Jazz was a form of musical protest during the oppression of African Americans in the US, especially throughout World War 2. Duke Ellington’s passion for music and drama made him stand out throughout the musical evolution of Jazz. His song “Cotton Tail” paved the way for a new jazz subgenre called modern jazz. Ellington’s innovation and free mentality influenced the future of jazz, inspiring other artists and musicians, and making him one of the most influential composers of the genre to date. Through the song Cotton Tail, we unravel the historical, musical complexities and cultural significance. In the 1940s WW2 was reaching its peak, causing racial and political tension in the United States. On June 5th, 1940, Germany attacked Great Britain …show more content…
865)” Cotton Tail is 3 minutes and 9 seconds long, with vocals from Ella Fitzgerald, and is a piece with a new style. It is still under the Jazz genre but is more upbeat and resembles ragtime. The end of the piece gave the audience a new taste of jazz, modern jazz. According to the text “The solo plays off the same chord progression as the tune but does not vary or develop the tune. Rather, the music at each chorus presents new ideas and may or may not use melodic or rhythmic ideas from earlier in the piece. The remaining three choruses feature various combinations of instruments playing together or in call-and-response fashion, and the final bars of Ellington’s tune return to bring the piece to a close (Burkholder et al. 865)” as the piece was closing, Ellington’s point of having solos, and then combining all the artists with different instruments was notable. Although modern jazz started in the 20s, it became more popular due to improvisation in the 40s, and Ellington’s “Cotton Tail” is a prime example of the evolution of jazz. My take on the song is that I notice the resemblance and influence of ragtime throughout the song. In minute 1:16, there are a series of accents in the song which I see in ragtime, and the influence is
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.
By the end of World War I, Black Americans were facing their lowest point in history since slavery. Most of the blacks migrated to the northern states such as New York and Chicago. It was in New York where the “Harlem Renaissance” was born. This movement with jazz was used to rid of the restraints held against African Americans. One of the main reasons that jazz was so popular was that it allowed the performer to create the rhythm. With This in Mind performers realized that there could no...
“His relaxed phrasing was a major change from the staccato style of the early 20’s and helped to set the stage for the Swing Era” (“Life & Legacy”). And as such a prominent artist, and in particular, jazz artist, Armstrong did not only change the perception of jazz and swing, but the views on African Americans and their culture. Armstrong and the Harlem Renaissance reflected black history and culture, and it became popular, even in white communities and clubs. Jazz as a whole genre helped further society’s views through the universal language of music, where any ethnicity could partake in it. And the revolution of jazz was lead by the stylings of Louis Armstrong. The duration of the jazz and swing era, lasting decades past the 1920s, symbolized the civil rights movement directly through the lyrics, sounds, and artists
Jazz is an American genre that developed from ragtime and blues in the early twentieth century in urban areas of the U.S. This genre is characterized by strong, prominent meter, improvisation, distinctive tone colors, and performance techniques. The development of Jazz made a postive, lasting impact after World War One ended. It became a way of bringing young people together. Jazz became the basis for most social dance music and provided one of the first opportunities for public integration. Subcultures like the gangs of New York and Chicago encouraged the subjugation of the black artists to the white man’s economic and social power, often resulting in gang leaders having complete control over
In the midst of the Cold War, an era of racism and culturalism emerged in America. The American international reputation rested on President Eisenhower’s shoulders. Due to emance discrimination against minorities, the United States government appeared separated and weak in the eyes of communist Russia and throughout the world. It was Eisenhower and other major political figure’s responsibility to repair that image and once again create a façade that America is united. In Penny M. Von Eschen’s work, Satchmo Blows Up the World: Jazz Ambassadors Play the Cold War, she analyses how U.S. politicians used the music of rising black Jazz musicians to sway nations worldwide to fall back in love with American culture, mask the evident racism, and ultimately win the Cold War. She also brings to light the well deserved credit that these ‘jambassadors’ had in spreading Jazz around the world and making these tours as activism for black culture. Though each party had their own way of portrayal to create peace and unity, these groundbreaking entertainers conveyed it through creating an international jazz culture
During Ellington 's 1927-1931 residency at the Cotton Club, his music was often signified as "jungle" music or advertise as African American music. The distinctive piercing wailing sounds of band instrumentalists inspired this characterization (Cohen 2004). The venue 's exclusionary policies and excessive prices barred African Americans, except for the rich and famous, and even those visits were rare. There was a separate section for the relatives of African American performers. Ellington 's family along with other African Americans found this exclusion insulting (Cohen 2004). However, whatever racial issues were raised by the door policies and stage presentations, the Cotton Club engagement with its regular radio broadcasts provided huge advantages for Ellington. The cotton club provided an enormous national audience and gave Ellington the priceless experience of writing music with on a constringent deadline during various circumstances (Cohen 2004).In contrast to other African American and jazz bands trying to achieve success, Ellington 's band remain in the City of New York mostly. In contrast, to most African American bands and performers did not have the of performing at stable locations (Cohen 2004). Instead, other African America
The word “jazz” is significant to America, and it has many meanings. Jazz could simply be defined as a genre or style of music that originated in America, but it can also be described as a movement which “bounced into the world somewhere about the year 1911.”. This is important because jazz is constantly changing, evolving, adapting, and improvising. By analyzing the creators, critics, and consumers of jazz in the context of cultural, political, and economic issues, I will illustrate the movement from the 1930’s swing era to the birth of bebop and modern jazz. As the 1930’s began, the effects of the Great Depression still ravaged the United States, which in turn caused a dramatic change in the music industry.
Jazz was a unique form of music, there had never been anything like it before. It was rebellious, rhythmic, and it broke the rules- musical and social. It started a musical revolution, “With its offbeat rhythms and strange melodies, jazz was blamed for everything from drunkenness and deafness to in increase in unwed mothers.” Jazz was seen as immoral and worried the older generation that their kids would lose interest in classical music. It was also seen as against society because it came about from the African- American culture, but despite all of that, jazz led to a new era of music that still prevails today.
Throughout history, music have defined or depicted the culture and social events in America. Music has constantly played an important role in constituting American culture, where people have expressed themselves through music during flourishing and turbulent times. In the 1930’s, Swing music created a platform for audiences to vent their emotions in the midst of Great Depression and political unrest. Such strong relationship between music and culture can be seen throughout history, especially in the sixties.
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.
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 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
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
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.
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