2. What Is Jazz?
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the
beginning of the 20th century in
African American communities in
the southern United States.
It was born out of a mix of African, European and
American musical traditions. Its African influence
is evident in its use of “blue” notes,
improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation and
swing rhythms. From its early development until
the present day, jazz has also incorporated
music from American popular music.
3. What Is Jazz?
Jazz began as a style of popular music. During the
1920s, 30s and 40s, Jazz was the principal style of
all American popular music.
But with the advent of Rock and Roll in the 1950s,
Jazz became a secondary style in American popular
music, and eventually evolved into
what is now considered a type of classical music that
is uniquely American.
Throughout the 20th
Century, Jazz as a musical style
spread around the world, resulting in
specific varieties of Jazz in many countries.
5. In her younger years, Ella Fitzgerald’s voice
was known for its quality of tone accuracy of
pitch, wide range and flexibility.
In her later years when the quality of her
voice began to decline,
she became more famous for
her improvisational style of singing
known as “scat singing.”
Musical Example: But Not For Me” (next slide)
(1930 – from “Girl Crazy” by George & Ira Gershwin)
6. In vocal jazz, Scat Singing is
vocal improvisation with
wordless vocal sounds, nonsense syllables
or without words at all.
Scat singing gives singers the ability to
sing improvised melodies and rhythms,
creating the equivalent of an
instrumental solo using their voices.
Musical Example: Stompin’ At The Savoy” (next slide)
(1934; music by Edgar Sampson, 1907-1973)
(1961 performance; the pianist is the very famous jazz
pianist Oscar Peterson)
7. Billie Holiday
(1915–1959; Born in Philadelphia, PA)
Considered one of the greatest jazz vocalists of all time,
Holiday had a thriving career for many years before she
lost her battle with substance abuse. Her autobiography
was made into the 1972 film Lady Sings the Blues.
8. Billie Holiday – Musical Examples:
“What A Little Moonlight Can Do” (next slide)
(1933; music & lyrics by Harry M. Woods)
“Good Morning Heartache” (following slide)
(1946; music & lyrics by Irene Higginbotham,
Ervin Drake, and Dan Fisher)
[Note: Irene Higginbotham, a classically-trained
musician, was one of the few successful popular
songwriters of this period who was
an African-American woman. Later, in the 1950s
and 60s, many more would follow.]
9. Sarah Vaughan
(1924–1990; Born in Newark, NJ.)
Described by jazz critic Scott Yanow as having
“one of the most wondrous voices
of the 20th century."
10. Sarah Vaughan – Musical Examples:
“Misty” (next slide)
(1954; music by Erroll Garner)
“So Many Stars” (following slide)
(1968; Sergio Mendez & Alan & Marilyn Bergman)
(1989 recording; this is an example of “Bossa Nova” music)
Bossa Nova: Bossa nova is a well-known style of
Brazilian jazz, developed and popularized in the 1950s
and 1960s. The phrase bossa nova means literally "New
Trend" in Portuguese. A lyrical fusion of samba and jazz,
bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s initially
from young musicians and college students. Since its
birth, it remains a vital part of the standard jazz repertoire.
11. Joe Williams
(1918-1999)
was a well-known jazz vocalist, a
baritone singing a mixture of
blues, ballads, popular songs,
and jazz standards.
Often associated with the Count
Basie Orchestra, with which he
was the lead singer for many
years, Joe Williams is considered
to be one of the most influential
singers in the history of jazz.
Musical Example:
“Every Day I Have The Blues”
(1949, next slide)
12. Peggy Lee
(1920 – 2002)
was a highly influential American jazz
and popular music singer, songwriter,
composer, and actress in a career
spanning six decades. From her
beginning as a vocalist on local radio
to singing with Benny Goodman's big
band, she forged a sophisticated
persona, evolving into a multi-faceted
artist and performer. She wrote
music for films, acted, and created
conceptual record albums
encompassing poetry, jazz, pop,
and art songs.
Musical Example: Fever (next slide)
(1956; music by Otis Blackwell; lyrics by Eddie Cooley & Peggy Lee)
13. Billy Eckstine
(1914–1993)
was an American singer of
ballads and a bandleader of
the swing era. Eckstine's
smooth baritone voice and
distinctive vibrato broke down
barriers throughout the 1940s,
first as leader of the original
“bebop” big-band, then as the
first romantic black male
in popular music.
