What is jazz, history of jazz

What is jazz? These exciting rhythms, pleasant live music, which is constantly developing and moving. This direction, perhaps, cannot be compared with any other, and it is impossible even for a beginner to confuse it with any other genre. Moreover, here’s a paradox: it’s easy to hear and recognize it, but it’s not so easy to describe it in words, because jazz is constantly evolving and the concepts and characteristics used today will become outdated in a year or two.

Jazz - what is it?

Jazz is a direction in music that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century. It closely intertwines African rhythms, ritual chants, working and secular songs, American music past centuries. In other words, it is a semi-improvisational genre that emerged from the mixing of Western European and West African music.

Where did jazz come from?

It is generally accepted that it originated from Africa, as evidenced by its complex rhythms. Add to this dancing, all kinds of stamping, clapping, and here it is ragtime. The clear rhythms of this genre, combined with blues melodies, gave rise to a new direction, which we call jazz. Wondering where this came from new music, any source will give you the answer that from the chants of black slaves who were brought to America back in early XVII century. They found solace only in music.

At first these were purely African motives, but after several decades they began to be more improvisational in nature and overgrown with new American melodies, mainly religious melodies - spirituals. Later, lament songs were added to this - blues and small brass bands. And so a new direction arose - jazz.

What are the features jazz music

The first and most important feature– this is improvisation. Musicians must be able to improvise both in an orchestra and solo. Another equally significant feature is polyrhythm. Rhythmic freedom, perhaps, is the main sign jazz music. It is this freedom that gives musicians a feeling of lightness and continuous movement forward. Remember any jazz composition? It seems that the performers are easily playing some wonderful and pleasant to the ear melody, no strict framework, as in classical music, only amazing lightness and relaxation. Of course, jazz works, like classical ones, have their own rhythm, meter, etc., but thanks to a special rhythm called swing (from the English swing) such a feeling of freedom arises. What else is important for this direction? Of course, a beat or otherwise a regular pulsation.

Development of jazz

Having originated in New Orleans, jazz is rapidly spreading, becoming more and more popular. Amateur groups, consisting mainly of Africans and Creoles, begin to perform not only in restaurants, but also tour other cities. Thus, in the north of the country another center of jazz is emerging - Chicago, where night performances are in particular demand musical groups. The compositions performed are complicated by arrangements. Among the performers of that period, the most notable Louis Armstrong , who moved to Chicago from the city where jazz was born. Later, the styles of these cities were combined into Dixieland, which was characterized by collective improvisation.

The massive passion for jazz in the 1930s and 1940s led to a demand for more large orchestras, who could perform various dance tunes. Thanks to this, swing appeared, which represents some deviations from the rhythmic pattern. It became the main direction of this time and pushed collective improvisation into the background. Groups performing swing began to be called big bands.

Of course, such a departure of swing from the features inherent in early jazz, from national melodies, caused discontent among true music connoisseurs. That is why big bands and swing performers are beginning to be opposed to the playing of small ensembles, which included black musicians. Thus, in the 1940s there arises new style bebop, which stands out clearly among other types of music. He was characterized by incredibly fast melodies, long improvisation, and complex rhythmic patterns. Among the performers of this time, figures stand out Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

Since 1950, jazz has developed in two different directions. On the one hand, adherents of the classics returned to academic music, pushing bebop aside. The resulting cool jazz became more restrained and dry. On the other hand, the second line continued to develop bebop. Against this background, hard bop arose, returning traditional folk intonations, a clear rhythmic pattern and improvisation. This style developed together with such trends as soul-jazz and jazz-funk. They brought the music closest to the blues.

Free music

In the 1960s, various experiments and searches for new forms were carried out. The result is jazz-rock and jazz-pop, combining the two different directions, as well as free jazz, in which performers completely abandon the regulation of rhythmic pattern and tone. Among the musicians of this time, Ornette Coleman, Wayne Shorter, and Pat Metheny became famous.

Soviet jazz

Originally Soviet jazz orchestras They mainly performed fashionable dances, such as the foxtrot and the Charleston. In the 1930s, a new direction began to gain increasing popularity. Despite the fact that the attitude Soviet power to jazz music was controversial, it was not banned, but at the same time it was harshly criticized as belonging to Western culture. Late 40s jazz bands and were completely persecuted. In the 1950s and 60s, the activities of the orchestras of Oleg Lundstrem and Eddie Rosner resumed and more and more musicians became interested in the new direction.

