Rough Beginnings It was 1915 and the music scene was just getting hot. New Orleans was busting at the seam with young cats prowling the streets, lurking in seedy after-hours clubs looking to get a wild jam session in before the night was through. An insanely talented and equally arrogant ragtime pianist by the name of Jelly Roll Morton began to play with a different kind of flavor that drove audiences crazy, and with that the invention of Jazz was born. The heavy syncopated beats making your pulse jump, the bluesy lilt of a melody lapping lazily at your senses; this was the time to be alive.
In the realm of music, African Americans celebrated blues music. The blues music that spread during the 1920s “expressed the longings and philosophical perspectives of the black working class” (). In addition to blues music, jazz became a dominant musical form which established Harlem as an exciting cultural center, resulting in abundant dance halls created where famous musicians such as the trumpeter Louis Armstrong, pianist Duke Ellington, and pianist Fats Waller could perform their unique solos and share their musical talents in an environment that embraced the freedom of self-expression. These developments that occurred in this period called the Jazz Age indeed empowered African Americans to use their musical talents in an effort to strengthen their traditions, culture, and racial status in an anti-black prejudiced society: “"Wild Dreams of Bringing Glory and Honor to the Negro Race," addresses the composer's difficulties in overcoming negative stereotypes, myths, and perceptions that were most often based in racial prejudice” (). Similarly, African Americans contributed to the field of drama, forming all black theatre groups and creating productions that often focused on portraying the folk experience (the experience of blacks in the South) and protesting racial oppression and black stereotypes.
James Weldon Johnson's book, Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man, is a brilliant and masterful piece of fiction written in the notion of an autobiography. Within the “autobiography,” James Weldon Johnson constructs a fabricated account of a young biracial man in turmoil with his racial identity within a highly prejudiced contemporary 19th-century America. As you would expect, the story contains numerous different themes of racial identity, sense of belonging, and even of racial “passing”. However, despite all these persistent themes, one stands out the most. The theme is music.
“Here at noon, jazz blared from jukeboxes and dark holes issued forth the cool odors of beer, wine and flesh into the sunlight” (Griffin 48). When Griffin makes his way south and documents his journeys, jazz is steadily rising in popularity. The music is blared throughout these clubs- separating the blacks and whites, as blacks played a majority of these tunes for people of all races. The invention of jazz by early African Americans, when they were suffering from racism and its effects, is deeply rooted in the sounds of the artists’ music. The majority of listeners nationwide could sense a uniqueness about jazz, no matter the color of one’s skin.
Jazz can be characterized by swing, blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and lastly improvisation. Louis Armstrong would be considered a father of the American jazz genre. He was also considered one of the central musicians in jazz for his contributions as a trumpet player, composer and singer. Although jazz in deeply rooted in the black community, a variety of other cultures have shared their own experience, style and art to
Introduction New Orleans Jazz is a genre of music during the 20th century that was in relation to the African American population. Two distinguished musicians, Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie, rose to fame with their musical talents in the jazz community. (Thesis) These two musicians from below the Mason Dixon line would acquire their popularity by performing nationwide, but their childhood, musical careers, and legacies would be totally different.
Print. Geoffrey C., and Ken Burns. Jazz: A History of America's Music. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000. Print. Kallen, Stuart A.
Beginning in the early twentieth century, jazz spread quickly amongst clubs and bars across the poorer urban areas such as cities like New Orleans. Due to jazz artist’s unique musical swing, jazz quickly became recognized all around the world. Throughout history, many jazz artists have made their unique sound known. Three artists, in particular, that enlightened others by their outstanding talent include Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, and Billie Holiday. Each of these artists have their own method of performing jazz in an inimitable manner which no one can deny.
The Harlem Jazz Revolution No trend in the ever changing world of art has ever lived up to the rich symphonies brought to our nation during the 1920’s Harlem jazz revolution. Many take for granted the elaborately drawn out notes and passionate saxophone of their music today, remaining completely oblivious to the humble roots these musical aspects have. If you were to trace back their lineage, you’d end up in the poverty-stricken black communities of New Orleans in 1900. Drawing upon their ancestors’ days between rows of cotton plants and vegetable fields, these descendants, now sharecroppers, combined European and African styles and meshed them with the work songs and African chants of their history (the people history). Thus, jazz blues
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.
In a time and place like 1950s Harlem, jazz music was the medium through which African American could come together as a community and turn their incredible suffering into freedom. This idea, when put into practice, is examined and
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
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.
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.
Jazz in New Orleans Jazz is such a unique and distinguished genre of music that delights the ear of every person who listens to it. Found in New Orleans, it grew in fame all around the world and will always be popular. Why New Orleans? The history of the founding jazz and what impacted it is astonishing.
