The Evolution of Jazz
Before I take this class, the jazz music is familiar as well as unfamiliar to me. I am pretty sure that I heard jazz performance at many times, but I cannot tell what jazz is. And there was a time when I thought jazz music was belong to the upper class, however I understand the jazz music is regardless of class and race, so much even it more tends to lower middle class. In the early of 19th century, the New Orleans was owned by the French, and due to the lax management, lots of African-Americans got away from slaveholder from America’s south. They got married with French under the “mixed marriages”, therefore there were huge amount of mixed-race know as Creoles. The Creoles had the same rights with white people, they got
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However, it can actually have almost endless changes. The early jazz music was based on blues, and nearly half of jazz classic tracks were blues. So we can say the blues was the root of jazz music, the jazz music showed extraordinary talents on other field. The ragtime had a particularly close connection to the early jazz music. Initially, ragtime was a piano music, and the golden age of ragtime was between 1898 and 1908. Due to the rise of jazz music, the ragtime had gradual disappearance from the music …show more content…
In end of 1940, there was a totally new and mellower jazz style called as “Cool Jazz”. It was made up by white musicians, and center on west coast of American, so it also called as “West Coast Jazz”. For personally, I like the “Precious Joy” by the Modern Jazz Quartet, and “My Funny Valentine” by Chet Baker. In the end of 1950, black musicians raised a new style that was confrontation with the cool jazz, called as East Coast Jazz. They discontented with cool jazz style, because it was under the influence of classical music, and they try to revive the Bebop. “There will never be another you” by Sonny Rollins, is also a representative work of east coast
Understandably the focus of the episode titled 1959 The Year that Changed Jazz would focus on the events of 1959. The main point was outlining the four albums by four different bands that showed the different ways jazz was evolving. The first album to take focus was Kind of Blue recorded by Miles Davis and his sextet. Davis had started his jazz carer at the age of nineteen under his idol Charlie Parker in the late 1940's. Taking what he learned from Parker of the Bebop style, Davis went on to become an amazing artiest in his own right. Columbia Records was was easily able to turn him into a national celebrity, one that the women found highly attractive. From the sextet, Jimmy Cobb and Herbie Hancock were interviewed.
Jazz music of the 1940’s and 1950’s was defined by a history of change since its beginning at the dawn of the 20th century. Almost every decade brought a new flavor to the movement, and by the 1940’s jazz had developed into a mature, complex form of music, with many nuances and avenues for continued change. It is important to trace the early movements in jazz to better understand the innovations of the Bebop and Cool jazz eras of the 40’s and 50’s.
In New Orleans, where the jazz music started, music was not a luxury, it was a necessity. Ethnicities represented in New Orleans were as follows: French, Spanish, and African, Italian, German, and Irish (Herbert Asbury, 1938). This unique combination provided a unique mix of cultural influences which gave birth to such unique styles of music: ragtime, blues, spirituals, marches, and of course jazz. The workers needed the music as a way of communication, relief, and hope for freedom, during the mind-numbing labor.
Jazz is referred as “America’s classical music,” and is one of North America’s and most celebrated genres. The history of Jazz can be traced back to the early era of the 20th century of the U.S. “A History of Jazz” presents From Ragtime and Blues to Big Band and Bebop, jazz has been a part of a proud African American tradition for over 100 years. A strong rhythmic under-structure, blue notes, solos, “call-and response” patterns, and
The cool jazz style arose after WW2. This new style of jazz was created by the great Miles Davis he is credit for this because of his Birth of Cool recording but in fact Lester Young is the face of cool Jazz. In spite of the fact that there were many other artists who made the cool jazz sound, a standout amongst the most compelling was Lester Young. This was a young saxophone player who had a more casual style than huge numbers compared to his peers, with an attention on smooth playing and an inclination to fall simply behind the beat as opposed to pushing it ahead. He was additionally more centered around investigating and creating tune, while bebop artists were more inspired by investigating and surprising rhythms. Another big standout amongst the most well-known figures in the early cool jazz development was trumpeter Miles Davis. Davis set the cool jazz kind via looking for a lighter, expressive, and more casual sound. He did a progression of recordings in 1949 and 1950 to explore different avenues regarding this sound, and these recordings, later
To understand the genesis of Jazz one must also understand the setting of its origin, New Orleans. The city was founded by the French in 1718, then in 1763 the city ceded to Spain and remained under Spanish control until later being returned to the French in 1803, and then was immediately sold to the United States under the Louisiana Purchase. New Orleans was also heavily populated by African slaves making up 30% of the total population of the city at this time; so New Orleans was experiencing a lot of cultural diversity and was being shaped and molded by the many different fashions of people who lived in the city. These different social groups along with their culture also brought with them their deep rooted musical traditions, the fusion and combination of these traditions would give rise to what we know today as modern day Jazz. Jazz is a genre of music that could only have formed in America; it draws from many different cultures and art forms creating a cocktail of traditional European and African music, mixed with a blend of Spanish tinge, with a strong base of blues filtered through the American experience.