Even today, jazz is constantly and dynamically developing, many directions and styles are emerging. This music continues to absorb sounds and melodies from all corners of our planet, saturating it with more and more new colors, rhythms and melodies.

website. Now it has become quite fashionable to combine different musical genres and create projects that feature both academic music and jazz. In Yakutsk we have already seen how they do this, for example, Leonid Sendersky, who played the program with "Arco artico", or team "Rastrelli Quartet", whose repertoire includes everything from klezmer to soundtracks.

And now the Yakut listener has the opportunity to evaluate the project "Jazz and Opera", which is represented by the singers Olga Godunova And Ekaterina Lekhina. Their program includes pop, operetta, jazz and it seems that much more. They told us in detail about their work on the eve of their performance.

How did your project come about?

Olga: - It appeared three years ago, and inspiration came back in the distant 90s, when I heard concerts from the “Pavarotti and Friends” series, which combined classical, pop and even rock music. And then the thought came: why don’t we have something like this? And, despite the fact that at that time I was studying academic music and working in the opera house, even then I felt that pop and jazz were closer to me. Since then, I began to have this idea and three years ago it came to life.

- But this idea was born in your head. How did it happen that you shared it with Ekaterina?

Catherine: - We have known each other for a very long time. We had the same vocal teacher, although we studied in different places - Olya in Volgograd, and I in Moscow. And Olga, at the time we met, sometimes came to Moscow, and that’s how our meeting happened.

Olga: - At that time I had already lived in Europe, visited America, where I heard musicals on Broadway and realized that this was mine. And I approached Katya with the proposal, probably because, firstly, we were friends. And then, we both have sopranos, although Katya’s voice is even higher and she hits simply exorbitant notes that are beyond my control. Well, apparently, the general school also had an impact. But Katya, in general, did not immediately respond to the offer. It all started with Gershwin’s Summertime - once in Volgograd we sang this song with one of my friends, an opera singer. And it turned out very great. And with Katya, our story began with this composition.

Catherine: - Yes, we ordered a very good, unusual arrangement. And we made a recording and received great reviews. I heard how great it is combined - Olina’s pop, jazz style of singing and my academic style, and also with such a non-standard classical-jazz arrangement. And we began to think about the repertoire, argued, discussed, tried.

And in connection with yours last words. How do you select the repertoire so that jazz and opera and musicals are harmoniously combined?

Catherine: - We sit down at the piano, write out what we are going to perform, and try to imagine how one after another will sound. In addition, we also have orchestral numbers that lead to either a classical or jazz performance, creating certain connections between the compositions.

Olga: - In addition, we have such a highlight that academicians do not often allow themselves - we communicate with the public. A colleague who worked a lot on Broadway once told me that you can connect a lot of things, but it’s very important how you bring it together. And when we started working with Katya, we decided to move away from stereotypes - the opera singer sang and left, everything was strict, etc. And Katya has amazing plasticity - he is a former figure skater. Why can't we dance and lead the concert ourselves?

Catherine: - In addition, it creates close and, most importantly, quick contact with the public. We feel the energy of the audience, and we have such an exchange with them.

Olga: - But of course we don’t say the key phrase “We don’t see your hands” (laugh). In general, if you remember, our first concert took place in Obninsk near Moscow, where we made a presentation of our project.

And among the ordinary and, let’s say, typical audience there were a couple of so-called rockers - all of them with tattoos, everything as it should be. And so they come up to us after the concert and say that they finally realized that opera is interesting and that we opened it for them new world. They bought the CDs and were truly grateful to us.

And this was precisely the goal of our project - to cover the different taste preferences of the public - opera, jazz, musical. And it seems to me that an artist can perform various genres, of course, in his own manner. Katya has been singing opera all her life, and our project also includes musicals and pop music.

- But about dancing - do you really dance during the program?

Catherine: - Well, not a gypsy girl with an exit, of course (laughs), but in the orchestral passages you can come up with several steps.

Olga: - If you had ice, we could do something more original, considering that Katya is a figure skater.

- Ice Palace there is one in Yakutsk.

Next time (laughs).

- Based on your programs, you like different music, and what exactly?

Olga: - Absolutely different music, it is important that it touches you. Even the singer may not have a strong voice, but there is something catchy. For example, Charles Aznavour: every song of his is a story. And he doesn’t have any outstanding vocal abilities. Sometimes there is a beautiful voice, but it is impossible to listen to it. I enjoy listening to Anna Netrebko, and many of my colleagues, including Katya.

