Known to fans and admires as the “Godfather of Soul”, “Mr. Dynamite”, “Soul Brother Number One”, and “the Hardest Working Man in Show Business”, James Brown was one of the most influential 20th century music figures, especially when it comes to soul, funk, rhythm & blues, and rap, awing and inspiring millions in a career that lasted some six decades. His energetic vocals and distinctive choreography propelled the popularity of Rhythm and Blues and influenced many artists and genres to come. But it was more than just his unique voice and style that made him stand out as he continually triumphed over adversity and was a beneficent advocate of social and civil rights as well as a proponent of the benefits of childhood education.
From the get go, James Brown faced significant adversity. During the Great Depression on May 3, 1933, James Joe Brown Jr. was born barely clinging to life in rundown one-room shack out in the backwoods of South Carolina, just outside Barnwell and close to the Georgia border (Weinger and White). It was in this small shack that Brown's aunt revived the nearly still born baby who would go on to become one of the the biggest musical icons of the century. After only a few short years, Brown's parents split up when he was four and Brown was sent to Augusta, Georgia to live with his Aunt Honey who worked at a brothel (James Joe Brown Jr.). Growing up black and in poverty during the Great Depression was another hardship Brown had to endure. “A young Brown worked whatever odd jobs he could find, for literally pennies. He danced for the soldiers at nearby Fort Gordon, picked cotton, washed cars and shined shoes” (James Joe Brown Jr.) Brown reflects on tough times growing up stating “I started shining shoes at 3 cents,...
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...anthem that “unified and inspired generations” (James Joe Brown Jr.) Brown believed in non violent protests and even told H. Rap Brown of the Black Panther “I'm not going to tell anybody to pick up a gun” (James Joe Brown Jr.) After the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Brown performed a live concert in Boston that was broadcast throughout the city and as hoped, deterred a significant amount of violence and riots that would have otherwise occurred (James Joe Brown Jr.)
Brown died in 2006 of congestive heart failure which resulted from pneumonia. Tens of thousands, including admirer Micheal Jackson, paid tribute as his horse-drawn carriage made its way through Harlem (James Brown). The “Godfather of Soul” was one of the most influential musical pioneers and cultural forces of the 20th century and served as a key inspiration for generations of artists to come.
To determine what factors Brown had to overcome to become a success, we must look at what was against him. He was a black man in a white dominant society. The only factor that could have made Brown being black any worse was if he grew up in the South. He shows us this through his parents they moved from the South to Harlem to escape its prejudices. Like many black families Brown’s parents wanted to be the first Northern urban generation of Negro’s. He showed the kind of Southern black mentality his parents had with the jobs they took and the way they reacted to his quitting of what they called good paying jobs....
Throughout history, and even today, music has shaped America’s culture, society, and even politics. One of the most outstanding and enduring musical movement has been from African American artists, ranging from bebop to jazz to hip-hop to rap. During the 1920’s , jazz artists stepped into the limelight and began their impact on American and even world history. Louis Armstrong was one of the most influential leaders during the Harlem Renaissance and his jazz legacy and impact of American history is everlasting. A master of his craft, Armstrong and his music heavily influenced America’s white and black populations from the 1920’s and up until his death.
" Sing for freedom : the story of the Civil Rights Movement through its songs. Montgomery, Ala.: NewSouth Books. Kirk, J. (2007). The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secon Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement: Controversies and Debates. Basingstoke, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
African-American culture was spread through several artistic forms and mediums through the decades that the Harlem Renaissance took place in. One of the biggest and arguably the most important forms that Black culture was spread in was the form of music. During this era, music was an indispensable form of artistic expression that conveyed the thought and feeling of the Black people occupying Harlem and the surrounding areas. Music was an important art form at the time as “No aspect of the Harlem Renaissance shaped America and the entire world as much as jazz. Jazz flouted many musical conventions with its syncopated rhythms and improvised instrumental solos. Thousands of city dwellers flocked night after night to see the same performers”. This music created by the African-Americans in Harlem transformed the negative outlook of many into a positive one or one of some understanding toward the Black populus. This introduction of Jazz and Blues into the society of the era gave birth to several influential and pivotal artists such as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. This popularized the Jazz and Blues music genres and brought major notoriety to African-American bringing much needed change in the perceptions of Black
African-American music is a vibrant art form that describes the difficult lives of African American people. This can be proven by examining slave music, which shows its listeners how the slaves felt when they were working, and gives us insight into the problems of slavery; the blues, which expresses the significant connection with American history, discusses what the American spirit looks like and teaches a great deal from the stories it tells; and hip-hop, which started on the streets and includes topics such as misogyny, sex, and black-on-black violence to reveal the reactions to the circumstances faced by modern African Americans. First is about the effect of slave music on American history and African American music. The slave music’s
The Jazz Singer, released in 1927, is a black and white film that centers on a young man who wishes to conquer his dreams in becoming a professional jazz singer. This film, directed by Alan Crosland, demonstrates new developments from the decade of the 1920’s. During the decade, many new advances; such as the introduction of musicals and other technological advancements, were created. The Jazz Singer utilized these new advances of the decade and incorporated them into each scene. This is evident due to the elements of being the first talkie film, the introduction of the new musical genre and the introduction of the Hollywood stars system. By utilizing the new advances of the decade, Crosland’s film, changed the way cinema would be seen forever.
