And All That Jazz Chicago

The musical Chicago displays the stories of women in prison, and shows the corruption in criminal justice, bringing about the idea of a celebrity criminal. The music for this production was composed by John Kander, with lyrics by Fred Ebb. Chicago follows the life of Velma Kelly, who is responsible for the death of her cheating husband and her sister, and Roxie Hart, who is a wannabe showgirl, but ends up in jail alongside Velma for the death of her lover. Velma s sudden fall from fame and Roxies rise to it causes tension between the two, and Roxie continues to become more famous through faking being pregnant in prison. Through this, Roxie s husband Amos sticks by her, excited at the prospect of being a father. But when her case in court is won and she is released from prison, Roxie tells Amos there is no pregnancy, and she is left in the dirt. With this, she teams up with Velma Kelly to form a new act and performs the song Hot Honey Rag. The structure of All That Jazz is verse/hook with gradual build ups, such as in the beginning of the song: were the gin is cold but the pianos hot, where the melody of the previous line is repeated up a semitone, creating further intensity. This creates a build up.

This effect is repeated further through the song, in the middle.

The hook of the song is and all that jazz, and this is repeated several times throughout the song. The notes this hook is sang on changes throughout the piece, to create a more dramatic effect.

The rhythm of this piece involves a lot of syncopation as it is a jazz piece, and that is a key aspect of the genre. A lot of lines of the song involve starting on the offbeat, for example:

Often there is an upbeat used too:

The instruments in this piece are typical of a jazz band, with trumpets, saxophones, piano, vocals and backing/chorus vocals. Trumpets may use a mute to create the desired sound. This piece exploits the singers range as it uses notes between a middle C and a top A, which displays the singers wide range.

The tone of this song is very light hearted and fun, with fast paced enthusiasm. It also uses sexual references which reflects on the showgirl attitudes to performance

in the 1920s, where women were objectified and used to dance and sing to entertain a mainly male audience. At times, the tone of the voice reflects this as it is raspy, breathy or whispy.