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Jazz-Man Traditional Jazz version
Listen and Appraise
Jazz-Man Traditional Jazz version
Background Information to the Song
About the song
This arrangement of the song uses Brittens melody (tune) but there is a new accompaniment in
a Traditional Jazz style. Remember that Brittens version would have felt very modern to chil-
dren in the 1930s. Does this version feel modern to you?
Musicians frequently make arrangements (or cover versions) of a piece of music, and in this way,
make it their own. For ideas, see Arrangements/Covers in the Extension Activities of this unit.
Listen
Play Jazz-Man - Traditional Jazz version. Click on The Words tab to follow the words of
the song on the screen.
Look for similarities and differences between this version and the original.
Appraise
Use this opportunity to familiarise the children with musical vocabulary and to encourage them
to use it. Discuss the song and what you can hear in it.
The following questions can be seen on-screen; answers are below.
Do you like this version of the song?
There is no correct answer to this: either individuals do, or they dont. Ask for reasons: all sensi-
ble answers are valid.
What is the style of the music?
This is a Traditional Jazz version of the song. Traditional Jazz (Trad Jazz) refers to the Dixieland
and Ragtime Jazz styles of the 1920s and 1930s in America. In Britain the Trad Jazz scene was
an important feature of the early 1960s, before the Beatles and the development of pop music.
About the Style
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African slaves who had been cruelly transported from their homelands to America used music
as a means of nding comfort. Under these conditions were born the Blues, Ragtime and New
Orleans Jass, or Jazz as it was later to be known.
After the American Civil War, many brass instruments were discarded by the military. These were
enthusiastically taken up by black, untrained, would-be musicians, who taught themselves to
play. Gradually a new music was created, and in New Orleans at the turn of the 20th century it
was being played everywhere.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Louis Armstrong was by far the most inuential of the soloists,
creating a demand for this new style of Jazz. Other inuential soloists who are still revered in
traditional jazz circles today include Sidney Bechet and Bix Beiderbecker. Many artists of the
Big Band era, including Glenn Miller, Gene Krupa and Benny Goodman had their beginnings in
Trad Jazz.
What are the general style indicators of Traditional Jazz music?
Traditional Jazz music:
The front line would consist of trumpet/cornet, clarinet, trombone and tenor/alto/baritone
saxophone.
The rhythm section would consist of piano, banjo/guitar, tuba, string bass/bass sax,
drums/washboard.
The front line would always play melodies that weave in and out with each other.
A simple chord pattern, easy to learn by ear, is used.
The music usually has a swingy, jazzy feel with 2 or 4 beats in a bar.
What are the style indicators used in this song, ie how do I know this is Traditional Jazz mu-
sic?
The front line consists of trumpet, clarinet and trombone.
The rhythm section consists of piano, banjo, tuba and drums.
The front line and sometimes the tuba, play melodies that weave in and out with each
other.
A simple chord pattern, easy to learn by ear, is used.
The music has a swingy, jazzy feel with 2 or 4 beats in a bar.
How is this song different from the Britten version?
The accompaniment is completely different it uses the instrumentation stated above with
a swingy, jazzy feel.
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Which version of the song do you prefer? Why?
There is no correct answer to this, but ask for reasons: all sensible answers are valid.
There are more Units of Work around many other styles of music at www.charanga.com.
The Words
Jazz-Man
Verse 1
Crash and Clang! Bash and Bang!

And up in the road the Jazz-Man sprang!
The One-Man-Jazz-Band playing in the street,
Drums with his Elbows,
Cymbals with his Feet,
Pipes with his Mouth,
Accordion with his Hand,
Playing all his Instruments to Beat the Band!

Verse 2
Toot and Tingle! Hoot and Jingle!

Oh, What a Clatter!
How the tunes all mingle!
Twenty children couldnt make as much Noise
As the Howling Pandemonium of the One-Man-Jazz!