Final Exam

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Question #1

Jazz began in which U.S. city?

A New York

B Los Angels

C Chicago

D New Orleans

Question #2

The trumpet player is

A Louis Armstrong

B Bix Beiderbecke

C Buddy Bolden

D Joe King Oliver

Question #3

______ was Louis Armstrong’s nickname.

A Satchmo

B Dizzy

C Count

D King

Question #4

Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings are influential because they

A were a racially integrated band.

B feature block-chord riffs in call-and-response patterns.

C epitomize the peak of traditional New Orleans polyphony

D feature soloists and highlight individual expression.

Question #5

Louis Armstrong changed the way jazz musicians improvised by

A demonstrating his mastery of mutes.

B all answers are true

C deemphasizing the role of the blues.

D performing with a rhythmic energy that was quickly imitated.

Question #6

Who is the clarinet player in this recording?

A Sidney Bechet

B Benny Goodman

C Woody Herman

D Eric Dolphy

Question #7

Identify the band for this recording by the bandleader.

A Jimmy Lunceford

B Fletcher Henderson

C Glenn Miller

D Benny Goodman

Question #8

John Hammond

A was a nonmusician who promoted jazz.

B all answers are true

C championed black musicians in the recording studio.

D was born into a wealthy New York family.

Question #9

Benny Goodman played the

A trombone

B clarinet

C saxophone

D trumpet

Question #10

The pianist and bandleader is

A Mary Lou Williams

B Benny Goodman

C Duke Ellington

D Count Basie

Question #11

The bandleader and composer is

A Count Basie

B Duke Ellington

C Fletcher Henderson

D Benny Goodman

Question #12

Which artist summed up his attitude toward rhythm with the aphorism, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing”?

A Duke Ellington

B Count Basie

C Benny Goodman

D Artie Shaw

Question #13

In her later career, Mary Lou Williams

A all answers are true

B became increasingly active as a composer.

C was a leader in the bebop (modern jazz) movement.

D was a devoted teacher of jazz history.

Question #14

In 1943, Ellington wrote __________, a forty-eight-minute piece dubbed the “history of the American Negro,” and performed it in concert at Carnegie Hall.

A Black and Tan Fantasy

B Far East Suite

C Black, Brown and Beige

D Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue

Question #15

Billy Strayhorn was

A a boogie-woogie pianist.

B the clarinet soloist on many of Duke Ellington’s recordings from the Cotton Club.

C Duke Ellington’s co-composer and author of “Take the ‘A’ Train.”

D a member of Count Basie’s rhythm section.

Question #16

The vocalist on this recording is

A Billie Holiday

B Bessie Smith

C Louis Armstrong

D Ella Fitzgerald

Question #17

The singer featured in this recording is

A Ella Fitzgerald

B Billie Holiday

C Cab Calloway

D Louis Armstrong

Question #18

The featured saxophone soloist is

A John Coltrane

B Coleman Hawkins

C Lester Young

D Charlie Parker

Question #19

Which saxophonist had a “musical romance” with Billie Holiday, often appearing as her accompanist on her recordings?

A Lester Young

B Ben Webster

C Johnny Hodges

D Coleman Hawkins

Question #20

This musician steadfastly fought racism, organizing the first integrated and international orchestra in jazz history.

A Artie Shaw

B Benny Goodman

C Valaida Snow

D Benny Carter

Question #21

Often cited as jazz’s greatest vocalist, this singer had a thin, edgy timbre, and worked within a range of no more than an octave and a half.

A Nancy Wilson

B Ella Fitzgerald

C Louis Armstrong

D Billie Holiday

Question #22

Lester Young

A was a soloist with Duke Ellington whose solos had a romantic lyricism.

B had a light sound, played rhythmically unpredictable phrases, and spoke a special slang.

C had a powerful sound with heavy vibrato and specialized in harmonic improvisation.

D played flashy passages in his upper register, often with growls.

Question #23

European guitarist Django Reinhardt’s virtuosity was all the more remarkable because

A he was deaf.

B his left hand was crippled in a Romany Gypsy campfire.

C he never played in the United States.

D he was blind.

