JAZZ: development and distribution

Introduction

1. History of the development of jazz. Main currents

1.1 New Orleans jazz

1.3 Big bands

1.4. Mainstream

1.4.2 Kansas City style

1.5 Cool (cool jazz)

1.6 Progressive jazz

1.7 Hard bop

1.8 Modal jazz

1.9 Soul jazz

1.10 Free jazz

1.11 Creative

1.13 Postbop

1.14 Acid jazz

1.15 Smooth jazz

1.16 Jazz Manush

2. Spread of jazz

2.1 Jazz in the USSR and Russia

2.2 Latin jazz

2.3 Jazz in the modern world

Introduction

jazz music style

Jazz - form musical art, which arose at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries in the USA, in New Orleans, as a result of the synthesis of African and European cultures and subsequently became widespread. The origins of jazz were the blues and other African American folk music, Heydays - 1930s. Characteristics musical language Jazz initially began with improvisation, polyrhythm based on syncopated rhythms, and a unique set of techniques for performing rhythmic texture - swing. The further development of jazz occurred due to the development of new rhythmic and harmonic models by jazz musicians and composers. The genres of jazz are: avant-garde jazz, bebop, classic jazz, cool, modal jazz, swing, smooth jazz, soul jazz, free jazz, fusion, hard bop and a number of others.

1. History of the development of jazz

Jazz arose as a combination of several musical cultures and national traditions. It originally came from African lands. Any African music is characterized by a very complex rhythm; the music is always accompanied by dancing, which consists of rapid stomping and clapping. On this basis, at the end of the 19th century, another musical genre emerged - ragtime. Subsequently, ragtime rhythms combined with blues elements gave rise to a new musical direction - jazz. The origins of jazz are connected with the blues. It arose at the end of the 19th century as a fusion of African rhythms and European harmony, but its origins should be sought from the moment of the importation of slaves from Africa to the territory of the New World. The brought slaves did not come from the same family and usually did not even understand each other. The need for consolidation led to the unification of many cultures and, as a result, to the creation of a single culture (including musical) of African Americans. African mixing processes musical culture, and European (which also underwent serious changes in the New World) occurred starting from the 18th century and in the 19th century led to the emergence of “proto-jazz”, and then jazz in the generally accepted sense. The cradle of jazz was the American South, and especially New Orleans. The peculiarity of the jazz style is the unique individual performance of a virtuoso jazzman. The key to eternal youth in jazz is improvisation. After the emergence of a brilliant performer who lived his entire life in the rhythm of jazz and still remains a legend - Louis Armstrong, the art of jazz performance saw new and unusual horizons: vocal or instrumental solo performance becomes the center of the entire performance, completely changing the idea of ​​jazz. Jazz is not only a certain type of musical performance, but also a unique, cheerful era.

1.1 New Orleans jazz

The term New Orleans usually refers to the style of jazz musicians who played jazz in New Orleans between 1900 and 1917, as well as New Orleans musicians who played and recorded in Chicago from about 1917 through the 1920s. This period of jazz history is also known as the Jazz Age. And this concept is also used to describe the music performed at various historical periods by representatives of the New Orleans revival, who sought to perform jazz in the same style as the musicians of the New Orleans school.

1.2 Development of jazz in the USA in the first quarter of the 20th century

After the closure of Storyville, jazz from a regional folk genre begins to transform into a national musical trend, spreading to the northern and northeastern provinces of the United States. But its wide spread, of course, could not have been facilitated only by the closure of one entertainment district. Along with New Orleans, in the development of jazz great importance St. Louis, Kansas City and Memphis played from the beginning. Ragtime originated in Memphis in the 19th century, from where it later spread throughout the North American continent in the period 1890-1903. On the other hand, minstrel shows, with their motley mosaic of all kinds of musical movements of African-American folklore from jigs to ragtime, quickly spread everywhere and paved the way for the arrival of jazz. Many future jazz celebrities began their careers in minstrel shows. Long before Storyville closed, New Orleans musicians went on tour with so-called “vaudeville” troupes. Jelly Roll Morton toured regularly in Alabama, Florida, and Texas since 1904. Since 1914 he had a contract to perform in Chicago. In 1915, Thom Browne's white Dixieland orchestra also moved to Chicago. The famous “Creole Band,” led by New Orleans cornetist Freddie Keppard, also made major vaudeville tours in Chicago. Having separated from the Olympia Band, Freddie Keppard's artists already in 1914 successfully performed in the best theater in Chicago and received an offer to make a sound recording of their performances even before the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, which, however, Freddie Keppard short-sightedly rejected. The area covered by the influence of jazz was significantly expanded by orchestras that played on pleasure steamers sailing up the Mississippi. Since the end of the 19th century, river trips from New Orleans to St. Paul have become popular, first for a weekend, and later for a whole week. Since 1900, New Orleans orchestras have been performing on these riverboats, and their music has become the most attractive entertainment for passengers during river tours. The future wife of Louis Armstrong, the first jazz pianist Lil Hardin, started in one of these “Suger Johnny” orchestras. The riverboat orchestra of another pianist, Faiths Marable, featured many future New Orleans jazz stars. Steamboats traveling along the river often stopped at passing stations, where orchestras staged concerts for the local public. It was these concerts that became the creative debuts for Bix Beiderbeck, Jess Stacy and many others. Another famous route ran through Missouri to Kansas City. In this city, where, thanks to the strong roots of African-American folklore, the blues developed and finally took shape, the virtuoso playing of New Orleans jazzmen found an exceptionally fertile environment. By the early 1920s, Chicago became the main center for the development of jazz music, where, through the efforts of many musicians gathered from different parts of the United States, a style was created that received the nickname Chicago jazz.

1.3 Big bands

The classic, established form of big bands has been known in jazz since the early 1920s. This form remained relevant until the end of the 1940s. The musicians who joined most big bands, as a rule, almost in adolescence, played very specific parts, either memorized at rehearsals, or from notes. Careful orchestrations coupled with large brass and woodwind sections brought out rich jazz harmonies and created a sensationally loud sound that became known as “the big band sound.” The big band became the popular music of its time, reaching its peak of fame in the mid-1930s. This music became the source of the swing dancing craze. The leaders of the famous jazz orchestras Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Artie Shaw, Chick Webb, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Lunsford, Charlie Barnett composed or arranged and recorded a veritable hit parade of tunes that were heard not only on the radio , but also everywhere in dance halls. Many big bands showcased their improvising soloists, who whipped audiences into a state of near hysteria during well-promoted “battles of the bands.”

Although the popularity of big bands declined significantly after World War II, orchestras led by Basie, Ellington, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Harry James and many others toured and recorded frequently over the next few decades. Their music gradually transformed under the influence of new trends. Groups such as ensembles led by Boyd Rayburn, Sun Ra, Oliver Nelson, Charles Mingus, and Tad Jones-Mal Lewis explored new concepts in harmony, instrumentation, and improvisational freedom. Today big bands are a standard in jazz education. Repertory orchestras jazz orchestra Lincoln Center, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterpiece Orchestra and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble regularly play original arrangements of big band compositions. In 2008, George Simon’s canonical book “Big Bands of the Swing Era” was published in Russian, which is essentially an almost complete encyclopedia of all big bands of the golden age from the early 20s to the 60s of the 20th century.

1.4 Mainstream

After the end of the prevailing fashion of large orchestras in the era of big bands, when the music of large orchestras on the stage began to be crowded out by small jazz ensembles, swing music continued to be heard. Many famous swing soloists, after concert performances in ball rooms, liked to play for fun at spontaneous jams in small clubs on 52nd Street in New York. And these were not only those who worked as “sidemen” in large orchestras, such as Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Johnny Hodges, Buck Clayton and others. The leaders of the big bands themselves - Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Harry James, Gene Krupa, being initially soloists, and not just conductors, also looked for opportunities to play separately from their large group, in a small composition. Not accepting the innovative techniques of the upcoming bebop, these musicians adhered to the traditional swing manner, while demonstrating inexhaustible imagination when performing improvisational parts. The main stars of swing constantly performed and recorded in small lineups, called “combos,” within which there was much more room for improvisation. The style of this direction of club jazz of the late 1930s received the name mainstream, or main movement, with the beginning of the rise of bebop. Some of the finest players of this era could be heard in fine form at the jams of the 1950s, when chord improvisation had already taken precedence over the melody-coloring method of the swing era. Re-emerging as a free style in the late 1970s and 1980s, the mainstream absorbed elements of cool jazz, bebop and hard bop. The term "contemporary mainstream" or post-bebop is used today for almost any style that does not have a close connection to historical styles of jazz music.

1.4.1 Northeastern jazz. Stride

Although the history of jazz began in New Orleans with the advent of the 20th century, the music really took off in the early 1920s when trumpeter Louis Armstrong left New Orleans to create revolutionary new music in Chicago. The migration of New Orleans jazz masters to New York, which began shortly thereafter, marked a trend of constant movement of jazz musicians from the South to the North. Chicago took the music of New Orleans and made it hot, raising its intensity not only with the efforts of Armstrong's famous Hot Five and Hot Seven ensembles, but also others, including such masters as Eddie Condon and Jimmy McPartland, whose crew at Austin High School helped revive the New Orleans schools. Other notable Chicagoans who pushed the boundaries of classic New Orleans jazz style include pianist Art Hodes, drummer Barrett Deems, and clarinetist Benny Goodman. Armstrong and Goodman, who eventually moved to New York, created a kind of critical mass there that helped this city turn into a real jazz capital of the world. And while Chicago remained primarily a recording center in the first quarter of the 20th century, New York also became a major jazz venue, with such legendary clubs as the Minton Playhouse, the Cotton Club, the Savoy and the Village Vanguard, and also such arenas as Carnegie Hall.

