Jazz forms of jazz.

Jazz is always considered as a minority music. Even in the 1930s, when swing music began, even some very creative jazz musicians' works were only known by a few people. But a positive interest in jazz means that it is a popular job. Because in this era, some of the most popular music is inevitably influenced by jazz: series music, top 40 radio stations, hotel halls and elevators ... and well-known music forms such as rock, funk and hip-hop all come from jazz.

What I want to propose is a special method to discuss the categories and contents of different jazz. When studying the works of early jazz forms, from Ragtime and New Orleans to Cool Jazz and Assid Jazz, we will find that although they are all named as jazz, their rhythms, rhythms and playing forms are obviously different. This can be quickly discovered by listening to some representative works of various schools. What kind of music form can be like jazz, with so many interrelated but different schools in just 50 years' development? It is important to be alert to jazz trends and mainstream trends. Especially when jazz critics or musicians are discussing jazz forms, they hardly use the word mainstream-there is an interesting example. The first jazz that became mainstream was swing jazz, followed by contemporary jazz and so-called third-rate jazz. However, with the development of New Orleans, there is another powerful mainstream, that is, the appearance of bebop and the subsequent appearance of free fazz, which even produced an inevitable development in jazz history. But perhaps the wave that started in New Orleans can contain a whirlwind. But we still can't say that one form of jazz has replaced another. It can only be said that each form has inherited some previous forms.

Many great jazz musicians are closely related to their way of life in a certain period and place. For example, Dixieland's music reflects the endless noisy life in Chicago during World War I, that is, in the 1920s. Swing music is a specific way of life that advocates "big" during the war. Perhaps, as Marshall stearns said, swing music reflected the love of Americans-even the great people in the world at that time. On the other hand, Bebop seized the endless tension in the 1940s.

Cool Jazz sounds like trying to reflect the despair and obedience of people living in the shadow of the atomic bomb. When it comes to hard jazz, it becomes a music form full of protests against reality. But when we entered Funk and jazz mixed soul music, the form of music was submissive (but as far as I remember, the predecessor of soul music was black gospel poetry-that is, gospel). In fact, this kind of music is simply to reflect the tragic life of black people's human rights being trampled on in the nineteenth century and even the twentieth century. Therefore, Jesus, Lord and heaven, which constantly appear in music, are basically black metaphors for free life. Basically, it is a musical form full of helplessness and accusation. How can it be obedient music? Maybe there is something wrong with my translation ...) Many jazz musicians are skeptical about reconstructing the previous jazz music form. Because for them, it is against the essence of jazz to follow the previous music form. Jazz is based on biology. The following example can serve as a testimony to this jazz style: When Count Basie's (a black jazz band) was very popular in the 1950s, Lester Young, Bessie's former lead singer, was invited to cover Bessie's old songs in the 1930s with his former partners. But he refused: "I can't do it. I can't sing like before, and my performance is different from then. We've been changing. This feature is preserved in contemporary jazz.

* A little feeling.

Having said that, in fact, jazz in my heart has always been a musical form that can conform to the spirit of the times in contemporary society. In the 1920s and 1930s, there was a big band-like jazz performance, which advocated a big and grand view. In the 1950s, there was jam-like freedom (that was really the most democratic and free music performance form I have ever seen: drummers, saxophonists, cellists and pianists ... could all have solos, unlike rock music, which was purely for shaping the heroic image of the lead singer and guitarist) and the civil rights movement that flourished in society at that time. Every stage of jazz can be regarded as a microcosm of the society at that time. Of course, this is only my superficial observation and experience.

The above is an abridged translation of 1992' s jazz book "From Ragtime to Integration and Transcendence".

A member of the Jazz Age —— Gypsy guitarist Jiang Ge Ray Nahart

1946, World War II did not stop. Django Rei nhardt, a well-known European gypsy guitarist, started a new life plan. /kloc-at the beginning of October, he recorded Echo of France, and deconstructed the French national anthem with the beat of swing music. This pioneering work of reading the national anthem askew was 23 years earlier than that of American rock singer jimi hendrix. Although Brother Qiang was a little ill at that time and had a minor operation on his throat in the spring, it didn't hurt his exuberant creativity at all. He not only began to learn painting, but also actively organized tours in the United States.