Question #24

Coleman Hawkins’s most famous recording, the 1939 ______, was a pinnacle in jazz improvisation and a tremendous commercial success.

A Body and Soul

B One O’Clock Jump

C Heart and Soul

D Blue Skies

Question #25

Coleman Hawkins was a pioneer on the ______ saxophone.

A baritone

B soprano

C alto

D tenor

Question #26

Who is the pianist heard in this excerpt?

A Willie “The Lion” Smith

B Duke Ellington

C Fats Waller

D Art Tatum

Question #27

Who was the first important electric guitarist in jazz?

A Django Reinhardt

B Pat Metheny

C Charlie Christian

D Jim Hall

Question #28

What were “cutting contests”?

A sessions at the Savoy Ballroom in which dancers would “cut a rug”

B competitive jam sessions in which jazz musicians would try to outplay each other

C recordings created by “cutting” recording tape (i.e., splicing) to eliminate errors

D drummers cutting off soloists by “dropping bombs” in the middle of a phrase

Question #29

Art Tatum was a virtuosic

A trombonist

B pianist

C drummer

D bassist

Question #30

The style of this excerpt is

A Hard Bop

B Bebop

C Swing

D Cool Jazz

Question #31

The saxophonist on this recording is

A Lester Young

B Charlie Parker

C Cannonball Adderley

D Ben Webster

Question #32

The bebop pianist on this piece who was in and out of institutions throughout his life is

A Bill Evans

B Bud Powell

C Teddy Wilson

D Herbie Hancock

Question #33

Which Kansas City-born jazz saxophonist is known as a pioneer of bebop?

A Cannonball Adderley

B Johnny Hodges

C Lee Konitz

D Charlie Parker

Question #34

Dizzy Gillespie became famous for

A all answers are true

B his beret, goatee, and unusually shaped trumpet.

C a witty, genial stage persona.

D his bebop-style big bands.

Question #35

Charlie Parker was crucial for linking the modernist complexity of bebop with

A gospel music.

B classical music.

C the blues.

D the marching band.

Question #36

Bebop differed from swing in that

A each answer is true

B it was more closely linked to popular music.

C it was performed by small combos rather than big orchestras.

D it used the tuba and banjo instead of the string bass and guitar.

Question #37

Among the drummers crucial to the bebop style were

A Dexter Gordon and Bud Powell.

B Kenny Clarke and Max Roach.

C Gene Krupa and Chick Webb.

D Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

Question #38

Which ensemble is featured in this excerpt?

A Miles Davis Quintet

B Modern Jazz Quartet

C Dave Brubeck Quartet

D Miles Davis Nonet

Question #39

This hard-bop musician, whose lengthy career was occasionally interrupted by brief sabbaticals devoted to practicing, recorded Saxophone Colossus in 1959.

A Dexter Gordon

B John Coltrane

C Coleman Hawkins

D Sonny Rollins

Question #40

The baritone saxophonist who became famous for leading a “pianoless” quartet in 1952 was

A Miles Davis

B Gerry Mulligan

C Chet Baker

D Lennie Tristano

Question #41

Hard bop tended to feature longer solos, in part because of

A the invention of the LP (long-playing record).

B television.

C the end of Prohibition.

D the Civil Rights movement.

Question #42

Cool jazz was also known as

A West Coast Jazz

B Hardbop

C Bebop

D Swing

Question #43

Art Blakey was

A a founding member of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet.

B a founding member of the Modern Jazz Quartet.

C the leader of the Jazz Messengers.

D the drummer for the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

Question #44

Among the pioneers of cool jazz are the following pianist/composers

A Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington.

B Teddy Wilson and Billy Strayhorn.

C Art Tatum and Fats Waller.

D Lennie Tristano and Tadd Dameron.

Question #45

The piano soloist in this recording is:

A Bill Evans

B Red Garland

C Bud Powell

D Thelonious Monk

Question #46

The bassist and composer heard in this listening example is

A Scott LaFaro

B Charles Mingus

C Slam Stewart

D Jimmy Blanton

Question #47

Thelonious Monk’s professional career began in the

A rhythm section at Minton’s Playhouse

B pit band at the Cotton Club.