1.4.2 Kansas City style

During the era of the Great Depression and Prohibition, the Kansas City jazz scene became a mecca for the newfangled sounds of the late 1920s and 1930s. The style that flourished in Kansas City was characterized by heartfelt, blues-tinged pieces performed by both big bands and small swing ensembles that featured high-energy solos performed for the patrons of speakeasies selling liquor. It was in these zucchini that the style of the great Count Basie, who began in Kansas City in Walter Page's orchestra and subsequently with Benny Mouthen, crystallized. Both of these orchestras were typical representatives style of Kansas City, the basis of which was a peculiar form of blues, called “urban blues” and formed in the playing of the above-mentioned orchestras. The Kansas City jazz scene was also distinguished by a whole galaxy of outstanding masters of vocal blues, the recognized “king” among whom was the long-time soloist of the Count Basie orchestra, the famous blues singer Jimmy Rushing. The famous alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, born in Kansas City, upon his arrival in New York, widely used the characteristic blues “tricks” that he had learned in the Kansas City orchestras and which later formed one of the starting points in the bopper experiments in the 1940s.

1.4.3 West Coast jazz

Artists caught up in the cool jazz movement of the 1950s worked extensively in Los Angeles recording studios. Largely influenced by Miles Davis' nonet, these Los Angeles-based performers developed what is now known as "West Coast Jazz." Like Cool Jazz, West Coast Jazz was much softer than the furious bebop that preceded it. Most West Coast jazz was written out in large detail. The counterpoint lines often used in these compositions seemed to be part of the European influence that had permeated jazz. However, this music left a lot of space for long linear solo improvisations. Although West Coast Jazz was performed primarily in recording studios, clubs such as the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach and the Haig in Los Angeles often featured its major masters, including trumpeter Shorty Rogers, saxophonists Art Pepper and Bud Schenk, drummer Shelley Mann and clarinetist Jimmy Giuffre.

1.5 Cool (cool jazz)

The high intensity and pressure of bebop began to weaken with the development of cool jazz. Beginning in the late 1940s and early 1950s, musicians began to develop a less violent, smoother approach to improvisation, modeled after the light, dry playing of tenor saxophonist Lester Young during his swing days. The result was a detached and uniformly flat sound, based on emotional “coolness”. Trumpeter Miles Davis, one of the pioneers of bebop who cooled it down, became the genre's greatest innovator. His nonet, who recorded the album “The Birth of a Cool” in 1949-1950, was the embodiment of the lyricism and restraint of cool jazz. Others famous musicians The cool-jazz school includes trumpeter Chit Baker, pianists George Shearing, John Lewis, Dave Brubeck and Lenny Tristano, vibraphonist Milt Jackson and saxophonists Stan Getz, Lee Konitz, Zoot Sims and Paul Desmond. Arrangers also made significant contributions to the cool jazz movement, notably Ted Dameron, Claude Thornhill, Bill Evans and baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan. Their compositions focused on instrumental coloration and slow motion, on frozen harmonies that created the illusion of space. Dissonance also played some role in their music, but with a softened, subdued character. The cool jazz format left room for somewhat larger ensembles such as nonets and tentets, which became more common during this period than in the early bebop period. Some arrangers experimented with modified instrumentation, including cone-shaped brass instruments such as horn and tuba.

1.6 Progressive jazz

In parallel with the emergence of bebop, jazz developed new genre- progressive jazz, or simply progressive. The main difference of this genre is the desire to move away from the frozen cliché of big bands and outdated, worn-out techniques of the so-called. symphonic jazz, introduced in the 1920s by Paul Whiteman. Unlike boppers, progressive creators did not strive for a radical rejection of the jazz traditions that had developed at that time. They rather sought to update and improve swing phrase models, introducing into the practice of composition the latest achievements of European symphonism in the field of tonality and harmony. The greatest contribution to the development of the concept of “progressive” was made by pianist and conductor Stan Kenton. Progressive jazz of the early 1940s actually began with his first works. The sound of the music performed by his first orchestra was close to Rachmaninoff, and the compositions bore the features of late romanticism. However, in terms of genre it was closest to symphonic jazz. Later, during the years of creating the famous series of his “Artistry” albums, elements of jazz ceased to play the role of creating color, but were already organically woven into musical material. Along with Kenton, the credit for this also belonged to his best arranger, Pete Rugolo, a student of Darius Milhaud. Modern (for those years) symphonic sound, a specific staccato technique in the playing of saxophones, bold harmonies, frequent seconds and blocks, along with polytonality and jazz rhythmic pulsation - these are the distinctive features of this music, with which Stan Kenton entered the history of jazz for many years, as one of its innovators who found a common platform for European symphonic culture and elements of bebop, especially noticeable in pieces where solo instrumentalists seemed to oppose the sounds of the rest of the orchestra. It should also be noted that Kenton paid great attention to the improvisational parts of soloists in his compositions, including the world famous drummer Shelley Maine, double bassist Ed Safransky, trombonist Kay Winding, June Christie, one of the best jazz vocalists of those years. Stan Kenton remained faithful to his chosen genre throughout his career. In addition to Stan Kenton, interesting arrangers and instrumentalists Boyd Rayburn and Gil Evans also contributed to the development of the genre. A kind of apotheosis of the development of progressive, along with the already mentioned “Artistry” series, can also be considered a series of albums recorded by the Gil Evans big band together with the Miles Davis ensemble in the 1950-1960s, for example, “Miles Ahead”, “Porgy and Bess” and "Spanish drawings". Shortly before his death, Miles Davis again turned to this genre, recording old Gil Evans arrangements with the Quincy Jones Big Band.

1.7 Hard bop

Around the same time that cool jazz was taking root on the West Coast, jazz musicians from Detroit, Philadelphia, and New York began developing harder, heavier variations of the old bebop formula, called Hard Bop or Hard Bebop. Closely resembling traditional bebop in its aggressiveness and technical demands, hard bop of the 1950s and 1960s relied less on standard song forms and began to place more emphasis on blues elements and rhythmic drive. Fiery soloing or improvisational skill along with a strong sense of harmony were of paramount importance for wind players, drums and piano became more prominent in the rhythm section, and the bass took on a more fluid, funky feel.

1.8 Modal jazz

Beginning in the late 1950s, trumpeter Miles Davis and tenor saxophonist John Coltrane pioneered experiments in melody and improvisation with modes borrowed directly from classical music. These musicians began to use a small number of specific modes to form melodies instead of chords. The result was a harmonically static, almost exclusively melody-based form of jazz. Soloists sometimes took risks, deviating from the given key, but this created acute sensation tension and release. Tempos ranged from slow to fast, but overall the music had an erratic, meandering character, with a sense of unhurriedness. To create a more exotic effect, performers sometimes used non-European scales (eg, Indian, Arabic, African) as a "modal" basis for their music. The undefined tonal center of modal jazz became the starting point for the free jazz rise of those experimentalists who came in the next phase of jazz history, including tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. Classic examples of the modal jazz style are Miles Davis's "Milestones", "So What" and "Flamenco Sketches". "), as well as "My Favorite Things" and "Impressions" by John Coltrane.

1.9 Soul jazz

A close relative of hard bop, soul jazz is represented by small, organ-based mini-formats that emerged in the mid-1950s and continued to perform into the 1970s. Based on blues and gospel, soul-jazz music pulses with African-American spirituality. Most of the great jazz organists came on the scene during the soul jazz era: Jimmy McGriff, Charles Erland, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Les McCain, Donald Patterson, Jack McDuff and Jimmy "Hammond" Smith. They all led their own bands in the 1960s, often playing in small venues as trios. The tenorsaxophone was also a prominent figure in these ensembles, adding its voice to the mix, much like the voice of a preacher in gospel music. Such luminaries as Gene Emmons, Eddie Harris, Stanley Turrentine, Eddie "Tetanus" Davis, Houston Person, Hank Crawford and David "Nump" Newman, as well as members of the Ray Charles ensembles of the late 1950s and 1960s, are often regarded as representatives soul jazz style. The same applies to Charles Mingus. Like hard bop, soul jazz differed from West Coast jazz: The music evoked passion and a strong sense of togetherness rather than the loneliness and emotional coolness that characterized West Coast jazz. The fast-paced melodies of soul jazz, thanks to the frequent use of ostinato bass figures and repeated rhythmic samples, made this music very accessible to the general public. Hits born of soul jazz include, for example, the compositions of pianist Ramsey Lewis (“The In Crowd” - 1965) and Harris-McCain “Compared To What” - 1969. Soul jazz should not be confused with what is now known as "soul music". Although partially influenced by gospel, soul jazz grew out of bebop, and the roots of soul music go back directly to rhythm and blues, which was popular in the early 1960s.

1.9.1 Groove

An offshoot of soul jazz, the groove style draws melodies with bluesy notes and is characterized by exceptional rhythmic focus. Sometimes also called "funk", groove focuses on maintaining a continuous, characteristic rhythmic pattern, flavored with light instrumental and sometimes lyrical embellishments. Works performed in the groove style are full of joyful emotions, inviting listeners to dance, both in a slow, bluesy version, and at a fast tempo. Solo improvisations remain strictly subordinate to the beat and collective sound. The most famous exponents of this style are organists Richard "Groove" Holmes and Shirley Scott, tenorsaxophonist Gene Emmons, and flautist/alto saxophonist Leo Wright.

1.10 Free jazz

Perhaps the most controversial movement in jazz history arose with the advent of free jazz, or "New Thing" as it was later called. Although elements of free jazz existed within the musical structure of jazz long before the term itself was coined, it was most original in the "experiments" of such innovators as Coleman Hawkins, Pee Wee Russell and Lenny Tristano, but not until the late 1950s through the efforts of such pioneers as the saxophonist Ornette Coleman and pianist Cecil Taylor, this direction took shape as an independent style. What these two musicians, along with others including John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and groups like the Sun Ra Arkestra and a group called The Revolutionary Ensemble, accomplished was a variety of changes in structure and the feeling of music. Among the innovations that were introduced with imagination and great musicality was the abandonment of the chord progression, which allowed the music to move in any direction. Another fundamental change was found in the area of ​​rhythm, where "swing" was either revised or ignored altogether. In other words, pulse, meter and groove were no longer essential elements in this reading of jazz. Another key component was related to atonality. Now musical expression was no longer based on the usual tonal system. Piercing, barking, convulsive notes completely filled this new sound world. Free jazz continues to exist today as a viable form of expression, and is in fact no longer as controversial a style as it was in its early days.

