Ted Gioia does a nice job of explaining some of the inner workings of jazz. One of the things he talks about in Chapter 3 (The Structure of Jazz) can be especially helpful in trying to demystify jazz. This isnt true for all jazz, but a pretty big percentage of jazz tends to follow a pattern like this:
- Play the tune, more or less as is
- Take turns improvising a series of variations based on the harmony/melody of the tune
- Play the tune, again, more or less as is
Sometimes there is an introduction before the tune or a coda after it. Sometimes there is some other stuff going on in the improvised section(s). But, in general, 80+% of jazz follows something resembling this structure.
With this in mind, I would like you to listen to an example of this. In the 1930s50s, it was common for jazz musicians to do this exact thing with popular songs of the time. Songs from Broadway musicals, popular songs from other genres, and other (at the time) well-known songs were the starting point for a lot of jazz musicians at the time (and still are, today). This is really useful if you know those songs but quite a lot fo us simply dont. Chances are, your knowledge of old Cole Porter songs or stuff from 1930s Broadway shows isnt really all that great (mine isnt). So, when you hear a jazz band play these songs, and improvise variations on them, a big part of the puzzle is missing; the improvised variations lose a lot of their wow factor when you dont know the original song. And, out of tradition, a lot of contemporary jazz performers are still playing a lot of these songs, so going to a modern jazz performance, you might still be a little lost with all of the references to eighty-year-old tunes.
A bit later in this discussion, I will share a jazz version of a song that you might know. It is a version of the song Blackbird by The Beatles, performed by the Brad Mehldau Trio, one of the most well-respected groups on the scene today. This version follows the same pattern I laid out at the beginning; first, we hear the original song, then some improvisational material based upon it, then the original song again.Now, while you listen to the Brad Mehldau Trio version, try to sing along in your head. See if you can keep the original melody of Blackbird going even when the band moves on to different things. If youre able to do it, you should notice that the original song is still in there, its just being masked by all of the improvisation around it. This is a pretty central idea in jazz, and it helps a lot, I think, to be able to follow something like this.Now, for the discussion part, I would like you say a few things.
- Did you know this song before today (the original)?
- If so, were you able to follow it once the band started to improvise?
- If not, did hearing the original song first help you find something to follow as you listened?
- Did anything surprise you as you listened? Did you enjoy the performance?
- In How To Listen To Jazz, Ted Gioia describes a common pattern of jazz compositions (and improvised solos) typically unfolding in predictable groups. Specifically, he says something about how listeners can benefit from trying to conceptualize many jazz performances as an unfolding of What does he say, here? (Hint: check out pp. 701 toward the end of Chapter 3.)
- Did you hear this happening in Blackbird?
