Early jazz musicians in New Orleans performed for a variety of reasons and audiences: private parties, dances, funerals, marches, and innumerable other more informal events situated in bars and honkytonks. (CarmeN)
“Latin music styles (i.e., Caribbean and South and Central American) have shared a common history with jazz, intersecting, cross influencing, and at times seeming inseparable, as both have played prominent roles in each other's development.” (Washburn) This quote from Christopher Washburn’s article “Latin jazz: The other jazz” sums up the issue that since the beginning of jazz, music from Cuba and the Caribbean has been just as important to the rhythm, melody and improvisation to jazz as the blues, ragtime, European or military
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Latin influence on jazz musicians spans much longer than a century ago when it was first recorded. The complex Afro-Cuban rhythms, dance and melodies have influenced American jazz artists such as W.C. Handy, Jelly Roll Morton, Buddy Bolden, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong. The Afro Cuban rhythms used by these musicians essentially come from a popular danzon or dance beat that was used by musicians and is a product of many different types of cultures mixing with each other. The son clave rhythm is the foundation of the most popular Cuban music still used and popular today. The rhythm usually follows a 3 beat-2 beat pattern that occasionally is turned backwards for some of a song to a 2 beat-3 beat pattern. This pattern is a type of call and response structure that is very common in African and Afro-Cuban music. One simple way to understand and hear the beat applied is the classic “Bo Diddley beat” used in most of his songs. This example shows how the Afro-Cuban rhythms, a product of acculturation, is so adaptable and hidden in plain sight all over jazz and American music. In this essay, I will explore how Afro-Cuban …show more content…
In fact, if you can't manage to put tinges of Spanish in your tunes, you will never be able to get the right seasoning, I call it, for jazz.” (Lomax 62) This quote from Jelly Roll Morton explains that these Afro-Cuban rhythms that were so close to his home in New Orleans were essential in the creation of “America’s first Art form” The first example of Afro-Cuban music infecting jazz can be seen in what Morton called the “Spanish tinge”, his nickname for popular dance rhythm called the habanera. The habanera, as it is known outside of Havana and Cuba, stemmed from a fusion of African drumming and Spanish-European dance called the contradanza and now known as danzon. The contradanza was a traditional country dance from England in 18th and early 19th centuries that became popular across Europe. The word contradanza in Spain or contredanse in France is a transmutation from the word country dance. This dance was popular in Spain but it was “Franco-Haitian slaves seeking refuge in Oriente in the 1790s, however, not the Spanish, who introduced the genre to island, in the form of the French contredanse.” (PBS.com) This transmutation of words shows another example of the melding of cultures in the Caribbean and Cuba, this melding of culture is one of the main factors jazz melded in New
The first appearance of jazz was at the turn of the century in New Orleans and is called “Dixieland Jazz,” or “Classic Jazz.” It developed out of music for street parades in the black community. It also had deeper roots in a style of music called “Blues,” which was used to express the daily experiences of the community (History). Other influences include the combination of West African folk music with the popular classical music of Europe, developing into syncopated rhythms and chord variations on classical pieces (Passion).
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.
The music of jazz became an important aspect of American culture in the early 20th century. The crisp syncopation of ragtime and the smooth tunes of the blues seeped into American mainstream music through dance halls and saloons and later through ballrooms. Instruments like the piano, trumpet, trombone and clarinet became important and symbolized the “swing-feel” of jazz because of their capability to syncopate and improvise precisely. With the help of the booming recording industry, musical geniuses were discovered and their talent and contributions to the emergence of jazz spread throughout the entire country. Such musicians include composer, arranger and pianist Jelly Roll Morton who heavily influenced the development of early jazz by his unique piano style, his “invention” of musical notation for jazz, and his compositions that have become the core in the jazz repertory. Because the style was new and different and so successful in drawing in large audiences, musicians around the world tried to mimic it. Furthermore, Morton’s masterpieces were the first to show notation for complicated jazz music and thus, formed the basis for standard notation in jazz compositions today.
Though the two differed in many ways, the were both chock full of musicality. A key difference between the two is the style of music they both held. New Orleans was a city of a multitude of musical styles, while Vienna remained a well known city for classical music. New Orleans streets would fill with parades and musical performs all over the city. As the documentary mentioned, after Louisiana became American controlled, an influx of newly freed African Americans began calling New Orleans their home. This brought on new styles of African and Caribbean music in addition to spiritual songs from the south. These new styles were not accepted by with upper class of New Orleans. White descendants of the French and Spanish who lived in New Orleans adopted the term “Creole” in order to distinguish themselves from the influx of new American’s for whom they disdained. Creole’s were classically trained and participated in local orchestras in New Orleans, lending to the multitude of musical styles of the city. Creoles soon became second class citizens along with blacks, and thus a new music was born. The influence of the Creoles classically trained music, along with the multitude of different styles, created a music of freedom and liberty. Together African Americans and creoles transformed music as it was known, creating jazz, a quintessential
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
Dance is just as important and music in Afro-Cuban Culture. The music is made to be danced to, and most of the popular Cuban dances that exist today are of African decent. The most popular are the rumba, danzon, and son. Especially among the working class poor, dancing and music was simply a way to blow off steam and have a good time.