When I was a teenager, I bought an American trumpeter louis armstrong's Dallas Blues 78-turn record at a flea market, which opened the jazz world of Brother Qiang. This legendary musician who lived in a gypsy caravan all his life, even in the heyday of hot jazz in Paris, will always be a pair of broken shoes with holes in his shirt cuffs. He has thick gypsy eyebrows, slightly bald forehead and extremely shiny hair, holding a cigarette sideways and playing softly quickly and flexibly.

After World War II, there are many things to do, and so is the music industry. Jazz musicians who are diligent in writing may have realized that it is time to harvest the treasures of the heyday of swing music, brew them and transform them, so that new music in the future can be pushed to the peak. However, what is the new music? Where should I go? Who is the flag bearer? Which side of the Atlantic is the answer?

No one knows the exact answer, but Brother Qiang will start his trip to America next year. He arrived in new york and made a guest appearance at the Coffee Club, a famous bar in Manhattan Island City. He also performed in Carnegie Hall, but for some reason, this precious recording has not been handed down, which is a pity for the music industry.

In fact, Brother Qiang's trip to the United States did not cause too many ripples, and the reaction of music critics was quite cold. There is a saying that Brother Qiang used an unfamiliar external guitar, which put him in a dilemma. There is also a saying that he was late for the performance and left a bad impression on the expected fans. My explanation is that these statements can only be regarded as one-sided. Apart from personal factors and limited performance venues, the real reason is that Brother Qiang, like all famous musicians in the swing era, is hesitant to welcome and reject modern jazz. If Qiang Ge can get rid of the king of rock guitar and embrace new music bravely, it may make the music critics at that time disagree and even cast a shadow of bad comments, but it is more likely that with Qiang Ge's strong curiosity and creative attempts at that time (such as Mike's later music), he is absolutely capable of successfully transforming into a guitar standard bearer of modern jazz.

This talented performer is the musical achievement of ordinary people in Europe, and finally chose to make a lifetime contribution at the end of the swing era. He successfully imitated and inherited the talent of Louis Armstrong, and transformed the mediocre guava in Pan Xi Lane into fresh and lively jazz-based music. He played the guitar in an interesting, flexible and occasionally gorgeous way, and completely recorded the extraordinary achievements of individuals and other musicians through the initial shouts and explosiveness of Ultraphone, Decca and the maturity of the phonograph and HMV. This energetic and unrestrained guitarist died in Fontainebleau on 1953, marking the end of his life.

The Second Jazz Era —— French Pop Quintet

It is not easy for two excellent soloists to coexist in a quintet and shine at the same time. However, in jazz history, similar star quintets did open up brand-new styles at different time points, from Armstrong/Haynes, Parker/gillespie, Davis/Coltrane, Henderson/Shaw to Reinhart/Grappelli in Europe, all of which showed the amazing explosive power of the masters in fighting hurricanes and the infinite potential to stimulate creativity.

Led by guitarist Django and violinist Stephane Grappelli, the French hot society quintet was a milestone of Paris swing music at that time and was widely loved by Huadu fans. Even after many years, the 78-turn recording left by the French hot music quintet is still a hot item of antique records in Europe, America and Japan.

From 1936 to 1948, the French hot music quintet experienced the baptism of World War II, and the occupied Germans asked to perform in Berlin many times. Fortunately, due to his superb guitar playing and amazing artistic achievements, as a gypsy, Qiangge not only escaped Hitler's genocide, but also successfully declined to perform in enemy territory. Moreover, he maintained the grand occasion of the pre-war club under the depression of strict food rationing policy in Paris where the war was tight.

The French hot music quintet is compiled as follows: two guitars in charge of rhythm (one of which is played by Qiang Ge's younger brother Joseph) and a bass. The melody guitarist is Qiang Ge and the violinist is Grappelli. Like all European jazz musicians, the first challenge facing the French hot music quintet is how to develop a style different from American jazz.

