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Influence jazz in american history
The emergence of Jazz
African American influence on American music
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• Jazz is type of music of Black American origin characterized by improvisation and syncopation.
• There are two aspects that almost all jazz styles have in common improvisation and swing feel.
• To improvise is to compose and perform at the same time, or as some would like to call it spontaneous improvisation.
• Most jazz bands use arrangements of some sort. In the case of large jazz bands where the players are seated with written arrangements in from of them and they usually improvise when they do a solo.
• A steady beat is needed to have a swing feel in jazz.
• Syncopating means accenting just before or just after a beat.
• Rising and falling is also needed in jazz. This pattern makes you alternately tense and relaxed over and over again.
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• Every Jazz musician has a personal style of playing.
• The two main forms of music during early jazz period were the 12 bar blues and 32-bar American popular songs.
• A solo in jazz means the artist is improving.
• The four possible instruments in the rhythm section are the bass, drums, piano, and guitar.
• Jazz musicians often improvise over tunes that are written in the form of four sections.
• The sequence A-A-B-A was the format, which has been, used thousands and thousands of times especially through the 1920’s and the 1950’s.
• Walking bass is when the bassist or guitarist plays one string per beat. This helps the band keep time and gives the groups sound buoyancy.
• Comping is when the pianist play chorded rhythms behind a soloist in order to provide harmonies and rhythms.
• Comping can be done by the piano and guitar.
• Blues, brass bands, and ragtime were the 3 main types of music that influenced early jazz.
• African American Slaves invented the blues.
• Scott Joplin was a famous pianist who invented ragtime.
• New Orleans was the main capital of jazz during the 1900’s.
• Small combos are groups of 6-9 people.
• Combo jazz began in
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• Ragtime was not considered jazz because it lacked jazz swing feel.
• The reason New Orleans was the main capital and the birthplace of jazz during the 1900’s was because of the party atmosphere and all the jobs it provided for the musicians.
• Front line most early jazz included trumpet, clarinet, trombone and sometime saxophone.
• New Orleans and Dixieland are two names used for the same type of small combo jazz, which features collective improvisation.
• Louis Armstrong is considered the father of jazz and the first great soloist.
• Louis Armstrong was also considered the father of scat.
• Jelly Roll Morton was the first jazz pianist.
• The two greatest trumpet soloists from New Orleans were Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke.
• Louis Armstrong was referred to play the trumpet in the “hot” style while Bix Beiderbecke was the “cool”.
• ODJB was the first jazz band that recorded.
• The first jazz recording was in the year 1917.
• King Oliver was the leader of the band ODJB.
• Louis Armstrong moved to Chicago in the 1920’s to play with King Oliver in his band.
• Jazz moved away from small combos into big bands during the 1920’s.
• A big band has more than 10 players and a standard 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.
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.
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 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.
Swing, the predecessor of bop, was big, sweet, and hot. The performers were big bands, fronted by a charismatic bandleader, yet the success of a piece depended mostly on the unity of the ensemble as a whole, rather than on the showcasing of prodigious individuals. The requisite instrument was the saxophone, which was often smooth and mellifluous. Songs were old favorites, or simple jazz standards, that had been arranged to suit a large ensemble. Swing bands played in large venues, such as ballrooms, and to large audiences, who seized the opportunity to not just tap their toes, but to "jump, jive, and wail." The swing era became the most popular form of jazz, as it catered to audiences as a form of social and interactive entertainment.
Both ragtime and blues played extremely influential roles in the emergence of jazz.
Jazz was introduced directly after World War I by African-Americans (Boundless.com par. 1). Although jazz was composed by many different African-Americans the main founder of jazz was Ethel Waters (McCorkle par. 8). Jazz was first played in New Orleans, but as the African-Americans moved north, white citizens caught on and tuned jazz into a new craze (Lindop 107). Even though jazz was created in New Orleans, Chicago became the home of jazz music (Bingham 8). The first jazz players derived the tune from a mixture of Latin American, African, and European rhythms, making it very popular among many different types of people (“Latin Jazz” par. 1). Jazz was so well-liked because it gave the artists the opportunity to make the predetermined tune their own (“What is jazz par. 1). When listening to jazz the same song is never heard twice because the band members each put their own spin on the way they play their instrumen...
Why was New Orleans the hotspot for Jazz? It was located on a seaport. Being on a seaport is beneficial because it provides tourists and is also where goods go through. Also, it provided the party-like atmosphere and still does so today. People in the 1920’s didn’t have the technological advances such as iPhones and television so the performance took place in a social setting such as local bars and red light district establishments. The music evolution of jazz provided not only the music itself but a reason to get up and dance. According to Gridley, “The evolution of new dances and the overall popularity of dancing were big factors” (40). This was a big factor in jazz because it provided a brass band feel.Brass bands influence from Europeans brought a model for jazz music such as the trumpet, trombone, tuba, saxophone, and clarinet. These factors wouldn’t have been possible without culture and also individuals.
In the 20’s, the era right after World War I, music and dancing became a focus. Many musicians were moving Northward from southern cities such as New Orleans, which was a main focus for what would become jazz music. As these musicians came up to more urban cities, they introduced the country to a world of music based on Caribbean music tones and southern blues. Syncopation was common in the songs that were known in this area, as were the common bluesy sounds and rhythms of those gospel songs and old hymns. This would all greatly influence the jazz creation. Jazz began as a music type that was focused more on orchestral sounds and bigger bands than smaller bands, such as seen with Whiteman, and this was evident in the types of dances and music the people listened to, with large piece orchestras. In this time period, there were big bands, but few solos or focus on jazz technique individually, as the bands showcased the overall sound of the band’s polyrhythmic and polyphonic sound more than its homophonic solo sounds. People such as Louis Armstrong began to be interested in focusing more on chords than melodies and on solos than group collective improvisation, and this started the move to a new wave of jazz: swing.
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 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
Blues was usually raw and improvised. Also it was simpler, easier to play. Blues pieces don 't change harmonies (chords) all that often, sometimes only three chords in a piece. However with ragtime it changes harmonies every few beats, less catchy and more difficult to execute. Ragtime also is more mechanical, favoring harmonic orthodoxy and “meticulous precision” (Monk). The meter for blues is what we refer to has the twelve bar blues. The line form for that is usually AABA. This form can be traced back to the African call-and response form, which is still evident in jazz. An example of AABA pattern would be Robert Johnson’s “Cross Road Blues which is does an amazing job at playing. Ragtime had multiple forms and themes, that were a little more complex. In Cy Seymour’s “Holy Moses” Rag it features a AA BB A CC DD
In the early 1900’s African American musicians from various European cultures created a new style of music, known as Jazz. New Orleans is known as the birth place of Jazz with the French and Spanish migrants shaping early New Orleans’ culture. Settlers from other European countries including Italy, England and Germany combined Blues, Ragtime and Big Band Music to create what we now call Jazz.
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.
Jazz is the best-known artistic creation of the 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. In the formally standardized, instrumentally accompanied form of “city blues”(as opposed to the formally unstandardized and earlier “country blues”), the blues was to become one of the two major foundations of 1920s jazz (the other being rags). City blues tended to be strophic songs with a text typically based on two-line strophes (but with the first line of each strophe’s text repeated, AAB) and a standard succession of harmonies underlying each strophe’s melody.... ...