Music soul jazz fuses influences from gospel and R&B music into its sound, often with a funky rhythm and bass lines that shuffle, swing or stutter.
Soul jazz first gained widespread recognition during the early to mid 60s after organist Jimmy Smith – often considered to be its precursor – adopted a more funky sound in his style of organ jazz performance. Horace Silver, Bobby Timmons, and Cannonball Adderley quickly adopted its distinctive sound.
Origins
Soul jazz emerged during the early 1960s, merging elements of funk and gospel music with traditional Black jazz styles. The genre got its name from using an “soulful” bass line to establish a steady groove, along with chord structures drawn from blues, R&B, gospel music traditions as well as African American or Black church services to produce its sound.
Soul jazz differs from most types of jazz by often featuring a Hammond organ player to lead and compose melodies, rather than using piano notes as its centerpiece. Jimmy Smith is perhaps best-known as one of its founders – although other musicians existed prior to him making an impactful mark in soul jazz history. No matter its origins, its sound remains deeply connected with African-American musical heritage and current trends.
As the genre evolved, Black churches remained an important source of influence. Elements of Black gospel music such as call-and-response vocals between singer and chorus can often be heard in soul songs. Additionally, gospel introduced accented off-beat rhythms that are signature features of African music that laid a solid foundation for jazz music.
One of the pioneering centers for soul jazz was New York City, where Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson founded Atlantic Records and actively pursued artists who combined jazz with various forms of soul such as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Sam & Dave Wilson Pickett & Solomon Burke – who recorded at Fame Studios or Stax Records respectively. Memphis Tennessee also played an instrumental role with artists recording for Stax Records or Fame Studios respectively.
Soul jazz’s influence lasted well into the ’80s before eventually giving way to funk and disco music – yet its influence remains vibrant today with artists like Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington and Snarky Puppy creating innovative new music that echoes its roots – its groove-based sound remains popular both within jazz music as well as R&B genres – providing a link between past and present.
Definition
Soul jazz, which blends gospel, blues and jazz music together into an intoxicating soundscape, is defined by its harmonic mix of vocalists and instruments with a steady beat. This style’s harmonic mixture of vocalists and instruments creates an upbeat and inspiring musical story of equality, peace and desire; though now rarely considered popular genre. Although soul music rarely appears on radio stations these days; its influence still remains felt today both within contemporary jazz as well as other genres; many young artists pushing neo-soul forward in an attempt to capture its popularity.
During the 1960s, many of the same cultural forces that gave soul its distinctive sound–such as civil rights struggles, uprisings in the North and Midwest, centuries of battles and losses–also had an effect on jazz players. Many such as Aretha Franklin learned their music at church services before taking their music beyond church walls to reach a wider audience through jazz performances and recordings that represented Black spiritual beliefs while inspiring a distinct form of jazz known as soul jazz.
Soul jazz differs from hard bop and bebop by emphasizing its rhythmic groove over traditional chord progressions. Bass lines (usually played by organists instead of string bassists) often dance instead of adhering to four-to-the-bar walking patterns found in bop, while musicians build their accompaniment around it. Furthermore, singers use various singing techniques, including scat singing and falsetto singing to add spiritual elements into their soundscape.
Aretha Franklin belting out “Amazing Grace,” or James Brown collapsing to the floor after five falls to his knees during a performance of his hit “Please, Please, Please,” is symbolic of collective Black resilience that soul artists attempted to convey. Horace Silver reaching for organ keys on “Song for My Father,” or Lou Donaldson struggling with vocal range on his “Blues Walk,” were expressions of individual journeys that brought soul artists fame.
Soul jazz remains popular, yet some jazz journalists and critics remain critical. Emily J. Lordi’s book illustrates its complexity by detailing its roots – blending gospel, blues and jazz together into its own genre – with close listening sessions as well as reviewing contemporary literature to illuminate all layers that comprise its music.
Characteristics
Soul jazz developed into a groove-oriented form that frequently combined elements from gospel and rhythm-and-blues music. Typical components include layered vocals with handclap patterns, pentatonic scale horn riffs mixed with melodic calls-and-responses and heavy drums and bass lines that were typically funk influenced. Furthermore, its influence also stems from other rhythmic sources like pop rock and R&B music.
Early 1960s musicians experimented with merging gospel, rhythm-and-blues and jazz into something known as soul jazz. Vocalists like Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin revolutionized vocal jazz; Jerry Wexler at Memphis Stax Records produced some classic soul smashes; while Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter blended blues, R&B, and jazz into hard-grooving tunes that helped define soul jazz’s distinctive sound.
This musical genre is defined by strong, cycling bass lines that swing, shuffle and twitch; an infectious groove accented with stomping or shimmying rhythm; catchy melodies; and an irresistibly danceable soundscape.
Bebop and hard bop jazz tend to follow chord progressions in four-to-the-bar walking patterns; soul jazz differs by being led more by its bassist — typically either an organist or string bassist — who creates a groove on which soloists build. This approach allows the bassist to play more supportively while giving soloists greater room to express themselves freely.
Soul jazz guitarists such as Grant Green, Jimmy McGriff and Sharony Andrews Green all use guitar as an integral element. This instrument blends well with blues, rock, country music and even Negro spirituals – often the source of soul jazz inspiration.
Though eclipsed by fusion during the 1970s, jazz traditional has since regained popularity. Many contemporary musicians remain inspired by it today and its grooves and melodies continue to draw listeners in. Additionally, its earthy ebullience appeals to wide audiences while its sublime technique and improvisational brilliance make this timeless art form.
Influences
Aretha Franklin and James Brown inspired many musicians to explore new expressions of jazz that became known as soul jazz. This genre blended elements from rhythm and blues (R&B), gospel music, African American folk traditions and jazz together into a unique sound; organist Jimmy Smith of Funky Broadway fame is an exemplar. Jimmy Smith seamlessly integrated R&B and gospel influences while remaining true to hard bop’s tradition.
Horace Silver made his mark on jazz piano by writing “The Preacher”, an innovative composition that fused traditional 12-bar blues forms with R&B and gospel vocal melodies to produce music which evoked spiritual emotion while giving listeners reason to dance. Soul jazz became widely popular during the 1960s in nightclubs across America. Musicians would create soul jazz ensembles centered on organ, often including tenor saxophonists and bassists as part of ensembles centered around it.
Alongside traditional jazz forms, many artists began incorporating aspects of boogaloo music. Boogaloo was a rhythm and blues style derived from Jamaican ska and calypso music that combined influences from Jamaica with jazz’s walking beat tempo. Yusef Lateef pioneered this hybrid style on his album Blue Yusef Lateef (1962). One example of such hybridity can be seen on his song “Boogaloo for Two.”
Soul jazz differs from its counterparts bebop and hard bop by placing more of an emphasis on groove than on improvisation. Soloists still follow typical chord progressions found within jazz music, yet groove takes precedence over individual lines of soloing. Musicians play bass lines as melodies to create an overall feeling of rhythm that can be felt physically by listeners.
Early 1960s soul jazz popularity gave birth to the funk genre, defined by its signature pounding beats and smooth arrangements popularized by Parliament-Funkadelic and The Meters bands. Additionally, Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett’s soulful singing gave rise to modern R&B. Amid such turmoil of this period came artists such as Marvin Gaye who would address civil rights movement issues through their art.