Catherine: - We normal people- we listen to everything that is of high quality and interesting, the main thing is that the music is melodic and professional.

If we return to "Jazz and Opera", what continuation will your project have? Maybe recording a CD, touring abroad?

Catherine: - Right now we are having negotiations with some countries where we may be performing. I won’t disclose all the details yet, but the process is moving in this direction. Also in March, we will present our second program and go on a tour of those cities where we have already held concerts and where we are invited again. And, by the way, in Yakutsk we will perform a couple of numbers from the new program.

Olga: - As for the disc, there are no plans for that yet. We make recordings from concerts and post them on the Internet. In addition, it will take a lot of time, which we don’t have much of.

- Continuing the topic and in connection with February 23. Would you like to invite a man to your project?

Olga: - By the way, men themselves ask to come to us (laughs). But not yet. One-time - quite possible, as special guest, For example. In addition, a man and a woman are a common phenomenon on stage, a man and a man are also a frequent phenomenon. But the way we work has no analogues in Russia, and maybe even in Europe. In general, the boy will ruin the whole picture (laugh).

In the artistic environment in particular there is a lot of competition, which sometimes becomes not very beautiful shapes. How do you avoid envy and other unpleasant feelings when working together? Or don’t you even have such thoughts?

Catherine: - No, we don’t even think about it. In addition to this project, we have our own creative life, and we realize ourselves in different projects. Besides, we never get offended when we tell each other something. After all, much can be seen from the outside.

Olga: - For example, on the contrary, I am encouraged professionally if my colleagues have some success. Katya is a Grammy Award winner; there are only a few such people in Russia.

These victories, especially those close to me, inspire me to work, and not because I want a Grammy, although I do, of course! (laughs). But professionally we need to match each other, and envy - I don’t know where it comes from, we don’t have it.

And we don’t have the idea that someone should be better than another: our work is work for results. And an artist should always have an incentive, a search, some doubts. If this is not the case, and it seems to him that he has already achieved everything, then professional growth ends.

Catherine: - You know, I was lucky and I communicated with the great Placido Domingo. This, on the one hand, is simply an unattainable star, but at the same time he is so simple and sincere in communication. He, like no one else, knows all the specifics of our work. And the way he approaches young people is just amazing. When he himself stands at the conductor's stand, you see him glowing eyes and his desire to help you, so much so that he even forgets about the orchestra.

- Yes, such people always amaze with their breadth of soul, despite the fact that they are famous or even great.

Olga: - This is probably the most difficult thing in our profession - the fight against vanity. And the more a person works on himself, the more he will receive later. In general, it’s a great pleasure to know that you still don’t know something and have somewhere to strive and learn something new.

- You tour quite a lot with the project. How do you think it is perceived by the public?

It's very interesting for us to travel. We've been on tour for a year now. To tell the truth, many philharmonic societies are quite wary of us - what kind of combination “jazz and opera” is this? A little conservative views, but then everyone is happy.

Once there was a case in Ulan Ude - someone in the past came to the concert opera singer and after the first part, he came to us backstage with flowers and simply showered us with a lot of compliments, which does not always happen in the singing environment. This comes back to what we were talking about recently. And we understand that these compliments are not just words, but they seem to prove that this project was truly a success.

And it’s especially nice when there are a lot of young people in the hall. Many people say that opera is boring and uninteresting. And when Katya comes out, she’s like this interesting singer, who communicates with the audience and also dances, then the perception, of course, changes.

- And if you move away from “Opera and Jazz,” how is your career developing outside of the project?

Catherine: - In addition to various concert activities This is the second season I’ve been implementing myself in the musical genre. In Moscow I play in "The Phantom of the Opera" and play the role opera singer Carlotta. Fortunately, I don’t need to change my singing style, but still this is not an opera and in a musical you also need to be a dramatic actress, as well as dance. And I get great pleasure from this, although until recently I refused this new experiment for me. But thanks to my friends and Olya, among others, I tried it and I really like it, although it is, of course, a very frantic pace - I have 13 performances a month. And what’s surprising is that I don’t get tired of it, even after two seasons. I also had a grandiose show in Verona - “Opera on Ice”. Many famous figure skaters performed there and skated while I sang. The show simply has no analogues in the world, it was simply amazing.

