TRANSCRIPT:
This is Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.
Jazz has left its fingerprints all over popular music. From the swing era forward, jazz rhythms, harmonies, and improvisation have shaped the sound of pop.
Think of Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon.”His phrasing and timing were directly inspired by jazz.
Rock ’n’ roll pioneers like Chuck Berry and Little Richard borrowed blues progressions and boogie-woogie rhythms rooted in jazz, heard in classics like “Johnny B. Goode.”
The Beatles and The Rolling Stones absorbed jazz chords and ideas into their songwriting, while in recent years, artists like Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good” and Norah Jones’s “Don’t Know Why infused jazz elements into mainstream hits through soulful harmonies.
Jazz gave this music its heartbeat, providing depth, groove, and that unmistakable swing.
This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and SC Public Radio, made possible by The ETV Endowment of South Carolina.