Performance

• The Introduction
• The Theme
• The Solo Section
• Accompaniment
• Performance of Complex Arrangements

This is a preview of the educational program A Jazz Improvisation Almanac which is under development for the Outside Shore Music Online School. Feel free to browse this preview and learn what you can from it. For a more completed product, though, check out the original freely browsable jazz textbook, A Jazz Improvisation Primer.

Unlike in many other forms of music, an arrangement of a jazz composition does not usually specify all aspects of the performance, so two performances of the same arrangement may differ considerably. In addition to improvised solos, which almost always differ between performances, some details of the arrangement itself may be left open until the time of the performance.

The Introduction

The first aspect of a composition to be finalized during performance is the tempo or speed. An arrangement may suggest a tempo in broad terms such as "slow", but the leader of the ensemble will have to count off a specific tempo to let all the players know what the pulse will be. The same arrrangement might be played at different tempos for different performances, and this can affect how the musicians play their parts. Everything from the swing feel to the style of accompaniment can be affected by tempo. For example, here is an excerpt from a slow performance of a jazz composition:

Here is that same arrangement performed faster:

The arrangement may specify an introduction. If it does not, the performers often supply one anyhow, using any of a number of standard devices. Here is an example of a introduction provided during performance, based on improvising over the last four measures of the tune:

The Theme

Once the performance has been started by the count off, there are many more decisions to make. In a head arrangement, the theme may be played in unison, in which case it is usually played as written, or one musician may take the head himself, which allows him to take more liberties with it. This is particularly common in ballads. For example, here is a theme played in unison by the trumpet and saxophone:

And here is that same theme as it might be interpreted if only the saxophonist were playing it:

Sometimes, in an AABA or similar form, one musician will take the A-section, and another the bridge, in order to provide contrast:

In short tunes like blues forms, the head is often played twice; otherwise, it is usually played only once.

The Solo Section

During the solo section of a head arrangement, it is common to not decide the order of the soloists until it is time for the solos. The leader of the group may point to someone as they approach the end of the head to indicate that person should solo first, or someone in the group may decide they want to solo first, and simply step forward to indicate this to the others.

Often, the first solo is begun with a break - the rhythm section stops playing for the last two measures of the head while the first soloist improvises unaccompanied:

This may be called for in the arrangement, but it is also commonly decided upon during the performance by either the leader, the first soloist, or someone in the rhythm section. A visual cue is often employed to make sure everyone knows there will be a break.

Sometimes the arrangement specifies how many choruses a soloist should take, but in many cases this is left to the discretion of the soloist, who often does not decide in advance how many choruses he will take but instead simpl stops when he feels he is done. As a result, solos may differ in length from performance to performance. And of course, since the solo is generally improvised, solos will differ in content between performances as well.

During the first solo, the musicians usually decide amongst themselves who should solo next. This is usually done in the same manner as the decision as to who should solo first. While a solo break may be used to introduce each solo, it is more common to use a break only to introduce the first solo.

The tendency in head arrangements is for the leader to solo first, followed by any other horn players, then by the pianist, and then possibly a bass solo or a drum solo. Most bands make a conscious effort to vary this solo order between compositions during a performance or on a recording, however. The solo order for a performance of a composition can thus be affected by the solo order in the compositions played earlier - if the saxophone soloed first on the previous tune, the trumpet might solo first on the next.

Sometimes, a band will engage in collective improvisation during the solo section. More than one player may improvise at once, forming duets, trios, or larger collections within the ensemble:

Before returning to the theme, musicians occasionally will elect to trade fours, which can be signalled by someone holding up four fingers. When trading fours, the rhythm section continues to provide accompaniment based on the original chord progression, but soloists take turns improvising four measures at a time. Usually the exchange follows the original solo order, although the cycle may go around several times. Here is an excerpt from an exchange of fours:

Often when trading fours, particularly if there was no drum solo during the solo section, the drums will take four measures between each of the other soloists:

At the conclusion of the solos, the ensemble may return to the head. The visual signal for this is universal: the leader, the last soloist, or any another musician points to his own head. The theme is then played as described earlier.

