The Jazz Age and The Swing Era: Listen Up!*

The improvised solo is a cornerstone of jazz. Instrumentalists, accompanied by a rhythm section or an entire band, perform spontaneous solos over chord changes (the harmonic structure of a tune). The extended improvised jazz solo developed, in part, from breaks, or short phrases performed while the band stops for one or more measures.

Listen to the following excerpts and observe how the soloists play through the breaks. Count the number of beats or measures per break and note the instruments that solo through the break. How does each soloist approach the break? How do the other instruments support the soloist?

• James Reese Europe’s Hellfighter Band,  “Memphis Blues”
• Jelly Roll Morton,  “Black Bottom Stomp”
• Jelly Roll Morton,  “Original Jelly Roll Blues”
• Count Basie and his Orchestra,  “Jumpin’ at the Woodside”

*From NEA Jazz in the School Program