Editing Jazz band

{{Short description|Musical ensemble that plays jazz music}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2015}}
[[File:West Point Band Jazz Knights.jpg|thumb|350px|The West Point Band's Jazz Knights perform in West Point's Eisenhower Hall (2011)]]
[[File:Jazz Band in Queens Park - geograph.org.uk - 729107.jpg|thumb|250px|The Magna Jazz Band performs at The [[Queen's Park, London|Queens Park]] (1988)]]

A '''jazz band''' ('''jazz ensemble''' or '''jazz combo''') is a [[musical ensemble]] that plays [[jazz]] music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a [[rhythm section]] and a [[horn section]].

The size of a jazz band is closely related to the style of jazz they play as well as the type of venues in which they play. Smaller jazz bands, also known as ''combos'', are common in night clubs and other small venues and will be made up of three to seven musicians; whereas [[big band]]s are found in dance halls and other larger venues.<ref name=definejazz>{{cite web |last1=Criswell |first1=Chad |title=What Is a Jazz Band? |url=https://suite.io/chad-criswell/88s26b|access-date=July 25, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728201650/https://suite.io/chad-criswell/88s26b |archive-date=July 28, 2014|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Jazz bands can vary in size from a big band, to a smaller trio or quartet. Some bands use vocalists, while others are purely instrumental groups.

Jazz bands and their composition have changed many times throughout the years, just as the music itself changes with personal interpretation and improvisation of its performers.<ref name="definejazz"/>

==Ensemble types==
[[File:CountBasieEthelWatersStageDoorCanteen.jpg|thumb|[[Count Basie]] and band, with vocalist [[Ethel Waters]], from the film ''[[Stage Door Canteen (film)|Stage Door Canteen]]'' (1943)]]

===Combos===
It is common for musicians in a combo to perform their music from memory. The improvisational nature of these performances make every show unique.<ref name="definejazz"/>

==Instrumentation==
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 28590 Jazz band.JPG|thumb|right|200px|''Jazz Band'', by Israeli artist [[David Gerstein]]]]

The [[rhythm section]] consists of the [[percussion instrument|percussion]], [[double bass]] or [[bass guitar]], and usually at least one instrument capable of playing [[chord (music)|chords]], such as a [[piano]], [[guitar]], [[Hammond organ]] or [[vibraphone]]; most will usually have more than one of these. The standard rhythm section is piano, bass, and drums.<ref name="jazzinamerica1">{{cite web|url=http://www.jazzinamerica.org/LessonPlan/8/3/204 |title=Roles of the Instruments |publisher=Jazzinamerica.org |access-date=May 21, 2014}}</ref>

The [[horn section]] consists of a woodwind section and a [[brass section]], which play the [[melody]].<ref name="jazzinamerica1"/>

===Rhythm section===
{{main|Rhythm section#Jazz}}
[[File:Satchmofest 12 Leroy Jones Rhythm Section.JPG|thumb|A rhythm section, with bass and drums]]

====Banjo====
{{main|Banjo}}
The banjo has been used in jazz since the earliest jazz bands.<ref name="banjo">{{cite book|last1=Boyd|first1=Jean A.|title=The Jazz of the Southwest: An Oral History of Western Swing|date=1998|publisher=University of Texas Press|location=Austin|isbn=0-292-70860-2|page=147|edition=First|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8cf6AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA147|access-date=July 21, 2014}}</ref> The earliest use of the banjo in a jazz band was by [[Frank Duson]] in 1917, however [[Laurence Marrero]] claims it became popular in 1915.<ref name="banjo2">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jkdncIIFJtYC&pg=PP1 | title=Exploring Early Jazz: The Origins and Evolution of the New Orleans Style | isbn=0-595-21876-8|publisher=Writers Club Press | year=2002 | access-date=July 21, 2014 | last1=Hardie|first1=Daniel | pages=264}}</ref>

There are three common types of banjo, the [[Banjo#Four-string banjos|plectrum banjo]], [[Banjo#Tenor banjo|tenor banjo]], and [[Banjo#Low banjos|cello banjo]]. Over time, the four-stringed tenor banjo became the most common banjo used in jazz.<ref name="banjo"/> The drum-like sound box on the banjo made it louder than the acoustic guitars that were common with early jazz bands, and banjos were popular for recording.<ref name="banjo2"/>

====Bass====
{{main|Jazz bass}}
{{Listen
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Beginning in the early 1950s, some jazz bass players began to use the electric bass guitar in place of the double bass.<ref name="centeralblues">{{cite web |url=http://centraldelawareblues.com/historybassguitar.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810165843/http://centraldelawareblues.com/historybassguitar.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 10, 2014 |title=The history of the electric bass part one: the early days |author=Roger Newell |date=October 24, 2011 |access-date=July 25, 2014 }}</ref>

