PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Jazz and Blues are America’s indigenous musical art forms.
Blues is America’s root music, a pure Black American Art form born in the cotton-fields of the Delta. Jazz is Black America’s musical celebration of Life, born in New Orleans our “gift to the world”.
Jazz & Blues 4 Wee People
Jazz & Blues 4 Wee People is a program build around these two magnificent musical idioms. The focus of this program is cultural enlightenment, a history lesson about creativity, born from hardship.
It has been designed to “promote self-discovery within various cultures, utilizing the arts and artistic expression as a teaching tool to help develop young student’s sense of humanity”. Students will explore the relationships between the art of Jazz & Blues music and its African American roots and its impact upon the culture of the American music scene.
JB4WP ™was conceived as a program to introduce and explore the cultural roots of Jazz & Blues music and its influence on the music of today. Over the years, JB4WP ™ has successfully used a combination of live performance and historical narrative storytelling to enhance a number of different subject areas, including general music education and American history and social studies (through the impact of slaves and Latinos on American culture). We know that JB4WP ™ will continue to spark an interest among children in learning that extends beyond the “three Rs” which will help them become more well-rounded, creative and culturally aware.
PERFORMANCE SCRIPT
OPENING NUMBER
Kids settling down: Swing tune to be decided based upon energy level of students.
INTRODUCTION
Black History Month
Jazz & Blues, its roots and its Creators
Piano starts to play softly ... “Just a closer walk with thee” Medium tempo (101) clicks on metronome
Second time around Bass comes in (plays like tuba) as I narrate the beginnings of jazz.
I tell the kids if our great, great, great, great grandparents didn’t have the BLUES, we would not have Jazz, today.
Kids clap along as I explain THE DIRGE.
Horns come in last time and we play the tune out.
Cadence: 107 clicks then roll off
Kids are lined up for the march, others are clapping (musicians encourage this as they play to
get the kids involved.
“WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN.” (New Orleans Blazz)
We talk about Louie Armstrong, being the King of Jazz .
Louis and Ramon start the march. Piano plays two beat, bass plays like tuba, drums a cadence.
March twice around at the most.
Piano starts to play something fast to get their attention
“There was no piano in the original marching band .... (Lanny picks it up from here.) Two distinct piano styles created by pianists so that they could play jazz as well Rag Time ... Scott Joplin was one of its most famous composers.
Rag Time was “Arranged” music played by pianists called “Professors” because they wrote and arranged Rags.
Boogie Woogie was unarranged, combination of Rhythm and Blues and Swing. Boogie Woogie was for dancing. Sugar Chile Robinson was one of the early Boogie Woogie artists who made records. Boogie Woogie was played by untrained piano players.
Segue right into the Blues with heavy walking bass. 76 clicks
I narrate about the Blues .... piano comes in .. maybe I will sing a chorus and get the kids involved.
I talk about the origins of the Blues.
I sing “Kansas City”. At best two verses.
Horns play the traditional riffs behind the blues:
Kristen scats and does her about Women in Jazz: Mary Lou Williams, Melba Liston, Shirley Scott, Carmen McCray, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughn Women who played jazz and were jazz singers as well.
Plays the song of her choice...
SWINGING BIG BANDS AND JAZZ
Big Band Jazz came in the early 1940’s
Musicians traveled allover the States playing in huge ballrooms. There were ballroom dances and Bam dances
New dances like the lindy (sic) Hop, Jitterbug, Cat Walk and others Big Band Swing music made people happy
Palladium Ballroom, Savoy Ballroom and other throughout the United States Big Band music was arranged for from twelve to twenty pieces.
Fletcher Henderson, McKinney and the Cotton pickers, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and many others provided this Big Band Sound.
STOMPING AT THE SAVOY.. BATTLE OF THE BIG BANDS
Let the kids dance, clap, come up and ,play gadgets.
Louis: starts with the Pink Panther (to get their attention)
Bebop
Short explanation of the Tenor Saxophone
Talk briefly about why bebop came into being
Ex: More self expression, personalized styling Faster tempos, new music played over old songs etc.
Play a bebop tune that we will rehearse make it a repertoire of three songs to choose from.
Introduce the new rhythms into Bebop; Chano Poza, Candido Cat Jater (sic)
LATIN JAZZ
Start out by playing “The Hand Jive,” This brings in the clave’ Get the kids involved in clave…bring in the gadgets again.