The evolvement of jazz throughout the years has been an interesting one. Blues and Ragtime are just two simple innovations that has allowed for many variations in the jazz genre. Both of these genres have their similarities and differences in how they influenced jazz music through: improvisation, syncopation, and experimentation.
“I always thought that music had no boundaries, no limits to where it could grow and go, no restrictions its creativity. Good musicians no matter what kind of music it is. And I always hated categories. Always. Never thought it had any place in music.”(Davis 230) Jazz music is a art form that the first jazz musicians used to step out of the racist frame. Jazz singers strive to inspire people with their gospel tones but were often criticized for their truthful lyrics. Artists like Louis Armstrong , Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis are just a few that have been noticed for their works although all of the jazz artists throughout the jazz age should take credit for the historical civil rights movement. The popularity of jazz music in the twentieth century helped to progress the civil rights movement, challenged segregation laws and created a lasting American art form.
Imagine you are walking the streets of New Orleans. You are standing right where jazz was established in the United States of America. Jazz wasn’t just about music, it also affected the culture involving social, economic, artistic and jazz leaders.
Though Jazz has changed, the background behind it still inspires those today. Even though each artist has their particular style or expression, they all can agree that music is art. They can all agree that Music is emotions and feelings. Through the years, just as all things do, Jazz and Bebop have grown and flourished across America and the World. All in all Jazz for African Americans opened the doors in America, jazz alone opened doors and ears all across the Earth.
Jazz became popular during the 1920s and was developed from Blues and Ragtime. The 1920s was nicknamed The Roaring Twenties or the Jazz age because it was a time where many traditonal moral standards were not followed and people indulged in new danicng and dressing styles. Jazz is still important to us today but according to Nielsen‘s 2014 Year-End Report, jazz is continuing to fall out of favor with American listeners and has tied with classical music as the least-consumed music in the U.S., after children’s
As it grew in influence and popularity, Jazz brought many young people together. It was such a social movement it brought mixed young people together to dance “The Charleston, The Cakewalk, The Black Bottom, The Flea Hop.” Since Jazz was such a influential and persuasive musical style. It had its time as a great social leveler and unifier. It brought together African Americans and Americans, in a love of fast, rhythmic music, which was multiplied through the radio and the recording industry. “What a crowd! All classes and colors met face to face, ultra aristocrats, bourgeois, communists, park avenue galore, publishers, broadway celebs, and harlemites giving each other the once over.” Jazz became attractively to popular Jazz Bands, it traveled widely playing all kinds of venues from restaurants, to dance halls, and even nightclubs. One of the many best renowned nightclubs would have to be the Cotton Club its where hollywood, paris and broadway rubbed elbows, people who came from all over the United States wanted to experience what was going on Harlem in the
Jazz music prospered in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Jazz was created by African Americans to represent pain and suffering and also represented the adversity that racial tension brought. (Scholastic) African American performers like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie “Bird” Parker came to be recognized for their ability to overcome “race relati...
In the early 1900s jazz became a stepping stone for women. After the Women’s liberation movement in the 1920s jazz became an outlet to rebel. Along with the ratification of the 18th and 19th amendments women became more empowered and wanted to be seen as individuals. There were plenty of obstacles along the way women had to face to become part of the jazz world. However in time jazz changed the way women are perceived; it gave women freedom, acceptance and opportunity. In return women such as Mary Lou Williams, Ella Fitzgerald, Lil Harden and more made significant contributions to jazz music that shaped it and made jazz what it is today.
Now a days, many believe that jazz is not that important of music genre, but with our history, jazz plays a big role. “Jazz does not belong to one race or culture, but it is a gift that America has given to the world.”, quoted by Ahmad Alaadeen. Jazz in the 1920’s opened the eyes of whites and invited them into African American culture; it evolved Americans to where we are today since it brought a change to the music scene, an acceptance of African Americans, and a change of lifestyles.