Olga: - Now I am actively collaborating with the Cinematography Orchestra under the direction of Sergei Skripka, which is a tremendous pleasure for me. I never dreamed of working with this conductor. Since childhood, when I watched films, I saw his name “S. Skripka” in the credits, and now I’m on the same stage with him. We perform in concert hall Tchaikovsky and the Philharmonic, and we perform, of course, music from films.

- Do you think there is a renaissance in Russia right now? musical culture or is it rather in decline?

Catherine: - In my opinion, classical music is now becoming more and more popular. If we take the professional scene, then, for example, in opera houses there are now very good program for young artists, when they, having just graduated from the conservatory, without experience, study for a year or two acting and get a profession. And interest in opera art is growing, many want to associate themselves with singing. And, by the way, the “Culture” TV channel plays a significant role, in particular, and the “Big Opera” project.

Olga: - Yes, and children's competitions, such as “The Nutcracker,” also help to popularize musical culture. But, unfortunately, apart from the Kultura TV channel, the rest of television leaves much to be desired. In general, now many people want to become famous, they want to sing and be shown, and this is not only here, of course. But among the masses there are also those who truly engage in art. And when you see this, you think that all this has not died and will not die. We have a lot talented people, which continue to carry this grain of real art.

After Christopher Columbus discovered a new continent and Europeans settled there, ships of traders in human goods increasingly headed to the shores of America.

Exhausted by hard work, homesick and suffering from abusive relationship wardens, slaves found solace in music. Gradually, Americans and Europeans became interested in unusual melodies and rhythms. This is how jazz was born. What is jazz and what are its features, we will consider in this article.

Features of the musical direction

Jazz includes music of African-American origin, which is based on improvisation (swing) and a special rhythmic structure (syncopation). Unlike other genres, where one person writes the music and another performs, jazz musicians act as composers at the same time.

The melody is created spontaneously, the periods of composition and performance are separated by a minimum period of time. This is how jazz comes about. orchestra? This is the ability of musicians to adapt to each other. At the same time, everyone improvises their own.

The results of spontaneous essays are saved in musical notation(T. Couler, G. Arlen “Happy all day long”, D. Ellington “Don’t you know that I love?”, etc.).

Over time, African music was synthesized with European music. Melodies appeared that combined plasticity, rhythm, melody and harmony of sounds (CHEATHAM Doc, Blues In My Heart, CARTER James, Centerpiece, etc.).

Directions

There are more than thirty styles of jazz. Let's look at some of them.

1. Blues. Translated from English word means “sadness”, “melancholy”. Initially, blues was called solo lyrical song African Americans. Jazz-blues is a twelve-bar period corresponding to a three-line poetic form. Blues compositions are performed in at a slow pace, there is some understatement in the texts. blues - Gertrude Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and others.

2. Ragtime. The literal translation of the name of the style is torn time. On the tongue musical terms"rag" denotes additional sounds between the beats of a bar. The movement appeared in the USA after people overseas became interested in the works of F. Schubert, F. Chopin and F. Liszt. The music of European composers was performed in the jazz style. Later original compositions appeared. Ragtime is typical for the works of S. Joplin, D. Scott, D. Lamb and others.

3. Boogie-woogie. The style appeared at the beginning of the last century. Owners of inexpensive cafes needed musicians to play jazz. What's happened musical accompaniment presupposes the presence of an orchestra, of course, but inviting large number it was expensive for musicians. Sound different instruments The pianists compensated by creating numerous rhythmic compositions. Boogie features:

• improvisation;
• virtuosic technique;
• special accompaniment: left hand performs a motor ostinant configuration, the interval between bass and melody is two to three octaves;
• continuous rhythm;
• pedal exclusion.

Boogie-woogie was played by Romeo Nelson, Arthur Montana Taylor, Charles Avery and others.

Style legends

Jazz is popular in many countries around the world. Everywhere has its own stars, surrounded by an army of fans, but some names have become real legends. They are known and loved all over. Such musicians, in particular, include Louis Armstrong.

It is unknown what the fate of the boy from a poor black neighborhood would have been like if Louis had not ended up in a correctional camp. Here future star enrolled in a brass band, although the band did not play jazz. and how it was performed, the young man discovered for himself much later. World fame Armstrong acquired through diligence and perseverance.

Billie Holiday (real name Eleanor Fagan) is considered the founder of jazz singing. The singer reached the peak of her popularity in the 50s of the last century, when she changed the scenes of nightclubs to the theater stage.

