"All That Jazz" is a song from the 1975 musical Chicago, created by the songwriting team Kander and Ebb. It is the first song performed in both the stage version of the musical and the 2002 movie version.
The 1979 movie All That Jazz, which features Roy Scheider playing a character very similar to choreographer and director Bob Fosse, uses the song's title.
Analysis
The book Popular Culture: Introductory Perspectives stated that the song highlights the "importance of jazz in the development of pop culture." Author Linda Cahir described the song as a "comment that people often act only for their own benefit without thinking about others," and she called this rule-breaking behavior part of "all that jazz" needed to survive. In a review for BlueCoupe, Tony Buchsbaum noted that the influence of Bob Fosse is present in the song.
Versions
- Chita Rivera sings the song on the original cast album of Chicago from 1975.
- Bebe Neuwirth sings the song on the cast album of the 1996 Broadway revival of Chicago.
- Catherine Zeta-Jones and the cast of the 2002 film version of Chicago performed the song. This version was ranked #98 on AFI's 100 Years…100 Songs list.
- Liza Minnelli recorded a single version of the song in 1975. She has also performed it in live concerts.
- The group JabbaWockeeZ danced to the song on America's Best Dance Crew in 2008.
- Niki Evans sang the song on the fourth season of The X Factor.
- The Bellagio Fountains at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas include the song in their music playlist.
- Shirley Bassey performed the song during her 1998 BBC concert Viva Diva!.
- In 2010, on Over the Rainbow, a show by Andrew Lloyd Webber searching for a West End performer for The Wizard of Oz, four girls in the top 20 sang "All That Jazz" to show they could be Dorothy Gale. Three girls advanced: Stephanie Davis (7th place), Jessica Robinson (5th place), and Sophie Evans (runner-up). Ruthie Henshall, who played Velma and Roxie in Chicago on the West End, coached the girls.
- Kate Hudson and Lea Michele sang the song on Glee Season 4, Episode 9, "Swan Song," where they competed to see who could sing it better.
- Camila Mendes, Madelaine Petsch, and Vanessa Morgan performed the song in Riverdale Season 4, Episode "Fast Times at Riverdale High."
- In the American Dad! episode "Hamerican Dad," a character named Roger performed a version of the song called "All That Ham" while wearing a disguise.