C rhythm section at Palomar Ballroom

D Benny Goodman Orchestra.

Question #48

In addition to his compositions, Thelonious Monk was known as a

A drummer

B bassist

C pianist

D violinist

Question #49

From the 1950s to the 1970s, Gil Evans had a long working relationship with

A Charles Mingus

B Miles Davis

C Dizzy Gillespie

D Lester Young

Question #50

Charles Mingus’s “Fables of Faubus” was a protest sparked by

A A governor bringing in the National Guard to prevent the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas

B The murder of Emmett Till in Mississippi.

C The lunch counter sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina.

D Rosa Parks’s defiance of segregation in Montgomery, Alabama.

Question #51

Charles Mingus was a virtuoso on the

A alto saxophone

B piano

C trombone

D bass

Question #52

Charles Mingus consistently drew inspiration from the Swing Era bandleader and composer

A Benny Goodman

B Count Basie

C Fletcher Henderson

D Duke Ellington

Question #53

What is the name of this recording?

A So What?

B My Favorite Things

C Acknowledgement

D Giant Steps

Question #54

The trumpet soloist on this piece is:

A Miles Davis

B Clifford Brown

C Roy Hargrove

D Lee Morgan

Question #55

The tenor saxophone soloist on this piece is

A John Coltrane

B Sonny Rollins

C Joe Henderson

D Wayne Shorter

Question #56

The style heard in this excerpt is best described as

A fusion

B cool

C bebop

D avant-garde

Question #57

What was unusual about Bill Evans’s piano trio?

A Evans replaced the drummer with an electric guitarist.

B Each of the three pianos in the group performed in a different style.

C The accompanying instruments played simply to accommodate Evans’s stride style.

D The bassist was freed from keeping time to play strong melodic ideas.

Question #58

The theme of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme was

A Possible Answer an opera by George Gershwin.

B the birth of Coltrane’s first son, Ravi.

C a graphic depiction of an intense romance.

D Coltrane’s profound religious experience.

Question #59

Modal jazz is characterized by

A improvising with scales over very few chords.

B combining chromatic chord changes with melodies in the major mode.

C the technical challenge of improvising in high registers.

D drawing the melody for improvisation out of the chord changes.

Question #60

Miles Davis’s most famous album, the culmination of his experiments with modal jazz, was

A Kind of Blue

B E.S.P.

C Portrait in Jazz

D Giant Steps

Question #61

Miles Davis played a major role in establishing which jazz styles?

A bebop, hard bop, and the avant-garde

B cool, hard bop, and fusion

C swing, Third Stream, and the avant-garde

D swing, bebop, and fusion

Question #62

John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme is unusual (in jazz format) in that it

A places Coltrane in the midst of a large jazz orchestra.

B features Coltrane playing songs from Broadway shows.

C is divided into four “movements” with abstract titles (e.g., “Acknowledgement”).

D focuses relentlessly on Coltrane’s approach to harmonic improvisation.

Question #63

In his second quintet, in the 1960s, Miles Davis relied on the composing talents of the tenor saxophonist

A John Coltrane

B Wayne Shorter

C Coleman Hawkins

D Dexter Gordon

Question #64

At age nineteen, Miles Davis was hired to play with

A Charlie Parker.

B John Coltrane.

C Coleman Hawkins.

D Duke Ellington.

Question #65

Among the orchestral albums Miles Davis created in collaboration with Gil Evans in the late 1950s were

A Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain.

B Walkin’ and Steamin’.

C Kind of Blue and Milestones.

D E.S.P. and Sorcerer.

Question #66

The three key figures in avant-garde jazz are

A Miles Davis, Gil Evans, and Herbie Hancock.

B John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and Cecil Taylor.

C Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Max Roach.

D Sonny Rollins, Wes Montgomery, and Art Blakey.

Question #67

The pianist, composer, and bandleader Sun Ra directed a large ensemble called the

A Interplanetary Experience.

B Heliocentric Worlds.

C Saturn Songsters.

D Arkestra.

Question #68

The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) was

A an avant-garde collective from Chicago.

