In the 1920s, through the streets of New Orleans, a familiar sound could be heard escaping from the walls of the night clubs. The sultry saxophone solos and the strange scatting selections filled the air. The style was new and spontaneous. This new genre incorporated the styles from gospel hymns, blues, and ragtime, yet was completely different in its own way. The sound, with its new techniques that gave it a raw uniqueness, was able to capture America's curiousness, and make many fall head over heels for the new infectious sound. It drew in people from any age, race, and social status. This new genre was called jazz, and it became so popular that an era was named after it. Jazz is a blend of African American spiritual folk songs and faster upbeat Ragtime that uses a variety of beats and rhythms along with improvisations to captivate its audiences. Jazz music originated from the African American culture, but spread quickly through the rest of America as the African Americans migrated north for new work (Great Neck Publishing). Jazz music was considered so unique because it allowed musicians the ability to express individuality and their own interpretations through the use of inflection, changing rhythms, and openness for improvisation during solos.
One of the ways jazz music captivated its audience was through the musician’s use of inflection. The musician would often put extra emphasis on certain words or notes to intensify the music. Other ways artists used inflection were to accent, hold, or flatten the notes (Schuller 379). When the instrumentalist would play solos they would often use inflection on different notes to keep the audience interested on the long run-on notes. This lead to the creation of “swoops” that are well kno...
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...“Chapter 7: From Ragtime and the Blues to Jazz.” History of Gospel Music. 70. US: Facts on File, 1998. History Reference Center. Web. 4 November 2013.
Carus Publishing, Company. “Scat and Improvisation.” Cobblestone. 27.4 (2006): 47. History Reference Center. Web. 8 November 2013.
Columbia University, Press. “Jazz.” Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition. (2013): 1-3. History Reference Center. Web. 4 November 2013.
Great Neck, P 2001, “History of Jazz.” Monkeyshines on Music & Great Musicians. p. 129. History Reference Center. Web. 8 November 2013.
Matthews, Andrew. “Jazz: America’s Music.” Cobblestone. 34.7 (2013): History Reference Center. Web. 4 November 2013.
Schuller, Gunther. Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968. Print.
Stearns, Marshall. The Story of Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1967. Print.
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.
xv) in the studio of New York company “Victor”, by five white musicians from the New Orleans, “Original Dixieland Jass Band”. The importance of this event is impossible to overrate. Before this recording jazz was a little branch of music and had only been played by a small group of musicians in New Orleans. After the record was published on the 7th of March 1917, within weeks’ jazz had taken over America.
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.
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...
Howard, John Tasker, and George Kent Bellows. A Short History of Music in America. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1957. 342-3. Print.
Vladimir Bogdanov. All Music Guide to Jazz. Forth edition. Ann Arbor, MI: All Media Group, 2002
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 issue, I will illustrate the movement from the 1930’s swing era to the birth of bebop and modern jazz.
Lewis Armstrong was to jazz music, Bach is to classical music, Presley is to rock music (Berrett 230). This essay will have an introduction to the king of jazz music—— Lewis Armstrong and his great influence on jazz history. It could not be examined when and by whom Jazz music was found. People began hearing jazz music in the early 1900s. It originated from the American in New Orleans city and Jazz founders were mostly black people.
Kenton, Stan(ley Newcomb)." New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Ed. Barry Kernfeld. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994.
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.
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
Kernfeld, Berry. New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, The. Vol. II London: The MacMillan Company, 1988
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...
jazz/) Works Cited:.. Andrews, John. The. a. The adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of What bebop means to jazz history. A review of Scott Devine’s book “The Birth of the Bebop: A Social and Musical History.”