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MUHI 315
Fall 2017, Case Western Reserve University
T, TR, 10:0011:15
Paul Ferguson, Instructor, pxf2@case.edu
Required Texts
Keeping Time by Robert Walser, 2nd Edition
Recommended TextAmerican Popular Song by Alec Wilder
This class is designed to give an overview of Jazz History, followed by detailed melodic and
harmonic analysis of classic American Popular songs written largely between 1910 and 1950.
Do the readings before class. Choose one of the essays and provide a one page summary that
includes your impressions of the music discussed in the essay, or performed by a musician
discussed in the essay.
8/29 Origins of Jazz
8/31 Ragtime, BluesJoplin, Johnson, Bessie Smith
Reading: Walser Part 1, 1 page summary due
9/5 Jelly Roll Morton
9/7 Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke
Reading: Walser Part 2, 1 page summary due
9/12 Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson
9/14 Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn
Reading: Walser Part 3, 1 page summary due
9/19 Count Basie, JP Johnson, Art Tatum
9/21 Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Charlie Christian
9/26 BebopCharlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell
9/28 Thelonious Monk
Reading: Walser Part 4, 1 page summary due
10/3 Miles Davis 194459
10/5 Miles Davisthe sixties and beyond
Reading: Walser Part 5, 1 page summary due
10/10 John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins
10/12 Ornette Coleman, Free Jazz
Reading: Walser Part 6, 1 page summary due
10/17 Bill Evans, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock
Reading: Walser Part 7, 1 page summary due
10/19 MIDTERM EXAM, 5 page jazz artist papers due
10/24 Fall Break
10/27 Jerome Kern
10/31 Irving Berlin
11/2 George Gershwin
11/7 Richard Rodgers
11/9 Cole Porter
11/14 Harold Arlen
11/16 Hoagy Carmichael, James Van Heusen, Johnny Mandel
11/21 Antonio Carlos Jobim
11/23 Thanksgiving
11/28 Keith Jarrett
Reading: Walser Part 8, 1 page summary due
11/30 Maria Schneider
12/5 Contemporary developments
Reading: Walser Part 9, 1 page summary due
12/7 Contemporary developments
Final ExamTuesday, 12/12(tue), 8am
Papers
5 Page Jazz Artist papers are due 10/19.
5 Page Songwriter papers are due by the last day of class(12/7).
The one page papers are due by 12/12 at the final exam. Late papers will be
deducted a letter grade.
1.Write a Five page paper on a jazz musician you find interesting. Focus on a particular
period of their career, a unique problem they faced, or a singular triumph they
experienced. Keep it narrow and focused. Example: “Louis Armstrong with Fletcher
Henderson in 1924expanding horizons, exploding paradigms”.Include a brief
discography of 1015 of the artist's recordings. Check your topic with me before
beginningit must be approved
2.Write a Five page paper on a songwriter you enjoy. It need not be anyone we study in
class. Consult Alec Wilder's "American Popular Song" for ideas. Stress musical analysis
over biography. Keep it narrow. Example: “Gershwin’s final years in Hollywood” Check
your topic with me before beginningit must be approved
3.Attend NightTown Jazz Club(Southside, Cedar/Fairmount) and submit a one page
review
4. Attend a Jazz Concert and write a one page review. Case Jazz concerts at Harkness
are good, the Cleveland Jazz orchestra at the CMA on 11/10 is highly recommended
5. Do a 1 page Jazz CD review. Choose someone famous but unfamiliar to you.
6. Listen to WCPN(FM90.3) for 1 hour between 9PM and 12, Monday to Thursday.
Provide a log of musicians and tunes with observations. 1 page
Jazz Listening List(for the midterm)
Identifying these pieces will constitute about 33% of the midterm exam. Most of the
examples are easily located on YouTube but can also be found on the Smithsonian
Collection of Classic Jazz, available at Haydn Hall or CIM
Scott JoplinMaple Leaf Rag
Original Dixieland Jazz BandDixie Jazz Band One Step
Bessie SmithLost Your Head Blues
Jelly Roll MortonMaple Leaf, Black Bottom Stomp, Grandpa’s Spells
King OliverDippermouth Blues
Sidney BechetBlue Horizon
James P. JohnsonCarolina Shout
Armstrong Struttin, Hotter Than That, West End Blues, Sweethearts on Parade, I Gotta
Right to Sing The Blues
BeiderbeckeSinging the Blues
Fletcher HendersonStampede, Wrappin it up
Fats WallerI Ain’t Got Nobody
Meade Lux LewisHonky Tonk Train
Art TatumWillow Weep For Me
Coleman HawkinsBody and Soul
Basie, Lester YoungDoggin’ Around, Taxi War Dance, Lester Leaps in
Goodman/Christian Breakfast Feud
EllingtonEast St. Louis Toodleoo(both versions), Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue,
Cotton Tail, Concerto for Cootie, Harlem Airshaft, Transblucency
GillespieShaw Nuff
ParkerKoKo, Crazeology
MonkMisterioso, Criss Cross
Miles DavisBoplicity, Summertime, So What, Flamenco Sketches, Masquelero
John ColtraneThe Promise, Giant Steps
Sonny RollinsBlue Seven
Dave BrubeckBlue Rondo A La Turk
Bill EvansSolar
Ornette ColemanLonely Woman, Civilization Day
Chick CoreaSteps
Herbie HancockMaiden Voyage
Pop Song Listening List(for the final )
Identifying these pieces will constitute about 40% of the midterm exam. I will perform
them on the piano from start to finish without lyrics
Jerome KernThe Way You Look Tonight, The Song Is You, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,
All The Things You Are, Heaven in my Arms, Every Little While
Irving BerlinAlexander’s Ragtime Band, Always, Puttin on The Ritz, Cheek to Cheek,
Change Partners, Top Hat White Tie and Tails, How Deep Is The Ocean, Steppin’ Out
George GershwinStairway to Paradise, Somebody Loves Me, The Man I Love,
Embraceable You, Someone to Watch over Me
Richard Rodgers Spring is here, My Romance, Have You Met Miss Jones, I Have
Dreamed, My Heart Stood Still
Cole PorterUnder My Skin, Night and Day, Just One of Those Things, I Concentrate on
You
Harold Arlen Come Rain or Come Shine, Get Happy, Last Night When We Were
Young, Ill Wind, It Was Written in the Stars
Hoagy CarmichaelSkylark, Stardust
Jimmy Van Huesen Here’s That Rainy Day
Johnny MandelA Time For Love, Close Enough For Love
Antonio Carlos JobimFelicidade, Passarim, Song of the Jet, Corcovado
Listening will comprise 40% of the final exam. I will perform 30 tunes from start to
finish on the piano. There will be questions concerning the traits and tendencies of each
songwriter as well as questions comparing individual songs(form, modulations,
sequences, blue notes, repeated notes, diatonicism, chromaticism, etc.)
Grading
Midterm 30%
Final 30%
PapersJazz 5 page 10%
Songwriter 5 page 10%
1 page reviews, summaries 15%
Attendance, participation 15%
You must pass either the midterm or the final in order to pass the class