====Drums====
{{main|Jazz drumming}}
{{Listen
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Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion, usually the [[drum set]], in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era [[jazz-rock fusion]] and 1980s-era [[Latin jazz]]. Stylistically, this aspect of performance was shaped by its starting place, New Orleans,<ref name="the history of jazz">Gioia, T. (1997). ''The History of Jazz''. Oxford University Press: New York, NY. {{ISBN|978-0-19-512653-2}}</ref> as well as numerous other regions of the world, including other parts of the [[United States]], the [[Caribbean]], and [[Africa]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Theodore Dennis |title=A History and Analysis of Jazz Drumming to 1942 |date=1976 |publisher=University of Michigan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W1vsAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>

Jazz required a method of playing percussion different from traditional [[Europe]]an styles, one that was easily adaptable to the different rhythms of the new genre, fostering the creation of jazz drumming's hybrid technique.<ref name="evolution">Brown, T, D. (1969). The Evolution of Early Jazz Drumming. ''Percussionist'', ''7''(2), 39–44.</ref>

===Woodwind section===

====Clarinet====
{{main|Clarinet#Jazz}}
{{Listen
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| title       = Jazz clarinet
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The clarinet is a woodwind instrument with a [[single-reed]] mouthpiece. A clarinet player is known as a clarinetist. Originally, the clarinet was a central instrument in jazz, beginning with the New Orleans players in the 1910s. It remained a signature instrument of jazz through much of the [[big band]] era into the 1940s.<ref name="Cambridge companion">{{cite book |last1=Lawson |first1=Colin James |title=The Cambridge Companion to the Clarinet |series=[[Cambridge Companions to Music]] |date=1995 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge and New York |isbn=0521476682 |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani00prof |url-access=registration }}</ref> [[Larry Shields]] was the clarinetist for the [[Original Dixieland Jazz Band]], the first jazz band to record commercially in 1917. The American players [[Ted Lewis (musician)|Ted Lewis]] and [[Jimmie Noone]] were pioneers of the instrument in jazz bands. The B{{music|flat}} soprano clarinet was the most common instrument, but a few early jazz musicians such as [[Alcide Nunez]] preferred the C soprano clarinet, and many New Orleans jazz brass bands have used an E{{music|flat}} soprano clarinet.<ref name="Cambridge companion" /> 
Swing clarinetists such as [[Benny Goodman]], [[Artie Shaw]], and [[Woody Herman]] led successful big bands and smaller groups from the 1930s onward.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schuller |first1=Gunther |title=The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930–1945 |date=1989 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0195071409 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195043129 |url-access=registration }}</ref>

With the decline of the big bands' popularity in the late 1940s, the clarinet faded from its prominent position in jazz and the saxophone rose in importance in many jazz bands, probably because it uses a less complicated fingering system.<ref name="Palmer">{{cite web |last1=Palmer |first1=Robert |title=John Carter's Case for the Clarinet |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/05/arts/john-carter-s-case-for-the-clarinet.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=21 September 2016 |date=5 July 1981 }}</ref> But the clarinet did not entirely disappear. In the late 50s, traditional jazz experienced a revival, with the notable example of clarinetist [[Acker Bilk]]'s Bristol Paramount Jazz Band. Some of the works of Bilk's jazz band reached the pop charts.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kaufman |first=Will |author2=Heidi Slettedahl Macpherson |title=Britain and the Americas |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2005 |isbn=1-85109-431-8 }}</ref>

====Saxophone section====
{{main|Saxophone#In jazz and popular music}}
{{Listen
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| title       = Jazz saxophone
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In the saxophone section, all of the saxophones will play a similar melodic line, but the [[baritone saxophone|baritone sax]] doubles by occasionally joining in with the [[bass trombone]] and [[bass (guitar)|bass]] to play the bass line. A big band saxophone section typically consists of two [[alto saxophone]]s, two [[tenor saxophone]]s, and one baritone saxophone.<ref name="bestsax">{{cite web |last1=Rzepiela |first1=Jeff |title=A Guide to Playing in a Big Band Saxophone Section |date=August 7, 2012 |url=http://www.bestsaxophonewebsiteever.com/playing-big-band-saxophone-section/ |access-date=July 25, 2014}}</ref>

===String section===
{{main|String section}}

====Violin====
{{main|Jazz violin}}
{{Listen
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[[Jazz violin]] is the use of the violin or [[electric violin]] to improvise solo lines. Although the violin has been used in jazz recordings since the first decades of the 20th century, it is more commonly associated with folk music than jazz.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fiddlingaround.co.uk/jazz/ |title=Jazz violin |publisher=Fiddling Around the World |access-date=July 23, 2014 |author=Haigh, Chris}}</ref> Jazz musician [[Milt Hinton]] claimed that the decline in violin players coincided with the introduction of [[movie|sound movies]], as many violin players were used as accompaniment for [[silent films]].<ref name="ladouble">{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-27-ca-835-story.html |title=They'll String Along With the Double Bass |website=Los Angeles Times |date=August 27, 1988 |access-date=July 23, 2014 |author=Stewart, Zan}}</ref>

