Final Exam

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Question #1

Jazz began in which U.S. city?

A New York

B New Orleans

C Los Angels

D Chicago

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 King

B Count

C Satchmo

D Dizzy

Question #4

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

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

B epitomize the peak of traditional New Orleans polyphony

C feature soloists and highlight individual expression.

D were a racially integrated band.

Question #5

Louis Armstrong changed the way jazz musicians improvised by

A deemphasizing the role of the blues.

B performing with a rhythmic energy that was quickly imitated.

C all answers are true

D demonstrating his mastery of mutes.

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 Glenn Miller

B Benny Goodman

C Fletcher Henderson

D Jimmy Lunceford

Question #8

John Hammond

A all answers are true

B was born into a wealthy New York family.

C championed black musicians in the recording studio.

D was a nonmusician who promoted jazz.

Question #9

Benny Goodman played the

A trombone

B clarinet

C saxophone

D trumpet

Question #10

The pianist and bandleader is

A Count Basie

B Benny Goodman

C Mary Lou Williams

D Duke Ellington

Question #11

The bandleader and composer is

A Fletcher Henderson

B Count Basie

C Benny Goodman

D Duke Ellington

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 Benny Goodman

B Count Basie

C Duke Ellington

D Artie Shaw

Question #13

In her later career, Mary Lou Williams

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

B was a devoted teacher of jazz history.

C became increasingly active as a composer.

D all answers are true

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 Far East Suite

B Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue

C Black, Brown and Beige

D Black and Tan Fantasy

Question #15

Billy Strayhorn was

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

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

C a member of Count Basie’s rhythm section.

D a boogie-woogie pianist.

Question #16

The vocalist on this recording is

A Billie Holiday

B Ella Fitzgerald

C Bessie Smith

D Louis Armstrong

Question #17

The singer featured in this recording is

A Cab Calloway

B Billie Holiday

C Ella Fitzgerald

D Louis Armstrong

Question #18

The featured saxophone soloist is

A Charlie Parker

B John Coltrane

C Coleman Hawkins

D Lester Young

Question #19

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

A Lester Young

B Johnny Hodges

C Ben Webster

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 Carter

C Benny Goodman

D Valaida Snow

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 Louis Armstrong

B Ella Fitzgerald

C Billie Holiday

D Nancy Wilson

Question #22

Lester Young

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

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

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

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

Question #23

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

A he was blind.

B he never played in the United States.

C he was deaf.

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

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 soprano

B tenor

C alto

D baritone

Question #26

Who is the pianist heard in this excerpt?

A Art Tatum

B Duke Ellington

C Willie “The Lion” Smith

D Fats Waller

Question #27

Who was the first important electric guitarist in jazz?

A Django Reinhardt

B Jim Hall

C Pat Metheny

D Charlie Christian

Question #28

What were “cutting contests”?

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

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

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

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

Question #29

Art Tatum was a virtuosic

A bassist

B pianist

C drummer

D trombonist

Question #30

The style of this excerpt is

A Swing

B Hard Bop

C Bebop

D Cool Jazz

Question #31

The saxophonist on this recording is

A Ben Webster

B Lester Young

C Charlie Parker

D Cannonball Adderley

Question #32

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

A Teddy Wilson

B Bill Evans

C Bud Powell

D Herbie Hancock

Question #33

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

A Lee Konitz

B Charlie Parker

C Johnny Hodges

D Cannonball Adderley

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 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 Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

D Gene Krupa and Chick Webb.

Question #38

Which ensemble is featured in this excerpt?

A Modern Jazz Quartet

B Dave Brubeck Quartet

C Miles Davis Nonet

D Miles Davis Quintet

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 Sonny Rollins

D Coleman Hawkins

Question #40

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

A Gerry Mulligan

B Lennie Tristano

C Chet Baker

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 end of Prohibition.

C television.

D the Civil Rights movement.

Question #42

Cool jazz was also known as

A Bebop

B West Coast Jazz

C Hardbop

D Swing

Question #43

Art Blakey was

A a founding member of the Modern Jazz Quartet.

B the leader of the Jazz Messengers.

C the drummer for the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

D a founding member of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet.

Question #44

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

A Art Tatum and Fats Waller.

B Teddy Wilson and Billy Strayhorn.

C Lennie Tristano and Tadd Dameron.

D Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington.

Question #45

The piano soloist in this recording is:

A Bill Evans

B Bud Powell

C Thelonious Monk

D Red Garland

Question #46

The bassist and composer heard in this listening example is

A Scott LaFaro

B Slam Stewart

C Charles Mingus

D Jimmy Blanton

Question #47

Thelonious Monk’s professional career began in the

A rhythm section at Palomar Ballroom

B rhythm section at Minton’s Playhouse

C Benny Goodman Orchestra.

D pit band at the Cotton Club.

Question #48

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

A pianist

B drummer

C bassist

D violinist

Question #49

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

A Charles Mingus

B Dizzy Gillespie

C Miles Davis

D Lester Young

Question #50

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

A The murder of Emmett Till in Mississippi.

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

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

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

Question #51

Charles Mingus was a virtuoso on the

A trombone

B bass

C alto saxophone

D piano

Question #52

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

A Duke Ellington

B Count Basie

C Benny Goodman

D Fletcher Henderson

Question #53

What is the name of this recording?

