The main Jazz currents - #Part 5 : Swing

jazz swing _my book

Swing is a playful jazz, on which we dance, hence its immense popularity in the years 1935-45 and even today.
During this classical era, the bands were mostly Big Bands of white musicians.
The apogee of Swing lasted until 1941: the Second World War condemned the Big Bands (many men were called to fight and the state levied taxes on concerts).

Technically speaking ...

After the polyphony of the New Orleans style, the Swing gives the soloist its preponderant place, and the orchestra takes on a more classical form:
well-defined instrumental sections (trumpets, trombones, reeds, rhythmic), play a written music to frame the interventions of the soloist: the notion of arrangement was born.
In addition, the two-beat rhythms are replaced by four-beat measures.

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swing era

Culturally speaking: it's the pinnacle of jazz clubs

In addition to the rise of new media (radios, records), Swing is popularized by the flourishing of ballrooms and Jazz Clubs.
Two big clubs in New York marked the Swing era: the Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom. They welcome the big bands of Duke Ellington (Take The A Train, Perdido, Solitude, Caravan), Count Basie (virtuoso pianist, Billie Holiday sings in his group), Cab Calloway (singer, dancer and host) or Benny Goodman (virtuoso clarinetist) , nicknamed "The King of Swing"), Ella Fitzgerald, etc.

Swing allows America to change its mind in a climate of economic crisis following the stock market crash of 1929.

In 1928, the Duke Ellington Orchestra made the handsome nights of the Cotton Club with the magazine The Blackberries of 1930. It was replaced by the Cab Calloway Orchestra (singer, dancer and host), followed by an orchestra "for dancers only", that of Jimmy Lunceford. At the Savoy, known as the 'home of happy feet', memorable musical contests take place, like the one with the drummer Chick Webb's band - Ella Fitzgerald makes a promising start in 1935 - to that of Benny Goodman. There are also major ensembles of pianists Earl Hines and Count Basie.

Duke Ellington.

Duke Ellington.

Edward Kennedy Ellington (29/04/1899, Washington - 24/05/1974, New York) was an American pianist, composer and conductor. He is considered the greatest and most prolific composer in the history of jazz, or even the history of American music.

For almost 50 years, Ellington used his orchestra as a composition laboratory, designing his new melodies based on the talent and personality of each of his musicians. His innumerable melodies, film soundtracks, musicals, etc., marked the Swing period and have become many of the standards.

The son of two amateur pianists, in a relatively affluent environment (his father is a butler at the White House), Duke Ellington began studying classical piano at the age of seven. He is not particularly enthusiastic about this style, preferring baseball games to music lessons.

It was only in his teens, when he discovered ragtime pianist Harvey Brooks, that he voluntarily returned to the piano. He realizes then that the music is not necessarily fixed and can be an excellent means of expression.

At 19, he began to animate receptions and other dances, and plays his first compositions (ex: "Soda Fountain Rag"). It is also distinguished by its elegance and success with the female audience.

In 1923, he moved to New York and created his first group, "The Washingtonians". In 1927, following the withdrawal of King Oliver, the famous Cotton Club Harlem calls on Ellington and his orchestra. This is a decisive turning point in the musician's career.

His music became popular all over the world, as he began 11 years of concerts at the Cotton Club, touring the country and recordings for radio, cinema and record companies.

From 1943, he recorded a series of concerts at Carnegie Hall, characterized by the unusual length of the songs: up to 45 minutes without interruption, which earned them the name of "extended compositions".

After a decline in popularity in the early 1950s (linked in particular to the departure of several musicians of the orchestra), Duke Ellington returns to the front of the scene in 1956, during a concert at the Newport Jazz Festival. His composition "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue", embellished with an anthology solo of saxophonist Paul Gonsalves (on 27 chorus successive), enchants the public.

It was also during this period that the singer Ella Fitzgerald recorded her "Duke Ellington Songbook" (accompanied by Ellington himself), which devotes Duke's work to the rank of national cultural heritage (we speak of "Great American Songbook ").

Ellington continues to compose, in various styles, until the early 1970s. He will be rewarded during his lifetime with the highest honors: a Grammy Award for all his work in 1966, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 , and the French Légion d'Honneur in 1973.

He died in New York on May 24, 1974, of lung cancer and pneumonia. He had just turned 75 years old.

Art Tatum.

Art Tatum.

Born in 1909 in Ohio, Art Tatum is one of the greatest pianists in jazz history. Blind by birth, self-taught, virtuosity and inventiveness unparalleled, it was the unanimity of his peers and his public.

He left his mark on the Swing era and jazz in general.

His career as a professional musician began in the 1920s in Toledo, Ohio, his hometown. His growing fame allowed him to have his own radio show between 1929 and 1930.

In 1932, he followed singer Adelaide Hall in New York and made his first recordings with him. His solos quickly make him a legend of swing.

In 1933, he surprised the great Stéphane Grappelli with his "Tiger rag": how can such a performance be the work of a single musician?

In the 1940s, the trio of Art Tatum (with guitarist Tiny Grimes and bassist Slam Stewart) performed with charisma and virtuosity the great standards of jazz.

From 1954 to 1956, Art Tatum recorded many records for Norman Granz, solo or with other jazz greats such as Lionel Hampton, Buddy Rich, Ben Webster, Benny Carter.

On November 5, 1956, while a European tour was announced, Art Tatum died in Los Angeles of an uremia crisis.
This untimely death establishes its status as a jazz piano legend.