Discuss the positive and problematic implications of the notion that jazz is ‘America’s classical music’. In your answer, consider discourses of listening, learning and politics. Refer also to Wynton Marsalis ' view on the subject.
“You could ask, 'what 's classical music? '. I couldn 't answer that. It 's not a thing that could be answered straight out. You have to tell it the long way. You have to tell about the people who make it, what they have inside of them, what they 're doing, what they 're waiting for. Then you can begin to have an understanding.” - Sidney Bechet
LEARNING
Ever since it gradually came into existence around 1900 jazz music and its musicians have received countless reviews, including a considerable amount of
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Yet there are also jazz musicians who think differently. Pianist Jelly Roll Morton, for example, considered himself a composer and ridiculed musicians who could or would not read sheet music. He held onto the European classical tradition very much, possibly because of his European roots .
However, as mentioned above, improvisation is a very important part of the jazz tradition, and it cannot be learnt or taught in the way that classical playing is normally learnt and taught. There is not one agreed-upon way to learn how to improvise, and even a clear definition has yet to be phrased. It is more often described as what it is not: preparation . Therefore, learning how to improvise must be different from learning any classical technique, which are always carefully prepared REFERENCE.
An aspect of learning how to play jazz that might seem rather similar to learning how to play classical music is the use of written arrangements during performances. Against popular belief, many early jazz players did use written arrangements and lead sheets and many players continued to do so throughout the history of jazz . Also, according to Morton, it is better to write out arrangements in advance than to be unprepared and go wrong . Nonetheless, there is also the ‘problem of transcription’ in attempting to notate jazz arrangements. Bechet’s single Blue Horizon, for example, contains slow glissandi and other gestures that are extremely difficult if not impossible to be written down in notes. The sounds that are produced are often sonorities rather than stable pitches and some rhythms are also too complex to
Jazz has shaped the world we know today. Jazz would have never been as popular without the help of the famous musicians: Jelly Roll Morton, Joe King Oliver, Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington. These people helped spread the new genre through radio, railroads, and the records that they played. Where did this all start? The jazz age began in New Orleans where a certain King was born.
Also jazz music included improvisation meaning no two performances were ever the same. Improvisation with the voice, called scatting, was used by singers like Billie Holiday Bessie Smith. What popularized jazz music so much were the radios, just like literature had magazines. This allowed Americans, not just from Harlem, to listen to this new
Have you ever imagined being on the best jazz music concert, being surrounded by the best jazz musicians of the world? Have you ever seen a trompetist playing so passionately? During the crazy 1920s you are going to see the emerge of one of the greatest jazz soloist, who changed the history of jazz and African American culture. Back then jazz was just an African American music that you can dance, but Louis Armstrong transformed it making it a popular art. Jazz is a music genre that originated in the late XIX century and expanded globally in the XX century.
Jazz music was created by the people to express their opinions and spread togetherness despite the events that were occurring during this era. Musicians showcased their views on political, social, and religious outlooks. The most
Now, jazz musicians are renowned for professionalism, refinement, and culture. Jazz is a fine art, a representation of humanity’s progress. As jazz musicians, we need to maintain a higher set of values than any other type of musician. So if we, Manouche Jazz musicians, don’t care about the fate of the Romani, yet we play their music, then our profession is hypocritical. If we pretend to hold ourselves to the level that jazz is defined by, while also appropriating the music of an already struggling culture, Manouche Jazz musicians, in particular, are hypocritical appropriators.
Despite Jazz being formed out of two cultures, the issues of social stratification and racial identity never had to be addressed in early jazz history. But as Jazz grew in popularity in a prewar 1930s America, the issue of racism started to form. As Jazz prospered within the economy and as a musical style, it’s roots revealed it’s racial identity. Jazz emerged from the music used formerly to entertain slaves and was a tool of rebellion against the white man, Jazz’z roots were very much embedded in slave culture. As free slaves moved north, they brought their Jazz influence to parts of the country such as Chicago and New York.
The Santa Fe Evening of Jazz was a great concert featuring the Rhythm and Blues, Jazz Combo, and Big Band from Santa Fe College with special guest Professor Scott Wilson from the University of Florida Jazz Studies. This Evening of Jazz was the ninth one to be held and was superbly done; getting a ticket was quick and simple, finding a seat was as easy, and leaving was not hard. The whole performance was led by Doctor Steven Lee Bingham who also played with all the bands on the alto saxophone along with giving information about each band, song, scholarship players, and on Mr. Wilson and his unique instrument called a E.V.I.. The audience had a pleasant feel, everyone was talking and laughing before and after the performance, they also were
For African Americans, jazz music, has always had a political undercurrent. Slave songs spoke of the “Israelites” enslaved by the Egyptians, such as in Go Down Moses, symbolising their own yearning for freedom. However, it took time for the assertion of the political message to develop in a more discernible way. Jazz’s status as a form of entertainment had effectively subdued the message for many years, because of the ostracisation of those involved and because of the early popularity of the white swing bands. The majority of jazz musicians were not political activists, rarely explicitly political in their work, however, they often expressed their political ideals, sometimes more subtley other times more overtly through their music.
The history, popularity and influence of jazz on human culture make it the seminal American art form. The origins of jazz music are central to its identity and its importance in the American story. Firstly, ragtime
Popular Jazz musicians included King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory, and Duke Ellington. No one had quite heard anything like it before in America. Dances were made to accompany the music - mostly to "take advantage" of the upbeat tempo's. Before Jazz became popular in America, it was considered "the devil's music" by some of the public. Some people, like Ernest Newman, "debunked Jazz" in a 1927 magazine article.
Jazz is most often thought to have been started in the 1920s as this explosive movement, but that is in fact not the case. Starting in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century many African American musicians have started to explore their taste in improvising, and where better to do that than New Orleans (Anderson). Before the 1920s these jazz musicians have already been going around sharing the unique sound, but up until then, jazz had remained majorly in New Orleans. Interestingly during this period, a common jazz band would consist of a cornet, a clarinet, a trombone, and a rhythm section when at this period of time the clarinet is not commonly associated with being a jazz instrument, it moved into being the saxophone rather. A big
Since its early roots in New Orleans, Jazz has been essential part of American culture through its role in showcasing and contributing to America’s complex history. Throughout the years, Jazz artists have used improvisation and individuality, which are essential traits of the music, to keep the music celebrated and popular around the world. However, only few artists have used Jazz music to support social movements and used to influence people’s lives. Unlike others, I believe John Coltrane, was one of the greatest saxophonist, who portrayed his individuality through his belief in spiritual power of music and using his improvisation to change music style while influencing social issues. Coltrane was a deeply spiritual man who believed music was a vehicle for the
James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blue’s” makes great use of different literary devices throughout the story. The author utilizes conflict, symbolism, and the narrator’s point of view to give the story a deeper meaning and significance to the story. Sonny’s Blue’s is about an older brother’s relationship and differences with his younger brother, Sonny.
Jazz, in nature contains many characteristics of black people because its origin was from an African music. When we talk about jazz as a black music, the black here refer to African-American. African music is characterized by collective performance as a musical element. Several people played together and danced and enjoyed music. That's why rhythm play was more important than melody in Jazz eventually in Hancock’s music.
Different artists started experimenting and trying out electrical instruments for the very first time. Jazz-Rock is quite different from earlier Jazz in a number of ways: • Jazz’s rhythm is renowned by its “swing”, while on the other hand Jazz-fusion is more based on eighth or sixteenth note rhythms. • Jazz mostly uses acoustic instruments such as piano, double bass, horns but jazz-rock mostly uses electronic instruments such as electric guitar, bass guitar, electric piano etc. •