什么是爵士乐

在美国发展的音乐，通常结合即兴作曲和切分节奏律动。虽然其确切的起源不详，但主要是从19世纪末、20世纪初纽奥良的音乐文化发展成的一种混合体。爵士乐在特别加上蓝调和繁拍（ragtime）的成分後，形成了和声及节奏结构，便於即兴作曲。音乐的社会功能在这种结合中扮演了重要角色：是用於跳舞或游行？还是用於庆典或正式典礼？音乐是随场合的不同来编制。乐器的演奏技巧结合了西方调性观念并模仿人声。路易斯阿姆斯壮跳脱原来以合奏为主的纽奥良爵士乐（参阅Dixieland）风格，成为第一个伟大的爵士乐独奏者；此後，爵士乐变成个人透过即兴演奏和作曲表现深厚功力的形式。在摇摆乐（1930年～1945?）时代，独奏者在当时大小合奏团方面努力经营的成果出现了，艾灵顿公爵的音乐尤其表现了结合作曲和即兴演奏的因素。1940年代中期，查理帕克开创了咆哮乐的复杂技巧，成为精致摇摆乐的一种副产品：其激烈的节拍及和声的复杂性不仅挑战了表演者，也考验了听音乐的人。迈尔斯戴维斯在1950年代领导乐团建立了一种轻松唯美、词句抒情的酷派爵士乐，後来加上调式和电子乐成分。科尔特兰的音乐在1960年代开启了爵士乐在各方面的探索尝试，其中包括扩展咆哮乐的和弦进行法及实验性的自由即兴创作。

jazz

Music developed in the U.S. usually incorporating improvisation and syncopated rhythmic momentum. Though its specific origins are not known, the music developed principally as an amalgam in the late-19th- and early-20th-century musical culture of New Orleans. Elements of the blues and ragtime in particular combined to form harmonic and rhythmic structures upon which to improvise. Social functions of music played a role in this convergence: whether for dancing or marching, celebration or ceremony, music was tailored to suit the occasion. Instrumental technique combined Western tonal values with emulation of the human voice. Emerging from the collective routines of New Orleans jazz (see Dixieland), Louis Armstrong became the first great soloist in jazz; the music thereafter became primarily a vehicle for profoundly personal expression through improvisation and composition. Elaboration of the role of the soloist in both small and large ensembles occurred during the swing era, c. 1930-45, the music of Duke Ellington in particular demonstrating the combination of composed and improvised elements. In the mid-1940s Charlie Parker pioneered the technical complexities of bebop as an outgrowth of the refinement of swing: his extremes of tempo and harmonic sophistication challenged both performer and listener. Miles Davis led groups that established the relaxed aesthetic and lyrical phrasing that came to be known as cool jazz in the 1950s, later incorporating modal and electronic elements. John Coltrane's music explored many of the directions jazz would take in the 1960s, including the extension of bebop's chord progressions and experimental free improvisation.