Chapter 9: Jazz
Preview Questions
Introduction
Jazz was born in the New World and is the most distinctively American type of music—a merging of European and African traditions. In this chapter we’re going to cover a few of its most important phases and representative composers and artists. The ranges of dates that are supplied in the following discussion are approximate. The evolution of music is gradual and fluid, and like the other style periods we’ve looked at one style did not start or end in a particular year.
The goal for this chapter is for you to become familiar with some music you may not have heard before and to be able to differentiate between different styles.
Review Questions
- What were some of the main styles of jazz since the 1900s? What are some characteristics of each one?
- What is a name of a composer and song that represents each of those?
- Who are some famous jazz artists? What instruments did they play?
- What instruments make up the rhythm section?
Introduction
Jazz was born in the New World and is the most distinctively American type of music—a merging of European and African traditions. In this chapter we’re going to cover a few of its most important phases and representative composers and artists. The ranges of dates that are supplied in the following discussion are approximate. The evolution of music is gradual and fluid, and like the other style periods we’ve looked at one style did not start or end in a particular year.
The goal for this chapter is for you to become familiar with some music you may not have heard before and to be able to differentiate between different styles.
Review Questions
- What were some of the main styles of jazz since the 1900s?
- What is a name of a composer and song that represents each of those?
- Who are some famous jazz artists? What instruments did they play?
- What instruments make up the rhythm section?
- What popular music style was jazz fusion most related to?
- How was the sound of free jazz similar to effects achieved by atonal composers in the modern classical music? How was it similar to John Cage’s chance music?