B the official name of the orchestra organized by Sun Ra.

C the cultural wing of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

D a performing group founded by Lester Bowie and Joseph Jarman.

Question #69

Cecil Taylor was known for

A playing long, extended pieces in concert.

B a percussive approach to the piano.

C all answers are true

D composing through the use of “unit structures.”

Question #70

Avant-garde jazz was also known as __________, taken from a 1961 album by Ornette Coleman.

A Free Jazz

B Black Music

C Our Music

D The New Thing

Question #71

Two jazz artists responsible for fusing bossa nova with jazz in the 1960s were

A Nat “King” Cole and Frank Sinatra.

B Dizzy Gillespie and Mario Bauzá.

C Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz.

D Jimmy Smith and Louis Jordan.

Question #72

This bebop pioneer became a pioneer of Afro-Cuban jazz.

A Thelonious Monk

B Dizzy Gillespie

C Charlie Parker

D Miles Davis

Question #73

The mixture of Cuban music and jazz in the 1940s was known as

A Bossa Nova

B Salsa

C Reggaeton

D Cubop

Question #74

In the mid-1960s, Latin American musicians created a new hybrid style known as

A Bossa Nova

B Cubop

C Salsa

D Reggaeton

Question #75

From which country did bossa nova emerge?

A Mexico

B United States

C Brazil

D Cuba

Question #76

Chano Pozo was

A the founder of salsa music in the 1970s.

B a Cuban conga player who performed with Dizzy Gillespie.

C all answers are true

D a popular Cuban dance band leader of the 1930s and 1940s.

Question #77

All of the following were important Latin performers in the years before 1945 EXCEPT:

A Antônio Carlos Jobim

B Chano Pozo

C Machito

D Mario Bauza

Question #78

A clave is

A Spanish for “keystone.”

B all answers are true

C a syncopated rhythm, used in two forms (son and rumba).

D a time-line pattern on which Cuban music is based.

Question #79

Who is the pianist on this recording?

A Brad Mehldau

B Herbie Hancock

C Chick Corea

D Keith Jarrett

Question #80

The name of this fusion band is

A Mahavishnu Orchestra

B Head Hunters

C Martin Medeski and Wood

D Weather Report

Question #81

How could you describe the style of this music?

A all answers are true

B jam band

C funk

D fusion

Question #82

Pianist Robert Glasper has performed and recorded pieces by all of the following contemporary artists EXCEPT:

A Mos Def

B Radiohead

C Herbie Hancock

D Medeski, Martin, and Wood

Question #83

Why are Medeski, Martin, and Wood considered a “jam band”?

A because their audience overlaps with that of various rock-leaning artists such as Phish and Dave Matthews

B because the musicians have little formal training or jazz pedigree

C because they tour in a camper

D because they refuse to use acoustic instruments

Question #84

Which of the following is NOT true of the career of pianist Keith Jarrett?

A recorded a solo LP that has sold more than 4 million copies

B most regular work has been as part of a quartet with saxophonist Charles Lloyd

C played electric piano with Miles Davis but disliked the experience

D often berates his audience for making noise or not paying attention

Question #85

How did Jaco Pastorius alter the electric bass to make a distinctive sound?

A used a wide range of effects pedals

B used guitar strings instead of bass strings

C extended the upper range by adding frets to the fingerboard

D removed the frets and filled in the holes with wood filler

Question #86

Who of the following musicians did NOT work with Miles Davis before forming or participating in an important 1970s fusion band?

A Jaco Pastorius

B Chick Corea

C Joe Zawinul

D Wayne Shorter

Question #87

John McLaughlin’s music blended elements of all of the following traditions EXCEPT:

A Celtic fiddle music

B Eastern religion

C Indian classical music

D Flamenco guitar

Question #88

Which is NOT true of Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew?

A Davis did not think it should be marketed as jazz.

B The studio sessions were extensively edited.

C The album did not find a broad audience.

D All of the songs were composed specifically for this recording session.

Question #89

What element of rock aesthetics drew the attention of Miles Davis?