1.11 Creative

The emergence of the “Creative” direction was marked by the penetration of elements of experimentalism and avant-garde into jazz. The beginning of this process partially coincided with the emergence of free jazz. Elements of the jazz avant-garde, understood as changes and innovations introduced into music, have always been “experimental.” So the new forms of experimentalism offered by jazz in the 50s, 60s and 70s were the most radical departure from tradition, introducing new elements of rhythms, tonality and structure. In fact, avant-garde music became synonymous with open forms, which were more difficult to characterize than even free jazz. The pre-planned structure of sayings was mixed with freer solo phrases, partly reminiscent of free jazz. Compositional elements merged so much with improvisation that it was already difficult to determine where the first ended and the second actually began. The structure of the works was designed so that the solo was a product of the arrangement, logically leading the musical process to what would normally be considered a form of abstraction or even chaos. Swing rhythms and even melodies could be included in the musical theme, but this was not at all necessary in the early years. Pioneers of this trend include pianist Lenny Tristano, saxophonist Jimmy Joffrey and composer/arranger/conductor Gunther Schuller. More recent masters include pianists Paul Bley and Andrew Hill, saxophonists Anthony Braxton and Sam Rivers, drummers Sunny Murray and Andrew Cyrille, and members of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) community such as the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

1.12 Fusion

Beginning not only with the fusion of jazz with the pop and rock of the 1960s, but also with music stemming from areas such as soul, funk and rhythm and blues, fusion (or literally fusion) as a musical genre emerged at the end 1960s, initially under the name jazz-rock. Individual musicians and groups such as guitarist Larry Coryell's Eleventh House, drummer Tony Williams' Lifetime, and Miles Davis led the way, introducing elements such as electronica, rock rhythms, and extended tracks, eliminating much of the what jazz “stood on” from its beginning, namely, the swing beat, and based primarily on blues music, the repertoire of which included both blues material and popular standards. The term fusion came into use soon after various orchestras emerged, such as the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report and the Chika Ensemble. Corea Return To Forever (“Return To Forever”). Throughout the music of these ensembles there remained a constant emphasis on improvisation and melodicity, which firmly linked their practice to the history of jazz, despite detractors who claimed that they had “sold out” to the music merchants. In fact, when heard today, these early experiments hardly seem commercial, inviting the listener to participate in what was music with a highly conversational nature. During the mid-1970s, fusion evolved into a variant of easy listening and/or rhythm and blues music. Compositionally or from the point of view of performance, he lost a significant part of his sharpness, or even completely lost it. In the 1980s, jazz musicians transformed the musical form of fusion into a truly means of expression. Artists such as drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson, guitarists Pat Metheny, John Scofield, John Abercrombie and James "Blood" Ulmer, as well as well as veteran saxophonist/trumpetist Ornette Coleman have creatively mastered this music in different dimensions.

1.13 Postbop

The post-bop period encompasses music performed by jazz musicians who continued to create in the field of bebop, shying away from the free jazz experiments that developed during the same period in the 1960s. Just like the aforementioned hard bop, this form was based on the rhythms, ensemble structure and energy of bebop, the same horn combinations and the same musical repertoire, including the use of Latin elements. What distinguished post-bop music was the use of elements of funk, groove or soul, reshaped in the spirit of the new era marked by the dominance of pop music. Masters such as saxophonist Hank Mobley, pianist Horace Silver, drummer Art Blakey and trumpeter Lee Morgan actually began this music in the mid-1950s and foreshadowed what has now become the dominant form of jazz. Along with simpler melodies and a more soulful beat, the listener could hear traces of gospel and rhythm and blues mixed together here. This style, which saw some modifications during the 1960s, was used to a certain extent to create new structures as a compositional element. Saxophonist Joe Henderson, pianist McCoy Tyner, and even such prominent bopper as Dizzy Gillespie created music in this genre that was both humane and harmonically interesting. One of the most significant composers to emerge during this period was saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Shorter, having gone through school with Art Blakey's ensemble, recorded a number of strong albums under his own name during the 1960s. Along with keyboardist Herbie Hancock, Shorter helped Miles Davis create a quintet in the 1960s (the most experimental and highly influential post-bop group of the 1950s was the Davis Quintet featuring John Coltrane) that became one of the most significant groups in jazz history.

1.14 Acid jazz

The term "acid jazz" or "acid jazz" is used loosely to refer to a very wide range of music. Although acid jazz is not entirely legitimately classified as jazz styles that developed from the general tree of jazz traditions, it cannot be completely ignored when analyzing the genre diversity of jazz music. Emerging in 1987 from the British dance scene, acid jazz as a musical, predominantly instrumental style was formed on the basis of funk, with the addition of selected classic jazz tracks, hip-hop, soul and Latin groove. Actually, this style is one of the varieties of jazz revival, inspired in this case not so much by the performances of living veterans, but by old recordings of jazz from the late 1960s and early jazz funk from the early 1970s. Over time, after the completion of the formation stage, improvisation completely disappeared from this musical mosaic, which was the main subject of debate about whether acid jazz is actually jazz.

Famous representatives of acid jazz include such musicians as Jamiroquai, Incognito, Brand New Heavies, Groove Collective, Guru, James Taylor. Some experts believe that the trio Medeski, Martin & Wood, positioned today as representatives of modern avant-gardeism, began their career with acid jazz.

This genre is represented on the Russian stage by many musicians.

1.15 Smooth jazz

Evolving from the fusion style, smooth jazz abandoned the energetic solos and dynamic crescendos of previous styles. Smooth jazz is distinguished primarily by a deliberately emphasized polished sound. Improvisation is also largely excluded from the genre's musical arsenal. Enriched with the sounds of multiple synths combined with rhythmic samples, the glossy sound creates a sleek and highly polished package of musical goods in which the ensemble harmony matters more than its component parts. This quality also separates this style from other more "live" performances. Smooth jazz instrumentation includes electric keyboards, alto or soprano saxophone, guitar, bass guitar and drums. Smooth jazz is arguably the most commercially viable form of jazz music since the swing era. This direction of modern jazz is represented by perhaps the largest army of musicians, including such “stars” as Chris Botti, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Larry Carlton, Stanley Clarke, Al Di Meola, Bob James, Al Jarreau, Diana Krall, Bradley Lighton, Lee Ritenour , Dave Grusin, Jeff Lorber, Chuck Loeb, etc.

1.16 Jazz Manush

Jazz-manush is a direction in “guitar” jazz, founded by the brothers Ferré and Django Reinhardt. Combines the traditional guitar playing technique of the gypsies of the Manush group and swing.

2. Spread of jazz

Jazz has always aroused interest among musicians and listeners around the world, regardless of their nationality. It is enough to trace the early work of trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and his synthesis of jazz traditions with the music of black Cubans in the 1940s or the later combination of jazz with Japanese, Euro-Asian and Middle Eastern music, famous in the work of pianist Dave Brubeck, as well as the brilliant composer and leader of jazz -the Duke Ellington Orchestra, which combined the musical heritage of Africa, Latin America and the Far East. Jazz constantly absorbed not only Western musical traditions. For example, when different artists began to try working with musical elements India. An example of these efforts can be heard in the recordings of flautist Paul Horne at the Taj Mahal, or in the stream of "world music" represented, for example, in the work of the Oregon group or John McLaughlin's Shakti project. McLaughlin's music, previously largely jazz-based, began to use new instruments of Indian origin such as the khatam or tabla, intricate rhythms, and the widespread use of the Indian raga form during his time with Shakti.

The Art Ensemble of Chicago was an early pioneer in the fusion of African and jazz forms. The world later came to know saxophonist/composer John Zorn and his explorations of Jewish musical culture, both within and outside of the Masada Orchestra. These works inspired entire groups of other jazz musicians, such as keyboardist John Medeski, who recorded with African musician Salif Keita, guitarist Marc Ribot and bassist Anthony Coleman. Trumpeter Dave Douglas enthusiastically incorporates Balkan influences into his music, while the Asian-American Jazz Orchestra has emerged as a leading proponent of the convergence of jazz and Asian musical forms. As the globalization of the world continues, jazz continues to be influenced by other musical traditions, providing ripe fodder for future research and proving that jazz is truly a world music.

2.1 Jazz in the USSR and Russia

The jazz scene emerged in the USSR in the 1920s, simultaneously with its heyday in the USA. The first jazz orchestra in Soviet Russia was created in Moscow in 1922 by the poet, translator, dancer, and theater figure Valentin Parnakh and was called “The First Eccentric Orchestra of Jazz Bands of Valentin Parnakh in the RSFSR.” The birthday of Russian jazz is traditionally considered to be October 1, 1922, when the first concert of this group took place. The first professional jazz ensemble to perform on the radio and record a record is considered to be the orchestra of pianist and composer Alexander Tsfasman (Moscow). Early Soviet jazz bands specialized in performing fashionable dances (foxtrot, Charleston). In the mass consciousness, jazz began to gain wide popularity in the 30s, largely thanks to the Leningrad ensemble led by actor and singer Leonid Utesov and trumpeter Ya. B. Skomorovsky. The popular comedy film with his participation “Jolly Guys” (1934) was dedicated to the history of the jazz musician and had a corresponding soundtrack (written by Isaac Dunaevsky). Utyosov and Skomorovsky formed the original style of “thea-jazz” (theater jazz), based on a mixture of music with theater, operetta, vocal numbers and the element of performance played a large role in it. A notable contribution to the development of Soviet jazz was made by Eddie Rosner, a composer, musician and orchestra leader. Having started his career in Germany, Poland and other European countries, Rosner moved to the USSR and became one of the pioneers of swing in the USSR and the founder of Belarusian jazz.

Moscow groups of the 30s and 40s also played an important role in the popularization and development of the swing style. , led by Alexander Tsfasman and Alexander Varlamov. The All-Union Radio Jazz Orchestra conducted by A. Varlamov took part in the first Soviet television program. The only composition that has survived from that time was Oleg Lundstrem's orchestra. This now widely known big band was one of the few and best jazz ensembles of the Russian diaspora, performing in 1935-1947. in China.

