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In the 1920's a style of jazz called blues originated highlighting "improvisation, syncopation, a steady beat, unique tone colors, and specialized performance techniques" said Dennis J. Sporre (115). This piece you just heard is by W.C. Handy and it is called "St. Louis Blues". Blues is a jazz form I am quite familiar with because my dad was actually in a blues band. It is a form of music that is laid back, being not as structured as most other music forms I have listened to. Blues popularized in streets, bars, brothels, and dancehalls and was mostly played by African Americans. Blues actually refers to the blue devils which means melancholy and sadness, which most people associate blues with. Whether it was in a movie or book whenever someone is feeling down they sing or listen to the blues. Blues has a cyclic musical form with a repeating progression of chords that mirrors the call and response (a second phrase is a response to a first phrase), which is seen in many African and African American music forms. There was another type of blues that came about called vocal blues which was much more personal and had "references to sexuality, the pain of desertion, and unrequited love, with a very specific metrical and poetic form consisting of two rhythmic lines and a repeat of the first line" (Sporre 115).
New Orleans Style
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Another jazz form is called New Orleans Style and this style similarly relies on improvisation. Improvisation takes great courage and skill and even more creativity because it requires a musician to make up music on the spot based on the background beat or melody. It is something I have and never will be able to do. Dennis J. Sporre states while a background rhythm section keeps a steady beat and chord progression the "front line or melodic instruments improvise several contrasting melodic lines at once" following a "march or church melody, ragtime piece, or popular song as its base" (115). Dixieland is one of the first New Orleans jazz forms and it became very popular. Its front line consisted of a trumpet, trombone, and clarinet and the rhythm section had a guitar, banjo, piano, string bass, tuba, or drums keeping the beat. Usually a melody is played by the lead instrument and all other instruments improvise around that set melody and beat. Again this is a much less structured form of music and one can see by watching such performances they are full of life and energy.
Ragtime
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No doubt is this another song you have heard at least once in your life, this classic is called "Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin. This jazz form is called ragtime and was created in the 1980's. Ragtime actually took its roots from John Phillip Sousa's most popular march. With little splashes of African flare a new jazz form was created called ragtime. Ragtime was popularized in dancehalls and saloons and featured many Southern and Midwestern African American pianists, occasionally instrumentalists. Dennis J. Sporre explained "Ragging involved taking a classical or popular tune and playing it with syncopation" but it didn't stay that way for long (115). After awhile the "steady, regular" beat of ragtime was juxtaposed or " placed or dealt with close together for contrasting effect" with a "lively, syncopated" melody (Sporre 115). Ragtime took on a persona all it's own.
Free Jazz
Free jazz is another jazz form which originated in the 1960's and 1970's. People were bored and frustrated with traditional jazz and decided to take things into their own hands. They decided to take structured jazz into the realm of free thinking jazz, characterized by "creative improvisation and original compositions" said Dennis J. Sporre (115). This differed from earlier jazz because the irregular melodic lines and rhythms made it quite hard to follow and at times so much was going on at once it was hard to keep up or decipher, no longer was their fixed chord changes or tempos. This type of jazz form is not one of my favorites because I too believe there is too much happening at once and it sounds more like a jumble than a composed piece of music. You might recognize free jazz by the high notes, squawks, and squeals that are prominent throughout this jazz form. It is quite different from most other jazz forms because it has been described as "raucous and chaotic", which is loved by some and hated by others, but it made a playing experience for the instrumentalist and the listener that had never been experienced before. The complexity and lack of structure made a jazz form like no other!Fusion
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Fusion is another jazz form which took inspiration from past jazz forms such as funk and R&B, but threw rock into the mix. This jazz form is based on "simple chord progressions and repetitive rhythmic patterns" explains Dennis J. Sporre (115). Electronic instruments such as synthesizers, electric pianos, and electric bass guitar are heard in fusion, as well as, large percussion sections. Again this is another jazz for I do not find myself drawn to. With its synthetic music and emphasis on percussion I find it more clunky and loud. Compared to free jazz fusion is based on simplicity, but does have complex time signatures, lengthy group improvisations, and high instrumental technique.
Groove
The form of jazz which originated between the 1990's and the twenty-first century was groove. It is named after is ability to make you want to get up and dance. This unique jazz form took root from many past jazz forms, such as Dixieland and bebop. Jazz' s popularity began to spread internationally, from South America to Japan and continued to grow and change. With time jazz began to take on dance rhythms which transformed it into groove, highlighting "highly complex, repetitive, and rhythmic" qualities which made it the perfect dancing jazz form said Dennis J. Sporre (116). Before dancing was considerate quite provocative, but with changes in music came changes in dance. People's free spirit began to come out and it was the result of this new generation of music. It would continue to expand and grow in the following years, highlighting these rhythms that inevitably got people to get up and dance.
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