As dancers, choreographers, DJs, and appreciators of jazz from the 1920's to the 1940's (which I will call vintage jazz), if someone unfamiliar with the genre asks us for a sample of what we dance to, we probably have a list of at least five based on different criteria. Is it for dancing or listening pleasure? Big band, New Orleans jazz, Chicago blues, or gypsy swing? If for dancing, what kind of swing dance (lindy, charleston, balboa, or blues - omitting west coast on the basis of music)? Then there's your audience characteristics: age, musical preferences, and current view on jazz. If all they're used to are the GAP commercial, "that one swing song that comes up", or late era freestyle jazz, it may take more to convince them that it's not an elitist art enjoyed only by solemn artsies in a dark club. The optimal answer to broaden someone's perspective to jazz would be to personalize the song choice. Failing that, what is the optimal go-to jazz song to embody the boldness of the art and the expression of an era?
One song (or excerpt) is probably the minimum amount of time that a person will give you. So the question was put to the social media world; friends, dancers, and DJs alike. After getting some sass about picking only one song, the poll produced a rather extensive list of songs and observations. I compiled the songs onto a playlist, where I listened to them in succession, looking for particular points brought up by the post and drawing further connections. Obviously, not everyone agreed on the one perfect song (in fact most people had unique contributions), with only Jumpin' at the Woodside getting multiple votes. Observations were grouped and I came up with five categories: energy, tempo, dynamics, melody, and musical devices.
Energy
Common to almost all of the songs listed, At the Jazz Band Ball by Muggsy Spanier being the exception, the songs had a lower energy intro which quickly developed into the theme/hook within the A section. It ensures that the listener's attention is captured without getting a metaphorical slap in the face of a cacophony of instruments. Songs like Stealin' Apples by Glenn Miller and The Carioca by Artie Shaw are prime examples of this. The difference between the two is that The Carioca plays the "this is uncharacteristically slow, something's going to happen" game.
Throughout the songs, the best and brightest do a really good job of tossing the energy from one instrument or section to the other. Some songs will toss it back and forth within a measure (Yatch Club Swing by Fats Waller) or pass the baton after a phrase (Blues my naughty sweetie gives to me by Sidney Bichet). The faster the tempo, the slower these transitions happen, since it'd be an assault on the senses.
Talking low energy versus high energy, some really play with the extremes (Man from Mars by Artie Shaw) or keep it pretty even (Massachusetts by Anita O'Day). Within the collection of songs submitted, the average energy balances out. Something that is entirely high energy, would be 1) exhausting for the musicians, so that just didn't happen and 2) like drinking from a firehose with no rest to absorb the content. Conversely, low energy jazz, like Cream Puff by Artie Shaw, while captivating for those who like it, is not as engaging for someone new.
Tempo
A separate entity from the energy of the song is the speed of the song. Beginning lindy hoppers get excited for the really fast songs because they also have a lot of energy; which is too much to handle for about 3 minutes at a time. When the beats per minute start the crawl up, the subtleties in the music can be missed if you don't catch it in time. So for people new to jazz, it'd be ideal to give them a song of a tempo that is mellow enough in order to catch and absorb the melody (discussed later). Conversely, putting someone to sleep with a 90 BPM song won't work either. You consider that most top pop songs or one hit wonders are quite up beat; an easy way to create a happy-feeling song (appreciation goes out to artists who totally mess with this and put it to depressing lyrics). Massachusetts, Yacht Club Swing, and Flying Home by Lionel Hampton strike that balance well.
The criteria of tempo might be the most widely debatable about what is the target for the ideal song, since some of the faster songs like Jumpin' at the Woodside by Count Basie is rarely ever disliked by dancers and Sing Sing Sing by Benny Goodman is the iconic "that one swing song that comes up". Even in my figure skating days, I got excited when my friend's Sing Sing Sing routine music was played during practice sessions. There's a reason these are well liked and used, they are the all out no bars held pieces of the big band jazz world. But jazz isn't always that extroverted, and I think it's fair that songs that show that side of the genre are also valid as impressive.
Dynamics
If jazz music were peanut butter, the poll would suggest that crunchy wins. There were no smooth songs among the bunch, but the level of "chunky" varied from Moonglow to At the Jazz Band Ball. Smooth jazz doesn't have that toe-tapping quality, which is the first step in getting a person actively involved with listening to jazz. Drawing the comparison between jazz and pop songs, top hits often have a pretty chunky beat, keeping you alert to the music. For example, the song Some of These Days by Combo Royale has the solid infectious "chunk-chunk-chunk" sound whereas the version by Alice Babs and Nisse Lind is very smooth.
The complexities in music that I will refer to primarily refers to the number of simultaneous voices produced by one of more instruments. Most music, be it classical, jazz, pop, or rock, use this mechanic to ease the listener into the song. It is not a tactic unique to jazz, but rather a tactic that makes for enjoyable listening. What will make a big difference on the boldness of the song will depend on the number of instruments in the voice. Whereas Flying Home starts off with just the vibraphone, At the Jazz Band Ball has the whole band in there. An alternative are songs that keep the complexity really even throughout the song like House Hop by Benny Goodman. Though it does a great job of drawing the listener in, it has a slightly harder time maintaining the interest because of lack of overarching dynamics.
