of trumpets and trombones).
Duke Ellington - It don't mean a thing (1943)
However, Ellington’s orchestra distinguished three more styles. He is also responsible for the first attempts to give jazz serious content and spiritual goals.
Another feature of almost every orchestra was their vocalists, some of whom became not only jazz stars, but also achieved worldwide fame: Billie Holiday (who performed with the Count Basie Orchestra), Ella Fitzgerald (with Chick Webb), Frank Sinatra (who started with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra) and, of course, Louis Armstrong.
Jazz icons of the 40s and 50s.
In the 40s, with the end of the swing era, the era of small compositions and individual performers began. A musician's fame becomes directly proportional to his skill in improvisation.
In this and the following decade (40s and 50s), musicians appeared on the jazz stage who, thanks to their virtuosity and tireless experimentation, remain unsurpassed examples of performing skills, role models for modern jazz performers, musicians who expanded expressive possibilities jazz:
pianists Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans;
alto saxophonists Charlie Parker and Ornette Coleman;
trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis;
tenor saxophones John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins;
double bassist Charlie Mingus;
drummers Buddy Rich and Art Blakey
vocalist Sarah Vaughan;
etc.
Thelonious Monk – Round Midnight
These musicians are referred to as “giants of jazz” or “jazz icons” (original terms-metaphors established in the jazz environment in relation to outstanding representatives of the art of jazz). For any beginner jazz musician their work inevitably becomes the subject of careful study, and at first simply copying.
Miles Davis - All Blues (also Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter)
These names have already become the history of jazz. But for jazz lovers, getting to know their music is an aesthetic experience that forms the standard of perception.
Bill Evans - My Foolish Heart
Living legends of jazz
The modern period of jazz development can be counted from the 60s of the twentieth century. Not only because most of the current trends and styles of jazz were formed then, but primarily because in this decade famous jazzmen began their musical careers, whose work has long become a jazz classic, but who to this day remain actors on the world jazz stage:
pianists Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea;
guitarists John McLaughlin, John Scofield, Pat Metheny, George Benson;
saxophonists Charles Lloyd, Wayne Shorter, John Zorn;
vocalist Bobby McFerrin;
trumpeters Wynton Marsalis and Randy Brecker
etc.
Keith Jarrett Trio - God Bless The Child
We can talk for a long time about the work of each of these musicians and their contribution to the development of jazz, but suffice it to say that each of them is also a unique, easily recognizable style with an irresistible charm that evokes many imitations.
And although they are called jazz legends, at the same time they are completely modern jazz performers who continue to be active concert activities and set the tone in modern jazz, and they can be heard live.
Pat Metheny Group - Minuano
Publications in the Music section
They were the first to play jazz
Jazz music world gave a meeting of two cultures - European and African. On an international wave in the early 20s of the twentieth century, the musical movement burst into the Land of the Soviets. We remember the performers who were the first to play jazz in the USSR.
Valentin Parnakh with his son Alexander. Photo: jazz.ru
Valentin Parnakh. Photo: mkrf.ru
“Valentin Parnach’s first eccentric jazz band orchestra in the RSFSR” debuted on stage in October 1922. It was not just a premiere, but a premiere of a new musical direction. The collective, revolutionary for the music of that time, was brought together by a poet, musician and choreographer who lived in Europe for six years. Parnach heard jazz in a Parisian cafe in 1921 and was shocked by this innovative musical movement. He returned to Soviet Union with a set of instruments for a jazz band. We only rehearsed for a month.
On the day of the premiere on the stage of the Central College theatrical arts- the current GITIS - the future writer and screenwriter Evgeniy Gabrilovich, actor and artist Alexander Kostomolotsky, Mechislav Kaprovich and Sergei Tizengeizen gathered. Gabrilovich was sitting at the piano: he played well by ear. Kostomolotsky played drums, Kaprovich played saxophone, Tiesengeisen played double bass and foot drum. The double bass players still beat the rhythm with their feet, the musicians decided.
At the first concerts, Valentin Parnakh told the audience about the musical direction and that jazz is a combination of traditions from different continents and cultures into one “international fusion.” The practical part of the lecture was received with enthusiasm. Including Vsevolod Meyerhold, who was not slow in inviting Parnakh to assemble a jazz band for his performance. Popular foxtrots and shimmy were performed in the performances “The Generous Cuckold” and “D.E.” Energetic music came in handy even at the May Day demonstration in 1923. “For the first time, a jazz band participated in state celebrations, which has never happened in the West before!”- the Soviet press trumpeted.
Alexander Tsfasman: jazz as a profession
Alexander Tsfasman. Photo: orangesong.ru
Alexander Tsfasman. Photo: muzperekrestok.ru
The works of Franz Liszt, Heinrich Neuhaus and Dmitry Shostakovich coexisted harmoniously with jazz melodies in the work of Alexander Tsfasman. While still a student at the Moscow Conservatory, from which the musician later graduated with a gold medal, he created the first professional jazz group in Moscow - “AMA-jazz”. The orchestra's first performance took place in 1927 at the Artistic Club. The team immediately received an invitation from one of the most fashionable venues at that time - the Hermitage Garden. In the same year, jazz first appeared on Soviet radio. And it was performed by Tsfasman’s musicians.
“The tired sun tenderly said goodbye to the sea” sounded in 1937 from a record recorded by Alexander Tsfasman’s ensemble under the name “Moscow Guys”.
