MUS3309 Critique 5 Instructions
Video Critique #5
Due Friday, April 23
For this assignment, you will write three paragraphs.
Paragraph #1 “Cool Jazz”
View Videos:
Choose the one video that you like the best….
Write a paragraph that describes the video you chose, list what appeals to you, and explain why you chose this particular video over the others.
Paragraph #2 “West Coast Jazz”
View Videos
Choose the one video that you like the best….
Write a paragraph that describes the video you chose, list what appeals to you, and explain why you chose this particular video over the others.
Paragraph #3
Write a comparison/critique of the “two videos you chose” in paragraphs #1 & #2.
- Point out the similarities or differences between your two choices. How do they compare with one another?
- Do you favor one over the other?
- What do these two video choices reveal about your personal tastes in Cool Jazz and West Coast Jazz?
Number your paragraphs #1, #2, #3. You must identify your two chosen videos by title to receive credit for the assignment.
Critique #5 is due Friday, April 23
NOTES:
Cool Jazz - “Controlled Intensity”
- Alternative to the energetic sound of Be Bop.
- Toned-down dynamics (Volume/loudness)
- Muted Tones (dark sounds, non-rhythmic approach, longer ideas, slower Tempos).
- Dissonant Chords: utilized in a subtle to music sounding “cool” drawing the listener in.
- Became the “sound” of hip “urban middle-class” lifestyle (fashions, cars, food, image, lifestyle)
What to listen for in “Cool Jazz”
- The music sounds like it’s floating on top of a pulse rather than a “beat’.
- Soloists have space to develop melodic ideas that are easy for the listener to follow.
- Compositions/arrangements are based on simple ideas.
- The use of less musicians reveals a transparency of individual “colors” of from each instrument.
- Slower tempos are more relaxed promoting an ‘easy listening” experience that clarifies the individual instrumental activities taking place.
- A cerebral characteristic is the striving for pure sound with overt emotionalism held in check.
“West Coast jazz” refers to jazz styles that developed in Los Angeles and San Francisco during the 1950’s/60’s.
West Coast jazz is often seen as a subgenre of cool jazz that was a calmer style than bebop. The music relied relatively more on composition and arrangement than on the individually improvised playing of other jazz styles.
Although this style dominated, it was not the only form of jazz heard on the West Coast. Pacific Jazz and Contemporary were two of the major record labels that recorded West Coast jazz.
Some of the major pioneers of West Coast jazz were Shorty Rogers, Gerry Mulligan, Paul Desmond, Bob Brookmeyer, Bud Shank Clare Fischer, and others.