Stan Getz – “Girl From Ipanema” (1964) = jazz with Brazilian styles (bossa nova)
Outsold almost every previous modern jazz record
West Coast Jazz (50’s)
(B, 74-76)
Characteristics:
Tone quality – Softer, lighter, void of roughness and or brassiness
Little to no vibrato, controlled and conservative, little to no accents
Melodic lines (melodies/improvisations)-linear rather than conjunct.
Rhythm sections-less agitated, quite smooth.
Overall ensemble affect?
Softer, subdued, introspective, overall group affect = “Cool”
Historical figures who directly/indirectly influenced the cool jazz styles
Bix Beiderbecke, Lester Young, Count Basie
Birth of Cool?
Miles Davis nonet “Birth of the Cool” (1949-1950) Landmark recording (G, 114)
Claude Thornhill conection
-Gil Evans, Gerry Mulligan and John Carisi
“Boplicity” “Jeru”
“
(Four Brass, two saxophones, three rhythm)
Important members- Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz
Major “Cool” figures:
-Created a modern alternative to bebop during the 1940s
-Was just as complex as bebop (not easily singable), but differed
.Avoided stock Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie phrases
.Preferred long smooth phrases less jumpy
-Created his own style
.Art Tatum, Lester Young
.Johann Sebastian Bach
Cross Currents – Lennie Tristano
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Lee Konitz (alto saxophone) (G, 114)
-Tristano’s most talented student during the 1940s
-Speed and agility
-Konitz’s style was inspired by Tristano, while most other young alto
saxophonists at that time were imitating Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker Lee Konitz’s
Biting, bittersweet sound light, dry, airy tone
Much off-beat syncopation Used less off-beat rhythms
Varied attacks (accents) Avoided hard, sudden attacks, lines slurred together
Swing feel Light to no swing feel
Blues inflections, complex harmony Slight inflections, complex harmony
Much speed and agility Much speed and agility
Jazz Classics CD Track
49-57 – “Subconscious-Lee” (1949)
-Soft, dry, lightweight tone quality
-Improvisations; less jagged than Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie
.choice of notes suggested great deliberation rather than wild exuberance
.phrases were coolly logical and systematically developed
.he rarely squeezed a lot of notes into them
.his compositions were simpler than Tristano’s and less intense than bebop
pieces
-His style (compositions, improvisational approach and tone quality) epitomizes
the “Cool” genre
-1952-1954,
.two horns, bass and drums
.journalist
dubbed this group as “West Coast Jazz”
“The Song is You”, “I Got Rhythm” Gerry Mulligan with Chet Baker
Dave Brubeck (pianist, composer) (G, 117)
-Led the best known of all cool jazz groups
-He achieved widespread international fame leading a quartet from 1951 to 1967
with California-born alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, a bassist, and a drummer.
-Brubeck is a modern jazz musician who does not use the bebop language, and
who like to incorporate classical styles.
-Popularity?
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.may be partly due to his “classical sound
.compositions/improvisations are simple and tuneful
.easy to follow than the jumpy and explosive phrases in bebop
.his creations are orderly and clear, making the listener’s job easy
.most of his pieces are pretty conveying a light and pleasant mood
-Innovator with rhythm
.1960s quartet explored odd meter compositions (3, 5 & 7) i.e. Time Out
.”Take Five” popular in the 1990s
-Commercial success?
.Between 1955 and 1985 he ranked second in record sales among all jazz
recording artists
.During the 1950s and 60s his name became almost as synonymous with
jazz as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington
.His quartet’s music provided an introduction to jazz for millions of new
listeners, including a whole generation of college students
“Blue Rondo A La Turk”
”Take Five” – Dave Brubeck
-Led the best-known succession of big bands in modern jazz
-Many of his musicians were associated with cool jazz
-His repertoire of the late 1940s and early 50s linked to cool jazz by arranging
style (Thornhill influence, Mulligan charts)
-The band usually emphasized composition more than improvisation
-Loudest band
-High register brass arrangements
-Nonswinging concert music consisting of rich, modern harmony
-Commercially successful which lead to musical experimentation
-One of the founders of the college stage band movement
Cuban Fire and City of
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