Jazz culture to be exact, is the topic at hand. Jazz culture expands throughout many genres and is expressed in many ways. The many genres of jazz are Big Band, jazz funk, modern jazz, smooth jazz, Latin jazz, and jazz fusion. Each of these comes with its own unique sound and origin. Latin jazz, for example, employs rhythms from both African and Hispanic backgrounds. The sound is particularly up tempo with divided eight beat patterns. Jazz artists who have portrayed these qualities of jazz to the world are at the very core of its culture. Many people who are in places of power in this society or are held in some form of esteem have had some exposure to the arts, whether it is classical or jazz. This is due to a desire to be culturally diverse which is a quality held in high esteem in regards to a more worldly point-of-view. There are many aspects of Jazz music that could be approached, but there is one point in particular that must be expressed in detail. The influence on the genre ...
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.
Cumbia originated in the coastal region of Colombia in the early 1800’s. There were three predominant cultures in Colombia at that time: the indigenous peoples, the Spaniards, and the African slaves. The cumbia began with the essential instrumentation of the tambor drums and the gaita flutes, which derive from both indigenous and Congo-based African roots. The genre was entertainment for the slaves, beginning as a courtship dance. It later became an outlet for national resistance and protest as Colombia was contesting for its independence. The music was able to diffuse throughout the nation, spreading from the coast, primarily for the reason that many African populations were scattered in various regions. Barranquilla, a port city in Colombia, was the core of where the music became established and played for the masses, and where instruments such as horns and bass began to be incorporated into cumbia, giving it a more Latin feel. As cumbia evolved and spread to Mexico around the 1930’s, it changed from the influence o...
Last Sunday I went to jazz bar in Manhattan and I listened “Latin Jazz?E Latin jazz is “a fusion of African and indigenous rhythms from the entire Latin American Diaspora with the language of jazz?E It was first known as coop, but you are now familiar with it as afro-Cuban. When talking about afro-Cuban jazz, it is difficult to not mention certain turning points in history that made this music possible. The roots of much, of the music might be traced back to African Cuban slaves. In Cuba itself, music and dance are so essential to national character that you can not disentangle them from the country’s history. “The story of Latin jazz music is thus one of religions and revolutions, power and liberation, the collision of civilization?E In the United States we can never completely understand our own music, without referencing it to Cuban music. There are various characteristics that can define Latin jazz ranging from the savant grade to more popular forms. Some forms of popular music that most people are familiar with would have to be the mambo, salsa, cha-cha, and afro-Cuban jazz. These types of music were originated from north America, but to elaborate further, Latin immigrants can to new York and brought with them distinctive rhythms that blended together. Theses types of music and other music are contagious and an evolutionary process. No one person can take the credit for Latin jazz of any form of music that comes into the united s...
The origin of Mexican Folklorico dances originate from Mesoamerican days when the Mayas and the Aztecs
The Latin Americans never wanted to be left in this music development. The Latin Americans had their own music, Jazz (Gordon, 2005). They wanted to influence in the development of the music. Soon, Salsa was born out if mixture from the Jazz music and Mambo. Salsa took the bodily movements and the Cuban beats as a contribution from the Caribbean culture. The Latin America contributed the wording of Salsa music. Diversity necessitated the growth of Salsa as Mambo had been viewed with suspicion as it was linked to ghetto status hence it was
Growing up, there was never a day that I did not wake up to the sound of loud salsa music blaring. Or to the loud voices of my mother or grandmother talking. To anyone else this “talking” would surely be mistaken for an argument or fight. Cuba is where salsa music and the conga drum originated, so we tend to be very proud of this. One of the greatest salsa singer/writers was the late Celia Cruz.
Not only is it nearly impossible to pinpoint jazz’s conception in time, many locations are accredited with its origin, the United States allowed for jazz to start gaining popularity and leading into the change it had to the music scene. When jazz is brought up, many first think of its birth place being New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans has always been a big musi...
According to his review of A Guide to Latin American Music by Gilbert Chase, Charles Seeger describes Chase’s description of the music culture, “The quantitative distribution of more than 2700 entries, which include some multiple listing, is interesting” (Seeger, 1946, 304). Chase explains a plethora of countries in Latin America and their specific musical features. Furthermore, thanks to his detailed work, the reader can see how many common features can be seen. Firstly, a common feature among all genres is the use of aerophones. The aerophones used could include, panpipes of various varieties, flutes, trumpets (as seen at the Boogat performance in Ottawa) and many more. Another common feature among all the genres is a strong rhythmic presence. In essentially all Latin American music, a steady, metrical rhythmic quality can be heard keeping the music energetic and easy to follow. To keep the rhythm, another common feature to Latin American culture is the drum. Most commonly found in the Afro-Latin genre, as a result of influence from African culture, can be seen throughout Latin America. A popularized western form of this type of music, is that of mariachi. Finally, Latin American culture is known for its vibrancy in their music. The music is generally quite expressive of feelings, strong moral messages found in protest songs, and their colorful, elaborate