The Influence Of Duke Ellington
While swing was reaching the height of its popularity, spent the late 1920s and 1930s developing an innovative musical idiom for his orchestra. Abandoning the conventions of swing, he experimented with orchestral sounds, harmony, and with complex compositions that still translated well for popular audiences some of his tunes became , and his own popularity spanned from the United States to Europe.
Ellington called his music American Music, rather than jazz, and liked to describe those who impressed him as “beyond category”. These included many musicians from his orchestra, some of whom are considered among the best in jazz in their own right, but it was Ellington who melded them into one of the most popular jazz orchestras in the history of jazz. He often composed for the style and skills of these individuals, such as “Jeep’s Blues” for , “Concerto for Cootie” for ” rel=”nofollow”> Bob Russell’s lyrics), and “The Mooche” for and . He also recorded compositions written by his bandsmen, such as ‘s “” and “”, which brought the “Spanish Tinge” to big-band jazz. Several members of the orchestra remained with him for several decades. The band reached a creative peak in the early 1940s, when Ellington and a small hand-picked group of his composers and arrangers wrote for an orchestra of distinctive voices who displayed tremendous creativity.
Traditionalism In The 1980s
The 1980s saw something of a reaction against the fusion and free jazz that had dominated the 1970s. Trumpeter emerged early in the decade, and strove to create music within what he believed was the tradition, rejecting both fusion and free jazz and creating extensions of the small and large forms initially pioneered by artists such as and , as well as the hard bop of the 1950s. It is debatable whether Marsalis’ critical and commercial success was a cause or a symptom of the reaction against Fusion and Free Jazz and the resurgence of interest in the kind of jazz pioneered in the 1960s nonetheless there were many other manifestations of a resurgence of traditionalism, even if fusion and free jazz were by no means abandoned and continued to develop and evolve.
For example, several musicians who had been prominent in the genre during the 1970s began to record acoustic jazz once more, including and . Other musicians who had experimented with electronic instruments in the previous decade had abandoned them by the 1980s for example, , , and . Even the 1980s music of , although certainly still fusion, adopted a far more accessible and recognizably jazz-oriented approach than his abstract work of the mid-1970s, such as a return to a theme-and-solos approach.
ensemble included a rotation of young jazz musicians such as , , , , , , and .
A similar reaction took place against free jazz. According to :
If I Ain’t Got You Piano Sheet Music
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Beginnings Of European Jazz
As only a limited number of American jazz records were released in Europe, European jazz traces many of its roots to American artists such as James Reese Europe, Paul Whiteman, and , who visited Europe during and after World War I. It was their live performances which inspired European audiences’ interest in jazz, as well as the interest in all things American which accompanied the economic and political woes of Europe during this time. The beginnings of a distinct European style of jazz began to emerge in this interwar period.
British jazz began with a . In 1926, and His Cambridge Undergraduates began broadcasting on the BBC. Thereafter jazz became an important element in many leading dance orchestras, and jazz instrumentalists became numerous.
Origins And Early History

Jazz originated in the late-19th to early-20th century. It developed out of many forms of music, including , , , , song, , and . It also incorporated interpretations of American and European classical music, entwined with African and slave folk songs and the influences of West African culture. Its composition and style have changed many times throughout the years with each performer’s personal interpretation and improvisation, which is also one of the greatest appeals of the genre.