The attitude of the Soviet authorities towards jazz was ambiguous: domestic jazz performers, as a rule, were not banned, but harsh criticism of jazz as such was widespread, in the context of criticism Western culture generally. At the end of the 40s, during the struggle against cosmopolitanism, jazz in the USSR was going through a particularly difficult period, when groups performing “Western” music were persecuted. With the onset of the Thaw, repressions against musicians ceased, but criticism continued. According to the research of history and American culture professor Penny Van Eschen, the US State Department tried to use jazz as an ideological weapon against the USSR and against the expansion of Soviet influence in the Third World. In the 50s and 60s. In Moscow, the orchestras of Eddie Rosner and Oleg Lundstrem resumed their activities, new compositions appeared, among which stood out the orchestras of Joseph Weinstein (Leningrad) and Vadim Ludvikovsky (Moscow), as well as the Riga Variety Orchestra (REO).

Big bands brought up a galaxy of talented arrangers and soloists-improvisers, whose work brought Soviet jazz to a qualitatively new level and brought it closer to world standards. Among them are Georgy Garanyan, Boris Frumkin, Alexey Zubov, Vitaly Dolgov, Igor Kantyukov, Nikolay Kapustin, Boris Matveev, Konstantin Nosov, Boris Rychkov, Konstantin Bakholdin. The development of chamber and club jazz begins in all the diversity of its stylistics (Vyacheslav Ganelin, David Goloshchekin, Gennady Golshtein, Nikolay Gromin, Vladimir Danilin, Alexey Kozlov, Roman Kunsman, Nikolay Levinovsky, German Lukyanov, Alexander Pishchikov, Alexey Kuznetsov, Victor Fridman, Andrey Tovmasyan , Igor Bril, Leonid Chizhik, etc.)

Many of the above-mentioned masters of Soviet jazz began their creative path on the stage of the legendary Moscow jazz club " Blue bird”, which lasted from 1964 to 2009, revealing new names of representatives of the modern generation of Russian jazz stars (brothers Alexander and Dmitry Bril, Anna Buturlina, Yakov Okun, Roman Miroshnichenko and others). In the 70s, the jazz trio “Ganelin-Tarasov-Chekasin” (GTC) consisting of pianist Vyacheslav Ganelin, drummer Vladimir Tarasov and saxophonist Vladimir Chekasin, which existed until 1986, became widely known. In the 70s and 80s, the jazz quartet from Azerbaijan “Gaya” and the Georgian vocal and instrumental ensembles “Orera” and “Jazz Chorale” were also famous. The first book about jazz in the USSR was published by the Leningrad publishing house Academia in 1926. It was compiled by musicologist Semyon Ginzburg from translations of articles by Western composers and music critics, as well as his own materials, and was called “Jazz Band and Modern Music.”

The next book about jazz was published in the USSR only in the early 1960s. It was written by Valery Mysovsky and Vladimir Feyertag, called “Jazz” and was essentially a compilation of information that could be obtained from various sources at that time. From that time on, work began on the first encyclopedia of jazz in Russian, which was published only in 2001 by the St. Petersburg publishing house “Skifia”. Encyclopedia “Jazz. XX century Encyclopedic reference book" was prepared by one of the most authoritative jazz critics, Vladimir Feyertag, included more than a thousand names of jazz personalities and was unanimously recognized as the main Russian-language book on jazz. In 2008, the second edition of the encyclopedia “Jazz. Encyclopedic reference book", where jazz history was carried out already up to the 21st century, hundreds were added rare photographs, and the list of jazz names has been increased by almost a quarter.

In 2009, a team of authors led by the same V. Feiertag prepared and published the first Russian short encyclopedic reference book “Jazz in Russia” http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B6%D0% B0%D0%B7 - cite_note-9#cite_note-9 - the only complete collection of Russian jazz and Soviet history jazz in printed form - personalities, orchestras, musicians, journalists, festivals and educational institutions. After a decline in interest in jazz in the 90s, it again began to gain popularity in youth culture. Jazz music festivals such as “Usadba Jazz” and “Jazz in the Hermitage Garden” are held annually in Moscow. The most popular jazz club venue in Moscow is the jazz club "Union of Composers", inviting world famous jazz and blues performers.

2.2 Latin jazz

The fusion of Latin rhythmic elements has been present in jazz almost from the very beginning of the cultural melting pot that began in New Orleans. Jelly Roll Morton spoke of "Spanish flavors" in his recordings of the mid-to-late 1920s. Duke Ellington and other jazz bandleaders also used Latin forms. A major (though not widely recognized) progenitor of Latin jazz, trumpeter/arranger Mario Bausa brought a Cuban orientation from his native Havana to Chick Webb's orchestra in the 1930s, a decade later he carried it into the sound of the orchestras of Don Redman, Fletcher Henderson and Cab Calloway. . Working with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie in the Calloway Orchestra from the late 1930s, Bausa introduced a direction that already had a direct connection with Gillespie's big bands of the mid-1940s. Gillespie's "love affair" with Latin musical forms continued for the rest of his long career. In the 1940s, Bauza continued his career, becoming musical director The Afro-Cuban Machito Orchestra, fronted by his brother-in-law, percussionist Frank “Machito” Grillo. The 1950s-1960s were marked by a long flirtation between jazz and Latin rhythms, mainly in the bossa nova direction, enriching this synthesis with Brazilian elements of samba. Combining the cool jazz style developed by West Coast musicians, European classical proportions and seductive Brazilian rhythms, bossa nova, or more correctly "Brazilian jazz", gained widespread popularity in the United States around 1962.

Subtle but hypnotic acoustic guitar rhythms punctuate the simple melodies sung in both Portuguese and English language. Discovered by Brazilians Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim, the style became a dance alternative to hard bop and free jazz in the 1960s, greatly expanding its popularity through recordings and performances by West Coast musicians such as guitarist Charlie Byrd and saxophonist Stan Getz.

The musical amalgamation of Latin influences spread throughout jazz in the 1980s and 1990s, including not only orchestras and bands with top-notch Latino improvisers, but also combining local and Latin performers to create some of the most exciting stage music. This new Latin jazz renaissance was fueled by a constant influx of foreign performers from among Cuban defectors, such as trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, saxophonist and clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera, and others who fled Fidel Castro's regime in search of greater opportunities, which they expected to find in New Zealand. York and Florida. It is also believed that the more intense, more danceable qualities of the polyrhythmic music of Latin jazz greatly expanded the jazz audience. True, while maintaining only a minimum of intuitiveness for intellectual perception.

2.3 Jazz in the modern world

Modern world music is as varied as the climate and geography we experience through travel. And yet, today we are witnessing the mixing of an increasing number of world cultures, constantly bringing us closer to what, in essence, is already becoming “world music” (world music). Today's jazz can no longer help but be influenced by sounds penetrating into it from almost every corner globe. European experimentalism with classical overtones continues to influence the music of young pioneers such as Ken Vandermark, a free jazz avant-garde saxophonist known for his work with such notable contemporaries as saxophonists Mats Gustafsson, Evan Parker and Peter Brotzmann. Other young, more traditional musicians who continue to search for their own identity include pianists Jackie Terrasson, Benny Green and Braid Meldoa, saxophonists Joshua Redman and David Sanchez and drummers Jeff Watts and Billy Stewart.

The old tradition of sound is being carried forward rapidly by artists such as trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, who works with a team of assistants, both in his own small groups and in the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, which he leads. Under his patronage, pianists Marcus Roberts and Eric Reed, saxophonist Wes “Warmdaddy” Anderson, trumpeter Marcus Printup and vibraphonist Stefan Harris grew into great musicians. Bassist Dave Holland is also a great discoverer of young talent. His many discoveries include artists such as saxophonist/M-bassist Steve Coleman, saxophonist Steve Wilson, vibraphonist Steve Nelson and drummer Billy Kilson. Other great mentors to young talent include pianist Chick Corea and the late drummer Elvin Jones and singer Betty Carter. further development jazz is currently quite large, since the ways of developing talent and the means of its expression are unpredictable, multiplying by the combined efforts of various jazz genres encouraged today.

For example, saxophonist Chris Potter releases a mainstream release under his own name while at the same time recording with another great avant-garde player, drummer Paul Motian. Likewise, other jazz legends from different jazz worlds can meet under the same banner, as was the case when Elvin Jones, saxophonist Dewey Redman and pianist Cecil Taylor recorded together.

Jazz as a form of musical art appeared in the United States at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries, incorporating the musical traditions of European settlers and African folklore melodic patterns.

Characteristic improvisation, melodic polyrhythm and expressive performance of steel distinctive feature the first New Orleans jazz ensembles (jazz-band) in the first decades of the last century.

Over time, jazz went through periods of development and formation, changing its rhythmic pattern and stylistic direction: from the improvisational style of ragtime, to the danceable orchestral swing and leisurely soft blues.

The period from the early 20s until the 1940s was associated with the rise of jazz orchestras (big bands), consisting of several orchestral sections of saxophones, trombones, trumpets and a rhythm section. The peak of big band popularity occurred in the mid-1930s. Music performed by the jazz orchestras of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Benny Goodman was heard on dance floors and on the radio.

Rich orchestral sound, bright intonations and improvisation of great soloists Coleman Hawkins, Teddy Wilson, Benny Carter and others - created a recognizable and unique big band sound, which is a classic of jazz music.

In the 40-50s. of the last century, the time has come for modern jazz; such jazz styles, like furious bebop, lyrical cool jazz, soft west coast jazz, rhythmic hard bop, soulful soul jazz have captured the hearts of jazz music lovers.

In the mid-1960s, a new jazz direction appeared - jazz-rock, a peculiar combination of the energy inherent in rock music and jazz improvisation. Founders jazz style- Miles Davis, Larry Coryell, Billy Cobham are considered rock. In the 70s, jazz-rock became extremely popular. The use of the rhythmic pattern and harmony of rock music, shades of traditional oriental melodic and blues harmony, the use of electric instruments and synthesizers - over time led to the emergence of the term jazz fusion, emphasizing by its name the combination of several musical traditions and influences.

In the 70-80s, jazz music, while maintaining an emphasis on melody and improvisation, acquired features of pop music, funk, rhythm and blues (R&B) and crossover jazz, significantly expanding the audience of listeners and becoming commercially successful.

Modern jazz music, emphasizing clarity, melody and beauty of sound, is usually characterized as smooth jazz or contemporary jazz. Rhythmic and melodic lines guitars and bass guitars, saxophone and trumpet, keyboard instruments, in the sound frame of synthesizers and samplers create a luxurious, easily recognizable colorful smooth jazz sound.

