JAZZ IMPROVISATION ACROSS TRADITIONAL AND MODERN STYLES: ASSESSMENTS IN A SIX-WEEK UNIT WITHIN A UNIVERSITY-LEVEL JAZZ IMPROVISATION COURSE
PART 4 OF 4: SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT – FINAL WRITTEN EXAMINATION
Happy Birthday, Monsieur Hodges!
Ray P. Zepeda
Congratulations! You have made it to the fourth and final installment of this Unit. The commitment you have shown to jazz education speaks volumes. The piece you are hearing now is called Elegy, one that I wrote and performed as an homage to Johnny Hodges, born on this day in 1907, whose iconic lead alto sound and solo voice was the distinguishing feature of the Duke Ellington for decades! Too often in jazz education, these masters of the past who can tell a story with just a single note are forgotten in favor of artists of the bebop and subsequent eras. Johnny Hodges, the “Rabbit,” was one such example with his signature portamento, vibrato, and melodic concept.
The opening sections of the Final Examination of this Unit are designed for the student to do well and finish quickly so as to allow adequate time for reflection for the essay portion. Take it yourself and see how you do! I am reminded of the Greek maxim, “…know thyself” and that is exactly the overarching objective of this Unit, hence, the heavier points weighting for the essay section!
Wishing you well in your journey as a jazz educator!
Elegy (for Johnny Hodges)
“Elegy (for Johnny Hodges)” from Raymond Zepeda In Recital – April 11, 1996 by Ray Zepeda.
Examination
Multiple Choice
1) Collective or polyphonic improvisation is most commonly associated with which of the following jazz styles? a) Dixieland b) Ragtime c) Early Swing d) Field Hollers e) Bebop 2) A straight tone or vibratoless sound is most likely to be found in which of the following? jazz styles? a) Early Swing b) Big Band Swing c) West Coast/Cool d) Hard Bop 3) This jazz style is most known to incorporate notions of classical/concert music. a) Classic jazz b) Third Stream c) Contemporary jazz d) Fusion 4) West Coast/Cool saxophonists were more likely to have drawn their influences from which of following from earlier eras? a) Coleman Hawkins b) Johnny Hodges c) Ben Webster d) Lester Young 5) For alto saxophonists, in which of the following jazz styles is the altissimo register most prominently featured during solos? a) Bebop b) Contemporary/Smooth c) Hard Bop d) Progressive 6) Which of the following trumpeters is most known for playing straight eighth notes during improvisation? a) Clifford Brown b) Roy Eldgridge c) Louis Armstrong d) Harry James 7) All of the following are highly characteristic of turnarounds in bebop and later jazz styles from that strain except for? a) Altered-dominant b) Tritone substitution c) Arpeggiated ii-7 chord up to the ninth->#5 of V+7->ninth of I d) Interpolation of half-step-up ii-V before the standard ii-V e) Interpolation of half-step-below ii-V before the standard ii-V 8) Which of the following devices would be the least appropriate or least characteristic of traditional jazz? a) Turns, gruppetti b) Glisses and bends c) Fast vibrato d) Bebop dominant e) Altered dominant 9) During what era were quotes from other tunes first utilized in improvised solos on a regular basis? a) Bebop b) Free Jazz/Avant Garde c) West Coast/Cool d) Smooth jazz/R&B e) Ragtime 10) The following devices were commonly employed by bebop-era drummers behind soloists except for: a) Dropping bombs b) Irregular snare hits c) 4 on the floor d) Ride cymbal pattern on ride or hi-hat e) Melodic interaction with soloists/melody
True-False
11.) “Sheets of sound” in improvisation is common in Big Band swing.
a.) True b.) False
12.) Charlie Parker studied Lester Young who, in turn, studied Frankie Trumbauer
a.) True b.) False
13.) Because the piece uses all of the all-combinatorial hexachords, there is ample room for improvisation in Milton Babbitt’s All Set from 1957 commissioned for the Brandeis Music Festival which, that year, was a jazz festival.
