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JAZZ
PERSPECTIVES Origins II - Jazz and Technology
Jazz began its existence in the formative years of the
technological era. Electricity had only recently been harnessed, and heavy
industry had just begun its move into the forefront of economic development.
Jazz would probably not exist without these 20th century mainstays. Aside from
the huge social impact of technology, the phenomena of recording - from player
piano rolls, the Edison cylinder, the Victrola '78 and the reel-to-reel tape
deck to the modern cassette, 33 rpm record and compact disc - is inextricably
entwined in the American Jazz tradition. This is critical because of jazz's
focus on individual expression in music.
For the first time in history, individual performances
could be sonically documented and explored. This revolutionized the way
musicians studied and trained. In J. E. Berendt's The Jazz Book, tenor
saxophonist Lester Young stated: "Most of the time I spend in listening to
records is listening to singers and getting the lyrics to different songs."
His exposure to vocal style directly influenced his phrasing and melodic
expression, and much of his soloing style could be understood as lyrical
improvisations. Like most jazz players, he also learned solos from records in
his developing years: "...I imagine I can still play all those [Frankie
Trumbauer] solos off the records." Learning from recordings has become a
critical part of jazz education. In L. Lyons' The Great Jazz
Pianists, Mary Lou Williams said "Go back to Fats Waller ... and
learn the records." This direct access to personal history is necessary to
any jazz student.
Electronic amplification changed the nature of jazz
performance as early as the 20's. Billy Holiday was the first vocalist to
realize the potential of the microphone, and developed a much more personal and
intimate sound because of it. In The Great Jazz Pianists Teddy
Wilson attributes his stylistic development to the microphone as well. He states
"...when I came up, the microphone was being used to amplify the piano, so
it wasn't necessary to have all the power that [Earl 'Fatha'] Hines used. This
enabled me to do a lot of running in the right hand. [So] the miking of the
piano liberated me, made it possible to do what I was doing."
The end result of this is a music in which the individual voice of the musician is its ideal expression. One person listens to many
different sources, finds their place within the tradition and begins to express
their own unique perspective. The true individual in jazz was and is the beacon
for all future jazz artists, and technology provides the basic tools.
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- article by Frank Singer ©2002
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JAZZ PERSPECTIVES
CONTENTS
Jazz
Origins
I - Beginnings
II - Jazz and Technology
III - Radio and the Industrial Beat
The
Swing Era
I - Precursors
II - The Decade of Swing
III - The
BeBop Strain
A
First Look Back
New Orleans
Revival
Jazz
Forms
The Blues
The 32 bar Song Form
The Latin Influence
Cool
Hard Bop
Evolution 1 - A New Dialogue
Evolution 2 - Into The Seventies
Evolution Of The Jam Session
Post Modernism
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