Despite the fact that smooth jazz and contemporary jazz both have a similar musical style, they are still different jazz styles. As a rule, it is stated that smooth jazz is “background” music, while contemporary jazz is more individual jazz style and requires the listener's close attention. Further development of smooth jazz led to the emergence of lyrical directions of modern jazz– adult contemporary and more rhythmic urban jazz with shades of R&B, funk, hip-hop.

In addition, the emerging trend towards combining smooth jazz and electronic sound has led to the emergence of such popular trends in modern music as nu jazz, as well as lounge, chill and lo-fi.

Jazz is a form of musical art that arose at the beginning of the 20th century in the USA as a result of the synthesis of African and European cultures and subsequently became widespread.

Jazz is amazing music, alive, constantly evolving, incorporating the rhythmic genius of Africa, the treasures of the thousand-year-old art of drumming, ritual and ceremonial chants. Add choral and solo singing of Baptist and Protestant churches - opposite things merged together, giving the world amazing art! The history of jazz is unusual, dynamic, filled with amazing events that influenced the world musical process.

What is jazz?

Character traits:

• polyrhythm based on syncopated rhythms,
• bit - regular pulsation,
• swing - deviation from the beat, a set of techniques for performing rhythmic texture,
• improvisation,
• colorful harmonic and timbre range.

This type of music emerged in the early twentieth century as a result of the synthesis of African and European cultures as an art based on improvisation combined with a preconceived, but not necessarily written, form of composition. Several performers can improvise at the same time, even if a solo voice is clearly heard in the ensemble. Finished artistic image the work depends on the interaction of the ensemble members with each other and with the audience.

Further development of the new musical direction occurred due to the mastery of new rhythmic and harmonic models by composers.

In addition to the special expressive role of rhythm, other features of African music were inherited - the interpretation of all instruments as percussion, rhythmic; the predominance of conversational intonations in singing, imitation of conversational speech when playing the guitar, piano, and percussion instruments.

The history of jazz

The origins of jazz lie in the traditions of African music. The peoples of the African continent can be considered its founders. The slaves brought to the New World from Africa did not come from the same family and often did not understand each other. The need for interaction and communication led to unification and the creation of a single culture, including music. It is characterized by complex rhythms, dances with stamping and clapping. Together with blues motifs, they gave a new musical direction.

The processes of mixing African musical culture and European, which has undergone major changes, have occurred since the eighteenth century, and in the nineteenth led to the emergence of a new musical direction. Therefore, the world history of jazz is inseparable from the history of American jazz.

History of the development of jazz

The history of the birth of jazz originates in New Orleans, in the American South. This stage is characterized by collective improvisation of several versions of the same melody by a trumpeter (main voice), clarinetist and trombonist against the backdrop of marching accompaniment of brass bass and drums. A significant day - February 26, 1917 - then in the New York studio of the Victor company, five white musicians from New Orleans recorded the first gramophone record. Before the release of this record, jazz remained a marginal phenomenon, musical folklore, and after that, within a few weeks, it stunned and shocked all of America. The recording belonged to the legendary "Original Dixieland Jazz Band". This is how American jazz began its proud march around the world.

In the 20s, the main features of future styles were found: a uniform pulsation of the double bass and drums, which contributed to swing, virtuoso soloing, and a manner of vocal improvisation without words using individual syllables (“scat”). Blues took a significant place. Later, both stages - New Orleans, Chicago - are united by the term "Dixieland".

In American jazz of the 20s, a harmonious system emerged, called “swing”. Swing is characterized by the emergence of a new type of orchestra - the big band. With the increase in the orchestra, we had to abandon collective improvisation and move on to performing arrangements recorded on sheet music. The arrangement became one of the first manifestations of the composer's beginnings.

A big band consists of three groups of instruments - sections, each of which can sound like one polyphonic instrument: a saxophone section (later with clarinets), a "brass" section (trumpets and trombones), a rhythm section (piano, guitar, double bass, drums).

Solo improvisation based on the “square” (“chorus”) appeared. “Square” is one variation, equal in duration (number of bars) to the theme, performed against the background of the same chord accompaniment as the main theme, to which the improviser adjusts new melodic turns.

In the 1930s, American blues became popular and the 32-bar song form became widespread. In swing, the “riff”—a two- to four-bar rhythmically flexible cue—has begun to be widely used. It is performed by the orchestra while the soloist improvises.

Among the first big bands were orchestras led by famous jazz musicians - Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Glen Miller, Duke Ellington. The latter already in the 40s turned to large cyclic forms based on Negro and Latin American folklore.

American jazz in the 1930s became commercialized. Therefore, among lovers and connoisseurs of the history of the origin of jazz, a movement arose for the revival of earlier, authentic styles. The decisive role was played by small black ensembles of the 40s, which discarded everything designed for external effect: variety, dancing, singing. The theme was played in unison and almost never sounded in its original form; the accompaniment no longer required dance regularity.

This style, which ushered in the modern era, was called "bop" or "bebop". Experiments by talented American musicians and performers jazz-Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and others - actually laid the foundation for the development of an independent art form, only externally related to the pop-dance genre.

From the late 40s to the mid-60s, development took place in two directions. The first included the styles "cool" - "cool", and "west coast" - "west coast". They are characterized by a wide use of the experience of classical and modern serious music - developed concert forms, polyphony. The second direction included the styles of “hardbop” - “hot”, “energetic” and close to it “soul-jazz” (translated from English “soul” - “soul”), combining the principles of old bebop with the traditions of black folklore, temperamental rhythms and intonations spirituals.

Both of these directions have much in common in the desire to free themselves from the division of improvisation into separate squares, as well as to swing waltz and more complex meters.

Attempts were made to create works of large form - symphonic jazz. For example, “Rhapsody in Blue” by J. Gershwin, a number of works by I.F. Stravinsky. Since the mid-50s. experiments to combine the principles of jazz and modern music have again become widespread, already under the name “third movement”, also among Russian performers (“Concerto for orchestra” by A.Ya. Eshpai, works by M.M. Kazhlaev, 2nd concert for piano with the orchestra of R.K. Shchedrin, 1st symphony by A.G. In general, the history of the emergence of jazz is rich in experiments and is closely intertwined with the development of classical music and its innovative directions.

Since the beginning of the 60s. active experiments begin with spontaneous improvisation, not even limited to a specific theme song- Freejazz. However, the mode principle is even more important: each time a series of sounds is selected anew - a mode, and not clearly distinguishable squares. In search of such modes, musicians turn to the cultures of Asia, Africa, Europe, etc. In the 70s. come electric instruments and the rhythms of youth rock music, based on smaller beats than before. This style is first called "fusion", i.e. "alloy".

In short, the history of jazz is a story about search, unity, bold experiments, and ardent love for music.

Russian musicians and music lovers are certainly curious about the history of the emergence of jazz in the Soviet Union.

In the pre-war period, jazz in our country developed within pop orchestras. In 1929, Leonid Utesov organized a pop orchestra and called his group “Tea-jazz”. The “Dixieland” and “swing” styles were practiced in the orchestras of A.V. Varlamova, N.G. Minha, A.N. Tsfasman and others. Since the mid-50s. Small amateur groups begin to develop ("Eight TsDRI", "Leningrad Dixieland"). Many prominent performers received a start in life there.

In the 70s, training began in the pop departments of music schools, teaching aids, sheet music, and records were published.

Since 1973, pianist L.A. Chizhik began performing at “jazz improvisation evenings.” Ensembles under the direction of I. Bril, “Arsenal”, “Allegro”, “Kadans” (Moscow), quintet D.S. perform regularly. Goloshchekin (Leningrad), groups of V. Ganelin and V. Chekasin (Vilnius), R. Raubishko (Riga), L. Vintskevich (Kursk), L. Saarsalu (Tallinn), A. Lyubchenko (Dnepropetrovsk), M. Yuldybaeva (Ufa ), orchestra O.L. Lundstrem, teams of K.A. Orbelyan, A.A. Kroll ("Contemporary").

Jazz in the modern world

Today's world of music is diverse, dynamically developing, and new styles are emerging. In order to freely navigate it and understand the processes taking place, you need knowledge of at least brief history jazz! Today we are witnessing the mixing of an increasing number of world cultures, constantly bringing us closer to what, in essence, is already becoming “world music” (world music). Today's jazz incorporates sounds and traditions from almost every corner of the globe. African culture, with which it all began, is also being rethought. European experimentalism with classical overtones continues to influence the music of young pioneers such as Ken Vandermark, an avant-garde saxophonist known for his work with such notable contemporaries as saxophonists Mats Gustafsson, Evan Parker and Peter Brotzmann. Other young musicians of a more traditional orientation who continue to search for their own identity include pianists Jackie Terrasson, Benny Green and Braid Meldoa, saxophonists Joshua Redman and David Sanchez and drummers Jeff Watts and Billy Stewart. The old tradition of sound continues and is actively maintained by artists such as trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, who works with a team of assistants, plays in his own small groups and leads the Lincoln Center Orchestra. Under his patronage, pianists Marcus Roberts and Eric Reed, saxophonist Wes "Warmdaddy" Anderson, trumpeter Marcus Printup and vibraphonist Stefan Harris grew into great masters.

Bassist Dave Holland is also a great discoverer of young talent. His many discoveries include saxophonists Steve Coleman, Steve Wilson, vibraphonist Steve Nelson and drummer Billy Kilson.

Other great mentors to young talent include legendary pianist Chick Corea and the late drummer Elvin Jones and singer Betty Carter. The potential for further development of this music is currently large and varied. For example, saxophonist Chris Potter releases a mainstream release under his own name and at the same time participates in recordings with another great avant-garde drummer Paul Motian.

We still have to enjoy hundreds of wonderful concerts and bold experiments, witness the emergence of new directions and styles - this story has not yet been written to the end!

We offer training at our music school:

• piano lessons - a variety of works from classics to modern pop music, visualization. Available to everyone!
• guitar for children and teenagers - attentive teachers and exciting lessons!

Although jazz is a global phenomenon today, there are still special jazz places on the planet. These are the cities where the style, or better yet, the whole phenomenon, arose and took shape, the places where the largest jazz events take place, as well as points on the map where the most current transformations of jazz are taking place right now.