Life was not easy for the owner of a three-octave range, Ella Fitzgerald. After the death of her mother, the girl ran away from home and led a not very decent lifestyle. The start of the singer's career was a performance at music competition Amateur Nights.

George Gershwin is world famous. The composer created jazz works based on classical music. The unexpected manner of performance captivated listeners and colleagues. The concerts were invariably accompanied by applause. Most famous works D. Gershwin - “Rhapsody in Blue” (co-authored with Fred Grof), operas “Porgy and Bess”, “An American in Paris”.

Also popular jazz performers were and remain Janis Joplin, Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughn, Miles Davis and others.

Jazz in the USSR

The appearance of this musical direction in the Soviet Union is associated with the name of the poet, translator and theatergoer Valentin Parnakh. The first concert of a jazz band led by a virtuoso took place in 1922. Later, A. Tsfasman, L. Utesov, Y. Skomorovsky formed the direction of theatrical jazz, combining instrumental performance and operetta. E. Rosner and O. Lundstrem did a lot to popularize jazz music.

In the 40s of the last century, jazz was widely criticized as a phenomenon of bourgeois culture. In the 50s and 60s, attacks on performers stopped. Jazz ensembles were created both in the RSFSR and in other union republics.

Today jazz is freely performed on concert venues and in clubs.

Concert program « Opera - Jazz» will help answer eternal question: “What is more important - opera or jazz? And can they coexist together? Plus, it's surprisingly fun and festive. New Year's show, capable of satisfying even the wildest wishes of fans of both genres.

As part of this New Year's festive concert There will be a comic confrontation between opera and jazz. The most famous arias and fragments from popular operas will be performed here. But also within the framework of the program “ Opera - Jazz"You will also be able to hear bright, colorful and very unusual versions opera masterpieces in jazz style. And the participants in this unique event will be the best representatives of both genres. Soloists and orchestra of the famous Moscow theater will perform here. New Opera", as well as the world famous jazz clarinetist, saxophonist and arranger Antti Sarpila and his band. It is this outstanding musician who created the original versions of the most famous works of world opera.

Anyone who wants to buy tickets to this event, will be able to enjoy the best masterpieces world academic art, both in traditional sound and in jazz interpretations. This program is full of sparkling jokes and unexpected pleasant surprises. It will not only allow you to understand that opera and jazz can easily coexist on the same stage and even complement each other, but also simply enjoy wonderful music performed by real talents who are not devoid of humor and are always ready to bring sincere smiles to the faces of the audience.

"Blue Monday" (from English “Blue Monday”) - jazz opera. Composer - . The author of the English libretto is Buddy De Silva.
Premieretook place on August 29, 1922 on Broadway. The opera was received ambiguously by the public. The next morning, the press published completely opposite reviews: some spoke of the unprecedented success of the first real American opera, while others argued that “ Blue Monday" is a depressing and implausible sketch.
Plotrepresents tragic story love triangle. The opera takes place in a cafe at the intersection of 135th and Lenox Avenues in New York. Player Joe and his beloved Vi are forced to separate for a while: Joe is going to visit his mother. By fateful accident, he does not tell the girl about the real reason of his departure, saying only that he was going simply on personal business. The arrogant singer from the cafe, Tom, who is also in love with V, convinces the girl of deception: they say that Joe has actually left for someone else. Joe soon returns to the cafe with a letter saying that he does not need to go to his mother: she died three years ago. Angry, Vee does not want to talk to her lover: she pulls the trigger and hits Joe. Soon the girl finds out the truth, but the shot turns out to be fatal. V asks for forgiveness, Joe forgives his beloved and dreams that he will soon meet his mother in heaven.

History of creation

George Gershwin built much of his reputation on experimental fusions of various musical and dramatic genres. Same here: "Blue Monday" is the first jazz opera. Three weeks before the first performance, the authors discovered that the half-hour performance still needed improvement. Gershwin and De Silva completed the work in five days and nights. Four test productions were presented in New Haven, Connecticut. "Blue Monday". The opera was received warmly and enthusiastically by the public. But at the premiere, combined with an entertaining revue by George White, the opera did not make the best impression on the audience.
Opera "Blue Monday" was the first significant attempt to combine classical and American forms popular music(opera, jazz and African-American style). Among other criticisms, it is mentioned that it was this opera that showed the first brilliance of the new American musical art.

Interesting facts :
- in “Blue Monday,” George Gershwin introduced a musical innovation: the performers’ score included a jazz recitative.
- the opera was later renamed 135th Street