Jazz: W. W. Norton StudySpace

Here students are guided toward recognizing and understanding two broad categories of jazz form: the 12-bar blues and 32-bar popular song (A A B A and its variants). We look at the rhythmic and harmonic structures used in jazz, with the aim of familiarizing students with the principles underlying improvisation. How do musicians make up music on the spot and still have it make sense? The chapter also explores the venues and audience behavior associated with big-band jazz and small combo jazz.

• Bessie Smith, Reckless Blues
• Louis Armstrong, West End Blues
• Pete Johnson/Big Joe Turner, It’s All Right, Baby
• Charlie Parker, Now’s the Time
• Billie Holiday, A Sailboat in the Moonlight
• Miles Davis, So What

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About W. W. Norton

W. W. Norton & Company has been independent since its founding in 1923, when William Warder Norton and Margaret D. Norton first published lectures delivered at the People's Institute, the adult education division of New York City's Cooper Union. The Nortons soon expanded their program beyond the Institute, publishing books by celebrated academics from America and abroad. By mid-century, the two major pillars of Norton's publishing program—trade books and college texts—were firmly established. In the 1950s, the Norton family transferred control of the company to its employees, and today—with a staff of 400 and a comparable number of trade, college, and professional titles published each year—W. W. Norton & Company stands as the largest and oldest publishing house owned wholly by its employees.