Eternal jazz capitals

New Orleans (USA): how it all began

In the French Quarter of New Orleans today, like a hundred years ago, street musicians play everywhere, and not only during New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival or Mardi Gras carnival, but also on all other days... and nights

Perhaps the most un-American of all American cities is called the cradle of jazz for a reason. According to some sources, jazz was born in the local neighborhood of Storyville. (Storyville), when around 1895, among brothels, drug dens and pubs, a black cornet player (a cornet is almost a modern trumpet, only it looks a little different, and the instrument has a different mechanism for blocking the holes in the tubes) Buddy Bolden (Buddy Bolden) assembled an ensemble to play the then fashionable ragtime, but with all the key elements of jazz. According to others - in 1917, when Nick La Rocca (Nick LaRocca) and him Original Dixieland Jass Band(no typos in the title, please note) released the first ever jazz audio recording - Livery Stable Blues. Both musicians were natives of New Orleans.

However, in fact, it all probably started not with them, but with those who took place back in early XIX century every Sunday at the local Congo Square (Congo Square) meetings of hundreds of black slaves. On the only day of the week when they were free from work, the slaves played on simple musical instruments the melodies and rhythms of Africa, which they were never destined to see. Or maybe jazz began with funeral brass bands that marched through the city streets and ensembles in dance halls. One way or another, it all happened right here - in a hot, shabby city located at the mouth of the great Mississippi River.

Maria Syomushkina, author of the idea and president of the Usadba Jazz festival New Orleans has become one of my favorite places on Earth. This is a city where music is everywhere: in the many bars, on the tourist-crowded Bourbon Street, in the squares, and on the Mississippi embankment - it mixes here with the sound of the wheels of old streetcars, the amazing tastes of Louisiana and Creole cuisine, relaxed and dreamy southern dialect. In 2014, we were able to bring the atmosphere of New Orleans to the Manor Jazz festival. Then the famous saxophonist Donald Harrison and a group dressed in Indian costumes performed in Arkhangelskoye Congo Square Nation Tribe, brass band Hot 8 Brass Band, pastor of one of Tara Alexander's gospel churches. There were also zydeco dance classes and local cuisine by two New Orleans chefs. It was a very difficult project to organize, but a project that will be remembered for a lifetime!

NY (USA): growing up place

One of the legendary places in New York is the Harlem Concert Hall Apollo Theater, who has seen more stars than other astronomers since 1914. Among them are jazz legends Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Art Blackie, Horace Silver, Dave Brubeck, Stan Getz and many, many others. And besides jazz there was also soul, rock and roll, gospel. No wonder now Apollo more than a million tourists visit every year

Born in New Orleans, jazz soon captured the whole of America, and New York became its new center. In the 1920s, which F.S. Fitzgerald was the first to call it the Jazz Age (JazzAge), jazz was heard here not only in “decent” places like Carnegie Hall, but also in rather dangerous, semi-underground speakeasy bars with illegal booze. Just then the legendary The Back Room And The Cotton Club, where one could meet still segregated African Americans, and deadly gangsters, and titans of the genre - for example, Duke Ellington, who with his orchestra regularly played in The Cotton Club for at least five years (since 1927) and often visited the club later.

Jazz did not end in New York with the end of the Roaring Twenties. On the contrary, in 1935 the legendary Village Vanguard, in 1949 - even more legendary Birdland, the holy of holies of jazz, where, it seems, all the patriarchs of the style performed.
All these places, as well as hundreds of others, are still open today - from large and world famous ones like Blue Note, to small types Smalls, very similar in atmosphere to those chthonic ones from the 1920s and 1930s. Except that now you can’t smoke in them, but drinking, on the contrary, is possible, and more than legal.

New York is another synonym for jazz, as is New Orleans. Moreover, to feel it, you don’t even have to go to the legendary Blue Note or Village Vanguard- you can go into a random three-table bar in Brooklyn or get into Union Square station and hear a saxophonist there of such a level that you will stand with your mouth open for a long time. Can you go to Cafe Carlyle, where sometimes on Mondays Woody Allen plays clarinet, or some crazy free jazz jam with John Zorn, or a guitarist concert Sonic Youth Thurston Moore in the Protestant Church. In addition, the city is now quite safe - you can safely go to an African party at the club Shrine in East Harlem or to a hip-hop concert in S'mon Everybody in the Bedford Avenue area. However, you still won’t be able to make it everywhere.

Havana (Cuba): wind from the south

Jazz in Havana may not be as sophisticated as in New York or northern Europe, but it is closer to the people and the roots

There is no doubt that jazz has African roots, but already in his childhood he experienced strong influences from Latin America, in particular from Cuba. It was from there that Spanish melodies and rhythms came to New Orleans and to the north, which mixed perfectly with African ones. Thus, habanera can be clearly heard in proto-jazz plays of the second decade of the last century, and in the next decade conga drums, bongos and other specific instruments begin to be used in jazz.

This is not surprising: already in those days, a ferry sailed between New Orleans and Havana twice a day, and between residents, for the most part, former slaves, there was active communication. By the mid-1940s, Afro-Cuban jazz emerged as a separate genre and acquired its own leaders, one of whom was Machito.

After World War II, the great American musicians Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker drew attention to Afro-Cuban jazz, and Cuban elements penetrated into the jazz of the East Coast of the United States and gained a foothold there. long years, and in New York in the middle of the 20th century, the development of the style was more active than in Cuba. But if you go anywhere for Afro-Cuban jazz today, it’s clearly not New York, but there, to the birthplace of the style. In clubs and small cafes, on the streets and on the terraces of shabby Havana, you can find both professional musicians and talented amateurs - jazz sounds here, as it did a century ago, as the music of ordinary people.

Cuba, despite its poverty, remains a dream country, where time seems to stand still among vintage cars and colonial architecture. A daiquiri cocktail, unchanged since the time of Hemingway, a cigar and coffee, whose strength no capitalism can weaken... There are still many colorful characters preserved here: any shoeshine boy can turn out to be a great singer, like Ibrahim Ferrer from Buena Vista Social Club. In distant Soviet times, it was the Cubans who introduced jazz to domestic listeners. A great friend of our festival, pianist Chucho Valdez, still remembers those tours with trepidation. And during his concert in St. Petersburg, he set the song “City over the Free Neva” to a broken Latin American rhythm, and this was one of the most magical moments of the festival. And my last trip to Cuba gave me the opportunity to meet the legendary pianist Roberto Fonseca!

Paris (France): dash across the ocean

On the small street Lombard, in the 1st and 4th arrondissements of Paris, there are three main jazz clubs of the French capital - Le Baiser Salé, Le Duc des Lombards And Sunset/Sunside

American jazz moved to Europe during the First World War - with American soldiers. The new-fangled style, along with swing and ragtime, was greatly loved by the capitals of the Old World, but was especially well received in vibrant and cosmopolitan Paris. At the end Great War Black musicians from America flocked to the French capital, not least because racial prejudice was practically absent in Paris, especially compared to New York. Jazz quickly captured the city's clubs, as well as the minds and hearts of Parisians and, more broadly, Europeans. By the mid-thirties, local superstars appeared here - for example, the creator of gypsy jazz Django Reinhardt and violinist Stefan Grappelli.

Paul McCartney, Jeff Beck, Tommy Iommi and many other famous musicians of the second half of the 20th century acknowledged that Reinhard had a deep influence on them, and his music became one of the sonic symbols of the 1930s.

During the Second World War, music in Paris did not die down - on the contrary, jazz was the connection between occupied Paris and the outside world, and after 1945, not a single tour The titans of style did not pass without a date in this city.

It is not surprising that jazz is heard here today - be it the above-mentioned golden triangle of Lombard Street (Rue des Lombards), park lawns during Paris Jazz Festival in June - July or small basement establishments where professionals and amateurs gather to play and listen to music over a sandwich and a glass of wine.

After the war, Paris became the European Mecca for jazzmen from the States: they received an excellent reception here and were surprised at the absence of everyday racism, which they often encountered in their homeland. Miles Davis, who adored Paris, describes this well in his autobiography, and the film “About Midnight”, in which the only Oscar-winning role was played by saxophonist Dexter Gordon, also talks about this. My activity as a concert organizer began with a position at the French Embassy, ​​so I oversaw many French cultural projects in Russia. Subsequently, my colleagues from the agency and I Art Mania We've been doing a French jazz festival for many years Le Jazz and brought such stars to Moscow and St. Petersburg as guitarist Bireli Lagren, accordionist Richard Galliano, pianist Jackie Terrasson and many others. There was a love for French culture and a special attitude towards France even in the USSR during the coldest days of the Cold War, and, to my great pleasure, this love has not faded over the years.

Cape Town (South Africa): call of blood

Best time for music lovers to travel to Cape Town - the end of March and the beginning of April. It is at this time, at the end of the South African autumn, the most comfortable time for walking around the city, that the , the fourth largest in the world and the largest in Africa. Every year it begins with a free concert on the main street of Greenmarket Square

Where should one go for jazz if not to the ancestral home of its creators, Africa! The best place for this today is Cape Town. This city is just like jazz: it is a fusion of all kinds of cultures: African, European, Asian, and the music here sounds appropriate. Moreover, the city is quite safe (compared to the rest of Africa) and last years attracts tourists not only with music, although music, especially jazz and especially on days Cape Town International Jazz Festival, there's enough here.

In the afternoon, head to the Museum of Contemporary African Art (“African Tate Modern”, as the locals call it), stroll through the colorful Bo Cap district, go to the ocean beach or climb Table Mountain, and go clubbing in the evening - on Monday and Friday Lounge 021 @ Swingers, where they play both African jazz and supranational experimental, on Tuesday - on Asoka, where excellent cuisine, and every Sunday afternoon on the veranda Kloof Street House give a free concert. On other days you are welcome Thuthuka Jazz Café, Jackson Hall and dozens of other places where a wide variety of jazz goes well with local wines.

