In the 1930s, jazz was the Fringe music. In 2011, Solstice Singers brings a taste of these early days of back rooms, illegal drinks, hats pulled down to shadow faces _x0013_ and that was just the audience. Strange close harmonies, break-away rhythms, songs of the underworlds of loneliness and crime _x0013_ these were a revelation to popular music. Cole Porter and Ira and George Gershwin made their names; Rogers and Hart cashed in on the genre; Irving Berlin had Fred Astaire dancing close; even ol' Mackie came to town. Popular or elitist, high or mass culture, folk-music or art-form? With its roots in African rhythms and slavery resistances, jazz became the voice of many diaspora, the Gershwin brothers no less than others. It continued to travel from the USA throughout the world - Graham Bell's Australian jazz band ignited post-war Europe with its buoyant interpretations, for jazz was already deeply coded as music of resistance in occupied countries. What is for sure is that jazz traversed political dynamics and twentieth-century musical cultures just as it traversed the globe. Along the way, many distinctive styles have evolved that ignite yet more developments in this intriguing music genre. The song forms in jazz that we use tonight are predominately the swing form, characterised by a walking bass and swung quavers, with the fractional tones of 'blue' leading notes. These may be in the accompaniment or in the vocal line. The tension between off-beat phrasing and rhythmic setting drives the energy of this style. Add some harmony and there's plenty of spice! The Way You Wear Your Hat _x0013_ voices of the 'thirties speak into the new century, and the feet tap still.
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