Jazz also produced noted trumpeter, Louis Armstrong. Talented black artists were looking for an identity and something that was different from the pop culture of Rock and Roll and Jazz was the answer. Jazz became prominent during a period of comprehensive artistic and political uproar among African Americans. The by-product of Jazz was Bebop. Bebop is a style of jazz characterized by a fast tempo, instrumental virtuosity and improvisation based on the combination of harmonic structure and sometimes references to the melody. Bebop music was a form of jazz that for African Americans was art. Bebop was a conscious attempt to provide new channels of creativeness for African Americans. Famous artists such as Dizzy Gillespie became the icons of Bebop and are still celebrated to this day. Jazz truly shaped the African American life. …show more content…
At the onset of the Civil Rights movement, public rallies were not allowed so African American musicians used the music to express themselves.
Through music, they were able to make powerful political statements without drawing the fury of white America. Nina Simone was one of the artists who used the music stage to make political statements. She sang a combination of jazz, blues and folk music. She was a civil rights activist and wrote songs promoting the Civil Rights Movement. In the 1960s, she became identified as one of the voices of the civil rights movement and wrote passionate songs about the movement. She wrote the song "Mississippi Goddam" in response to the 1963 assassination of Medgar Evers in Mississippi, and the church bombing in Birmingham that killed four young African-American girls. Nina Simone’s legacy continues to live and she is quoted in many circles for her defiant music to the
times. Like Nina Simone, Jimi Hendrix was an exceptional and valued musician whose chic transformed rock and roll forever. Hendrix had a permanent influence on performers and definitely left his mark as one of the utmost rock and roll guitarists of all time. Hendrix encouraged individual freedom and was very compassionate to the civil rights movement. On August 18, 1969 Hendrix concluded his set at the Woodstock music festival with a melody that had a solo performance of the Star Spangled Banner. It was a defining performance and ignited controversy because of the way he performed it. His performance of the national anthem was unorthodox but that was what he was known for. He was known for “pushing the envelope” He emboldened many generations of African American performers to be who they are. As a student, I can identify and appreciate the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The SNCC was a political organization that played a central role in the civil rights movement. The organization gave young Americans more of a voice during the civil rights movement. Leaders organized a peaceful protest for black equality. The organization was formed on the campus of Shaw University in North Carolina. The SNCC viewed King’s principle of nonviolence as a political approach. The group coordinated sit-ins at lunch counters that helped shape the Civil Rights Movement. Activist like Julian Bond, John Lewis, Jim Lawson, Ella Baker, etc. were icons of the movement. SNCC ended up taking up a more radical tactic between 1965 and 1966. The group eventually began to clash with the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC). The SCLC gained the upper hand and soon the SNCC became defunct but their legacy still lives on. The Freedom Rides were the epitome of defiance. A group of thirteen interracial civil rights activists propelled the Freedom Rides. It consisted of a sequence of bus trips through the South to object to segregation in interstate bus terminals. Freedom Riders were influenced by the SNCC and tried to use “whites-only” restrooms and lunch counters as well. The group came across tremendous violence from angry whites. Outside of Anniston, Alabama, one of their buses was burned to ashes. Also in Birmingham whites attacked the riders just a couple of blocks away from the sheriff’s office. The group went from Birmingham to Montgomery without any incidents. When they got to Montgomery they were brutally attacked by a mob of more than 1000 whites. The dangerous violence and the indifference of the local police at that time provoked a nationwide outcry of support for the riders.
Cool jazz and Bebop are two very different types of music, but they are under the same umbrella of jazz. Bebop was developed somewhere in the 1940s, and was characterized by very fast tempos, complex and very quick chord progressions, as well as heavy improvisation. Due to the high difficulty, bebop musicians tended to be virtuosic in their instrument. Cool jazz was also developed somewhere in the 1940s, but was applied the name “cool jazz” in the 1950s. This new style was an antithesis in a way to bebop, as it was characterized by slower, more “cool” tempos, smooth melodies that were not sporadic, and an overall sense of smooth motion and a feeling of flowing. While these two styles were developed around the same time period, they are both very different to each other in a lot of ways.