The African continent has significantly enriched the language of jazz and blues. This includes Afrobeat, which originated in Nigeria, the founder of which was the legendary saxophonist Fela Kuti, and the unique Ethiojazz, one of the most prominent figures of which is vibraphonist Mulatu Astatke, and a meditative version of the blues, invented by a native of Mali, Ali Farka Toure. South Africa has also made a significant contribution to African music: artists from the famous Soweto region, which became a symbol of the fight against apartheid, have inspired numerous Western musicians like Paul Simon and David Byrne since the 1980s. In addition to the festival in Cape Town, the Moroccan festival provides an excellent opportunity to meet a wide variety of musicians from the African continent. Visa For Music, which takes place in Rabat - I go there every year.

Copenhagen (Denmark): dissenting opinion

Jazzhus Monmartre is the most famous jazz club in Copenhagen, but far from the only one. Residents of Scandinavia and, in particular, Denmark love jazz and are proud of the contribution of their musicians to its development, and the Danish government even funds a special organization JazzDanmark, which helps Danish jazzmen and promotes them on the European and world stage

Scandinavian jazz is cold, sometimes shrill, detached. It is considered a relatively new movement, emerging in the late 1960s and flourishing in the next decade, but jazz as a whole came to the region early: back in 1923, the Dane Waldermeer Eyberg formed the first jazz orchestra, and a year later released the first jazz recording in Denmark , and perhaps throughout Scandinavia.

Over the past four decades, in Sweden, Denmark and especially Norway, musicians have been conducting bold experiments with form and sound (yes, free jazz was very popular with the harsh northern people), mixing styles and instruments to create sounds. For example, a frequent guest of the Moscow Manor Jazz festival, future jazz pioneer Nils-Petter Molvær boldly and masterfully combines electronics and jazz improvisation, or saxophonist Jan Garbarek, who contributed to the meeting of jazz and Renaissance chorales.

The main, although far from the only, jazz place in the capital of the Danish kingdom is the legendary club Jazzhus Montmartre, which featured Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson and many other musicians from around the world. It is also important because the largest and most famous event related to Scandinavian jazz and jazz in Scandinavia in general is Copenhagen Jazz Festival- since 1979, it has been taking place within these walls as well.

Scandinavian jazz is a very interesting and independent school. The music of Norwegian musicians has, of course, the most characteristic sound: self-absorbed and self-sufficient, dramatic and incredibly beautiful. Throughout history, we have tried to bring a wide variety of musicians from Scandinavia to our festival. Among them are the Norwegian pianist Bugge Wesseltoft, the Finnish eccentric Jimi Tenor, and the saxophonist Hakon Kornstad, who very elegantly combined opera and jazz (in addition to his instrument, he also mastered the operatic tenor). As for the festival in Copenhagen, here you can hear both excellent local musicians and world stars. So, in 2015, I remember the performance of the legendary duet Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga in Tivoli Park.

Festival capitals - the “big three”

The six cities that we listed above are permanent world capitals of jazz, but, in addition to them, there are also temporary, transitory ones. These can be considered cities where the most famous, important and major jazz festivals are held once a year.

Montreal (Canada): the largest jazz festival in the world

Festival International de Jazz de Montréal annually brings together about 3,000 musicians from several dozen countries around the world and attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators. In 2004, the festival even entered the Guinness Book of Records as the largest in terms of the number of spectators - that year there were more than 2 million of them

Hundreds of concerts take place in clubs, concert halls and outdoor venues over the course of a week and a half, with many events free to the public. This is such an important event for the city that many blocks in its central part are closed to car traffic during the festival and are completely given over to musicians and music lovers.

In 2018, the festival will take place from June 28 to July 7 - there is still time to buy tickets and plan your trip. If you don't have time, you can go to Montreal in October, when the city hosts an alternative festival organized by jazz musicians in accordance with their vision and ideas L'Off Jazz. It is, of course, smaller in scale, but also very interesting.

Montreux (Switzerland): largest in Europe and number two in the world

Montreux, a small town on the shores of Lake Geneva in the foothills of the Alps, has been attracting musicians from all over the world for the second century. IN different time Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Igor Stravinsky, Freddie Mercury (a monument to him can be seen in the photo above) and David Bowie lived here. But at the beginning of July every year since 1976, the concentration of music in the clean mountain air has increased many times: the city has opened the second largest in the world after Montreal Montreux Jazz Festival.

Despite the “highly specialized” name, today the festival in Montreux is more than jazz: it attracts musicians playing a variety of styles - from classical to rap - both professionals and beginners. There is even a competition organized for the latter.

Main feature Montreux Jazz Festival- variety: here everyone can find an event to their liking: from free concerts in the park, where some musicians will replace others for several hours without a break, to private events taking place on a small ship sailing on the waters of Lake Geneva. This year, the 52nd Montreux Jazz Festival will take place almost simultaneously with the Montreal one - from June 29 to July 14.

Switzerland is associated among compatriots primarily with fantastically beautiful nature, bourgeoisism and excessive regulation of life. Nevertheless, it was here that they managed to create the most famous European jazz festival in the world, which has not lost ground for more than 50 years. In general, the program of the festival in Montreux needs to be shown to those who every year complain that “Estate Jazz” is no longer a jazz festival: they performed here Massive Attack, Portishead, David Bowie and a great many other musicians who are quite far from jazz. This does not change the fact that many jazz giants can only be heard in Montreux. One of my most unforgettable Montreux festival experiences was the Prince concert in 2013. By the way, his group New Power Generation will perform this year at Usadba Jazz".

Monterey (USA): one of the oldest in the world

This year, for the 61st time since 1958, the Monterey Jazz Festival is one of the oldest regularly held jazz festivals in the world. How many legendary musicians have these oaks seen and legendary concerts heard - it seems that there was not a single major jazz name in the second half of the last century that was not on the Monterey Festival posters.

Compared to the other two festivals in this section, Monterey seems quite small - only three days (this year September 21–23), only 8 hectares of territory and only two main venues, and there are not hundreds of musicians. But they are very different - veterans and very young, native Americans and visitors from Japan and Africa.

This year, among other things, the American Navy Band from New Orleans will perform - 32nd Street Brass Band; they promise to bring a Bourbon Street vibe to the West Coast during Mardi Gras.

Rotterdam (Holland): the largest indoor festival On your way home from Montreal or Montreux, be sure to stop by Rotterdam, because in the second half of July (this year July 13-15), it hosts “the world’s largest indoor jazz festival” - North Sea Jazz. On four floors of the complex Ahoy Rotterdam It brings together musicians from a variety of genres and performing in a variety of compositions - from classical chamber trios to symphony orchestras. In front of an adult North Sea Jazz in the last few years there has been a children's North Sea Jazz Kids, designed to introduce children to jazz, musical instruments, and how music is made in general. The art of creating a festival poster has been approached with creativity: since 2006, before the start of the festival, a competition has been organized for students of the local art university, the Willem de Kooning Academy, who are asked to come up with a design for the official poster. Shortly before the start of the festival, the winner is announced, and the finalists' works are included in the exhibition. Above is Nelleke van Lomvel's winning entry last year. The works of past winners are also published on the festival website. North Sea is a festival designed for a wide range of age audiences, which Elena Moiseenko, musical director of Usadba Jazz, and I try not to miss. Here you can hear both classics and cutting-edge electronics, as well as discover something exotic from the world world music- A lot of interesting things are happening in African and Middle Eastern music right now. In short, this is almost an ideal festival for immersing yourself in the world musical context in the shortest possible time.

Something important is happening here too

Krakow (Poland)

The main jazz place behind the Iron Curtain was, without a doubt, Poland. Dozens of talented musicians from this country were well known in the USSR, and Polish jazz became an independent phenomenon with a unique sound and approach to composition and performance.

To get to know this phenomenon better, go to Krakow in the second half of July. Firstly, there will be Jazz Summer Festival, and secondly, at this time of year it is best to walk there and see the sights (the city suffered little damage during the Second World War - its ancient buildings were perfectly preserved). And if it doesn’t coincide with the festival, you can easily find music to suit your taste in the Old Town, in parks and squares.

I have a special relationship with this city: my ancestors once lived here. My distant great-grandfather was the chief postmaster of Krakow. There are a lot of advantages here besides jazz: beautiful architecture, the wonderful Vistula embankment, Wawel Castle... Moreover, traveling to Krakow is relatively inexpensive, and in our time this is also important. Besides legends like the soul band Take 6 and saxophonist Farrow Sanders, at this year’s Krakow summer festival I recommend paying attention to the performances of Polish jazzmen. This country is perhaps the only one in Eastern Europe that managed to create its own school: Polish jazz is more analytical and intellectual than passionate and impulsive; the traditions of musical romanticism and avant-garde are clearly felt in this music.

Tel Aviv (Israel)

Although jazz came to Palestine during the British Mandate, it became a truly serious and noticeable phenomenon on the world stage in the Middle East in the mid-1990s, not without the participation of well-known musicians Avishai Cohen, Omer Avital and Avi Lebovich.

Israeli jazz is interesting because, although it is made according to American patterns (a large number of Israeli jazzmen studied in the USA), it is at the same time imbued with an oriental flavor - there are unusual rhythms, harmonies that are strange to the European-American ear, and a wild pressure. And all because Israeli jazz has a history of klezmer, folk music of Eastern Europe, Morocco and Yemen.

In summer Tel Aviv is uncomfortable due to the heat, so Tel Aviv Jazz Festival takes place in December (and in February they also organize Red Sea Jazz Festival) is a great way to get acquainted with all shades of local exoticism.

Israeli jazz is distinguished by exciting rhythms, drawn by local musicians from the traditional music of the Middle East, and spicy, close to our soul melodies, in which there is so much sublime sadness. About ten years ago, we discovered double bass player Avishai Cohen for Russia, who instantly made our lovers of improvised music fall in love with him, and at the Usadba Jazz festival in Tsaritsyn we showed our audience another talented Israeli double bass player, Omer Avital. There are undoubtedly many more musical treasures to be found on the shores of the Red Sea. This year, Israel will be represented at our festival by Mark Elyahu, who plays the most ancient instrument of the East - the kemanche (or Pontic lyre).

Tokyo, Japan)

The largest concentration of jazz lovers, according to some data, is not observed in the USA or Norway, as one might think, but in Japan. Moreover, jazz penetrated the islands not at all together with American soldiers, as one might again think, but much earlier - back in the 1920s, when the first dance halls opened in Osaka and Kobe. And since Japanese culture is very peculiar, closed and with great distrust of phenomena penetrating from outside, then local jazz has a very specific Japanese or, more broadly, Asian sound, and echoes are heard every now and then in the plays folk songs or Buddhist prayers.

