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Creoles In New Orleans

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Jazz was born in New Orleans about 100 years ago (early 20th century), but its roots can be found in the musical traditions of both Africa and Europe. Jazz is a form of improvisational art that rewards individual expression and demands self-collaboration. It is a rich tradition that reflects all Americans. It originated in one of the most cosmopolitan and musical places in America. New Orleans was the perfect city for all of these elements to come together, as it was a port city, a meeting place for people of different ethnic groups, and a city with nightlife where musicians had the opportunity to play together, learn from each other, and blend all of these elements. Each ethnic group in New Orleans contributed to the very active musical environment …show more content…

“Creoles of Color” were a group of jazz players specifically of Spanish and French heritage, although they didn’t want to identify with the African Americans. They prided themselves on being able to play music for any setting. In addition, there were bass bands that had a part in Marti Gras, along with symphony orchestras. Many of the Creoles did not want to be associated with blacks, and they prided themselves on being able to play music for any setting. Many of the Creoles were well-versed in European music, which led to a diverse mixing of African themed styles that was unusual for the time. The conditions of New Orleans leant itself nicely to the synthesis of African music and in fact made it hospitable to the creation of jazz music. Not only did the geographic setting of New Orleans help make Jazz music possible, but the abolition of slavery and the historical contexts did as …show more content…

Before swing, bands mostly played to audiences of their own race, but with swing, white audiences began to follow black bands as well. For example, in the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman integrated his jazz ensemble, working with Teddy Wilson a pianist, both of different races. Jazz ensembles were among the first integrated public performance groups, partly because jazz musicians knew, admired, and even borrowed one another’s work. Swing also helped lift up the national mood both during trying times in history including the Great Depression and World War II. Armed Services Radio broadcast swing music to

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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.

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His work also includes a perspective into African traditions and the establishment of jazz in

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Playing to audiences of all races. During the depression, big jazz bands gave an upbeat and lively beat for dancing. People often danced to it to forget the

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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.

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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

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Camille Burton Dr. Greene English 1010-3 22 November 2014 Jazz Artists in New Orleans The early development of jazz is closely tied with the community and is a very important part of the history of New Orleans. New Orleans is seen to be the home of new jazz during the 1900's.

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Benny Goodman also pushed for a diverse band, being the organizer of an interracial group (Swing). In this instance, it was through this connection to music that black and white people came together. At the time that swing was popular, World War II was taking place. It seems legit that people would want to get their feeling out somehow. Swing music did just that.

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Print. Geoffrey C., and Ken Burns. Jazz: A History of America's Music. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000. Print. Kallen, Stuart A.

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In the early 1900’s, white people composed, performed, and listened to music. The black population created a democratic art form called Jazz which allowed them to compose and write their own music. Two artists, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, challenged tradition and expanded jazz music by encouraging individuality and by integrating black culture into their compositions. Louis Armstrong pushed the boundaries of musicality by emphasizing individualistic expression and integrating black culture into his music. Armstrong served as a voice for the black community.

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Miles Davis, one of jazz’s most influential musicians with career that expanded six decades. Davis was known for his always changing style, from bebop to rock. He had been part of the bebop, cool jazz, hardbop, modal, rock-fusion movements, and shortly before his death working with hip-hop fusion. Throughout his entire career, Miles Davis preferred the audience recognize him for what he was doing then, not what he had done in the past. Over his sixty-year career he had earned several nicknames: The Sorcerer, the Prince of Darkness, and the man who walked on eggshells.

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By 1920, the Jazz age was well underway as a direct challenge to the prohibition of alcohol. Famous Jazz players of the 1920s where: Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, Fats Waller, Ella Fitzgerald, and Joe Venuti. This was one of the first times in American history that the majority of non-African Americans accepted parts of African American culture. It was the moment that many African Americans were able to enter into the mainstream. Though African Americans lived under constant fear of death and pain in the Gilded Age, all was not pain and sorrow.

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Without African Culture jazz might not have become what it is today, in the 1920’s people could see the increase of black culture, including music. African music brought many factors to the production of jazz, including African drum beats. With the blacks and whites sharing more ideas about music, this helped with the idea of jazz. New music brought new women, “flappers”, “flappers” were women who were more independent than past generations. They brought a new look to the 1920’s, started doing different things that women normally wouldn't have done, and they always knew the latest dances.

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In life, there are few things as organic as jazz music. With its raw sound and scrappy roots, one cannot help but feel life head-on whilst witnessing players produce such a sound right before their eyes. Its origins and arch are a product of the United States’ national culture and identity. Jazz exists not only as a deeply rooted form of art but as a cultural marker, particularly during its commercial peak in the first half of the 20th century. Its impact transcends borders, and it is one of the most beloved musical genres worldwide.

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By the late nineteenth century, a mix of cultural diversity and outside societal pressures within the port city of New Orleans in Louisiana pushed the progression of the jazz genre. At this time, New Orleans was the most cosmopolitan city in the United States and it thereby fostered an unprecedented blend of culture and ethnicity. This cultural melting pot allowed the mixing of many different genres, primarily ragtime and blues, which helped mold a new, innovative music style. Furthermore, the implementation of Jim Crow laws in the 1870s unexpectedly contributed to the growth of jazz by connecting musicians of different backgrounds with one another. This allowed for the intermingling of previously divided social classes, which created a unique

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Latin Jazz, also known as Afro-Cuban jazz originated around 1940. It was due to the gradual and long interactions of American and Cuban music which birthed this distinct style of jazz. African american tunes and dance rhythms traveled north into the United States as well as the musical styles of African-American Jazz found their way down to the Caribbean and Central and Southern America. The fusion of both musical styles; Cuban music and African-American jazz was largely due to musicians and dancers throughout the area beginning to familiarise themselves with both of the musical techniques. The fusion happened in 1940 in the city of New York through the beginning of Machito and the Afro-Cubans orchestra, which was under directorship of Cuban trumpeter Mario Bauzá who essentially created the Latin Jazz through fusing jazz arrangements with Afro- Cuban percussion rhythm.

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