The difference with Bebop and the Swing Era are with the melodies and how the bands are setup. Starting with bebop it his more of a complex tempo with a four to five piece band then what a swing era band would normally have about five Saxes players, three trombones players, four trumpets players and with a rhythm section playing a big dance hall unlike bebop the sound would be only heard in small jazz clubs. The music can be heard and seen played faster with the drummer keep the time for the whole band. You’re able to hear this in the tune “Tempus Fugue-It”, the piano can be heard playing solo sporadically as if it sounds out of control but the player is with in control as the drummer keeps the tempo going with a sound of a moving
Developed in the early 1940's, Bop had established itself as vogue by 1945. It's main innovators were alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. In this stage in jazz, improvisation differed immensely. Bebop soloists engaged in harmonic improvisation, often avoiding the melody altogether after the first chorus. Usually under seven pieces, the soloist was free to explore improvised possibilities as long as they fit into the chord structure. Popular and influential jazz artists include: Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, & Cannonball Adderley. Armstrong is most known for his involvement in hot jazz as a trumpeter, but is especially renowned for his improvisation capabilities. Louis Armstrong, born August 4, 1901 right in the beginning stages of the jazz movement, was originally from New Orleans. Armstrong was a bandleader, soloist, comedian/actor, and vocalist. Another famous, Miles Davis, is what some consider to be the best trumpeter of the era. Davis was born on May 26, 1926 in Alton, Illinois. One unique thing about Davis was that he was taught to play without vibrato, which was incredibly contrary to the popular way of
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.
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 about 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.
“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
Nina Simone used music to challenge, provoke, incite, and inform the masses during the period that we know as the Civil Rights Era. In the songs” Four Women”, “Young Gifted and Black”, and Mississippi God Damn”, Nina Simone musically maps a personal "intersectionality" as it relates to being a black American female artist. Kimberly Crenshaw defines "intersectionality" as an inability for black women to separate race, class and gender. Nina Simone’s music directly addresses this paradigm. While she is celebrated as a prolific artist her political and social activism is understated despite her front- line presence in the movement. According to Ruth Feldstein “Nina Simone recast black activism in the 1960’s.” Feldstein goes on to say that “Simone was known to have supported the struggle for black freedom in the United States much earlier, and in a more outspoken manner around the world than had many other African American entertainers.”
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.
its abilities to bring people together and sometimes even make people happy. Although the jazz era ended almost a century ago, this time influenced by Louis Armstrong was a huge cultural shift that still remains in our society in which African-Americans are a vast part of our music industry amongst pop, rap, reggae, and more.
During the Civil Rights era, African Americans changed the way people looked at music by ending the segregation in the music world and by making a well-known “soundtrack” and influence during the Civil Rights Movement.
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 comprises of a wide range of music from the ragtime to the present music listened to by many people. The music evolution has taken roughly 100 years and jazz has been put in this particular evolution as one of the music styles today. In the definition of jazz, there is no actual definition of jazz because it a composition of very many music styles hence making it hard to get the required definition that would describe it fully. Attempts being made to define jazz have a basis of traditional music that have similar characteristics as jazz but not real jazz. Using the American or African music examples, the researchers argue that the definition is very broad and wide. Ernest Berendt one of the researchers says that jazz originated from America in the process of confronting Negros with Europeans in terms of music. This can then be termed as a tool of identity between the two groups of people due to the racist and discrimination aspects that faced America. This was now a tool that could identify the two groups to bring about national integration and understanding among the members of America. In America jazz has incorporated time as a special factor and is now referred to as swing. Swing means spontaneity and vitality of the production of music which has an improvisation role to play to the listeners. This particular jazz music contains a particular manner of phrasing which acts as a mirror to an individual and the personality of the musician performing that particular jazz music on stage. The early jazz musicians include Double Bassist Reggie Workman, saxophone player Pharaoh Sanders, and drummer Idris Muhammad who were performing in 1978 hence dating back to early jazz performance and presentation.
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.
Andrews, John. (1998). What bebop meant to jazz history. A review of Scott Deveux’ book “The Birth of the Bebop: A Social and musical history.”