===Vocalists===
{{main|Vocal jazz}}
The definition of a jazz vocalist can be unclear because jazz has shared a great deal with [[blues]] and [[pop music]] since the 1920s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Will |first1=Friedwald |title=Jazz Singing: America's Great Voices from Bessie Smith to Bebop and Beyond |date=1990 |publisher=Perseus Books Group |isbn=0306807122 |pages=x-xi |edition=illustrated, reprint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jV8PJnlxQS8C&pg=PR12|access-date=July 23, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810140320/http://books.google.ca/books?id=jV8PJnlxQS8C&lpg=PR12&dq=part%20of%20the%20problem%20lies%20in%20jazz%27s%20close%20relationship&pg=PR12#v=onepage&q=part%20of%20the%20problem%20lies%20in%20jazz's%20close%20relationship&f=false |archive-date=August 10, 2014 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>  In their book ''Essential Jazz'', Henry Martin and Keith Waters identify five main characteristics that identify jazz singing, three of which are: "Loose [[Musical phrasing|phrasing]] [...], use of [[blue notes]] [...], [and] free melodic embellishment."<ref name="essentials">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TmW7t2gBpa4C&pg=PT175 |title=Essential Jazz: The First 100 Years |publisher=Cengage Learning |date=2014 |access-date=July 23, 2014 |author1=Martin, Henry |author2=Waters, Keith |page=149 |edition=3rd |isbn=978-1-133-96440-7 }}</ref> Often the human voice can act in place of a brass section in playing melodies, both written and improvised.<ref name=jazzinamerica1 />

[[Scat singing]] is vocal [[Musical improvisation|improvisation]] with wordless vocables, [[pseudoword|nonsense syllables]] or without words at all. Though scat singing is improvised, the melodic lines are often variations on [[Musical scale|scale]] and [[arpeggio]] fragments, [[lick (music)|stock patterns]] and [[riff]]s, as is the case with instrumental improvisers. The deliberate choice of scat syllables is also a key element in vocal jazz improvisation. Syllable choice influences the pitch [[articulation (music)|articulation]], coloration, and [[Sonorant|resonance]] of the performance.<ref>{{Harvnb|Berliner|1994|p=125}}</ref>

==Repertoire==
Another important aspect of jazz is [[Jazz improvisation|improvisation]] ("[[Jam session|jams]]"). Bands playing in this fashion fall under the category of [[jam band]]s.<ref name="allaboutjazz">{{cite web |url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/improvising-art-from-jam-bands-to-jazz-by-jacob-hobson.php?pg=2 |title=Improvising Art: From Jam Bands to Jazz  |last1=Hobson |first1=Jacob |date=September 9, 2013 |website=All About Jazz |access-date=July 21, 2014}}</ref> A common way to incorporate improvisation is to feature solo performances from band members made up on the spot, allowing them to showcase their skill.<ref>{{cite web |title=What is Jazz? |url=http://www.smithsonianjazz.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=560&Itemid=89 |website=smithsonianjazz.org |access-date=July 22, 2014}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery class="center" caption="" widths="200px" heights="170px" >
File:Jazz art, 1924.png|Jazz ensemble in art, 1924
File:Louisiana Five Jazz Band famous publicity photo.jpg|The [[Louisiana Five]] Jazz Band in a publicity photo (1919)
File:Maison Jazz Band.jpg|Jazz band performing at Maison, in [[New Orleans]] (2010)
File:Montreal-Jazz-Band.jpg|The Montreal Jazz Band (2013)
File:(African American) Jazz Band and Leader Back with (African American) 15th New York. Lieutenant Jame . . . - NARA - 533506.jpg|Jazz band leader Lieutenant James Reese with the 369th Infantry (1919)
File:Woody Allen with the Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band Philharmonie Gasteig München.jpg|[[Woody Allen]] performing with the Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band (2011)
File:Jazz Puzzles Old Mint Band 6 Mute.JPG|The New Orleans Fiesta Jazz Band, performing at the Old Mint Museum in New Orleans (2013)
File:PresHallBandJaquesA.jpg|The [[Preservation Hall Jazz Band]] performs at the funeral of clarinetist [[Jacques Gauthé]] at [[Preservation Hall]] (2007)
File:Marching jazz band - Flickr - Terry Wha.jpg|A [[Marching band|marching]] jazz band in Lancashire, UK (2007)
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Jazz|Music}}
*[[Juvenile jazz band]]
*[[List of big bands]]
*[[List of jazz musicians]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Works cited===
* {{cite book|last = Berliner|first = Paul|author-link = Paul Berliner (ethnomusicologist)|year = 1994|title = Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation|place = Chicago|publisher = [[University of Chicago Press]]|isbn = 978-0-226-04381-4|url-access = registration|url = https://archive.org/details/thinkinginjazzin0000berl}}

{{Jazz}}

[[Category:Jazz ensembles| ]]
[[Category:Types of musical groups]]
[[Category:African-American cultural history]]
[[Category:African-American music]]