Ostinato#Vamp

The term Vamp ( pronunciation: [ væmp ], from English, original meaning of " patchwork " ) referred to a jazz accompaniment figure which is usually in a brief, ever- repeating melodic or harmonic sequence. Musically, it involves an ostinato.

The term probably comes from the musical theater, where we denote by vamps " in the loop " played score sections where the orchestra holds up the vocals on stage again begins.

Jazz pieces can entirely based on such short, often two - or four-bar ostinato, such as extended collective improvisations on the plate In a Silent Way (1969 /70) by Miles Davis.

In jazz, it has always been customary to improvise over simple chord progressions, for example, in the late 1930s Swing ( Count Basie or Charlie Christian ). Also the bebop and hard bop rely on this technique where she remains confined to individual sections (about A Night in Tunisia by Dizzy Gillespie ). In the prior art by Art Blakey's "Jazz Messengers " Bobby Timmons composition Moanin'von the solo passages contain a two-bar vamp over four chords. Since the 1960s, the art of improvisation experienced on recurrent phrases accompanying a revival, which is due to the influence of John Coltrane.

Also in related musical styles, the term is used, especially in blues, R & B and soul. Pieces by John Lee Hooker, Ray Charles and James Brown are often based on vamps. One of the most popular vamp structures comes from Percy Mayfield's song Hit the Road Jack, who had come in the version of Ray Charles to glory; here there is a characteristic sequence of chords, more specifically, an Andalusian cadence, in conjunction with the shuffle rhythm.

The typical of a vamp figures are recorded either in notation, or only in chord symbols, in order to give the musicians greater freedom.