Jazz In America

1
Jazz In America

• Lesson Plan 8
• Jazz Today, Jazz Tomorrow

2
Jazz Today

• 1990-Today
• Basically two camps
• No Labels no particularly preconceived style,
  just music containing improvisation anything
  goes
• Includes elements of Swing, Hard Bop, Cool, Avant
  Garde, Fusion, classical music, 20th C.
  techniques, elements of world music

3
Jazz Today

• Mainstream Jazz (aka straight-ahead jazz)
• Comes directly from the jazz tradition most
  resembles the Hard Bop sensibility
• Seeks to identify the jazz masters of the past
  focusing on blues, swing, and bebop
• Led by trumpet player Wynton Marsalis

4
Jazz Today

• New Offshoots
• M-Based macro-based, i.e. broad based jazz
• Harmonic and structural elements of the late
  1960s avant garde combined with rhythms and
  grooves of funk and hip-hop free funk
• Acid Jazz
• Based on jazz-funk recordings of the 1960s and
  early 70s, classic RB, and hip-hop

5
Jazz Today

• Acid Jazz
• Much of acid jazz depends on electronic re-use of
  old recordings
• Often performed and recorded w/ rap vocals
• Long improvs over sampled vamps
• Live performances feature musicians (usually horn
  players) along with DJs

6
Jazz Today

• Women in Jazz
• In the past, women in jazz were mostly vocal
• Instrumental jazz was male dominated
• Past female contributors were pioneers for
  todays female musicians
• Today, more and more female musicians are
  involved in jazz, both vocal and instrumental

7
Jazz Tomorrow

• World Music
• The future of jazz in unknown, but is believed to
  most likely see the inclusion of more World Music
• Where jazz ends and improvised world music begins
  will eventually blur to indistinguishability

8
Jazz Tomorrow

• Straight Ahead
• Mainstream jazz will most likely continue to grow
  as young players study the genius of past masters
• Technical mastery of acoustic instruments will
  continue to increase

9
Jazz Tomorrow

• Technology
• Advancements in computers and recording
  technology will influence jazz
• Jazz will be created by computer technicians as
  well as musicians

10
Jazz Tomorrow

• Jazz Education
• Respect for jazz will continue to increase
• Will become a mainstay of public education
• Jazz education in post-HS education will continue
  to increase

11
Cultural Implications

• Jazz has reflected the profound and rapid changes
  in the American lifestyle in the 20th C.
• Jazz will continue to give people a collective
  picture of cultural conditions and changes in
  America
• Jazz has and will continue to remain a symbol of
  modernization, city life, and interracial activity

12
Cultural Implications

• Jazz will continue to epitomize the American
  ideal of individual expression
• A symbol of democracy
• Provides insight into the intangibles of
  responsibility, ethnic diversity, teamwork, and
  goal accomplishment
• Provides better understanding of this countrys
  diverse cultural heritage

13
Cultural Implications

• Jazz will continue to reflect young peoples
  desire to express their differences from and pay
  homage to earlier generations
• Jazz reflects how young Americans have, in part,
  led the way for their elders