12-bar blues form
a common 12-bar musical form in which the harmonic scheme includes primarily the I, IV, and V chords
32-bar AABA form
a common musical form comprised of an 8-bar section which is repeated, an 8-bar section of contrasting material, and a repetition of the first 8-bar section
beat
the pulse implied by the music
break
a short rhythmic-melodic solo played by an instrument or singer between ensemble passages
bridge
the B section of a 32-bar AABA form
changes (chord changes, chord progression)
the sequence of accompaniment chords for a tune, often used as the basis of a jazz improvisation
chord
a group of three or more notes of a scale – built on thirds
chording
harmonic accompaniment, that is, chords, played on every beat (every quarter note) by keyboard, guitar, or banjo
chorus
one time through the form of a tune
comping
evolved from chording. Harmonic accompaniment, that is, chords, played sporadically, at musicians discretion
Creole
a person descended from of culturally related to the original French settlers of the southern United States, especially Louisiana
Creole of color
A person of mixed Black and European ancestry who speaks a creolized language, especially one based on French or Spanish. (e.g., Jelly Roll Morton)
double time
the feeling that a piece of music or a player is going twice as fast as the tempo, although the chord progressions continue at the original rate
drumset
snare drum, small tom tom, large (floor) tom-tom, bass (kick) drum, ridecymbal, crash cymbal, hi-hat
head
a musical melody or theme, usually stated at the beginning and the end of a jazz peformance
meter
indicates how beats are grouped, i.e., how many beats per measure
quote
play a segment of a well-known tune within one’s improvised solo
rag (as in rag a tune or rag a rhythm)
syncopate (term was applied in late 1800s-early 1900s)
release
same as bridge
rhythm
the result of the various durations of sounds and silences
rhythm section
section of a jazz group comprised of some combination of piano, bass, drums, guitar, etc., which provide rhythmic harmonic, and textural support beneath the soloist
rhythmization
the practice of playing melodic instruments in highly percussive ways
scale
ascending or descending prescribed pattern of notes
scat singing
jazz improvisation using the human voice as an instrument, with nonsense syllables (dwee, ool, ya, bop, bam, etc.) instead of words
stride piano
early piano style in which left hand serves a dual function by playing bass notes on beats one and three and chords on beats two and four
syncopation
an anticipation of the beat, often accented; function of rhythm
tempo
the relative speed at which beats occur
trading fours
alternation of soloing between instruments for four bars each (often between drums and melodic instruments)
riff
a short, repeated phrase, often used to back up composed or improvised musical material
soli
in a big band; a portion of an arrangement in which one section, e.g., saxes, plays together in perfect rhythmic unison, the effect being that of a “solo” played by that section
tutti
in a big band; the whole band plays together
walking bass
a style of bass line in which each beat receives a separate tone, thus creating a moving sequence of quarter notes in the bass range
rhythm changes
refers to a modified form of chord progression used in George Gershwin’s song “I Got Rhythm”
Ornette Coleman
Born in 1930, was an extremely important figure to many musicians today who play free-form music. He was an alto-sax player who has a very rich emotional content to his playing, free for him primarily means free from chord changes. Sometimes used a toy saxophone and even instruments he wasn’t good at, such as the trumpet and the violin. He was also a composer and developed a system of harmelodics, in which he made all counterparts of his music equal.
Don Cherry
a trumpeter who was, in his early days, Ornette Coleman’s musical soulmate. He played a very small trumpet known as the pocket trumpet.
Cecil Taylor
he is a pianist that sounds like no other. With a great amount of classical training, he is very virtuosic and has tremendous command over his instrument. He played free jazz in the sense that he was free from chord changes.
Cecil Taylor Units
groups led by Cecil Taylor in which he would distribute little bits of material among the musicians and have them improvise with it. Also, the groups contained many non-jazz musicians.
John Coltrane
One of the most important jazz giants in history and a profoundly great tenor-sax player. His tone is very recognizable, sounding pious and full (evocative of the Far East). Very comfortable playing over chord changes as well as playing modally.
sheets of sound
style of playing used by John Coltrane in which he played a flood of notes very quickly, but very deliberately
Giant Steps
A landmark album and name of the title tune released by John Coltrane in 1959. In this tune he really challenged himself to play over very fast and awkward chord changes that he wrote.
John Coltrane
played tenor-sax in John Coltrane’s Classic Quartet
McCoy Tyner
Played piano in John Coltrane’s Classic Quartet. He played in stacked fourths, sounding as if he wasn’t in a key.
Jimmy Garrison
played bass in John Coltrane’s Classic Quartet
Elvin Jones
played drums in John Coltrane’s Classic Quartet. Famous for polyrhythmic playing, reminiscent of African music.
My Favorite Things
Coltrane played this tune on soprano-sax which repopularized the instrument’s use in jazz; much more popular than most jazz records because of the familiarity of the tune.
Ascension
Album released by John Coltrane in 1965 that moved away from the quartet format and into the free-jazz realm. He called it a “big band thing” although it sounded nothing like big band. Featured the quartet plus others, including Freddie Hubbard. It is a continuous performance that alternates between ensemble passages and solo passages
Herbie Hancock
Born in 1940, he is a great pianist who is influenced most by Bill Evans. He had a often played free and open apart from the rhythm section but vacillated between many different styles including a funk style, a waltz style, big band, and others. He became well-known through playing with Miles Davis but toured as a leader at the same time.
Fender Rhodes electric piano
type of piano used frequently by Herbie Hancock, it was extremely popular in the 1970s and often used in fusion jazz
Maiden Voyage
In 1965 Herbie Hancock released this record that is considered by many to be his greatest; it is also the name of a track on the record. Freddie Hubbard played trumpet here, it is a classic example of modal jazz and is Herbie’s most well-known tune.
Freddie Hubbard
excellent trumpeter that was used on tons of records during this time. He could play in the bebop style as well as modal jazz, also fluent in playing jazz-rock fusion
Wayne Shorter
Born in Newark, NJ in 1943, he played the tenor sax. Before Miles Davis’ 2nd Classic Quintet, he played with Art Blakey for five years. He was and still is one of the greatest composers in jazz, wrote most of the tunes for Miles 2nd classic quintet and Miles would never make changes to his tunes, which was atypical.
Footprints
likely Wayne Shorter’s most famous tune. It is a 12-bar blues form that is very unique with a repeating bass line that is in three (a waltz)
Weather Report
a jazz-rock fusion group that Wayne Shorter formed that improvised a lot and in a certain way. Lots of very intense group interaction and players would frequently play against each other; the format was most frequently many players soloing at once, similar to older styles.
Joe Zawinul
pianist who formed Weather Report with Wayne Shorter
fusion
style of music that became popular in the 1970s in which certain styles of music were fused together. In the jazz sense, certain jazz styles were fused with rock styles.