A Acknowledgement

B Giant Steps

C My Favorite Things

D So What?

Question #54

The trumpet soloist on this piece is:

A Lee Morgan

B Miles Davis

C Roy Hargrove

D Clifford Brown

Question #55

The tenor saxophone soloist on this piece is

A Sonny Rollins

B Joe Henderson

C Wayne Shorter

D John Coltrane

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

B Evans replaced the drummer with an electric guitarist.

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 a graphic depiction of an intense romance.

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

D Coltrane’s profound religious experience.

Question #59

Modal jazz is characterized by

A the technical challenge of improvising in high registers.

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

C improvising with scales over very few chords.

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 Giant Steps

B E.S.P.

C Portrait in Jazz

D Kind of Blue

Question #61

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

A swing, bebop, and fusion

B cool, hard bop, and fusion

C bebop, hard bop, and the avant-garde

D swing, Third Stream, 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 features Coltrane playing songs from Broadway shows.

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

Question #63

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

A Coleman Hawkins

B John Coltrane

C Wayne Shorter

D Dexter Gordon

Question #64

At age nineteen, Miles Davis was hired to play with

A Charlie Parker.

B Duke Ellington.

C Coleman Hawkins.

D John Coltrane.

Question #65

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

A E.S.P. and Sorcerer.

B Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain.

C Walkin’ and Steamin’.

D Kind of Blue and Milestones.

Question #66

The three key figures in avant-garde jazz are

A Sonny Rollins, Wes Montgomery, and Art Blakey.

B Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Max Roach.

C John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and Cecil Taylor.

D Miles Davis, Gil Evans, and Herbie Hancock.

Question #67

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

A Arkestra.

B Heliocentric Worlds.

C Interplanetary Experience.

D Saturn Songsters.

Question #68

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

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

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

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

D an avant-garde collective from Chicago.

Question #69

Cecil Taylor was known for

A a percussive approach to the piano.

B composing through the use of “unit structures.”

C playing long, extended pieces in concert.

D all answers are true

Question #70

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

A The New Thing

B Black Music

C Free Jazz

D Our Music

Question #71

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

A Nat “King” Cole and Frank Sinatra.

B Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz.

C Dizzy Gillespie and Mario Bauzá.

D Jimmy Smith and Louis Jordan.

Question #72

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

A Thelonious Monk

B Charlie Parker

C Dizzy Gillespie

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 Cubop

B Salsa

C Bossa Nova

D Reggaeton

Question #75

From which country did bossa nova emerge?

A Brazil

B Mexico

C Cuba

D United States

Question #76

Chano Pozo was

A a Cuban conga player who performed with Dizzy Gillespie.

B all answers are true

C the founder of salsa music in the 1970s.

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 Machito

B Antônio Carlos Jobim

C Chano Pozo

D Mario Bauza

Question #78

A clave is

A Spanish for “keystone.”

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

C all answers are true

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

Question #79

Who is the pianist on this recording?

A Chick Corea

B Keith Jarrett

C Herbie Hancock

D Brad Mehldau

Question #80

The name of this fusion band is

A Weather Report

B Martin Medeski and Wood

C Head Hunters

D Mahavishnu Orchestra

Question #81

How could you describe the style of this music?

A fusion

B funk

C all answers are true

D jam band

Question #82

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

A Radiohead

B Medeski, Martin, and Wood

C Herbie Hancock

D Mos Def

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 played electric piano with Miles Davis but disliked the experience

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

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

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 removed the frets and filled in the holes with wood filler

B used a wide range of effects pedals

C used guitar strings instead of bass strings

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 Chick Corea

B Wayne Shorter

C Joe Zawinul

D Jaco Pastorius

Question #87

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

A Celtic fiddle music

B Indian classical music

C Flamenco guitar

D Eastern religion

Question #88

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

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

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

C The album did not find a broad audience.

D The studio sessions were extensively edited.

Question #89

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

A the strictness of rock recording practices

B simplicity

C the abstract nature of rock compositions

D atonal, noisy timbres

Question #90

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

A death of John Coltrane

B young jazz musicians unwilling to embrace pop artists

C stagnation of mainstream jazz style

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 a focus on sweet, hummable vocal melodies

B syncopated, danceable bass lines

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 Black race records and rural hillbilly music

C Jazz and doo wop

D Afro-Cuban and classical

Question #94

This is an example of

A scat singing

B free improvisation

C block-chord texture

D comping

Question #95

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

A Louis Armstrong

B Miles Davis

C Dizzy Gillespie

D Wynton Marsalis

Question #96

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

A Europe

B all are true

C Commercial bands

D Universities

Question #97

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

A Bud Powell

B Nat King Cole

C Mary Lou Williams

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

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

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 1960s

C 1950s

D 1930s

Question #101

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

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

B Jazz creativity is inextricably bound to its past.

C Jazz evolves in response to contemporary pop culture.

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 Brad Mehldau

C Abdullah Ibraham

D Jason Moran

Question #103

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

A Carnatic

B Dance

C Lingua Franca

D Fusion

Question #104

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

A Miles Davis

B Diana Krall

C Esperanza Spalding

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 Pat Metheny

C Patti Austin

D Yo-Yo Ma

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 supported by academia

C influential in popular and classical idioms

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

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

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