1. In Dixieland bands, which were combos of 5 or so musicians, everyone improvised almost constantly.
2. Dixieland was mostly associated with cities along the Mississippi.
Musicians invent new forms of jazz
1. Musicians continued to stretch out and create new forms of jazz.
2. By the early 1930's they had evolved what we call swing, a style of music played by big bands of 16 or more musicians.
How is swing difrerent from Dixieland?
1. Swing bands played written arrangements with specific places for musicians to take solos: In Dixieland everyone improvised at the same time.
2. Swing bands included a double bass instead of the tuba of dixieland bands.
3. Swing music is for dancing and has a driving beat.
4. Guitar instead of banjo.
5. Saxophone is the main instrument in Swind: In Dixieland it is trumpet or clarinet.
6. Swing is smoother than Dixieland, the swing rhythm was less stiff than Dixieland.
7. Swing musicians usually had more instrumental propficiency.
What is a Swing Band? the typical instrumentation for 16-18 musicians is:
1. A band of four "sections" that are made up of families of similar instruments in various sizes.
2. Sax section: two alto, two tenor, one baritone sax.
3. Four trumpets
4. Four trombones
5. Rhythm Section: piano, upright bass, drums, more use of high hat cymbals,sometimes a guitar.
What is Swing rhythm?
1. Swing is made in the rhythm section.
2. Instead of playing 2 even eighth notes to a beat, the 1st gets 1/3 of the beat and is accented. The notes become LONG, short, LONG, short. Demo in class.
Historical notes
1. Swing is a style of music most popular between the two World Wars.
2. Swing dancing helped people cope with the stock market crash of 1929.
3. During the Depression record companies went bankrupt but Swing bands played on the radio. In the 1930's about 70 bands had sponsored shows.
4. Swing bands played live in the many big city ballrooms, in movies, hotels, and they recorded.
5. Many important Swing bands were integrated long before desegregation.
6. Calling this music Swing was set by 1932 with Duke Ellington's "It Don't Mean A Thing if It aint Got that Swing."
Count Basie's "One O'Clock Jump"
The form is 12 bar blues
Intro: 8 bars Piano riff
1st chorus: 12 bars Basie plays piano solo
2nd choruus: 12 bars Basie piano solo
3rd chorus: 12 bars Tenor sax solo (Herschel Evans)
Muted trumpet section riff in background
4th chorus: 12 bars Trombone solo (george hunt)
Sax section riff in background
5th chorus: 12 bars Tenor sax solo (Lester Young)
Muted trumpet riff in background
6th chorus: 12 bars Trumpet solo (Buck clayton)
Sax section riff in background
7th chorus: 12 bars Basie piano solo
8th chorus: 12 bars Sax section riff on the 'head' of the melody
Trumpet & trombone sections call and response riffs in the background.
9th chorus: 12 bars Sax section riff on the 'head' of the melody
Trumpet & trombone sections call and response riffs in the background.
10th chorus: 12 bars Sax section riff on the 'head' of the melody
Trumpet & trombone sections call and response riffs in the background.