Hazel Scott

A torch song is a sentimental, often slow ballad that expresses the pain of unrequited love, longing, heartbreak, or romantic resignation. The term comes from the idiom “to carry a torch,” meaning to continue loving someone after the relationship has ended. Rooted in the Great American Songbook and popularized by nightclub and film performances, torch songs emphasize intimate, expressive vocals and finely shaded phrasing over virtuosic display. Harmonically, they typically employ the sophisticated jazz- and Tin Pan Alley–influenced palette of the classic 32‑bar AABA standard, with rich extensions, secondary dominants, and occasional modulations. Although historically associated with smoky clubs and crooners, the torch approach has continued through modern pop and R&B ballads, where the focus remains on story, vulnerability, and vocal nuance.

Jazz is an improvisation-centered music tradition that emerged from African American communities in the early 20th century. It blends blues feeling, ragtime syncopation, European harmonic practice, and brass band instrumentation into a flexible, conversational art. Defining features include swing rhythm (a triplet-based pulse), call-and-response phrasing, blue notes, and extended harmonies built on 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths. Jazz is as much a way of making music—spontaneous interaction, variation, and personal sound—as it is a set of forms and tunes. Across its history, jazz has continually hybridized, from New Orleans ensembles and big-band swing to bebop, cool and hard bop, modal and free jazz, fusion, and contemporary cross-genre experiments. Its influence permeates global popular and art music.