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Acid Jazz Nu Jazz And Jazz Rap
developed in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s, influenced by and . Acid jazz often contains various types of electronic composition ” rel=”nofollow”> sampling or live DJ cutting and ), but it is just as likely to be played live by musicians, who often showcase jazz interpretation as part of their performance. Richard S. Ginell of AllMusic considers “one of the prophets of acid jazz”.
is influenced by jazz harmony and melodies, and there are usually no improvisational aspects. It can be very experimental in nature and can vary widely in sound and concept. It ranges from the combination of live instrumentation with the beats of jazz ” rel=”nofollow”> St Germain, , and ) to more band-based improvised jazz with electronic elements ” rel=”nofollow”> Kobol and the Norwegian “future jazz” style pioneered by , , and ).
developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s and incorporates jazz influences into . In 1988, released the debut single “Words I Manifest”, which sampled Dizzy Gillespie’s 1962 “Night in Tunisia”, and released “Talkin’ All That Jazz”, which sampled . Gang Starr’s debut LP and their 1990 track “Jazz Thing” sampled Charlie Parker and . The groups which made up the tended toward jazzy releases: these include the ‘ debut , and ‘s and . Rap duo incorporated jazz influences on their 1992 debut . Rapper ‘s series began in 1993 using jazz musicians during the studio recordings.
Swing In The 1920s And 1930s
The 1930s belonged to popular big bands, in which some virtuoso soloists became as famous as the band leaders. Key figures in developing the “big” jazz band included bandleaders and arrangers , , and , , , , , , , and . Although it was a collective sound, swing also offered individual musicians a chance to “solo” and improvise melodic, thematic solos which could at times be complex “important” music.
Over time, social strictures regarding racial segregation began to relax in America: white bandleaders began to recruit black musicians and black bandleaders white ones. In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman hired pianist , vibraphonist and guitarist to join small groups. In the 1930s, Kansas City Jazz as exemplified by tenor saxophonist marked the transition from big bands to the bebop influence of the 1940s. An early 1940s style known as “jumping the blues” or used small combos, uptempo music and blues chord progressions, drawing on from the 1930s.
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Lyrics If I Aint Got You Sheet Music
If I Aint Got You
Some people live for the fortuneSome people live just for the fameSome people live for the power, yeahSome people live just to play the game
Some people think that the physical things define whats withinAnd Ive been there before, and that lifes a boreSo full of the superficial
Some people want it allBut I dont want nothing at allIf it aint you babyIf I aint got you babySome people want diamond ringsSome just want everythingIf I aint got you, yeah
Some people search for a fountainThat promises forever youngSome people need three dozen rosesAnd thats the only way to prove you love them
Hand me the world on a silver platterAnd what good would it beWith no one to share, with no one who truly cares for me
Some people want it allBut I dont want nothing at allIf it aint you babyIf I aint got you babySome people want diamond ringsSome just want everythingIf I aint got you
Some people want it allBut I dont want nothing at allIf it aint you babyIf I aint got you babySome people want diamond ringsSome just want everythingIf I aint got you, yeah
If I aint got you with me babySo nothing in this whole wide world dont mean a thingIf I aint got you with me baby
Punk Jazz And Jazzcore
The relaxation of orthodoxy which was concurrent with in London and New York City led to a new appreciation of jazz. In London, began to mix free jazz and dub reggae into their brand of punk rock. In New York, took direct inspiration from both free jazz and punk. Examples of this style include ‘s Queen of Siam, Gray, the work of and the .
took note of the emphasis on speed and dissonance that was becoming prevalent in punk rock, and incorporated this into free jazz with the release of the album in 1986, a collection of tunes done in the contemporary style. In the same year, , , , and recorded the first album under the name , a similarly aggressive blend of thrash and free jazz. These developments are the origins of jazzcore, the fusion of free jazz with .
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Sacred And Liturgical Jazz
As noted above, jazz has incorporated from its inception aspects of African-American sacred music including spirituals and hymns. Secular jazz musicians often performed renditions of spirituals and hymns as part of their repertoire or isolated compositions such as “Come Sunday”, part of “Black and Beige Suite” by . Later many other jazz artists borrowed from black . However, it was only after World War II that a few jazz musicians began to compose and perform extended works intended for religious settings and/or as religious expression. Since the 1950s, sacred and liturgical music has been performed and recorded by many prominent jazz composers and musicians. The “Abyssinian Mass” by is a recent example.
