Chicago style (jazz)

Jazz is a popular style of music that has been played since the beginning of the twentieth century. It was created in New Orleans and took influence from the various local styles of music. Jazz is famous for its improvisational style of play. In particular, Chicago style jazz is famous for its powerful instrumental solos.

Background

Jazz originated in America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It evolved from blues, a style of music created by African Americans in the early nineteenth century. Blues originated in the hymns and work songs commonly sung on Southern plantations. It focused on facing adversity, loss, pain, and injustice. Blues music is visceral and emotional, specifically designed to convey the musician's emotions.

Blues was first played in the Mississippi River Delta. While blues did not spread far from that location until the twentieth century, it had a profound impact on music in the immediate vicinity. New Orleans, a city commonly regarded as a cultural melting pot, is located in the delta.

In New Orleans, blues musicians mingled with classically trained European musicians. However, church music, ragtime, traditional African drum music, and various types of dance music could all be found within the city. In the presence of this remarkable musical variety, a new style of music— eventually named jazz—began to develop. Jazz took the uneven rhythmic syncopation common to ragtime music, which involved layering a complex rhythm over a steady, simple bass line. It also borrowed the emotive, rhythmic nature of the blues. It incorporated the instruments and musical complexity common to European classical music. Finally, it pioneered a new, improvisational composition technique. Instead of writing music in advance, many jazz musicians started with a simple melody and built off one another's improvisations, creating an entirely new and unique sound.

Overview

All styles and genres of jazz are derived from New Orleans jazz. Unlike traditional European musicians, many New Orleans jazz musicians were musically illiterate. They had little formal training and could not read or write music. For this reason, New Orleans jazz bands usually made sure that at least one of their members could read and write music. Those who could not do so often learned to play by ear. In this circumstance, the musicians trained themselves to replicate and memorize pieces of music simply by listening to them. They also may have been assisted by other band members in learning a particularly difficult piece.

A New Orleans jazz band was typically composed of several musicians. These included the front line, made up of trumpets, horns, clarinets, and trombones, and a rhythm section composed of guitars, basses, tubas, pianos, banjos, and drums. Many early jazz bands had an extremely fluid roster of musicians. Because much of the music was improvised, a skilled musician could play with a new band with little practice. Other jazz bands featured a stable roster of core musicians, who practiced improvising together. The band might then occasionally supplement with additional temporary musicians as needed.

New Orleans jazz music quickly spread throughout the country. Many jazz musicians toured constantly, traveling across the country to perform in different locations. Some even traveled to Canada for shows. New Orleans jazz also spread through phonograph record recordings, which were sold throughout the country.

New Orleans jazz quickly took hold in Chicago. Local musicians began playing the new style of music at shows and concerts. Soon, Chicago jazz bands began to modify the New Orleans style to their own liking. They blended it with the genres of music common to early twentieth-century Chicago. Over time, the Chicago style of jazz became its own distinct genre of music.

While the Chicago style was similar to New Orleans jazz, it deviated in several distinct ways. For example, Chicago style replaced the use of banjos with guitars. The most common time signature shifted from the standard four by four to a more dramatic two by four. The tone was tense and engaging. Saxophones became common parts of the Chicago jazz band ensemble. Finally, individual solos, in which a single musician showcased their skills, became commonplace. While New Orleans jazz occasionally introduced individual solos as a feature, Chicago style built entire musical arrangements around improvised individual solos.

Some of the most famous jazz musicians played in the Chicago style. Louis Armstrong, a trumpet player from New Orleans, was one of the founders of the Chicago style of jazz. Armstrong began his musical career as a cornet player, performing in a reform school band throughout his childhood. He then studied under famous cornetist Joe Oliver. After moving to Chicago, Armstrong made a name for himself as a musician. He landed record deals, and he quickly became a trumpet virtuoso. His powerful, driving trumpet solos inspired other Chicago musicians to emulate them, lending Chicago style its solo-centric focus. Armstrong's band Savoy Ballroom Five performed many important Chicago style jazz songs, including "A Monday Date" (1990), "Weatherbird "(1928), and "West End Blues" (1928), which he recorded with musician Earl Hines.

Earl Hines, a musician often praised as the first modern jazz pianist, was also a pioneer of Chicago style jazz. Known for creating the "trumpet" style of piano by breaking rhythm and suspending time during his compositions, Hines was cited as a major influence on a variety of famous musicians, including Nat King Cole and Joe Sullivan. Hines is best known for leading Big Band jazz, a style featuring large ensemble pieces. His notable albums include Spontaneous Explorations (1967) and Legendary Little Theatre Concert (1967). Hines and Armstrong regularly worked together throughout their professional careers.

Other important Chicago style artists include Ahmad Jamal, Ramsey Lewis, and Eugene "Jug" Ammons. Throughout the 1920s, Chicago and the distinct Chicago style were the center of the jazz world. By the end of the decade, however, the musical scene began to shift to New York City, where various major recording studios were located. Jazz shifted with it, reducing the popularity of the Chicago style. Despite this, Chicago style jazz made a lasting impression and was a major influence on later musical genres.

Chicago style jazz remains popular in the twenty-first century. The annual Labor Day Chicago Jazz Festival in Millennium Park is attended by thousands of global patrons each year, and similar festivals are held across the country each year. Chicago’s jazz clubs, like the Green Mill, remain popular, and organizations like the South Side Jazz Coalition and the Art Ensemble of Chicago continue to support the music traditions of Chicago style jazz.

Bibliography

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