That Jazz - Monkey Max Music and File Download

Chapter 3: The Scheme of Things: Elements of Jazz Theory
Now imagine a small jazz group of four or five players who are all thinking
about the beat this way. You feel the music swinging because the players
have a good sense of time, but as they collaborate, layers of rhythmic patterns
combine to form fascinating groups known as polyrhythms (see the next
section). These rhythmic combinations have become increasingly complex
since early New Orleans jazz, which was built around simpler rhythms
derived from brass bands.
In the music of Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker, Art Blakey’s
Jazz Messengers, and other greats, you can easily hear the range of rhythmic
dramas created by musicians just by changing the placement of accents.
Check out the following CDs: Young’s Prez and Teddy (Polygram), with pianist
Teddy Wilson; Hawkins’ Body and Soul (RCA); Parker’s Essential Charlie
Parker (Polygram); and Blakey’s Orgy in Rhythm, Vols. 1 and 2 (Blue Note).
Each CD contains a lot of 12- and 32-bar songs, which embody swing, syncopation,
and polyrhythms.
Polyrhythms: Tension and release
Musicians use tools including rhythms to carry you along through the song.
When a jazz song begins with four beats per measure and builds texture
through overlapping rhythms, the resulting polyrhythms (the use or an
instance of simultaneous contrasting rhythms) create curiosity, tension, and
excitement. Rhythms can relax you and carry you on an emotional journey,
from curiosity, through tension and awe, to resolution.
When early jazz players began inventing the music, they brought new rhythmic
ideas to the western world (see Chapter 2 for more details). Classical
music, while rich in melody and harmony, usually relies on rigid rhythms.
Musicians keep time by playing right on the beat. If you listen to Bach or
Beethoven, you can keep basic time with your foot as various instruments
add their parts in perfect synchronization. In jazz, however, rhythms work
more independently from the rest of the music — moving around the beat,
supporting the musical themes or contrasting with them, pushing or leading
the music to new high points.
A basic subdivision of the beat in performance became a staple of jazz: the
contrasting combination of pairs of beats with trios of beats. You can find
this same contrast in jazz, from improvisations by Louis Armstrong, Coleman
Hawkins, and Charlie Parker, to many types of big band music.
39