Final Exam

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Question #1

Jazz began in which U.S. city?

A Los Angels

B Chicago

C New Orleans

D New York

Question #2

The trumpet player is

A Bix Beiderbecke

B Louis Armstrong

C Buddy Bolden

D Joe King Oliver

Question #3

______ was Louis Armstrong’s nickname.

A King

B Count

C Dizzy

D Satchmo

Question #4

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

A epitomize the peak of traditional New Orleans polyphony

B feature soloists and highlight individual expression.

C were a racially integrated band.

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

Question #5

Louis Armstrong changed the way jazz musicians improvised by

A deemphasizing the role of the blues.

B all answers are true

C demonstrating his mastery of mutes.

D performing with a rhythmic energy that was quickly imitated.

Question #6

Who is the clarinet player in this recording?

A Benny Goodman

B Woody Herman

C Sidney Bechet

D Eric Dolphy

Question #7

Identify the band for this recording by the bandleader.

A Benny Goodman

B Fletcher Henderson

C Jimmy Lunceford

D Glenn Miller

Question #8

John Hammond

A all answers are true

B championed black musicians in the recording studio.

C was a nonmusician who promoted jazz.

D was born into a wealthy New York family.

Question #9

Benny Goodman played the

A trumpet

B trombone

C clarinet

D saxophone

Question #10

The pianist and bandleader is

A Duke Ellington

B Mary Lou Williams

C Count Basie

D Benny Goodman

Question #11

The bandleader and composer is

A Fletcher Henderson

B Benny Goodman

C Duke Ellington

D Count Basie

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 Count Basie

B Artie Shaw

C Duke Ellington

D Benny Goodman

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 Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue

C Black, Brown and Beige

D Far East Suite

Question #15

Billy Strayhorn was

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

B a member of Count Basie’s rhythm section.

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

D a boogie-woogie pianist.

Question #16

The vocalist on this recording is

A Billie Holiday

B Louis Armstrong

C Bessie Smith

D Ella Fitzgerald

Question #17

The singer featured in this recording is

A Ella Fitzgerald

B Cab Calloway

C Billie Holiday

D Louis Armstrong

Question #18

The featured saxophone soloist is

A Lester Young

B Charlie Parker

C Coleman Hawkins

D John Coltrane

Question #19

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

A Johnny Hodges

B Coleman Hawkins

C Ben Webster

D Lester Young

Question #20

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

A Valaida Snow

B Benny Carter

C Artie Shaw

D Benny Goodman

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 Billie Holiday

B Ella Fitzgerald

C Louis Armstrong

D Nancy Wilson

Question #22

Lester Young

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

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

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

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

Question #23

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

A he never played in the United States.

B he was blind.

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

D he was deaf.

Question #24

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

A Blue Skies

B Heart and Soul

C Body and Soul

D One O’Clock Jump

Question #25

Coleman Hawkins was a pioneer on the ______ saxophone.

A alto

B tenor

C soprano

D baritone

Question #26

Who is the pianist heard in this excerpt?

A Duke Ellington

B Willie “The Lion” Smith

C Art Tatum

D Fats Waller

Question #27

Who was the first important electric guitarist in jazz?

A Charlie Christian

B Pat Metheny

C Django Reinhardt

D Jim Hall

Question #28

What were “cutting contests”?

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

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

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

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

Question #29

Art Tatum was a virtuosic

A bassist

B trombonist

C pianist

D drummer

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 Charlie Parker

B Cannonball Adderley

C Lester Young

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 Herbie Hancock

C Bud Powell

D Teddy Wilson

Question #33

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

A Cannonball Adderley

B Charlie Parker

C Lee Konitz

D Johnny Hodges

Question #34

Dizzy Gillespie became famous for

A a witty, genial stage persona.

B his beret, goatee, and unusually shaped trumpet.

C all answers are true

D his bebop-style big bands.

Question #35

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

A the marching band.

B gospel music.

C the blues.

D classical music.