Brother Qiang grew up in a small town where beautiful women gather in Paris, which is also known as the Bastille red light district. This downtown area is reminiscent of the grand occasion in Storey before prostitution was banned in New Orleans. The heyday of the porn industry provided countless employment opportunities for musicians and trained many capable musicians. Waltz, Mazzuca and other dance music handed down from the Napoleonic era can be heard everywhere in this area. With banjo, accordion and violin as the main musical instruments, Muset, which combines classical music and upper-class folk dance music, was sweeping through Paris with thunderous momentum at the beginning of the 20th century when Qiangge grew up.

Brother Qiang lived in a caravan all his life. When he was a child, he was a master of banjo and violin. When he was very young, he made a living by performing in major pubs. /kloc-at the age of 0/8, the caravan caught fire. Brother Qiang was badly burned on his left side, and his left hand was almost disabled, leaving only three intact fingers to press the strings. Brother Qiang gave up the violin and concentrated on playing the guitar.

Another star musician of the French pop quintet is the violinist Grappelli, who died a few years ago at an advanced age. His musical enlightenment came from his father, who was a philosophy professor. Grappelli not only plays the piano well, but also plays it quite skillfully. Born and raised in Paris, this French-Italian hybrid played music in the silent theater when he was a teenager. Compared with strong elder brother's yearning for freedom, optimism, boldness and enterprising personality, Grappelli is cautious to the point of being stingy. He never takes risks and is very neat. His life emphasizes exquisiteness, absolute beauty and order. In fact, we can hear it from the recordings of the French hot music quintet. Although their playing styles complement each other, their understanding of music and their methods of choosing words and sentences are absolutely different.

The French hot music quintet with Qiangge and Grappelli not only created the splendid Paris Club scenery, but also successfully transformed Must, transforming this strong mixed-race music into jazz swing music and establishing the French jazz style. In a short period of five years (1934- 1939), European jazz stood firm in the fascist crisis in Europe and the decline of American economy.

The Third Jazz Age-The Lost Generation

"All the stories that come to my mind are a little disastrous." -Fitzgerald, American writer.

Glorious deeds about jazz sprouted in the 1920s and blossomed in the 1930s. Composers george gershwin and paul whiteman co-authored rhapsody in blue in 1924, which was the first time that classical composers symphonized jazz. After cooperating with many famous musicians such as Kid Ory, King Oliver and Fletcher Henderson, the trumpeter Louis Armstrong returned to Chicago from new york on 1925 and set up his own quintet, which was later joined by bass and drums and became the famous hot seven.

Armstrong, with a wide mouth and a trumpet, gave up the traditional cornet and adopted a trumpet with a clearer sound. Armstrong's unique joy and entertainment never concealed his amazing talent for improvisation solo. Thanks to him, jazz, a temple that was originally considered unattractive, can be transformed from a brothel into a unique artistic achievement in the United States. In the early 1930s, Armstrong lived in Europe for more than ten months and dropped a bomb on the European music scene, which caused quite a shock.

Paris in 1930s gathered the elite of American jazz. Saxophone player Benny Carter spent three years in Europe and Coleman Hawkins spent four years. If it weren't for the rise of fascism, black musicians would have returned home because of the changes in the political situation and the increasingly tense ethnic relations, and the grand occasion of the Paris music scene would only be even more amazing.

The 1920s and 1930s were also an important period for American writers to live in Europe, and some famous American writers completed their important personal works in Paris. Hemingway used to be a reporter for Toronto Star. He stayed in Paris for five years, and his writing style was very simple, completely suppressing his emotions. He has an ambivalent attitude towards war. On the one hand, he fully realized the harm of war, on the other hand, he was obsessed with the blood and killing brought by war. Hemingway advocated drinking, making love and bullfighting, which was totally nihilistic and vagrant. He is regarded as the representative of the lost generation. Paris, a prosperous, open and multicultural city, provides a hotbed for these foreigners to create.

Fitzgerald lived in Paris for three years, witnessed the era of high inflation of American capitalism, and wrote a biography of the tycoon. As early as the early 1920s, he wrote the short story The Story of Jazz Age. On the one hand, these American writers who are ahead of the times have observed that the United States adheres to Puritanism, abstinence and cowboy's pioneering spirit to develop the economy and create a beautiful vision of prosperity and progress, on the other hand, they have seen the material corruption brought about by the extreme luxury of the upper class-people sold their souls for money, and the prosperous 1920s was actually built on the suffering of countless people.

