LESSON #17

Swing and Mainstream Styles,

Part 1

This lesson supports the following GOALS:

[Goal #1] Students will gain an appreciation of traditional jazz and the continuing value of this music.

[Goal #2] Students will become acquainted with the variety of styles within the traditional jazz genre, and with some of its major figures.

This lesson supports the following OBJECTIVES:

1.1    Students will become acquainted with what well-played traditional jazz sounds like.

2.25   Students will become acquainted with what the Swing Style of traditional jazz sounds like.

2.26  Students will become acquainted with what the Mainstream Style of traditional jazz sounds like.

2.27   Students will become acquainted with the distinguishing characteristics of the Swing Style of tradi­tional jazz.

2.28   Students will become acquainted with the distinguishing characteristics of the Mainstream Style of traditional jazz.

2.29   Students will become acquainted with some of the pioneers of the Swing Style of traditional jazz.

 

RATIONALE: The Swing and Mainstream extensions of the later Chicago Style come closest to most students’ current frame of reference, and constitute an important point of departure for appreciating the New Orleans-based styles of jazz.

NATIONAL STANDARDS SUPPORTED: See Appendix C.

KIT COMPONENTS:

■ Style Guide

■ Audio tracks:

 •  Track 15, “Who’s Sorry Now” by Bob Crosby’s Bob Cats

 •  Track 16, “Honeysuckle Rose” by the Teddy Wilson Sextet

 •  Track 1, “It All Belongs to Me” by Eddie Metz and his Gang

 

ACTIVITY (app. 40 minutes):

1. Prepare the students for audio tracks 15 and 16 by sharing the elements of the Swing Style as outlined in the Style Guide (app. 5 minutes).  Point out to the students that big-band swing, and most small-group swing, is not part of “traditional jazz” as we have defined it; we are dealing here only with small-group swing that employs polyphony and/or other New Orleans elements.

2. Play online audio track 15, “Who’s Sorry Now” by Bob Crosby’s Bob Cats, 1937 (app. 5 minutes).  This was a small group within the Bob Crosby Orchestra (big band) containing several New Orleanians.  The ensemble passages in this recording contain portions that are scored.  A later version of the Bob Cats was seen in the video segment in the previous lesson (Lesson #16), and bassist Bob Haggart and drummer Ray Bauduc will be seen in the video segment in the next lesson (Lesson #18).

3. Play online audio track 16, “Honeysuckle Rose” by the Teddy Wilson Sextet, 1944 (app. 5 minutes). The ensemble passages in this recording contain riffs.  Drummer Sid Catlett was seen in the video segment in Lesson #8.

4. Discuss with the students their impressions of the audio tracks (app. 5 minutes).  How many of the described stylistic elements were they able to hear?  (See accompanying table)

5. Prepare the students for audio track 1 by sharing the elements of the Mainstream Style as outlined in the Style Guide (app. 5 minutes).  This track was placed first among the audio tracks because Mainstream Style is the most familiar-sounding to young people, as it employs a later harmonic language than the other traditional jazz styles.

6. Play online audio track 1, “It All Belongs to Me” by Eddie Metz and his Gang (app. 10 minutes), first heard in Lesson #2.  This track features one of the clinicians in the video segments, trumpeter Randy Sandke (presented in Lesson #7).

7. Discuss with the students their impressions of the audio track (app. 5 minutes).  How many of the described stylistic elements were they able to hear?  (See accompanying table)

EVALUATION:  Do the students understand the elements of the Swing and Mainstream Styles of traditional jazz?

Stylistic Elements Chart:

Swing Style

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stylistic Elements Chart:

Mainstream Style

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The students should be able to hear elements of the styles approximately as outlined above.  These are subjective judgements; allow for disagreements.

© 2014 David Robinson, Jr.