Improvisation in music is making up the music as one plays, or freely. Improvisation does not follow sheet music like typical jazz does. However, the term improvisation is not just linked to music. Movies and television shows also have a technique with the same concept which is improve but with acting. Both of these mean the same thing, which is the artist/actor has the determining factor of what they will play or say. One genre that uses improvisation as a major concept is free jazz. Free jazz was really popular during the 1960s-1970s. One free jazz artist was Cecil Taylor. In Taylor’s song Lena, the piece starts out sounding very in sync, but as it progresses it turns into more dissonance. It is very hard to follow …show more content…
Musical fusion jazz is where the artist uses different genres such as rock or R&B, and mixes those musical influences with jazz. Cultural fusion jazz is where the main genre is jazz, however, certain cultural influences are added. For example, listing to typical jazz and then Latin or Caribbean jazz, they each have different sounds. One musical group who create musical style fusion jazz is Snarky Puppy. The group, with an awesome name, mixes jazz with the rock and roll and r&b genres. In their song Shofukan you can hear the jazz influence, but when it is mixed with the more upbeat rock genre, it really gives it character. There is even a midpoint in the song where there is some vocal notes sung as well as some electrical genre influence. Some of the instruments used are guitars, drums, and even an orchestra. The piece has consonance, meaning that it is very easy to follow and sounds appeasing. I would say the scale would be considered …show more content…
If you go to cities such as New Orleans or even New York, you can hear jazz being played on the corner of some streets. One of the most current jazz artist whose music is still greatly popular today is Frank Sinatra. Frank Sinatra is a jazz singer who started his career in the 1940s and took off with popularity. He is said to be one of the bestselling artist selling more than 150 million records. One of his songs, New York New York, was recently performed by a current popular musical artist, Lady Gaga in honor of Sinatra’s birthday last December. In this recreation, the song still has its original sound and the jazzy influence, which I would say keeps its historical meaning. However, with Lady Gaga’s vocals added to the song it creates a different vibe. Her powerful mezzo soprano vocals brings extra emphasis to the piece. The song is an adnate tempo with a mezzo piano dynamic, however there are many crescendos and decrescendos throughout the song. The instrumentation is the typically instruments you would hear in a big band jazz performance such as, trumpets, saxophones, cymbals,