Seeing through the American song and dance in the 1920s, these artists realized that their illusions were about to be shattered. On the premise that American culture can't satisfy their self-pursuit, they must flee to other places, seek the answer to their predicament, and try to affirm the value of existence. Choosing to escape seems to be the inevitable result. As a member of immigrant society, these lost immigrants choose Europe as a place to reposition their cultural identity.

However, there may never be an artist's paradise or a redeemer. In the corner of the bustling flower garden, prostitutes, beggars and poor working-class people are everywhere. Writer henry miller soon saw this. As a member of the lost generation, Miller chose to express his resentment against human civilization with foul language and cruel image description.

Survive between the two world wars, seek the meaning of life and cultural identity in the economic collapse and the spread of fascism. These artists may leave Paris for different reasons, but they all try to overcome themselves and find a way out of their life difficulties. This is the jazz age.

The Fourth Jazz Age-Mosaic Recording

The gypsy guitarist Qiangge witnessed the heyday of jazz, which was attributed to the maturity of recording technology and recording industry at that time. No matter how deeply racist the record company boss is, he has to admit that swing music and its dance and entertainment culture are sweeping Europe and America. More importantly, as an important part of popular culture, the commodity potential of music is gradually understood by savvy businessmen.

Undeniably, the rapid industrialization of American society at the beginning of the twentieth century did provide people of color with higher opportunities for class mobility. The increase of educated blacks and their economic strength undoubtedly expanded the so-called racial record market. Duke Ellington from the middle class is a good example. His parents, both of whom have received secondary education, are bent on cultivating their son into a gentleman of high society. Duke Ellington not only showed considerable class taste in gestures, but also was a leader in music creation and arrangement. Jazz was not only the most fashionable music at that time, but also a symbol of art, which promoted the position of black musicians in the entertainment circle.

The storm caused by American jazz in Paris reached its peak in the early 1930s. Blues pianist Fats Waller and famous creative talents Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong performed in France during this period. Thanks to fanatical fans, French writer Hugo Panassi 'e edited and published Le Jazz Hot, the first influential jazz publication in the world, and later co-founded Swing Records with his good friend Tommy Tam, faithfully recording the studio works of the best jazz musicians in the United States and France at that time.

The quintet composed by Django and Grappelli was not only a milestone of Parisian jazz, but also promoted the club jazz performance at that time. Until now, listening to these old recordings of 78-turn records more than 60 years ago, you can still deeply feel the spark and enthusiasm of music in just three minutes. Like almost blind pianist Art Tatum, Qiang Ge's superb guitar playing is hard to classify.

Take the French popular quintet in swing music and the complete recording of HMV company in Britain as examples. The violinist Stuff Smith's original song "I'm I'm se a Muggin", and the singer Freddy Taylor imitated Armstrong's singing, using the guitar and Grappelli's fluent violin to perform strongly in a brisk rhythm. Georgia in My Heart is the greatest American pop song of the 20th century. Brother Qiang recorded his own version at the peak of the popular music quintet in 1936. This guava song with country music style and a little sadness begins with Qiang Ge's fluent monophonic performance, followed by Grappelli's creative violin. The music lasted only three minutes, but it contained infinite meaning.

In addition to recording with quintet, Brother Qiang also recorded several solo improvisations, which transcended swing music and expressed them in a free form. Jiang Ge's Tiger has a lot of guitar solos, which reminds people of Jelly Roll Morton's Rags of the Tiger. Fleur D'ennui has the rhythm style of Polly dew in Spain and is full of strange interest in experiments. Not to mention those works that try to blend classical music. The recordings of the hot music quintet collected by Mosaic Records record in detail the performance and creative process of Qiang Ge from pre-war to post-war twelve years. Surprisingly, he came from a poor family and knew nothing about music.

French hot quintet completely inherited the essence of American swing music, but this all-string orchestra did not completely copy American music. The double partnership between Qiangge and Grappelli proves that European musicians can not only play jazz properly, but also draw materials, arrange music and create a brand-new jazz style from the local music environment. If you ask me, how did European jazz establish itself? The answer can undoubtedly be found in the French pop music quintet.