Ajazz band (jazz ensemble orjazz combo) is amusical ensemble that playsjazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of arhythm section and ahorn section.
The size of a jazz band is closely related to the style of jazz they play as well as the type of venues in which they play. Smaller jazz bands, also known ascombos, are common in night clubs and other small venues and will be made up of three to seven musicians; whereasbig bands are found in dance halls and other larger venues.[1]
Jazz bands can vary in size from a big band, to a smaller trio or quartet. Some bands use vocalists, while others are purely instrumental groups.
Jazz bands and their composition have changed many times throughout the years, just as the music itself changes with personal interpretation and improvisation of its performers.[1]
It is common for musicians in a combo to perform their music from memory. The improvisational nature of these performances make every show unique.[1]
Therhythm section consists of thepercussion,double bass orbass guitar, and usually at least one instrument capable of playingchords, such as apiano,guitar,Hammond organ orvibraphone; most will usually have more than one of these. The standard rhythm section is piano, bass, and drums.[2]
Thehorn section consists of a woodwind section and abrass section, which play themelody.[2]
The banjo has been used in jazz since the earliest jazz bands.[3] The earliest use of the banjo in a jazz band was byFrank Duson in 1917, howeverLaurence Marrero claims it became popular in 1915.[4]
There are three common types of banjo, theplectrum banjo,tenor banjo, andcello banjo. Over time, the four-stringed tenor banjo became the most common banjo used in jazz.[3] The drum-like sound box on the banjo made it louder than the acoustic guitars that were common with early jazz bands, and banjos were popular for recording.[4]
Beginning in the early 1950s, some jazz bass players began to use the electric bass guitar in place of the double bass.[5]
Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion, usually thedrum set, in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-erajazz-rock fusion and 1980s-eraLatin jazz. Stylistically, this aspect of performance was shaped by its starting place, New Orleans,[6] as well as numerous other regions of the world, including other parts of theUnited States, theCaribbean, andAfrica.[7]
Jazz required a method of playing percussion different from traditionalEuropean styles, one that was easily adaptable to the different rhythms of the new genre, fostering the creation of jazz drumming's hybrid technique.[8]
The clarinet is a woodwind instrument with asingle-reed mouthpiece. A clarinet player is known as a clarinetist. Originally, the clarinet was a central instrument in jazz, beginning with the New Orleans players in the 1910s. It remained a signature instrument of jazz through much of thebig band era into the 1940s.[9]Larry Shields was the clarinetist for theOriginal Dixieland Jazz Band, the first jazz band to record commercially in 1917. The American playersTed Lewis andJimmie Noone were pioneers of the instrument in jazz bands. The B♭ soprano clarinet was the most common instrument, but a few early jazz musicians such asAlcide Nunez preferred the C soprano clarinet, and many New Orleans jazz brass bands have used an E♭ soprano clarinet.[9] Swing clarinetists such asBenny Goodman,Artie Shaw, andWoody Herman led successful big bands and smaller groups from the 1930s onward.[10]
With the decline of the big bands' popularity in the late 1940s, the clarinet faded from its prominent position in jazz and the saxophone rose in importance in many jazz bands, probably because it uses a less complicated fingering system.[11] But the clarinet did not entirely disappear. In the late 50s, traditional jazz experienced a revival, with the notable example of clarinetistAcker Bilk's Bristol Paramount Jazz Band. Some of the works of Bilk's jazz band reached the pop charts.[12]
In the saxophone section, all of the saxophones will play a similar melodic line, but thebaritone sax doubles by occasionally joining in with thebass trombone andbass to play the bass line. A big band saxophone section typically consists of twoalto saxophones, twotenor saxophones, and one baritone saxophone.[13]
Jazz violin is the use of the violin orelectric violin to improvise solo lines. Although the violin has been used in jazz recordings since the first decades of the 20th century, it is more commonly associated with folk music than jazz.[14] Jazz musicianMilt Hinton claimed that the decline in violin players coincided with the introduction ofsound movies, as many violin players were used as accompaniment forsilent films.[15]
The definition of a jazz vocalist can be unclear because jazz has shared a great deal withblues andpop music since the 1920s.[16] In their bookEssential Jazz, Henry Martin and Keith Waters identify five main characteristics that identify jazz singing, three of which are: "Loosephrasing [...], use ofblue notes [...], [and] free melodic embellishment."[17] Often the human voice can act in place of a brass section in playing melodies, both written and improvised.[2]
Scat singing is vocalimprovisation with wordless vocables,nonsense syllables or without words at all. Though scat singing is improvised, the melodic lines are often variations onscale andarpeggio fragments,stock patterns andriffs, as is the case with instrumental improvisers. The deliberate choice of scat syllables is also a key element in vocal jazz improvisation. Syllable choice influences the pitcharticulation, coloration, andresonance of the performance.[18]
Another important aspect of jazz isimprovisation ("jams"). Bands playing in this fashion fall under the category ofjam bands.[19] A common way to incorporate improvisation is to feature solo performances from band members made up on the spot, allowing them to showcase their skill.[20]
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