After the final time through the head, the arrangement may specify a coda or ending. If not, the performers may devise their own. There are a set of standard endings known to most musicians, so usually all it takes is for one musician to start playing one of them and everyone else will be able to follow along. Here is an example of a common ending, created by playing the last four bars three times:

Accompaniment

Throughout the performance, accompaniment to the theme and to the solos is usually provided by the rhythm section. This accompaniment is normally improvised and will vary between performances. This is especially true during the solo section. The accompaniment may be improvised during the head as well, but since the head is similar if not identical from performance to performance, the rhythm section often falls into patterns that are similar between performances as well. In some cases, the arrangement may specify particular accompanying figures called "kicks" to be used for the head:

The accompaniment during the solos may then employ some of the same kicks as the accompaniment for the head, in order to keep a sense of continuity to the performance:

Often, however, the rhythm section will switch to playing a more generic accompaniment behind the solos, based only on the chord progression and not the specific kicks used for the head:

The rhythm section is usually free to respond to what the soloist is doing in creating their accompaniment. This can work both ways - sometimes the rhythm section may initiate an idea that the soloist responds to. Or one member of the rhythm section may play something that is built upon by the rest of the rhythm section. Each member of the ensemble improvises their part based on what is happening around them, as well as the chord progression:

Unlike the soloists, who usually stop playing when not playing the head or soloing, the rhythm section generally plays the whole time. However, in order to maintain interest, the pianist or guitarist may stop playing for a few choruses in order to give the soloist a sparser sound to improvise over. This is called laying out, or strolling. For example, the pianist in the excerpt below lays out for the second A section and the bridge of an AABA form:

Sometimes the drums will lay out as well. This creates greater contrast, and provides the opportunity for an even greater release when the drums reenter:

Bassists lay out more rarely, but it generates an even more dramatic effect when they do. Sometimes the pianist provides accompaniment, but sometimes the soloist is allowed to play unaccompanied:

Because the bass is usually somewhat limited in its ability to project its sound while soloing, and because the usual accompanying pulse provided by the bassist is missed during a bass solo, the other rhythm section players generally accompany in a more subdued fashion during a bass solo:

During a drum solo, there is normally no accompaniment at all:

In a head arrangement, the rhythm section improvises its parts based on the chord progression of the tune. There is usually some indication as to the general style of the composition - swing, ballad, bossa, funk, or whatever. The arrangement specifies the desired feel, but does not always provide information on how to achieve it. Occasionally a notated arrangement such as one for a big band will contain suggested written parts for the rhythm section, but they usually provide chord symbols as well to allow the musicians to improvise their own parts. Rhythm section players are expected to be able to adapt their accompaniment to the style of the composition being played. In order to do this, they usually have a vocabulary of different patterns they can apply to achieve different feels. For example, here is a chord progression played with a swing feel:

And here is that same progression played with a bossa nova feel:

Performance of Complex Arrangements

Some arrangements allow for more freedom in performance than others. While simple head arrangements allow the rhythm section to create their own parts and allow the horns to decide when and for how long to solo, more complex arrangements (such as of long form compositions) may require more specific structures to be followed. There may still be ample opportunity to improvise, but the arrangement may specify something more than just a success of solos based on a single repeating chord progression. There may be notated parts interspersed with improvised ones throughout the arrangement. There may be passages where some musicians are playing written parts and others are improvising. Improvisations in such contexts do not necessarily take the form of solos, where one musician is clearly leading and the others accompanying. Here is an excerpt from such a performance, in which collectively improvised sections and notated sections are intermixed:

It can be difficult to tell simply by listening to a performance of such an arrangement where a given musician is improvising and where he is playing written parts, since one cannot simply assume that the first phrases played are the theme and that everything the follows is improvisation. There are often clues to the listener as to which is which, however. For instance, any passage that more than one instrument plays in unison (melodic or rhythmic), or one that is repeated, is almost certainly notated:

There are not always such obvious clues, however. Also, some composers blur the distinction between notation and improvisation, using their own systems of notation that do not specify the exact pitches or rhythms to be played, but provide enough information to the player to suggest what they should play. A shape notation may be used to specify the general contour of the line. For instance, here is a notated shape, and an example of how it might be interpreted in performance:

And here is another example of how that same shape might be interpreted:

Shape notations tend to be specific to each composer that uses them, so it is difficult to generalize about them.

Improvised sections may also be simply marked as free or open improvisation, with no more specific notation, in which case the musician is free to improvise whatever he feels will complement the music in that spot:

Whether improvising over a chord progression, over shape or other nontraditional notations, improvising freely, improvising an accompaniment to a soloist, or simply deciding upon a solo order, jazz musicians enjoy considerable freedom in the performance of a composition.

Copyright 2000 Outside Shore Music
Authored by Marc Sabatella

Performance