How the Actions of Governor Wise and the State of Virginia in the Case of John Brown may be easily Justified.
According to Albert Murray, the African-American musical tradition is “fundamentally stoical yet affirmative in spirit” (Star 3). Through the medium of the blues, African-Americans expressed a resilience of spirit which refused to be crippled by either poverty or racism. It is through music that the energies and dexterities of black American life are sounded and expressed (39). For the black culture in this country, the music of Basie or Ellington expressed a “wideawake, forward-tending” rhythm that one can not only dance to but live by (Star 39).
He was known as the Father of Jazz. He was most notable as an entertainer, however, he was a soloist that provided improvisations in regards to tunes. Louis Armstrong's “What a Wonderful World” is the first song that comes to many minds when discussing jazz. He is also well known for his scat singing, However, he also had a political side. In his song “What Did I Do To Be So Black and Blue,” Armstrong talks about the color of his skin as a bad thing and how blacks were treated. In World War II he fulfilled by performing for the soldiers during a recording
John Brown became a legend of his time. He was a God fearing, yet violent man and slaveholders saw him as evil, fanatic, a murderer, lunatic, liar, and horse thief. To abolitionists, he was noble and courageous. John Brown was born in 1800 and grew up in the wilderness of Ohio. At seventeen, he left home and soon mastered the arts of farming, tanning, and home building.
He was the first jazz artist to sell over one million copies of a single record – “Minnie the Moocher” – and he went on to record many albums. Cab made an average of $50,000 a year, even during the middle of the Great Depression when so many people were out of work and poor. He invented a new form of jazz singing, “scatting,” and ended up doing what he had always dreamed of: being an entertainer and seeing the smiles on peoples faces everyday. Perhaps more importantly, he changed the music industry by proving black entertainers could perform before white audiences. In these ways and others, modern black hip-hop and jazz artists owe a debt of gratitude to Cab Calloway.
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...
Jazz, which evolved from African American folk music, has developed and changed over the last century to become an art form in America. It places particular importance on inventive self interpretation. Rather than relying on a written piece, the artist improvises. Jazz has taken many forms over the past seventy years; there is almost always a single person who can be credited with the evolution of that sound. From Thelonius Monk, and his bebop, to Dizzy Gillespie’s big band, to Miles Davis’ cool jazz, or to John Coltrane’s free jazz; America’s music has been developed and refined countless times through individual experimentation and innovation. In my opinion the most noteworthy artist in the development of modern jazz is John Coltrane. In this paper, I will focus on the way in which Coltrane’s musical originality was related to the sounds of his predecessors and to the tribulations and tragedies of his life.
Protest and marches were taking place by both blacks and whites together. The power of a community coming together for change was being felt and heard of in the US although violence was not completely gone. The poem Still I Rise, expresses hope by concluding, “Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, / I am the dream and the hope of the slave. / I rise/ I rise/ I rise (Angelou 39-43). Angelou is comparing herself with the gift, she is the gift that her suffering ancestors left, so she is left with a purpose to make a change and rise not only for herself but for African Americans. In like matter, one of the most known activist is Martin Luther King Jr. who was one of many civil right leaders. King was part of the Massachusetts Boycott, he expanded the civil rights movement, and was always giving marches and speeches for change. His most famous speech is “I Have a Dream”. King was assassinated for defending what he believed for and is still remembered till this
As it mentioned above, the title itself, draws attention to the world-renowned music created by African Americans in the 1920s’ as well as to the book’s jazz-like narrative structure and themes. Jazz is the best-known artistic creation of Harlem Renaissance. “Jazz is the only pure American creation, which shortly after its birth, became America’s most important cultural export”(Ostendorf, 165). It evolved from the blues