I've been hearing a lot on this forum of jazz playing. When listening, I can recognize if a piece is a jazz piece. But I wanted to know- essentially what is jazz? What is done to make something considered jazz? Like from a musicians point of view. what seperates jazz from all other music???

Grub

Jazz: "A style of music of Afro-American roots characterized by a strong rythmic understructure, blue notes, and improvisation on melody and chord structure". >Interpretation: Just play anything you want and try to blend it in to what the other Musicians are playing or the Singer is singing. LOL

Don't get me wrong though. I love Jazz! Something that is so unstructured that it tends to take away from the rigid structure of daily life and give a person a refreshing pause from it when listening to Jazz and can brighten ones day. And I think that is what separates Jazz from all other forms of music, ie., its 'unstructuredness'.

Best regards,
Mike

Hi Grub: Jazz has become a popular catch all music genre label these days for music which doesn't fit solidly into any other category, ei: new age jazz, lite jazz, classic jazz, jazz-funk, traditional jazz, acid jazz, hip-hop jazz, etc. Everyone from Miles Davis to Kenny G & Michael Bolton have been labeled jazz musicians, the later to the consternation of many (including myself).



From a historic standpoint, the roots of jazz began in New Orleans (dixieland) marked by it's syncopated rhythm (swung 8th note vs straignt 8th note feel) and instrumental & vocal improvisation over the chord (changes) of a song, which include altered chord tones (b9,#9,etc), and incorporation of the blues. The swing era was followed by the Bebop era of Charlie Parker, and later continued to evolve to free jazz etc. I personally enjoy & play most the tunes of the classic 'swing' jazz era. Here's a link to a site that I just stumbled upon which covers the subject of jazz in a lot more detail: http://www.pbs.org/jazz/

I also recommend checking out the film documentary available on DVD entitled: Jazz, a film by Ken Burns: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004XQOU/102-7260321-1391328?v=glance

This may even be available for rental at your local video/DVD store.

Scott

Jazz is an ever evolving art form, typified by using a structured progression and variations on lead lines. In it's most plesant form (for me), it is delightful non-verbal communication between players, as they assimilate ideas from other players in a group (in real time) and, together, create a one-time, not to be duplicated performance.

That being said, in terms of performance, playing jazz can be a slippery slope. I know many jazz players who are excellent at their craft, and a starving to death. The appreciation of many forms of jazz is an acquired taste. Well-paying venues are few and far between. Players of other forms of music must know the material and be competent. To make a living, jazz players must be superior.

Jazz tunes can be played in many applications
(like supperclubs), but the player must use common sense. In dininf rooms, music must be played at reduced volumes and playing cannot be too busy. One. at a supperclub, I had a request for The Tennessee Walze. Being the cocky smartass I was at the time, I began playing the tune as a jazz walze. A kid about 20 years came up to me and said "don't mess with the tune". I thought, "I'll show him", and asked if he played. He told me he was a trumpet player. I laughingly asked him to sit in. He went to his car and brought back a ratty old canvas bag. Out of that he pull out a horn case with a top of the line Benge trumpet in it. I wasn't so confident then. When I asked him what he wanted to play, he said "anything you want". I called the tune "Four". when I asked him what key, he said "stock", hit the first note, and I spent the next 45 minutes frantically scrambling to keep up. The kid was 22 years old, and part of the Stan Kenton band.He was on vacation, visiting relatives in Kentucky.

At breakfast that evening, he told me he wasn't trying to be disrespectful, but the venue wasn't a jazz one, and satisfying the customer was the challenge. That interpretation on an old "nut" song was massaging my ego, he said. The customer would think the song sounded "funny".

I learned a lot from that kid that night. I love jazz and playing jazz, but there's a time and a place for it. And, playing for people is what music is all about.


Russ

If you don't at least wish you could play some jazz if you don't, you must be brain dead.

Does jazz have to do with 7ths???

I'm sure that because there are so many interpretations of "jazz" that I surely must play some.
DonM

Being a new age /smooth jazz sort of guy I may as well get my .02 in on this one. Much of our jazz roots in the USA also came from Klezmer music as well which to a large part incorporates quite a bit of improv.

To say jazz is unstructured do what you want is incorrect though. If anything it incorporates alot more freedom within a very structured environment. It does not follow middle of the road traditional commercial structure though to varying degrees depending on who's brand of jazz we're talking about.

Count Basie and Chick Corea are both jazz, but two totally different types of jazz. If anything can be said about jazz it is that jazz has many more avenues to explore than any other genre that I know of and does not follow the strict guidlines of other forms of music. As such it causes a problem for most who have a problem thinking out of the box.

I believe there are equally great technicians across all the genres, however what I think seperates jazz players is they think about music differently. At least the ones over the years that I have hung out with, played with and have been influenced by do.

In jazz there is a constant pushing of the envelope, experimenting going out on a limb based more on sound then tradition. How much again depends on the type of jazz.

Alot of Maj7ths, 9ths and 13ths, diminished and augmented chords, different order of progressions than pop music.
Terry

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jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

[This message has been edited by trtjazz (edited 01-07-2004).]

Captain Russ....
I have read and re-read your post regarding jazzing up the Tennesee Waltz and your interaction with the young trumpet player from Stan Kenton's band. Wow! Great story with a moral many of us have had to learn the hard way.

Living in an area of the country that has a large retirement population (Florida) I am torn between playing the generic versions of the same old songs that are expected and trying to present something fresh - such as 1) Jazzing up a song they know, or 2) slipping in a more contemporary, less familiar song once in awhile. I will try either of the two occasionally and watch the reaction. 90% of the time it doesn't get the desired reaction and I move back into the Safe Zone. But, every once in awhile I get a "Wow" reaction and they will request it at my next visit.

I guess all of us want to stand out, in some way, from our counterparts in the biz, if nothing more than to create our own identity and avoid the boredom of repetition. The only time I do any Jazz is during a cocktail or dinner hour, where the volume is light and the song is light and breezy. Once the dancing starts, its the old familiar that sells and gets me re-booked.

I think that is also true of the Jazz guys. Once Take Five was a hit, Dave Brubeck could not do a concert without the fans screaming for it. Anything less met with great audience disapointment.
Eddie

When Scott Yee plays a song, regardless of the genre, it always sounds like a jazz musician is playing the arranger. It always sounds "jazzy" due to the chord types he uses. This was meant as a compliment.
Starkeeper