EPMOW Volume 8

Progressive Jazz Southwestern Ontario. ’ In Folk Music, Traditional were commissioned to write scores for this ensemble. Music, Ethnomusicology: Canadian Perspectives, References to the style, however, should be more Past and Present, eds. Anna Hoefnagels and Gor- inclusive. don E. Smith. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Progressive jazz developed as the jazz fi eld began Scholars Publishing, 187 – 200. to fragment into a variety of styles towards the end Powers, William K. 1990. War Dance: Plains Indian of the swing era. It developed parallel to, and along Musical Performance . Tucson, AZ: e University with, bebop (the most important development of the of Arizona Press. same period), and the distinctions between progres- Scales, Christopher A. 2002. ‘ e Politics and Aes- sive jazz and cool jazz, West Coast jazz and the ird thetics of Recording: A Comparative Canadian Stream are yet to be clearly defi ned. Consequently, Case Study of Powwow and Contemporary Native these styles are inter-related and, to various degrees, American Music. ’ e World of Music 44(1): are mutually infl uential. 41 – 60. Scales, Christopher. 2004. ‘ Powwow Music and the Roots and Emergence Aboriginal Recording Industry on the Northern e roots of progressive jazz can ultimately be Plains: Media, Technology, and Native American traced back as far as the 1920s and the ‘ symphonic Music in the Late Twentieth Century. ’ Unpublished jazz ’ of Paul Whiteman (1890 – 1967), together with Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Illinois at Urbana- the extended, jazz-infl uenced works by George Ger- Champaign. shwin (1898 – 1937, for example, Rhapsody In Blue Scales, Christopher. 2007. ‘ Powwows, Intertribalism, (1924)) and Ferde Grof é (1892 – 1972, for example, and the Value of Competition. ’ Ethnomusicology Grand Canyon Suite (1932)). Whiteman ’ s commis- 51(1): 1 – 29. sioning of works by Gershwin and Grof é were early Tulk, Janice Esther. 2008. ‘ “ Our Strength is Our- attempts to incorporate classical music into jazz. selves ” : Identity, Status, and Cultural Revitalization While his experiment was relatively short-lived, its Among the Mi ’ kmaq in Newfoundland. ’ Unpub- modernist aesthetic set the stage for later experiments lished Ph.D. dissertation, Memorial University of and helped to pave the way for the progressive jazz Newfoundland. movement ’ s incorporation of a wider compositional vocabulary. Discography If symphonic jazz contained some elements that Black Lodge Singers. Watch is Dancer! Canyon would mature into progressive jazz, it was in the swing Records, CR-6429. 2007 : USA. era, with its reliance on the big band as its primary Blackstone Singers. Back in the Day. Canyon Records, ensemble, that the composer-arrangers who would be CR-6373. 2004 : USA. fundamental to progressive jazz fi rst came to promi- Northern Cree. Honor the Eagle Feather. Canyon nence. Big bands served as demanding and produc- Records, CR-6269. 1998 : USA. tive composition and arranging workshops, and many Southern Boyz. Can ’ t Get Rite. Matoska Trading Com- of these writers ’ compositional ambitions grew along pany, Inc., 2410-171-282. 2 005 : USA. with their experience. In addition, many of these com- 2008 Gathering of Nations Powwow: 25th Annual posers and arrangers also had experience and educa- World Celebration . GON 25. 2008 : USA. tion in the fi eld of Western art music. Young Bird. Memories . Canyon Records, CR-6390. e swing era also had its own versions of the 1920s ’ 2006 : USA. attempt to fuse jazz and classical music. ese can be A N NA H OEFNAGELS seen in works written for Artie Shaw (1910 – 2004) by, among others, Alan Shulman (1915 – 2002; for exam- Progressive Jazz ple, ‘ Mood in Question ’ and ‘ Rendezvous for Clarinet ‘ Progressive jazz ’ generally refers to a school of jazz and Strings ’ (1949)), and Paul Jordan ( ‘ Evensong ’ [aka composition and arranging from the mid-1940s to ‘ Dusk ’ ], 1941), as well as Woody Herman ’ s (1913 – 87) the mid-1950s, though this period could easily be commissioning of a work by Stravinsky ( Ebony Con- extended back to the late 1930s and on through the certo ). But as other swing era composers and arrang- late 1950s. Works of this genre were most commonly ers began successfully, and less self-consciously, to composed for big band, but were written for smaller incorporate advanced compositional resources into ensembles as well. e term is o en associated with jazz arrangements – as opposed to creating hybrid Stan Kenton and his various big band confi gura- compositions – they became a more direct infl uence tions, as many of the important writers of the genre on the emergence of progressive jazz. 367 99781441160782_txt_.indb781441160782_txt_.indb 336767 22/13/2012/13/2012 22:34:07:34:07 PPMM Genres: North America Eddie Sauter (1914 – 81) was important in this works such as ‘ Confl ict ’ and ‘ Mirage ’ (1950), Bob regard. His early pieces for Goodman such as ‘ Moon- Graettinger ’ s ‘ ermopylae ’ (1947) and