I start Hand Jive and we go into St Thomas ... or. La Bamba .
Allow the kids to dance.
Wrap it all up by going over the elements again:
Rhythm Section and rhythms Boogie Woogie and Rag Time Big Band and Scatting
Bebop and Latin Jazz
We end with the pop song then Q and A.
JAZZ & bLUES 4 WEe PEOPLE - TEACHER'S GUIDE
JB4WP™
JAZZ & BLUES, IT'S ORIGINS AND ELEMENTS
EARLY NEW ORLEANS JAZZ
SWING ERA - KANSAS CITY TO NEW YORK
BE BOP REVOLUTION
COOL AND FUNK JAZZ
THE NEW IMAGE OF JAZZ
THE BEGINNING, DELTA BLUES
KANSAS CITY - Oklahoma Blues Trails
MENPHIS TO CHICAGO STYLE BLUES
BLUES TO RYTHYM & BLUES
Teacher's Outline
Concept created by Washington I Rucker, developed in association with Heritage Empowered Arts Legacy, Inc. Arts Education Program
The following is a general Teacher's Outline for the program, JB4WP™.
This guide will give teachers unfamiliar with the elements of Jazz & Blues, key points to underscore with their students. The makeup of Jazz & Blues will be demonstrated in the presentation by the musicians. This fast-paced historical journey through Jazz & Blues is designed to entertain, educate and engage even the youngest child. Kids will be introduced to Jazz & Blues and the instruments used in the genre, develop a greater appreciation for its continuing role in their lives and hopefully, spur desire to learn more about music in general as they progress through their education.
The musicians fully understand the importance of education and how music can be used as an important tool to make the process of learning fun and engaging. As well as to give a strong foundation to the parts of education that often are overlooked.
Jazz & Blues 4 Wee People program is designed to encourage participation by the students in order to introduce them to Jazz & Blues America's indigenous music art forms - while at the same time illustrate how elements of Jazz &
Blues are present in everyday life.
The Second Line
The Second Line is a traditional New Orleans funeral activity that dates back to the very beginnings of Jazz, born of Blues roots in America at the turn of the last century. Students will participate in their own Second line as they march from the playground to class to a set rhythm, or to one of their own. This, the part of the "Call and Response" element and the active participation of, is
open to all of the kids and is the beginning of the long and fun-filled journey through the Jazz & Blues experience.
Rhythm
Rhythm, a very important element in Jazz, will be demonstrated by its use on the playground in activities such as jumping
rope, Double Dutch, bouncing basketballs, playing Patty Cake and skipping. This same rhythmic (syncopation) concept is used in all aspects of jazz, be it Swing, Be Bop or Dixieland music. It is the most salient element in America's most popular music; the Hip Hop and Rap of today.
Counting/Form
The musicians will show that another element of Blues music, the measure or bar of music, is something that students can follow as they count along with the musicians when they play the Blues. The students can also count along and, by doing so, be part of the foundation of building a Jazz or Blues solo. This element is effective in the process of learning to count, add and subtract in classes, to music.
Improvisation/Making It Up
The element of Improvisation is not only a crucial element, but, one of the hallmarks of Jazz & Blues. Students will be shown how
the songs they make up on the playground (or the rap music) they listen to, all stem from this musical genre called Jazz & Blues.
Improvisation gives the musician freedom to create a song within a song, using form and the other elements of Jazz & Blues to do so.
Intertwined in all this will be historical information related to Jazz & Blues including the birthplace of Jazz & Blues, its creators and early pioneers, how Jazz moved throughout the U.S. and why. How Jazz & Blues has evolved from its earliest beginnings. The continuing influence of Jazz & Blues and its elements on popular music of today, throughout the world. At the end of this 50 minute presentation of Jazz & Blues, we are absolutely sure that the students will come away enlighten, about America's 2 indigenous musical art forms, through the use of the musical artists and storytellers. As dedicated musicians/creative historians and storytellers we strive to add humor and fun to the introduction of Jazz & Blues to reach out to the students and have them in turn, embrace these indigenous art forms by a variety of ways. This will perpetuate not only these music idioms, but just as importantly, Black History that is a major part of American culture. As well, giving today's youth an opportunity to participate in the creation of new forms of Jazz & Blues, the living art forms born here in this great country, and yet is shared by the world body of musicians and aficionados.