“Isn’t It A Lovely Day” (next slide)
(1935; music and lyrics by Irving Berlin)
14. Nat “King” Cole
(1919–1965)
was an American musician who first
came to prominence as a leading
jazz pianist. He owes most of his
popular musical fame to his smooth
baritone voice, which he used to
perform in big band and jazz genres.
More than 45 years after his death,
his recordings still retain worldwide
popularity. He is considered one of
the most important musical
personalities in U.S. history.
Musical Example: “Route 66” (next slide)
(1946; music & lyrics by Bobby Troupe)
15. Dinah Washington
(1924–1963)
was an American blues, Rhythm
& Blues and jazz singer. She has
been cited as "the most popular
black female recording artist of
the '50s" and called "The Queen
of the Blues.” Her vocal style was
at home in almost any type of
music; she was considered
both a Jazz singer and a
Rock and Roll singer.
Musical Example: “Teach Me Tonight” (next slide)
(1953; music by Gene De Paul lyrics by Sammy Cahn)
16. Nina Simone
(1933–2003)
was an American singer,
songwriter, pianist, arranger,
and civil rights activist widely
associated with jazz music.
Simone aspired to become a
classical pianist while working
in a broad range of styles
including classical, jazz, blues,
folk, R&B, gospel, and pop.
17. Nina Simone’s musical style
arose from a fusion of gospel
and pop songs with classical
music, in particular with
influences from her first
inspiration, Johann Sebastian
Bach, and accompanied with
her expressive jazz-like singing
in her characteristic low female
tenor voice.
She injected her classical
background into her music to
give it more depth and quality.
18. After 20 years of performing,
she became involved in
the civil rights movement and
the direction of her life shifted.
Simone's music was highly
influential in the fight for equal
rights in the United States.
Musical Example: “Summertime”
(next slide; start at 2’52”)
(1935; music by George Gershwin
lyrics by Ira Gershwin)
19. Frank Sinatra
(1915-1998; born in
Hoboken, NJ)
was an American singer
and film actor.
Beginning his musical career in
the swing era as a singer with
bandleaders Harry James &
Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra
became an unprecedentedly
successful solo artist beginning
in the early 1940s.
20. Nicknamed the “Chairman of
the Board,” (of show business)
Sinatra developed a singing
style that enabled him to
perform with great success to
audiences worldwide over a
period of sixty years. His
discography lists over 950
recordings.
He is widely considered
the greatest entertainer of
the 20th Century.
Musical Example: Fly Me To The Moon
(1954; music & lyrics by Bart Howard)
21. Louis Armstrong
(1901–1971)
nicknamed “Satchmo,” was
an American jazz trumpeter
and singer from New Orleans,
Louisiana.
Armstrong was a foundational
influence in jazz, shifting the
music's focus from
collective improvisation to
solo performance.
22. With his instantly recognizable
deep and distinctive gravelly
voice, resembling the sound of
his trumpet, Armstrong was also
an influential singer,
demonstrating great dexterity as
an improviser, bending the lyrics
and melody of a song for
expressive purposes.
He was also greatly skilled
at ”scat singing.”
Musical Example: Saint Louis Blues (1914)
by W.C. Handy (1873-1958)
23. Renowned for his charismatic
stage presence and voice
almost as much as for his
trumpet playing, Armstrong's
influence extends well beyond
jazz music, and by the end of
his career in the 1960s, he
was widely regarded as a
profound influence on popular
music in general.
The influence of
Louis Armstrong
on the development of Jazz
is virtually immeasurable.
Musical Examples:
“Mack The Knife”
(Kurt Weill, 1928)
“La Vie En Rose”
(Edith Piaf, 1945)
24. In 1952, when
DownBeat magazine,
the magazine of the
world of jazz,
created its
“DownBeat
Hall Of Fame”
for jazz musicians,
Louis Armstrong
was their
first inductee.
25. At the end of the Twentieth Century,
a time capsule was created to preserve
for the future things of great historic and
cultural importance from
Twentieth Century America.
It is called
The National Millennium Time Capsule
and it is stored in the National Archives
in Washington D.C.
It will be opened in the year 2100.
26. Some of the items in this time capsule
that were deemed to be
of great importance
in the history of
the Twentieth Century are:
27. A recorded transcript of the
“I Have A Dream” speech of August 28, 1963
by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
