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780 . 97 H687J S6~06l< Hodelr f Jazz: -its evolution and essence 3 1148 00837 1 DATE DUE T fa.__ 1^4- I...: MM.?> ~IM-"-g A'iw- '. APRfffRP JAZZ: ITS EVOLUTION AND ESSENCE JAZZ: its evolution and essence BY ANDRE HODEIR Translated by DAVID NOAKES GROVE PRESS . NEW YORK Copyright, , 1956, Grove Press, 795 Broadway NewYork3,N.Y. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 56-5726 Manufactured in the United States of Amenca TRANSLATOR ' S NOTE American jazz specialists who greeted the original publica tion of Hommes et Problemes du Jazz as a major event will remember the lucidity of Andr Hodeir's penetrating ana lytical method. In translating his book, I have been guided above all by the desire of giving as exact an equivalent as possible of his thought and of his style. Except for a few minor changes of phrase that the author felt were called for by its publication at this time for non-French readers, the text corresponds exactly to that of the Paris edition. It occasionally reflects the fact that the volume came out a couple of years ago; Part VI, which was written especially for this version, brings things more up to date by surveying the state of jazz at the death of Charlie Parker in March, 1955. The discography at the end of the book has been revised to indicate on what labels the records are available in America. I wish to express my thanks to Marshall Stearns, of the Institute of Jazz Studies, and to Wilder Hobson, of The Saturday Review and Newsweek, for their helpful suggestions and comments on this translation. D. N. <; 4.I ^ * TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface \. INTRODUCTION Chapter I. THE WORLD OF JAZZ 7 Diffusion and Universality of Jazz Jazz as a Complement to our Culture The Jazz Fan The Reign of Intolerance Conceptions of Criticism Chapter II. THE EVOLUTION OF JAZZ AND THE IDEA OF CLASSICISM 21 First and Second Periods: New Orleans Jazz The Modern Period Musical Evolution and the Idea of Progress The Classical Period The New Orleans Revival The - Pre-Classical Period, 1927-1934 Jazz's Fu- ]/' ture Possibilities II. FROM THE "PRIMITIVES" TO THE "MODERNS" Chapter III. BLUES AND MILITARY MARCHES 39 Borrowings of Jazz from European Music Jazz as a Derivative of African Music The Necessity of Borrowing in Order to Evolve Jazz has Never Been a "Pure" Music i vi Chapter IV. A GREAT CLASSICAL FIGURE AMONG THE OLDTIMERS (CONCERNING EIGHT RECORDINGS OF THE HOT FIVE) 49 Their Place in the Evolution of Jazz Their Rhythm Their Ensemble Playing Their Solos Chapter V. THE ROMANTIC IMAGINATION OF DICKIE WELLS 63 The Early Days of Dickie Wells The Ele ments of His Style Symmetry and Contrast Chapter VI. A MASTERPIECE: CONCERTO FOR COOTIE 77 Ups and Downs of the Concerto Structure of Concerto for Cootie Simplicity and Sub tlety of the Harmony The Orchestra at the Soloist's Service Strong and Weak Points of the Performance An Authentic Composi tion and the Interpreter's Part in It A Bouquet of Sonorities How the Piece Stands ' *" Chapter VII. CHARLIE PARKER AND THE BOP MOVEMENT 99 \ Minton's and the Development of the Bop Style Melodic Conceptions Rhythmic Conceptions The Performer and the Band Leader Chapter VIII. MILES DAVIS 4ND THE COOL TENDENCY 116 A New Feeling The Cool Sonority The Phrase: Melody and Rhythm The Miles Davis Band Is Modern Jazz Opposed to the Four-Bar Unit? III. THE PROBLEM OF IMPROVISATION Chapter IX. MELODY IN JAZZ 139 Does Jazz Have a Special Harmonic Lan guage? The Melodic Phrase in Jazz. The Melodic-Harmonic Relationship: The Do-Mi- Sol-Do Technique The Melodic-Harmonic Relationship: The Problems of Foreign Notes and of Enriching the Foundation The Rhythmic Articulation of the Phrase The Instrument's Effect on the Phrase The Es sence of Melody: The Blues Scale A Con tribution in the Field of Melody Chapter X. MUSICAL THOUGHT 158 How the Improviser's Thought Works Con tinuity of Thought Collective Creation Chapter XL NOTES ON THE PROBLEM OF CREATION 182 IV. THE PROBLEM OF THE ESSENCE OF JAZZ Chapter XII. THE PHENOMENON OF SWING 195 The Infrastructure: Tempo and Accentuation The Superstructure; Rhythmic Equilibri um of the Phrase Getting the Notes in the Right Place Relaxation Vital Drive vin Chapter XIII. THE EVOLUTION OF RHYTHMIC CONCEPTIONS 210 The New Orleans Two-Beat The Four-Beat of Classical Jazz The Modern Conceptions (Bop and Cool) Chapter XIV. THE HANDLING OF SOUND 224 Vibrato Inflections Other Elements Getting Hot is Not the Same Thing as Swinging Chapter XV. THE ESSENCE 234 What is Not Essential Historic Persistence of the Swing and Hot Phenomena Must Jazz be