Lesson #22

LESSON #22

Style Recognition

Exercise

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.

1.3 Students will appreciate that tunes not normally associated with traditional jazz can be creatively interpreted in that idiom.

2.1 Students will become acquainted with the common elements of traditional jazz styles.

2.2 Students will become acquainted with the differences among traditional jazz styles.

2.33 Students will appreciate that many traditional jazz performances mix elements of various styles.

RATIONALE: The students have gained a knowledge of the various styles of traditional jazz, and this exercise strengthens their ability to apply that knowledge.

NATIONAL STANDARDS SUPPORTED: See Appendix C.

KIT COMPONENTS:

■ Audio tracks:

• Track 19, “O Holy Night” by the New Black Eagle Jazz Band

• Track 20, “A Woman Is a Sometime Thing” by the Jim Cullum Jazz Band

New Black Eagle Jazz Band

ACTIVITY (app. 30 minutes):

The students will apply their knowledge of traditional jazz styles by assessing the stylistic elements present in two previously unheard recordings.

1. Without reviewing the elements of the styles, play online audio track 19, “O Holy Night” by the New Black Eagle Jazz Band (app. 5 minutes). This is a current band based in Massachusetts; they were seen in the video segment in Lesson #1, and again in Lesson #18, featuring tuba player Eli Newberger.

2. Discuss with the students their impressions of the audio track (app. 10 minutes). How would they rate this track overall on a scale of 1 to 10? Can this performance be characterized as representative of one of the styles we’ve studied, or does it mix elements of different styles? What are those elements and the styles with which they are normally associated?

3. Play online audio track 20, “A Woman Is a Sometime Thing” by the Jim Cullum Jazz Band (app. 5 minutes). This is a current band based in Texas; they were seen in the video segment in Lesson #1. The Jim Cullum Jazz Band has toured the country presenting an entire program of their traditional jazz arrangements of the Gershwin opera “Porgy and Bess”.

4. Discuss with the students their impressions of the audio track (app. 10 minutes), asking the same questions as for the previous track.

EVALUATION: Do the students remember the elements of the various traditional jazz styles? Can they recognize these elements when they hear them? Do they have an appreciation for the creative possibilities inherent in traditional jazz?