CHAPTER 18: Historicism: Jazz on Jazz
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following best describes a “historicist” perspective on jazz history?
a.
Jazz evolves in response to contemporary pop culture.
b.
The music of New Orleans and the Swing Era are the only true jazz styles.
c.
We can never know the true history of jazz.
d.
Jazz creativity is inextricably bound to its past.
e.
Jazz masters move the music along in radical leaps of creativity.
2. When critic Martin Williams omitted the comic introduction of Morton’s “Dead Man Blues” as he
edited the Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz, which critical approach was he following?
a.
New Historicism
b.
The Hegelian Dialectic
c.
New Criticism
d.
New Preservationism
e.
Romanticism
3. Today’s jazz musicians tend to use historicist principles in all of the following ways EXCEPT:
a.
revival of entire idioms
b.
faithful recreations of important concerts of the past, in the same dress and the same place
c.
modernist interpretations of jazz classics
d.
original music that celebrates music of the past (tributes and parodies)
e.
faithful recreation of neglected works
4. When was the first genuine movement to promote an older, neglected jazz style over current jazz
styles took place?
a.
1930s
b.
1950s
c.
1960s
d.
1970s
e.
1980s
5. Which older New Orleans player was discovered by the New Orleans revivalists, fitted with a new
set of teeth, and offered recording opportunities?
a.
Sidney Bechet
b.
Buddy Bolden
c.
Pops Foster
d.
Louis Armstrong
e.
William “Bunk” Johnson
6. Which is NOT one of the positive contributions of the New Orleans revival of the 1930s and
1940s?
a.
forced a reconsideration of early jazz, reviving interest in King Oliver and Jelly Roll
Morton
b.
introduced a group of veteran New Orleans to new audiences
c.
reestablished the French Quarter in New Orleans as a jazz tourist attraction
d.
interpreted swing and bebop repertoire in New Orleans style
e.
revived strong backbeats and polyphonic elation as core principles of jazz style
7. When Stanley Dance applied the term mainstream to jazz in 1958, which jazz styles and players
did it include?
a.
only musicians who played in bop style
b.
only New Orleans-style players
c.
all musicians who played in prebop styles
d.
all jazz styles including bebop
e.
progressive jazz composers of the 1950s
8. In the 1960s, the use of the term mainstream changed to include which style that Dance had not
included in his original use of the term?
a.
Latin jazz
b.
avant-garde
c.
swing
d.
fusion
e.
bebop
9. All of the following are true of the Lenox School of Jazz EXCEPT:
a.
faculty included John Lewis, Gunther Schuller, Ornette Coleman, and Max Roach
b.
first time a group of faculty gathered together for the sole purpose of teaching jazz
c.
operated for several decades
d.
combined jazz history with jazz technique to counter the idea that playing jazz depended
on racial or “natural” talent
e.
led to further teaching opportunities for several faculty members
10. Which of the following is NOT true of the Newport Jazz Festival?
a.
had a profound influence despite only running for a few years
b.
initially presented at an upper-class tennis club in Rhode Island
c.
included panels and workshops in addition to concerts
d.
featured many performers not usually accepted as jazz artists
e.
relocated to New York in the 1960s
11. Why did avant-garde musicians of the 1970s embrace older styles?
a.
Audiences demanded familiarity.
b.
References to old styles were the only way that musicians could call themselves jazz
players.
c.
“Free jazz” meant the freedom to play whatever they wanted.
d.
Government funding was tied to repertory projects.
e.
All of the above
12. Which does NOT describe the neoclassical approach to historicism in jazz?
a.
requires fidelity to a canon of masterpieces
b.
often expressed in tributes to great musicians of the past
c.
views the borders of jazz as clearly defined
d.
found acceptance in the conservative political climate of the 1980s
e.
uses swing, funk, and world music approaches to rhythm equally
13. All of the following are true of Wynton Marsalis EXCEPT:
a.
from a musical New Orleans family
b.
appreciative of and tolerant toward all jazz styles
c.
won Grammy awards in jazz and classical categories
d.
insisted on a dress code inspired by the elegance of the swing bands
e.
important both as a trumpeter and as an educator and artistic director at Jazz at Lincoln
Center
14. In the present context of jazz historicism, the most direct market competition for new jazz
recording releases comes from:
a.
pop music
b.
classical music
c.
world music
d.
reissues of older jazz recordings
e.
rock music
15. Pianist Diana Krall made her name with a trio inspired by which midcentury musician?
a.