Divided into Compartments? To ward a Change of Essence? V. JAZZ AND EUROPE Chapter XVL THE INFLUENCE OF JAZZ ON EUROPEAN Music 245 Jazz and Ravel, Stravinsky, and Milhaud Melodic Borrowings Rhythmic Influence . Incompatibility VI. CONTEMPORARY JAZZ Chapter XVII. SITUATION OF MODERN JAZZ AT THE DEATH OF PARKER 267 Fusion and Breaking Up Personalities Groups Discography 283 Index 291 PREFACE "As his taste becomes more refined, the admirer of Alfred de Musset abandons him for Verlaine. One who was brought up on Hugo dedicates himself completely to Mallarm. These intellectual changes generally occur in one direction rather than in the other, which is much less possible." Who is it expressing himself in this way? Paul Val6ry, who here gives a golden rule for one's own esthetic evolu tion, the only criterion of taste that is confirmed by common experience. In the field of music, this evolution reflects not only the refinement of taste, but also the awareness of certain objective realities that do not always appear at the outset. This serves to explain why certain opinions expressed in this book do not fit in with others in my earlier works. Moreover, the general point of view is no longer the same, since in 1944, particularly, I was still influenced by and participating in a school of criticism that this book, in large measure, takes exception to. When I claim that having greatly liked some musicians whose shortcomings I recognize today gives me a special right to talk about their limitations, I am not being so para doxical as I may seem. One has to have committed certain errors to be fully aware of their extent. Still, it is not always true that liking Teddy Wilson means that one has ''gone beyond" Jelly Roll Morton. This is so only when the real qualities of the first appear as clearly as the shortcomings of the second. It is not unusual for an artist to be appreciated precisely for his least pure aspects. I don't think I have 1 2 JAZZ: its evolution and essence fallen into this error. The progress I think I have made in understanding jazz should enable me to gain both a clearer over-all perspective and a more intimate grasp of the prob lems dealt with in the following chapters. The reader will judge whether or not my goal has been attained. This book contains, in a more complete and considerably revised form, some papers that have already been published, together with a number of new studies that give the others a more precise meaning by making them part of a whole. It is not an encyclopedia, but a simple essay dealing with some men and, occasionally through a study of their work, with the principal problems of jazz. The point of view ex pressed here is that of the European critic. The judgments of jazz in this book are based on recordings, which have reached a stage of technical perfection that makes such an approach valid. Besides, the recording is the most trust worthy witness we have in dealing with an art form of which nothing that is essential can be set down on paper. The reader should not be surprised, therefore, if the words work and record are used interchangeably throughout. Perhaps this book will seem to be a little behind the evolution of jazz, which the American critic can follow from day to day, as it were; perhaps it asks some questions that have already been answered. But the handicaps inherent in the extra muros of position the European critic must be accepted. I have tried to rise to a universal plane when dealing with the great problems of jazz, but at other times these pages neces reflect a sarily more limited view. When I speak of jazz fans, for instance, I mean French ones; but are American fans so much different? Since the beginning of those great clashes of esthetics and that personalities have been called "the war of jazz," it has been difficult to keep away from a certain quarrelsome at mosphere which, I am convinced, is as harmful to jazz itself as to its passionately one-sided defenders. I have had no PREFACE 3 desire to write one of those "fighting books" that are all too abundant in the field. Nonetheless, this book defends very precise positions, however moderate its tone. I do not at all intend to shirk the responsibilities imposed on every writer by his position if not by his mental attitude. It may be pre dicted that some readers will interpret certain opinions ex pressed here as an indication of personal hostility. I must run that risk. Furthermore, it is not impossible that some factual errors may be found, although I have done my best to avoid them. I know of people who will start looking for them with a magnifying glass the moment the book appears.