One of the true American music art form is Jazz which has been the foundation of many music genres in the modern music era. There are several forms of jazz that has evolved through time. The oldest and known to be the origin of jazz is Ragtime, this is the music born from rhythms of African music and heritage. This is also incorporated to different styles such as coon songs, cakewalk and music from jig bands which afterwards turned into Ragtime back in 1895. The main characteristic and notable precursor of the early form Ragtime music was based from marches, traditional songs and waltzes, but the most common and prominent characteristic of this jazz style is the syncopation of notes encompassed in the rhythms of the song (Styles of Jazz Music, Web, N.D.).
There are other forms of jazz such as Classic Jazz that began in 1900; it also follows the original characteristics of Ragtime but with a few adaptations of other melodies and work songs together with Blues. Hot Jazz popularized in 1925 on the other hand has rather collective solo improvisations structured using melodic patterns that creates emotional climax. There is also Chicago Style jazz introduced in 1930’s, this one had originated from New Orleans, the most noticeable characteristic of this jazz type is the swing mood incorporated to it with complex improvisations of melody and solo themes. Kansas City style jazz has strong swing feel paired energetic solo arrangements, mostly played to a specific type of audience called speakeasy. Other popular forms are Gypsy, Bebop, Swing, Mainstream, Cool and Vocalese.
Among the many jazz artists in the United States, one of the most highly acclaimed and known master of jazz style is Keith Jarrett who was born on May 8, 1945. He is an American pianist and composer who can perform on both classical music and jazz. Jarrett started his career by collaborating with Art Blakey and later joined with Charles Lloyd and lastly with Miles Davis. He is well known for improvisational style of jazz following the traditional of the genre as well combining fusion of gospel, western classical, folk and blues. Although Jarrett was blessed with so much talent in music, he showed greater heights and was acknowledged in his improvisational jazz style of music (Diliberto, Web N.D.).
Keith Jarrett’s renowned master piece is the “All the things you are” from his album Tribute. Recorded in October 5, 1989 at Cologne, Germany he was joined with Garry Peacock on Bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Keith played the piano in this piece originally composed by Oscar Hammerstein III and Jerome Kern. This track is also known as one of the most popular standards in jazz music of all time. When we hear the track the first thing you will notice is the launching point where an impeccable use of bebop tunes as he enters the premise. As it progress, the songs stretches into a supreme disciplined yet wild hits on the changes of the tune. The accompaniment of bass and drums greatly compliments the track as it evolves throughout. It went beautifully hand in hand with Jarrett’s piano playing. The song is measured at 36 AA-2 and BA-3 which features a couple of twists on the AABA 32-Bar for the part A of the track.
The part A-2 section on the other hand echo’s precisely on the eight initial measures of the A section. The root on each chord is an exception because initially section A was transposed down or lowered by fourth interval. Now, in terms of modulation this is a very unusual to be a pop single during that period which seems to be a challenge to modern improviser especially the modulation in semitone ending in each of section A. Another noticeable characteristic of this track is the substitution of enharmonic at the turn of section B (Wamock, Web, 05, December 2011). Because of the strong combination of melodies and logical chord structuring, the track became one of the popular standards in Jazz. It also inspired other composers such as Charlie Parker in using the same pattern of changes for his work in “Birds of Paradise”. If we are to dissect the sections of the piece, obviously the primary section is consist of bars ranging from one to eight labeled as A. This is also followed by another eight bars, although they are similar in measurement they are built in keys different from one another, making the section as divided into half tunes or otherwise called as expositions. The B section has bars ranging from seventeen up to twenty four bars, while the last sections were made similar to the first but somehow a different by using recapitulation approaches.
In conclusion, the amount of innovation surrounding the track represents the supreme artist within Jarrett as what he did in his Koln concert and other works. His approaches to his compositions are well developed with great array of intellect and virtuosity connected with good deal beauty that translates to a warm harmony of rhythms. Jarrett’s imaginative approach to his work with “All the Things you are” in particular showed the vast level of his creativity in music and genuine ability. His works particularly “All the Things you are” had set the bar for standards in jazz music. Jarrett is a living representation of endless possibilities of human artistry. His achievements were unmatched for he was the greatest artist of his time excelling both in improvisation and piano playing. Keith Jarrett’s contribution to the genre became one of the foundations of jazz and is still admired up to this day. Because of his achievements and contributions to the music industry, Jarrett was given recognitions from France and Germany including the one given by the French Ministry of Culture (Werner, Web, 28, August 2011).
Works Cited
Apassion4jazz.net. N.D. Web. Styles of Jazz Music. Retrieved 05, December 2011 from http://www.apassion4jazz.net/jazz_styles.html
Diliberto, John N.D. Web. Jazz Profiles from NPR. Retrieved 05, December 2011 from www.npr.org/programs/jazzprofiles/archive/jarrett_k.html
Werner, Kenny 28, August 2011. Artist's Choice: Kenny Werner on Keith Jarrett Today’s top jazz performers pick 10 favorite tracks by the players, singers and styles that helped define them. Web. Retrieved 05, December 2011 from http://jazztimes.com/articles/28162-artist-s-choice-kenny-werner-on-keith-jarrett
Wamock, Mathew Phd. All The Things You Are N.D. A Harmonic Analysis. Web. Retrieved 05, December 2011 from http://www.jazzguitar.be/all_the_things_you_are.html