It is not surprising that here, in addition to hundreds of other establishments, there is a branch of the New York club Blue Note and several major festivals - e.g. Tokyo Jazz Festival, which this year will take place from August 31 to September 2.

Istanbul, Türkiye)

Turkey was lucky with jazz: its rapid spread throughout the world coincided with the decades of Europeanization of the country in the first half of the last century. A new style took root, merged with local and Islamic musical traditions in general and produced a huge number of amazing performers and recordings. Today, jazz is in demand in the country no less than in the last century. That's a guarantee of at least two jazz festival in the Stambul ( Akbank Caz Festivali Alexey Arkhipovsky

The main jazz event in Russia in the last ten years is the Usadba Jazz festival. Why exactly this? Firstly, because this is a showcase of what is happening in jazz in the countries of the former USSR, and we are talking not only about experienced musicians, but also about young and even children (the Jazz Kids Estate stage, competitions, master -classes and other events). Secondly, the festival is very diverse: in the open areas there is a place for jazz musicians, rockers, and bluesmen, that is, any quality music. Thirdly, in recent years, “Usadba Jazz” has become not only the usual Arkhangelskoye near Moscow, but also venues in five other cities of Russia. In general, to get acquainted with the jazz scene of the largest (but not the jazziest, let's be honest) country in the world, there is no better place to find.

Over the 15 years that we have been organizing the “Estate Jazz” festival, I have heard more than once from world stars and fellow organizers of major festivals in other world capitals that they have never seen anything like it: a musical festival surrounded by the architecture of an ancient estate - this is our know-how -how. For me personally, this is my favorite brainchild, which takes a huge amount of energy, but gives back several times more. This year at the anniversary festival in Arkhangelsk we will show the entire cross-section of modern jazz: there will be New York saxophonist Donnie McCaslin, who played with David Bowie, and a Prince tribute band New Power Generation, and a very young multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier, to whom such titans of the genre as Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock sing hosannas. And, of course, many Russian musicians: from Igor Butman, who is rightfully considered the face of our jazz in the world, to the winners of the music competition that we hold every autumn in the mountain resorts near Sochi. We have come a long way. More than a thousand musicians have performed on our stages over the years: from such undeniable classics as Youssef Latif or Branford Marsalis, to musicians who turned into stars literally before our eyes, such as Robert Glasper or Avishai Cohen. When Usadba Jazz stepped from the capital to the regions, it became clear how interesting and promising our history is. All festivals are very different: in St. Petersburg they love more intellectual and sophisticated music, Voronezh is open to any experiments, it is a city with the most receptive and appreciative audience, in Yekaterinburg drive and groove are most valued. But the atmosphere of unity and creativity for which Usadba Jazz is famous remains the same everywhere. In order to unite so much different people, we continue to work.

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Jazz was born in New Orleans. Most histories of jazz begin with a similar phrase, usually with the obligatory clarification that similar music developed in many cities of the American South - Memphis, St. Louis, Dallas, Kansas City.

The musical origins of jazz, both African American and European, are numerous and too long to list, but it is impossible not to mention its two main African American predecessors.

You can listen to jazz songs

Ragtime and blues

Approximately two decades at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries saw the brief heyday of ragtime, which was the first type of popular music. Ragtime was performed primarily on the piano. The word itself translates as “ragged rhythm,” and this genre received its name because of the syncopated rhythm. The author of the most popular plays was Scott Joplin, nicknamed the “King of Ragtime.”

Example: Scott Joplin – Maple Leaf Rag

Another equally important predecessor of jazz was the blues. If ragtime gave jazz its energetic, syncopated rhythm, blues gave it a voice. And in the literal sense, since blues is a vocal genre, but primarily in a figurative sense, since blues is characterized by the use of blurred notes that are absent in the European sound system (both major and minor) - blues notes, as well as a colloquially shouted and rhythmically free manner execution.

Example: Blind Lemon Jefferson - Black Snake Moan

The birth of jazz

Subsequently, African-American jazz musicians transferred this style to instrumental music, and wind instruments began to imitate the human voice, its intonations and even articulations. So-called “dirty” sounds appeared in jazz. Every sound should have a peppery quality. A jazz musician creates music not only with the help of different notes, i.e. sounds of different heights, but also with the help of different timbres and even noises.

Jelly Roll Morton - Sidewalk Blues

Scott Joplin lived in Missouri and the first known published blues was called the "Dallas Blues." However, the first jazz style called "New Orleans Jazz".

Cornetist Charles "Buddy" Bolden combined ragtime and blues by playing by ear and improvising, and his innovation influenced many of the more famous New Orleans musicians who later smashed new music around the country, primarily in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles: Joe "King" Oliver, Bunk Johnson, Jelly Roll Morton, Kid Ory and, of course, the king of jazz, Louis Armstrong. This is how jazz took over America.

However, this music did not immediately receive its historical name. At first it was called simply hot music (hot), then the word jass appeared and only then jazz. The first jazz record was recorded by a quintet of white performers, the Original Dixieland Jass Band, in 1917.

Example: Original Dixieland Jass Band - Livery Stable Blues

The Swing Era - Dance Fever

Jazz emerged and spread as dance music. Gradually, dance fever spread throughout America. Dance halls and orchestras multiplied. The era of big bands, or swing, began, lasting about a decade and a half from the mid-20s to the end of the 30s. Never before or since has jazz been so popular.
A special role in the creation of swing belongs to two musicians - Fletcher Henderson and Louis Armstrong. Armstrong influenced a huge number of musicians, teaching them rhythmic freedom and variety. Henderson created the format of a jazz orchestra with its later division into a saxophone section and a wind section with a roll call between them.

Fletcher Henderson - Down South Camp Meeting

The new composition has become widespread. There were about 300 big bands in the country. The leaders of the most popular of them were Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Chick Webb, Jimmy Lunsford, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Woody Herman. The orchestras' repertoire includes popular melodies that are called jazz standards, or sometimes called jazz classics. The most popular standard in the history of jazz, Body and Soul, was first recorded by Louis Armstrong.

From bebop to post-bop

In the 40s The era of large orchestras ended quite abruptly, primarily for commercial reasons. Musicians began to experiment with small compositions, thanks to which a new jazz style was born - bebop, or simply bop, which meant a whole revolution in jazz. This was music intended not for dancing, but for listening, not for a wide audience, but for a narrower circle of jazz lovers. In a word, jazz ceased to be music for the entertainment of the public, but became a form of self-expression for musicians.

The pioneers of the new style were pianist Thelonious Monk, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, saxophonist Charlie Parker, pianist Bud Powell, trumpeter Miles Davis and others.

Groovin High - Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie

Bop laid the foundations for modern jazz, which is still predominantly the music of small bands. Finally, bop sharpened jazz's constant desire to search for something new. An outstanding musician aimed at constant innovation was Miles Davis and many of his partners and the talents he discovered, who later became famous jazz performers and jazz stars: John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Wynton Marsalis.

Jazz of the 50s and 60s continues to evolve, on the one hand, remaining true to its roots, but rethinking the principles of improvisation. This is how hard bop, cool...

Miles Davis - So What

...modal jazz, free jazz, post-bop.

Herbie Hancock - Cantaloupe Island

On the other hand, jazz begins to absorb other types of music, for example, Afro-Cuban and Latin. This is how Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian jazz (bossanova) appeared.

Manteca - Dizzy Gillespie

Jazz and rock = fusion

The most powerful impetus for the development of jazz was the appeal of jazz musicians to rock music, the use of its rhythms and electric instruments (electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizers). The pioneer here was again Miles Davis, whose initiative was picked up by Joe Zawinul (Weather Report), John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra), Herbie Hancock (The Headhunters), Chick Corea (Return to Forever). This is how jazz-rock or fusion arose...

Mahavishnu Orchestra — Meeting Of The Spirits

and psychedelic jazz.

Milky Way - Weather Report

History of jazz and jazz standards

The history of jazz is not only about styles, movements and famous jazz performers, it is also about many beautiful melodies that live in many versions. They are easily recognized, even if they don’t remember or don’t know the names. Jazz owes its popularity and attractiveness to such wonderful composers as George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Hoggy Carmichael, Richard Rodgers, Jerome Kernb and others. Although they wrote music primarily for musicals and shows, their themes, taken up by representatives of jazz, became the best jazz compositions of the twentieth century, which were called jazz standards.

Summertime, Stardust, What Is This Thing Called Love, My Funny Valentine, All the Things You Are - these and many other themes are known to every jazz musician, as well as compositions created by the jazzmen themselves: Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Paul Desmond and many others (Caravan, Night in Tunisia, 'Round Midnight, Take Five). This is a jazz classic and a language that unites both the performers themselves and the jazz audience.

Modern jazz

Modern jazz is a pluralism of styles and genres and a constant search for new combinations at the intersections of directions and styles. And modern jazz performers often play in a variety of styles. Jazz is susceptible to influence from many types of music, from avant-garde and folk music to hip-hop and pop. It turned out to be the most flexible type of music.

The recognition of the worldwide role of jazz was the proclamation of UNESCO in 2011 International Day jazz, which is celebrated annually on April 30.

A small river, the source of which was in New Orleans, in just over 100 years turned into an ocean that washes the whole world. American writer Francis Scott Fitzgerald once called the 20s. the age of jazz. Now these words can be applied to the twentieth century as a whole, since jazz is the music of the twentieth century. The history of the emergence and development of jazz almost fits into the chronological framework of the last century. But, of course, it doesn't end there.

1. Louis Armstrong

2. Duke Ellington

3. Benny Goodman

4. Count Basie

5. Billie Holiday

6. Ella Fitzgerald

7. Art Tatum

8. Dizzy Gillespie

9. Charlie Parker

10. Thelonious Monk

11. Art Blakey

12. Bud Powell

14. John Coltrane

15. Bill Evans

16. Charlie Mingus

17. Ornette Coleman

18. Herbie Hancock

19. Keith Jarrett

20. Joe Zawinul

Text: Alexander Yudin