City of Glass light on the Ganges ’ (1940) and ‘ How Deep is the (1951), Bill Holman ’ s (b. 1927) ‘ Invention for Guitar Ocean ’ (1941) exhibit a harmonic freedom that was and Trumpet ’ (1952) and Bill Russo ’ s ‘ Improvisation ’ rare for the period. Sauter also wrote important works (1951). for Red Norvo (1908 – 99) and Artie Shaw. Norvo ’ s It should be noted that the bands discussed in this own ‘ Dance of the Octopus ’ (1933) is a standout from entry are primarily white bands from this period, the swing era in terms of compositional content with though some were integrated at times (for example, its use of a wide harmonic and melodic palette, as well Boyd Raeburn, Charlie Barnett, Benny Goodman and as a free approach to meter. Artie Shaw). African-American big bands during this e Woody Herman band was important in the same period were of course performing their own early stages of progressive jazz, exemplifi ed by Ralph exciting, groundbreaking compositions and arrange- Burns ’ s (1922 – 2001) four-part S ummer Sequence ments. Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn set the (1946), a seminal work in the lineage of progressive standard for jazz composition and orchestration, and jazz. Jimmy Giu re (1921 – 2008), who wrote for Her- Ellington ’ s three-movement extended work, Black, man during this same period (for example, ‘ Four Brown and Beige (1943) holds a crucial place in the Brothers, ’ 1947), also went on to be an important lineage of jazz composition. Count Basie is gener- composer in the genre. George Handy (1920 – 97) is a ally considered to have led the hardest-swinging big crucial fi gure in the early stages of the movement, and band, and one of his most prolifi c arrangers was Neal his works for the Boyd Raeburn Orchestra, such as He i (b. 1922), who also composed and arranged ‘ Dalvatore Sally, ’ ‘ Gray Suede, ’ ‘ Special Maid ’ and ‘ Hey for Kenton. Jimmy Mundy ’ s (1907 – 83) ‘ Futile Look – I ’ m Dancing ’ (all 1946), are some of the most Frustration ’ (1947), written for Basie, would have fi t infl uential in the development of progressive jazz. into any progressive jazz band ’ s repertoire. Follow- An interesting example of successfully combining ing his work with the bands of Billy Eckstine and Earl elements of progressive jazz with a highly commer- Hines, Dizzy Gillespie ’ s short-lived bebop-infl uenced cial concept can be found in the works of Gil Evans big band employed such important progressive writ- (1912 – 88) for Claude ornhill (1909 – 65), such as ers as Chico O ’ Farrill (1921 – 2001), George Russell ‘ Arab Dance ’ (1946) and ‘ e Troubadour ’ (1947), (b. 1923), Gil Fuller (1920 – 94) and Tadd Dameron both reworkings of classical themes. Evans ’ s writing (1917 – 65). In addition, important jazz composers had a distinctive harmonic sensibility, and his use of such as Charles Mingus (1922 – 79) and J.J. Johnson orchestral color was masterful and unique. Evans ’ s (1924 – 2001) were members of this progressive jazz style strongly infl uenced the cool school of writing, community in terms of their compositional output, exemplifi ed by the 1949 recordings by Capitol, fea- yet they are generally not associated with the bands turing Miles Davis, subsequently issued (1957) as the typically linked to the movement. album e Birth of the Cool . While the music of these African-American bands e symbiosis between bandleaders and composer- and composers was every bit as progressive, the pro- arrangers was a crucial relationship in the develop- gressive jazz bands and composers have traditionally ment of progressive jazz. Some leaders, Stan Kenton been given their own sub-genre. e reasons for this for example, actively commissioned a wide range of have been little discussed, perhaps because the ques- important composers, such as Pete Rugolo (b. 1915), tion reaches deeply into controversial issues regard- Bob Graettinger (1923 – 57), Gerry Mulligan (1927 – ing race and cultural infl uences. at the category is 96), Bill Russo (1928 – 2003), Shorty Rogers (1924 – 94) drawn along racial lines is unfortunate, however, and and Johnny Richards (1911 – 68), specifi cally to stretch does not do justice to any of the composers or bands, the boundaries of jazz writing. Others, such as Boyd as many of these writers and organizations were, in Raeburn (1913 – 66), found themselves at the forefront their own way, striving to break down racial barri- of the development of the genre when writers such as ers, though perhaps with limited success. at being George Handy and Johnny Mandel (b. 1925) began said, the term has survived, and does have a gener- contributing exciting and progressive arrangements ally accepted connotation, as well as associated bands, and compositions, and were wise enough to appreci- writers and repertoire, as suggested above. ate and foster these composers ’ talents and abilities. Stan Kenton played a major role in the development Common Characteristics of the movement.

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