Lester William Polsfuss(a.k.a Les Paul): Early Life This research paper will not be a traditional paper, due to Lester William Polsfuss being such a profound musician and innovator. The format of this paper will represent a timeline, due to Polsfuss having so many achievements throughout his entire life. We will begin with the birth of Lester William Polsfuss and then up to him being awarded with two grammies in 2006. Although I have a personal attachment to Polsfuss, I will cover the history he changed and made.
In James Baldwin short story "Sony's Blue" he uses music to represent Sonny's struggle with his addiction to heroin. Throughout the story, music was present whenever Sonny's addiction was mentioned. When Sonny first told his brother that he wanted to play jazz music for a living he mentioned that Charlie Parker was one of his inspirations, this is interesting because Charlie Parker was a drug addict who died from his addiction. This also seemed like it took place around the time that Sonny started abusing drugs with the goal of completely focusing on playing the piano. At the end of the story, Sonny talked to his brother about how he felt while he was taking heroin.
The year is 1861. You are a young boy only 10 years of age,named Tommy, your parents both died from smallpox. Every day it goes threw your head why did I not get the virus and die with them? and now you face a new challenge, living on you own or going to a workhouse and work day in and day out and for what?
Charley wanted to become a man so badly and so quickly, that he was blindsided by the factors of what it would really be like, living life in the army. Charley was 15 years old entering the war. But he knew they wouldn’t take him if he was underaged, so he lied about his age just to be in the army. So he gets there, and he doesn't receive a uniform just yet, which he thought he would. And he writes letters to his mother telling what it is like, being a soldier.
One of the prominent themes is addiction and suffering. Sonny is a talented jazz musician who has struggled with addiction for many years (Baldwin, p 225). His obsession has caused him immense pain and has profoundly impacted his relationships with others. The story depicts the devastating consequences of addiction for individuals and their loved ones. The story is set in Harlem, where people live difficult lives.
After the narrator goes with Sonny to the Jazz club, he meets Sonny’s friends and sees how they appreciate him and his music in a way he never did. He then begins to see the importance of music to his brother and makes a discovery about himself and Sonny. He listens to Sonny play and is delighted and starts to accept his brothers wanting to be a musician. The narrator realizes he was wrong to try and make Sonny change and he sees the power of Sonny’s blues as he is playing. The acceptance over Sonny’s dream not only strengthened their relationship, but also helped them gain a better understanding of each other.
As a matter of fact, the storyteller does not appreciate Sonny's motivations to play jazz music until the evening he socially joins Sonny to his stage show at a nightclub. Sitting in a dark corner at the nightclub, the storyteller listens to his brother play, considering the reminder of Sonny's friend, Creole, of what the Blues are about, "The tale, of the blues, how we live, and how we are delighted, how we suffer... and how we triumph... must be heard... it's the only light we've got in all this darkness." (Baldwin 139). For the narrator, he perceives that the Blues is the manifestation for Sonny's emotions, especially his suffering, because, as Creole would say, music is the only light in the
The narrator then asks what kind of musician is still frowning at this “musician” choice to which Sonny responds seriously, “‘I want to play with jazz musicians.’ He stopped. ‘I want to play jazz’” (Baldwin, p. 134). After hearing this, the narrator then frowns more than before.
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was a phenomenal bandleader and composer, who rose to fame by pioneering jazz, a style of music that has stood the test of time today. It is evident that the theme of the biography, “Duke Ellington: Bandleader and Composer,” written by Ron Frankl, is that Duke Ellington has left behind with him a long lasting legacy on the musical style of jazz. For instance, text states, “Today, his majestic name still reigns over the jazz world as surely as it did a half century ago” (Frankl 105). It is obvious that the author means to state that Ellington has a fantastic legacy, even lasting today, thus supporting my thesis.
Since Charles’ recognition was expanding rapidly, beyond the confines of the studio, he appeared in the movie industry, appearing in a famous production such as “The Blue Brothers.” He had a tour in South Africa that sparked a debate around the country for discrimination reasons. Ray Charles overcame significant obstacles on his path to becoming an inspiring musician. Despite a challenging cultivation, he pursued excellence in his own manner, achieving remarkable success. His music served as a reflection of his life, as he carries his emotions throughout every song
Everyone at the club knew Sonny. His brother is impressed that Sonny is viewed as a celebrity among them. As the band began to play their music Sonny’s brother realized Sonny’s talent. In that moment, his
“Jazz is a complete lifestyle, something that you feel, something that you live.” (Ray Brown). In his short story, “Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin tells the story of a young jazz musician, and tries to capture the lifestyle described by jazz bassist Ray Brown in his character Sonny. Baldwin constantly limits the potential of Sonny as a character by placing him in situations that defy his personality, but make him a believable character because they are similar to experience of actual jazz musicians.
Sonny’s Blues is a story about an aspiring musician’s life as it
Moreover, Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues” centers on the social issue of drug use in the music scene as the story’s main characters—Sonny, a jazz musician, and ex-heroin addict, and the narrator, Sonny’s older brother, try to reconcile after one of them reads in the paper that the other has been arrested. The text demonstrates both characters that have taken different paths and the outcomes for both—the narrator has a job, family, and a place to live but is dealing with identity issues and with feeling truly “happy”, while Sonny has ended up with a heroin addiction and in prison. Baldwin presents many social issues within the short story, but the one that stands out most is the use of drugs amongst musicians, which is still ongoing as you have popular names such Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, etc. who have died as a result; it is clear that this is still a social issue. Just like the
Coping Patients often go through many challenges especially at the end of life care. One of the problems is coping with the stress and stressors. Coping is an integral part of any treatment; therefore, the patient often needs to develop some managing mechanisms. These are learned although, at some point, the patient is only left with few or no coping mechanisms (Caswell et al. 2015).