For the first time in the Union, the famous tango by the Polish composer Jerzy Petersbursky “Last Sunday” to the words of the poet Joseph Alwek was heard in jazz adaptation. The first to sing about the tender farewell of the sun and sea was the soloist of the Tsfasman jazz ensemble Pavel Mikhailov. WITH light hand Another recording from the same disc - about an unsuccessful date - became an all-time hit among musicians. “So that means tomorrow, in the same place, at the same hour.”, - sang after jazz ensemble the whole country.
“Those who have ever listened to A. Tsfasman play will forever remember the art of this virtuoso pianist. His dazzling pianism, combining expression and grace, had a magical effect on the listener.”
Alexander Medvedev, musicologist
Although Alexander Tsfasman was involved in a jazz ensemble, he did not abandon his solo program and performed as a pianist and composer. Together with Dmitry Shostakovich, Tsfasman worked on the music for the epic film “Meeting on the Elbe”, and then, at the request of the composer, performed his music for the film “The Unforgettable 1919”. He also became the author of jazz music that sounded in famous performance“Under the rustle of your eyelashes” by the puppet theater of Sergei Obraztsov.
Leopold Teplitsky. Classics with a jazz twist
Leopold Teplitsky. Photo: history.kantele.ru
Leopold Teplitsky conducted symphony orchestras at silent film shows in the St. Petersburg Hermitage and Lux cinemas while still studying at the conservatory. In 1926, the People's Commissariat sent young musician to Philadelphia to perform at International exhibition. In America, Teplitsky heard symphonic jazz - the music of this direction was performed by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.
When Leopold Teplitsky returned to the USSR, he organized the “First Concert Jazz Band” from professional musicians. The classics - the music of Giuseppe Verdi and Charles Gounod - were heard in a jazz arrangement. A jazz band played and works by contemporary American authors - George Gershwin, Irving Berlin. This is how Leopold Teplitsky found himself at the forefront of professional Leningrad jazz in the 1930s. Leonid Utesov called him “the first Russian musician to show jazz playing.”
The jazzmen's first performance took place in 1927. The concert was preceded by a lecture “The Jazz Band and the Music of the Future” by musicologist and composer Joseph Schillinger. The music, unusual for those years, and the soloist aroused particular interest among the public - pop and jazz singer from Mexico Coretti Arle-Tietz performed with the musicians. The success of the team did not last long: in 1930, Leopold Teplitsky was arrested and convicted of espionage. He was released two years later, but Teplitsky did not stay in Leningrad - he moved to Petrozavodsk.
Since 1933, the musician worked as the chief conductor of the Karelian symphony orchestra, but didn’t leave jazz - he played with academic orchestra and a jazz program. Teplitsky also performed with his new group in Leningrad - as part of the Ten Days of Karelian Art. In 1936, with the participation of the musician, new team"Kantele", for which Teplitsky wrote "Karelian Prelude". The ensemble became the winner of the First All-Union Radio Festival folk art in 1936. Leopold Teplitsky remained to live in Petrozavodsk. The “Stars and Us” jazz music festival is dedicated to the memory of the famous jazzman.
Leonid Utesov. "Song Jazz"
Leonid Utesov. Photo: music-fantasy.ru
Leonid Utesov. Photo: mp3stunes.com
A high-profile premiere at the turn of the 1930s was “Thea Jazz” by Leonid Utesov. Fashionable musical direction from the light hand of the famous variety artist, who dropped out of commercial school for the sake of music, acquired the scale of a theatrical performance. Utesov became interested in jazz during a trip to Paris, where the Ted Lewis Orchestra amazed the Soviet musician with its “theatricalization” in best traditions music hall
These impressions were embodied in the creation of “Thea Jazz”. Utesov turned to the virtuoso trumpet player, academic musician Yakov Skomorovsky, who also found the idea of a jazz orchestra interesting. Gathering musicians from Leningrad theaters, Tea Jazz performed on the stage of the Leningrad Maly Opera Theater in 1929. This was the first composition of the group, which did not work for long and soon moved to the Leningrad Radio in the “Concert Jazz Orchestra”.
Utesov dialed new line-up“Thea-jazz” - musicians staged entire performances. One of them - “Music Store” - later formed the basis famous film, the first Soviet musical comedy. Painting by Grigory Alexandrov “Jolly Guys” with Lyubov Orlova in leading role was released in 1934. She became popular not only at home, but also abroad. got inspired jazz music in 1933, when he heard Duke Ellington's "Dear Old South." Impressed, Lundström wrote out the arrangement, assembled a band, and sat down at the piano himself. Two years later, the musician conquered Shanghai, where he lived at that moment. So I decided further fate: Abroad, Lundström studied simultaneously at a polytechnic institute and a music college. His orchestra played jazz classics and music Soviet composers in jazz arrangement. The press called Lundström “the king of jazz of the Far East.”
In 1947, the musicians decided to move to the Soviet Union - to in full force, with families. Everyone settled in Kazan and studied at the Conservatory here. However, a year later, a resolution of the CPSU Central Committee was issued, condemning “formalism in music.” The team returned to their homeland to become state-owned jazz band Tatar ASSR, but the musicians were distributed in opera house and cinema orchestras. Together they performed only at rare one-off concerts.
“Deep penetration into the character of jazz performance, into its classical traditions, on the one hand, and the desire to contribute to this genre, using national folklore, through the creation and performance of original jazz works and arrangements, on the other - this is the orchestra’s credo.”
Oleg Lundstrem
Only the thaw brought jazz back to the stage. In the year of its 60th anniversary, Oleg Lundstrem's orchestra entered the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest continuously existing orchestra in the world. jazz orchestra. The musician also had a chance to meet the author of that same “Dear Old South” when Duke Ellington came to Moscow in the 1970s. Oleg Lundstrem kept the record all his life, which gave him a love for jazz.