Relatively little has been written about sacred and liturgical jazz. In a 2013 doctoral dissertation, Angelo Versace examined the development of sacred jazz in the 1950s using disciplines of musicology and history. He noted that the traditions of black gospel music and jazz were combined in the 1950s to produce a new genre, “sacred jazz”. Versace maintained that the religious intent separates sacred from secular jazz. Most prominent in initiating the sacred jazz movement were pianist and composer , known for her jazz masses in the 1950s and . Prior to his death in 1974 in response to contacts from Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, wrote three Sacred Concerts: 1965 â A Concert of Sacred Music 1968 â Second Sacred Concert 1973 â Third Sacred Concert.
Blended African And European Music Sensibilities
By the 18th century, slaves in the New Orleans area gathered socially at a special market, in an area which later became known as Congo Square, famous for its African dances.
By 1866, the had brought nearly 400,000 Africans to North America. The slaves came largely from and the greater basin and brought strong musical traditions with them. The African traditions primarily use a single-line melody and pattern, and the rhythms have a structure and reflect African speech patterns.
An 1885 account says that they were making strange music on an equally strange variety of ‘instruments’âwashboards, washtubs, jugs, boxes beaten with sticks or bones and a drum made by stretching skin over a flour-barrel.
Lavish festivals with African-based dances to drums were organized on Sundays at Place Congo, or , in New Orleans until 1843. There are historical accounts of other music and dance gatherings elsewhere in the southern United States. said of percussive slave music:
Another influence came from the harmonic style of of the church, which black slaves had learned and incorporated into their own music as . The are undocumented, though they can be seen as the secular counterpart of the spirituals. However, as points out, whereas the spirituals are , rural blues and early jazz “was largely based on concepts of “.
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Stax Records And Atlantic Records
Stax Records and Atlantic Records were independent labels that produced high-quality dance records featuring many well-known singers of the day. They tended to have smaller ensembles marked by expressive gospel-tinged vocals. Brass and saxophones were also used extensively., founded by siblings Estelle and James Stewart, was the second most successful record label behind . They were responsible for releasing hits by , , , and many more. Ahmet Ertegun, who had anticipated being a diplomat until 1944 when his father died, founded in 1947 with his friend . Ertegun wrote many songs for and . He even sang for his artist on the song, “Shake Rattle and Roll”.
Dominated by ‘s empire, Detroit soul is strongly rhythmic and influenced by gospel music. The Motown sound often includes hand , a powerful , , and . Motown Records’ house band was . cites Motown as the pioneering label of pop-soul, a style of soul music with raw vocals, but polished production and toned-down subject matter intended for pop radio and success. Artists of this style included , , , and . Popular during the 1960s, the style became glossier during the 1970s and led to . In the late 2000s, the style was revisited by contemporary soul singers such as , and .
Swing In The Early 20th Century

Morton loosened ragtime’s rigid rhythmic feeling, decreasing its embellishments and employing a feeling. Swing is the most important and enduring African-based rhythmic technique used in jazz. An oft quoted definition of swing by Louis Armstrong is: “if you don’t feel it, you’ll never know it.”The New Harvard Dictionary of Music states that swing is: “An intangible rhythmic momentum in jazz…Swing defies analysis claims to its presence may inspire arguments.” The dictionary does nonetheless provide the useful description of triple subdivisions of the beat contrasted with duple subdivisions: swing superimposes six subdivisions of the beat over a basic pulse structure or four subdivisions. This aspect of swing is far more prevalent in African-American music than in Afro-Caribbean music. One aspect of swing, which is heard in more rhythmically complex Diaspora musics, places strokes in-between the triple and duple-pulse “grids”.
The made the music’s first recordings early in 1917, and their “” became the earliest released jazz record. That year, numerous other bands made recordings featuring “jazz” in the title or band name, but most were ragtime or novelty records rather than jazz. In February 1918 during World War I, James Reese Europe’s band took ragtime to Europe, then on their return recorded Dixieland standards including “”.
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