Nat King Cole
b.
Sarah Vaughan
c.
Bud Powell
d.
Thelonious Monk
e.
Mary Lou Williams
16. With the decline in American jazz audiences in the 1970s, where did musicians go to find work?
a.
Europe
b.
universities
c.
commercial bands
d.
all of the above
e.
none of the above
17. Which musician’s return to the U.S. after fifteen years in Europe signaled a rebirth in American
interest in acoustic jazz?
a.
Phil Woods
b.
Sidney Bechet
c.
Dexter Gordon
d.
Cecil Taylor
e.
Ira Sullivan
18. All of the following are true of the career of Betty Carter EXCEPT:
a.
She left the music industry in order to raise her sons.
b.
She was championed by Cecil Taylor.
c.
She developed a style based on deconstructing old standards.
d.
She had early success with a recording of duets with Ray Charles.
e.
She embraced jazz as a concert idiom, avoiding rougher venues.
19. Michael Brecker is likely best known for his work with which artist?
a.
John Lennon
b.
Paul Simon
c.
Steely Dan
d.
Charles Mingus
e.
McCoy Tyner
20. Jason Moran transforms James P. Johnson’s “You’ve Got to Be Modernistic” through all of the
following means EXCEPT:
a.
adding his own strains and variations
b.
reharmonizes the original melody with modern chord forms
c.
adds strategic dissonances and misplaced notes
d.
obscures the original themes and groove to the point that they are unrecognizable
throughout
e.
frequently alters or stops the tempo
TRUE/FALSE
1. A historicist impulse emerged in jazz for the first time with the neoclassic movement of the 1980s.
2. Through the New Orleans revival of the 1940s, musicians developed a direct link to Buddy Bolden
through the work of trumpeter Bunk Johnson, who performed with Bolden in 1895.
3. Boston’s Berklee College of Music features the best-known collegiate jazz program in America.
4. Wynton Marsalis studied jazz at the Manhattan School of Music.
5. Harry Connick was the first male vocalist of the 1980s to self-consciously invoke the sound and
spirit of Frank Sinatra.
6. The SFJAZZ Collective, under the direction of saxophonist Joshua Redman, has taken on an
aggressively conservative approach to the jazz repertory.
7. The 1977 release of Dexter Gordon’s Homecoming sold more than ten times as many copies as
most jazz albums of the era.
8. Betty Carter’s 1979 recording of “My Favorite Things” is an eerily faithful reproduction of the
definitive Julie Andrews performance.
9. In his attempts to engage with and modernize the musical language of John Coltrane, Michael
Brecker developed a close association with bassist Jimmy Garrison.
10. Pianist Jason Moran’s historicism can be traced to his discovery of the music of Thelonious Monk
when Moran was thirteen.
SHORT ANSWER
1. The 1939 publication of Ramsey and Smith’s book ___________ created a nostalgic longing for
early jazz by focusing on the New Orleans tradition and ignoring modern stars of Swing.
2. In 1947, the first collegiate degree in jazz studies was offered at _____________________.
3. In 1979, the AACM-affiliated group Air released an album of creative reinterpretations of the
music of ______________ and Jelly Roll Morton.
4. In the 1980s, a number of _________________ were founded with the goal of resurrecting
big-band jazz by performing original arrangements and commissioning new versions of classic
works.
5. As heard on Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage,” _____________ are dominant chords without
the leading tone.
MATCHING
Match each nonmusician to their position within jazz historicism.
a.
Stanley Dance
d.
George Wein
b.
Bruce Lundvall
e.
Martin Williams
c.
William Russell
1. Founder of the Newport Jazz Festival
2. Curator of the Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz
3. Columbia Records executive who signed Dexter Gordon after his return to the U.S.
4. Coined the term “mainstream” to describe prebop styles of jazz
5. Historian who discovered Bunk Johnson
ESSAY
1. Explain Stanley Dance’s original conception of the jazz mainstream, and describe how usage of
that term changed between the late 1950s and the 1970s. What styles and philosophies would a
modern definition of the jazz mainstream include? In your opinion, is the term still useful? Why or
why not?
2. Explain the connection between neoclassic jazz historicism and the political climate of 1980s
America.
3. Making use of specific musical examples drawn from the recordings, compare and contrast
Wynton Marsalis’s approach to historicism on “The Pearls” with that of Jason Moran on “You’ve
Got to Be Modernistic.” In what way does each artist honor the past, and how does each update
historical styles for modern audiences? In your opinion, do they both succeed?