A atonal, noisy timbres

B the abstract nature of rock compositions

C the strictness of rock recording practices

D simplicity

Question #90

Which is NOT an aspect of the crisis that jazz faced in 1967?

A death of John Coltrane

B stagnation of mainstream jazz style

C young jazz musicians unwilling to embrace pop artists

D jazz critics and magazines beginning to take rock seriously

Question #91

All of the following elements of funk style made it well-suited for fusion with contemporary jazz EXCEPT:

A syncopated, danceable bass lines

B a focus on sweet, hummable vocal melodies

C interlocking rhythmic layers

D harmonic complexity

Question #92

Why was rock and roll initially dismissed by jazz musicians?

A It wasn’t marketable by promoters.

B It didn’t have the support of major record labels.

C It was aimed at a teen audience.

D It was too sophisticated for general audiences.

Question #93

Rock and roll represented a fusion of which two musical styles?

A Country and swing

B Afro-Cuban and classical

C Black race records and rural hillbilly music

D Jazz and doo wop

Question #94

This is an example of

A comping

B scat singing

C block-chord texture

D free improvisation

Question #95

Who is the band director and lead trumpet player in this recording?

A Wynton Marsalis

B Louis Armstrong

C Miles Davis

D Dizzy Gillespie

Question #96

With the decline in American jazz audiences in the 1970s, where did musicians go to find work?

A all are true

B Universities

C Commercial bands

D Europe

Question #97

Pianist Diana Krall made her name with a trio inspired by which midcentury musician?

A Mary Lou Williams

B Nat King Cole

C Bud Powell

D Art Tatum

Question #98

All of the following are true of Wynton Marsalis EXCEPT:

A from a musical New Orleans family

B won Grammy awards in jazz and classical categories

C he is appreciative of and tolerant toward all jazz styles.

D insisted on a dress code inspired by the elegance of the swing bands

Question #99

All of the following are true of the Lenox School of Jazz EXCEPT:

A led to further teaching opportunities for several faculty members

B it operated for several decades.

C first time a group of faculty gathered together for the sole purpose of teaching jazz

D faculty included John Lewis, Gunther Schuller, Ornette Coleman, and Max Roach

Question #100

When was the first genuine movement to promote an older, neglected jazz style over current jazz styles took place?

A 1930s

B 1950s

C 1960s

D 1980s

Question #101

Which of the following best describes a “historicist” perspective on jazz history?

A Jazz evolves in response to contemporary pop culture.

B The music of New Orleans and the Swing Era are the only true jazz styles.

C Jazz creativity is inextricably bound to its past.

D Jazz masters move the music along in radical leaps of creativity.

Question #102

In a series of five albums called The Art of the Trio, the pianist ____________ brought a powerfully meditative approach to pop standards, jazz, classics, and original pieces.

A Abdullah Ibraham

B Jason Moran

C Brad Mehldau

D Vijay Iyer

Question #103

Vijay Iyer and Rudresh Mahanthappa have undertaken an intense consideration of the relationship between jazz and the _____________ music of southern India.

A Fusion

B Dance

C Carnatic

D Lingua Franca

Question #104

Who was the first jazz artist to win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist?

A Esperanza Spalding

B Jaco Pastorius

C Diana Krall

D Miles Davis

Question #105

During her time at Berklee College of Music, Esperanza Spalding worked with all of the following musicians EXCEPT:

A Patti Austin

B Yo-Yo Ma

C Joe Lovano

D Pat Metheny

Question #106

Which of the following does NOT describe the second phase of jazz history as described in Chapter 19?

A embraced as a generation’s dance music

B influential in popular and classical idioms

C firmly established as art

D supported by academia

Question #107

In acknowledging their freedom to adapt material from any time, place, or genre, the next generation of jazz stars may be best described as continuing the ideology of:

A fusion

B bebop

C swing

D repertory bands

Question #108

All of the following are aspects of the term “post-historical” EXCEPT:

A recalls former arrogance that leads to moral chaos and military struggle

B attempts to convey the idea that the great political and cultural movements are all behind us

C argues that the past should be set aside and no longer studied

D suggests that the current moment offers a privileged vantage point from which to view the past

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