Question #36

Bebop differed from swing in that

A it was more closely linked to popular music.

B each answer is true

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

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

Question #37

Among the drummers crucial to the bebop style were

A Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

B Gene Krupa and Chick Webb.

C Kenny Clarke and Max Roach.

D Dexter Gordon and Bud Powell.

Question #38

Which ensemble is featured in this excerpt?

A Dave Brubeck Quartet

B Miles Davis Quintet

C Modern Jazz 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 Coleman Hawkins

B John Coltrane

C Sonny Rollins

D Dexter Gordon

Question #40

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

A Lennie Tristano

B Chet Baker

C Gerry Mulligan

D Miles Davis

Question #41

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

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

B the Civil Rights movement.

C television.

D the end of Prohibition.

Question #42

Cool jazz was also known as

A Bebop

B Swing

C Hardbop

D West Coast Jazz

Question #43

Art Blakey was

A a founding member of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet.

B the leader of the Jazz Messengers.

C a founding member of the Modern Jazz Quartet.

D the drummer for the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

Question #44

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

A Teddy Wilson and Billy Strayhorn.

B Lennie Tristano and Tadd Dameron.

C Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington.

D Art Tatum and Fats Waller.

Question #45

The piano soloist in this recording is:

A Thelonious Monk

B Bill Evans

C Red Garland

D Bud Powell

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 Benny Goodman Orchestra.

B pit band at the Cotton Club.

C rhythm section at Palomar Ballroom

D rhythm section at Minton’s Playhouse

Question #48

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

A violinist

B bassist

C pianist

D drummer

Question #49

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

A Lester Young

B Miles Davis

C Dizzy Gillespie

D Charles Mingus

Question #50

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

A The murder of Emmett Till in Mississippi.

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

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 piano

B alto saxophone

C bass

D trombone

Question #52

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

A Count Basie

B Fletcher Henderson

C Benny Goodman

D Duke Ellington

Question #53

What is the name of this recording?

A So What?

B Acknowledgement

C Giant Steps

D My Favorite Things

Question #54

The trumpet soloist on this piece is:

A Roy Hargrove

B Clifford Brown

C Lee Morgan

D Miles Davis

Question #55

The tenor saxophone soloist on this piece is

A Sonny Rollins

B John Coltrane

C Joe Henderson

D Wayne Shorter

Question #56

The style heard in this excerpt is best described as

A cool

B bebop

C avant-garde

D fusion

Question #57

What was unusual about Bill Evans’s piano trio?

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

B Evans replaced the drummer with an electric guitarist.

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

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

Question #58

The theme of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme was

A a graphic depiction of an intense romance.

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

C Possible Answer an opera by George Gershwin.

D Coltrane’s profound religious experience.

Question #59

Modal jazz is characterized by

A improvising with scales over very few chords.

B the technical challenge of improvising in high registers.

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

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 E.S.P.

B Portrait in Jazz

C Giant Steps

D Kind of Blue

Question #61

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

A swing, bebop, and fusion

B swing, Third Stream, and the avant-garde

C cool, hard bop, and fusion

D bebop, hard bop, and the avant-garde

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 focuses relentlessly on Coltrane’s approach to harmonic improvisation.

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

D features Coltrane playing songs from Broadway shows.

Question #63

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

A Wayne Shorter

B Coleman Hawkins

C Dexter Gordon

D John Coltrane

Question #64

At age nineteen, Miles Davis was hired to play with

A Coleman Hawkins.

B Duke Ellington.

C Charlie Parker.

D John Coltrane.

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 Kind of Blue and Milestones.

C Walkin’ and Steamin’.

D E.S.P. and Sorcerer.

Question #66

The three key figures in avant-garde jazz are

A John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and Cecil Taylor.

B Miles Davis, Gil Evans, and Herbie Hancock.

C Sonny Rollins, Wes Montgomery, and Art Blakey.

D Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Max Roach.

Question #67

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

A Heliocentric Worlds.