As a final note on dynamics, many of the songs chosen as that one ideal and impressive jazz song were by Benny Goodman or Artie Shaw, both bandleaders being clarinetists and frequent soloists in their own songs (The Carioca and Stealin' Apples). This creates an interesting scenario where the one instrument becomes largely responsible for song's dynamics, something which Goodman and Shaw were very capable of doing. The rest of the big band does join in, but rather than having all the instruments having a moderate to high level of participation, it's reined in.
Melody
Melody characteristics include not only lyrics, but pseudo-lyrics (scatting) or instrumental melody. Many of the top songs have at least a small portion of the song within the first few measures which is hummable. Basically, if someone asks you hey what song is this and starts humming, you should have a good idea (if they don't hum terribly). As much as scatting is intimidating to sing, it makes for easy lyrics to follow along with and make a song stick in your head. Lastly, to combat the confusion or loss of interest when the number of voices increases, the melody is the loudest or most prevalent to keep that familiarity (Moonglow by Artie Shaw).
Musical devices
From a dancers perspective, musical devices are the components of the song that we make up some cool movement to play off the music, whereas to a new person to jazz they would be "wow, what?" moments. The most interesting point brought up in the online discussion was the key changes and how it grabs peoples' attention. Changing keys, especially between major, minor, 7th, diminished, or augmented changing the mood and attitude of the piece (to the point where people may not know what happened to the music but they feel a change). The same phrase repeated in two keys is a simple way to up the interest level without complexity.
This next section talks more about hooks that make the song easier to remember such as repeated patterns, scatting, exaggeration, humour, and breaks. Firstly, having a catchy phrase repeated through the instruments or in different keys will keep the melody simple but easy to identify. A song that is more hummable should be more relatable for newcomers to jazz. I included scatting because to dancers or to newcomers to jazz, the phonetics are too bizarre to remember them exactly so you improvise, which could trigger a higher learning mechanic. Along with scatting are very simple lyrics like Diga Diga Doo. Beginner dancers tend to gravitate towards Ella Fitzgerald, Slim & Slam, and Louis Jordan because their musical devices are exaggerated and in Slim & Slam's case, introduces a lot of humour into the music. An important note made in the online discussion was new dancer's preference of jump blues like "Jump Jive and Wail" (i.e. the GAP ad). Lastly, the breaks. Dancers know them, musicians hear them coming, and newcomers to jazz get mentally shaken to attention. Breaks are great, whether the drums roll through them or radio silence for a few seconds, it emphasizes the first beat of the bar when the music returns (for example, when someone gets off time when they snap or clap to the song). Man from Mars by Shaw has a bunch of great breaks of varying dynamics and length. It's especially a good device for songs that have a more even energy in order to maintain listener interest.
Concluding Remarks
The minutiae of the points covered can vary based on personal preference for traditional jazz music, but the overarching points of energy, tempo, dynamics, melody, and musical devices are the ways to select the winning impressive jazz song. All of the suggestions from the online discussion were great and all have key elements of vintage jazz; whether it impresses your audience is up to chance. There's a reason why sound bites of old jazz songs are remixed in R&B songs, or techno swing came about. There's something infectious about the music created during a time where this art was the daily escape that we still identify with and appreciate.
A big thank you to all of those people who contributed in the online discussion, either by song suggestions, discussing musical factors, or help guiding the discussion.
This next section talks more about hooks that make the song easier to remember such as repeated patterns, scatting, exaggeration, humour, and breaks. Firstly, having a catchy phrase repeated through the instruments or in different keys will keep the melody simple but easy to identify. A song that is more hummable should be more relatable for newcomers to jazz. I included scatting because to dancers or to newcomers to jazz, the phonetics are too bizarre to remember them exactly so you improvise, which could trigger a higher learning mechanic. Along with scatting are very simple lyrics like Diga Diga Doo. Beginner dancers tend to gravitate towards Ella Fitzgerald, Slim & Slam, and Louis Jordan because their musical devices are exaggerated and in Slim & Slam's case, introduces a lot of humour into the music. An important note made in the online discussion was new dancer's preference of jump blues like "Jump Jive and Wail" (i.e. the GAP ad). Lastly, the breaks. Dancers know them, musicians hear them coming, and newcomers to jazz get mentally shaken to attention. Breaks are great, whether the drums roll through them or radio silence for a few seconds, it emphasizes the first beat of the bar when the music returns (for example, when someone gets off time when they snap or clap to the song). Man from Mars by Shaw has a bunch of great breaks of varying dynamics and length. It's especially a good device for songs that have a more even energy in order to maintain listener interest.
Concluding Remarks
The minutiae of the points covered can vary based on personal preference for traditional jazz music, but the overarching points of energy, tempo, dynamics, melody, and musical devices are the ways to select the winning impressive jazz song. All of the suggestions from the online discussion were great and all have key elements of vintage jazz; whether it impresses your audience is up to chance. There's a reason why sound bites of old jazz songs are remixed in R&B songs, or techno swing came about. There's something infectious about the music created during a time where this art was the daily escape that we still identify with and appreciate.
A big thank you to all of those people who contributed in the online discussion, either by song suggestions, discussing musical factors, or help guiding the discussion.
