Early Jazz

As I mentioned in my blog two weeks ago, one of the independent study essay topics for the RCM's ARCT History examination is the history of jazz.

I am gradually working my way through the books listed as resources on page 152 in Celebrate Theory / ARCT History. I read Early Jazz: Its roots and musical development by Gunther Schuller in January, and I found it to be very well-written, informative, and interesting. He discusses the origins of jazz, and he demonstrates how the rhythm, form, harmony, melody, timbre, and improvisation of jazz has its roots in traditional African music, with influences from other traditions. He then traces the development of jazz from the early 1900s to the early 1930s.

Since jazz was originally primarily an improvised art form, we can't really get a clear idea of what it sounded like until jazz musicians were able to record. Schuller draws information from older sources – books and articles – as well as his own interviews with older jazz musicians to describe what the music might have been like. He talks about the blues, ragtime, and the history of some of the artists who began to make recordings in the 1920s.

Once we get to the 1920s – the “Jazz Age” – recordings are available, and Schuller describes many of these recordings, giving numerous examples in the form of transcriptions of solos and charts showing the structure of the songs discussed. He goes into great detail exploring the development of melodic ideas, instrumental and vocal technique and timbre, instrumentation, and form. I found it fascinating to read!

This book was published in 1968. Anyone reading this book when it was first published would have had to go to a lot of trouble to find the recordings mentioned. As I read this book in 2021, I discovered, to my delight, that the recordings mentioned are available on Youtube, including the rare, collectors' items. All it takes is one collector of rare albums to upload the recording to Youtube, and voilà, it's available to everyone. Amazing! I listened to most of the recordings discussed in the book, and it really enhanced my understanding of early jazz.

If you're interested in hearing some early jazz, check out some of the recordings from the 1920s by these artists (this represents just a sampling of the artists described in Early Jazz; I've mentioned a few of the songs you can find on Youtube):

Original Dixieland Jazz Band (Clarinet Marmalade, Livery Stable Blues)

King Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band (Canal Street Blues, Froggie Moore)

Ma Rainey (blues singer) (Cell Bound Blues 1925, Jealous Hearted Blues 1924)

early Louis Armstrong (trumpet & singer) (with his Hot Five and Hot Seven) (Heebie Jeebies 1925, Big Butter and Egg Man 1926, Potato Head Blues 1927, Hotter Than That 1927)

Jelly Roll Morton (piano) (New Orleans Joys 1923, Black Bottom Stomp 1926, Dead Man Blues 1926, Grandpa's Spells 1926, Mournful Serenade 1928)

Bix Beiderbecke (cornet) (Singin' the Blues, I'm Coming Virginia)