B Arkestra.

C Saturn Songsters.

D Interplanetary Experience.

Question #68

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

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

B an avant-garde collective from Chicago.

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

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

Question #69

Cecil Taylor was known for

A composing through the use of “unit structures.”

B playing long, extended pieces in concert.

C a percussive approach to the piano.

D all answers are true

Question #70

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

A Free Jazz

B Our Music

C Black Music

D The New Thing

Question #71

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

A Jimmy Smith and Louis Jordan.

B Dizzy Gillespie and Mario Bauzá.

C Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz.

D Nat “King” Cole and Frank Sinatra.

Question #72

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

A Miles Davis

B Dizzy Gillespie

C Charlie Parker

D Thelonious Monk

Question #73

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

A Reggaeton

B Bossa Nova

C Salsa

D Cubop

Question #74

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

A Salsa

B Cubop

C Bossa Nova

D Reggaeton

Question #75

From which country did bossa nova emerge?

A Mexico

B Cuba

C United States

D Brazil

Question #76

Chano Pozo was

A all answers are true

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

C the founder of salsa music in the 1970s.

D a Cuban conga player who performed with Dizzy Gillespie.

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 all answers are true

B Spanish for “keystone.”

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

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

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 Weather Report

B Head Hunters

C Martin Medeski and Wood

D Mahavishnu Orchestra

Question #81

How could you describe the style of this music?

A jam band

B all answers are true

C funk

D fusion

Question #82

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

A Medeski, Martin, and Wood

B Radiohead

C Mos Def

D Herbie Hancock

Question #83

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

A because the musicians have little formal training or jazz pedigree

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

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 often berates his audience for making noise or not paying attention

B played electric piano with Miles Davis but disliked the experience

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

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

Question #85

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

A used guitar strings instead of bass strings

B used a wide range of effects pedals

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

D extended the upper range by adding frets to the fingerboard

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 Wayne Shorter

D Joe Zawinul

Question #87

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

A Indian classical music

B Eastern religion

C Celtic fiddle 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 album did not find a broad audience.

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

D The studio sessions were extensively edited.

Question #89

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

A simplicity

B the abstract nature of rock compositions

C atonal, noisy timbres

D the strictness of rock recording practices

Question #90

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

A jazz critics and magazines beginning to take rock seriously

B stagnation of mainstream jazz style

C death of John Coltrane

D young jazz musicians unwilling to embrace pop artists

Question #91

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

A harmonic complexity

B syncopated, danceable bass lines

C interlocking rhythmic layers

D a focus on sweet, hummable vocal melodies

Question #92

Why was rock and roll initially dismissed by jazz musicians?

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

B It wasn’t marketable by promoters.

C It was too sophisticated for general audiences.

D It was aimed at a teen audience.

Question #93

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

A Afro-Cuban and classical

B Jazz and doo wop

C Black race records and rural hillbilly music

D Country and swing

Question #94

This is an example of

A scat singing

B comping

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 Miles Davis

C Louis Armstrong

D Dizzy Gillespie

Question #96

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

A Universities

B Commercial bands

C Europe

D all are true

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 won Grammy awards in jazz and classical categories

B from a musical New Orleans family

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

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

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

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

D it operated for several decades.

Question #100

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

A 1980s

B 1930s

C 1950s

D 1960s

Question #101

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

A Jazz creativity is inextricably bound to its past.

B Jazz evolves in response to contemporary pop culture.

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

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 Vijay Iyer

B Abdullah Ibraham

C Jason Moran

D Brad Mehldau

Question #103

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

A Lingua Franca

B Dance

C Fusion

D Carnatic

Question #104

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

A Miles Davis

B Esperanza Spalding

C Diana Krall

D Jaco Pastorius

Question #105

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

A Joe Lovano

B Patti Austin

C Yo-Yo Ma

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 supported by academia

D firmly established as art

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 swing

C repertory bands

D bebop

Question #108

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

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

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

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

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

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