a.) True b.) False
14.) Bebop improvisations feature lines and extensive use of arpeggiation.
a.) True b.) False
15.) Bebop is the first style pre-1950 wherein improvisers and arrangers employed the upper extensions of the chord.
a.) True b.) False
16.) An identifying feature of smooth/contemporary jazz saxophonist, Grover Washington, Jr., is his relaxed phrasing.
a.) True b.) False
17.) Pianist, Oscar Peterson, draws from the bebop, swing, and stride (Art Tatum, James P. Johnson) traditions.
a.) True b.) False
18.) Miles Davis’s bebop-era improvisations are more known for high-register forays than those of fellow bop trumpeter, Dizzy Gillespie.
a.) True b.) False
19.) Ben Webster’s and Coleman Hawkins’s improvisations were generally pure-toned, without subtone and vibrato, especially on ballads.
a.) True b.) False
20.) Use of mutes in trombone improvisations is more characteristic in bebop than in Swing Era big band
a.) True b.) False
Fill In the Blank
21.) A bebop head written over the chord changes of a pre-existing standard is called a(n) __________.
22.) Charlie Parker’s “Scrapple from the Apple” is unique in that it employs the changes to ___________________ in the “A” sections and the changes from ____________________ on the Bridge.
23.) The alto saxophonist from the Cool era whose sound was said to be like a “dry martini” was ____________________.
24.) The sharp and/or flat alteration(s) employed by improvisers on the altered dominant is/are ___________________.
25.) ‘Comping and drumming becomes very sparse or even non-existent behind __________ solos.
26.) The Duke Ellington Orchestra trombonist known for the “yah-yah” effect in his/her solos was _______________.
27.) Switching to 16th notes (from 8th notes) in a solo to add excitement is called _______________.
28.) Ending phrases with two eighth notes, long-short, was commonplace in the __________ era.
29.) Funk licks are most often heard in _______________ jazz solos.
30.) In Latin jazz, solos are played using __________ eighths.
Matching
| _____ 31.) Whole-half diminished scale. | A. Quartal |
| _____ 32.) Building lines and voicings in 4ths and 5ths (as opposed to tertiary harmony) | B. Polychord |
| _____ 33.) B/C | C. ii-7(b5) |
| _____ 34.) Lydian b7 tritone above. | D. V7(b9) |
| E. Pentatonic | |
| F. Slash chord | |
| G. V7 alt. |
Matching
| _____ 35.) Early piano style not originally intended for improvisation but, ultimately, corrupted into “cutting contest” fodder in nightclubs. | A. Count Basie |
| _____ 36.) Artist who defined the standard for “shape” playing in improvised lines in contemporary jazz. | B. Cannonball Adderly |
| _____ 37.) Artist known for extremely sparse but effective solos. | C. Michael Brecker |
| _____ 38.) Bebop with a pinch of blues and pound of soul! | D. Stride |
| E. Dave Brubeck | |
| F. Ragtime |
Short Essay
Essay#1: Describe your own style in historical context. Who are your influences and why have you chosen them as “mentors”? What have you “taken” from each one? Please tell me in your own words based on your own introspection and self-awareness using specific musical terms. Use professional rather than colloquial writing. Limit your response to a half page.
Essay #2: Jazz musicians to this day struggle over John Coltrane’s Giant Steps. Decades before it was written, however, jazz musicians played effortlessly over the bridge of the old standard, Have You Met Miss Jones, which has basically the same changes. Discuss why this struggle persists. Is it only a tempo consideration or does the different style, swing vs. post-bop, have something to do with it? Confine your argument to tempo vs. style and to no more than a page.
Essay #3: Identify at least 3 features you might find in a turnaround on a bebop solo, that of a Swing Era solo, and that of a Dixieland/Trad Jazz solo. Limit your response to one page.