All That Jazz (song)

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"All That Jazz" is a song from the 1975 musical Chicago . It has music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, and is the opening song of the musical. The title of the 1979 film, starring Roy Scheider as a character strongly resembling choreographer/stage and film director Bob Fosse, is derived from the song. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Composition

Opus, Book 3 by Rob Blythe notes the song uses the 7th chord to create a unique musical effect. [5]

Analysis

Popular Culture: Introductory Perspectives postulated that the song encapsulated the "importance of jazz in the constitution of pop culture". [6] Describes it as a "cynical comment on the willingness of humans...to act solely, simply, and remorselessly in their own interest", and deeming this unlawful conduct as part of "all that jazz" one needs to get by. [7] BlueCoupe said in the song, "the ghost of Bob Fosse hangs about". [8]

Versions

In Chicago

Other uses

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The phrase and all that jazz means "and other such things", "and all that sort of thing". It is recorded in print in this sense as early as 1959, and was associated with the city of Chicago in Frank Sinatra's 1964 rendition of "My Kind of Town", where the lyric "Chicago is my kind of razzmatazz, and it has all that jazz" is sung.

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References

  1. "Review: "CHICAGO" at the WAC Has All That Jazz - The Arkan". uatrav.com. 13 March 2014. Archived from the original on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  2. "Bursting with Song--Review of Chicago". rationalmagic.com. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  3. "Review | Chicago and All That Jazz". bluecoupe.com. Archived from the original on 2014-11-06. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  4. Nyback, Dennis. "Review: Chicago The Musical". portlandstagereviews.com. Archived from the original on 2014-11-06. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  5. Blythe, Rob (December 2006). Opus. ISBN   9780435812508.
  6. Danesi, Marcel (2008). Popular Culture. ISBN   9780742555471. Archived from the original on 2021-10-04. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  7. Cahir, Linda Costanzo (21 March 2006). Literature into Film. ISBN   9780786425976. Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  8. "Review - Chicago and All That Jazz". bluecoupe.com. Archived from the original on 2014-11-06. Retrieved 2014-03-26.