The Harlem Hellfighters; Book Report Was the Harlem Hellfighters story taken for granted? There were black leaders that motivate others and encouraged soldiers to do what they think was right. A couple of those leaders were James Reese, Eugene Bullard, and Henry Johnson. “This book contains characters that were real, however, some were made up”, Max says under his Historical Notes. This book shows what it was like to be a Harlem Hellfighter, and how WW1 was in their eyes.
The early 1900s came and his band continued to be the regarded with high excellence in New Orleans (Charles “Buddy” Bolden Creator). It seems that a staple part of being a musician is involvement with drugs or alcohol; Chet Baker had his heroin addiction, along with many others; Charles Joseph Bolden had troubles with alcoholism. As the start of the new century dawned, it marked the golden era of Bolden’s band. He was famous for his improvisation, fusing marching-band style, blues, ragtime, and spiritual Black music (Charles “Buddy” Bolden Creator Charles “Buddy” Bolden National). From 1900 to about 1905, Bolden’s band performed many gigs at parks and New Orleans’s City Hall (Buddy Bolden PBS).
Throughout America's history, African Americans suffered racism, bias, including constant scolding during the 19th century. Nevertheless, perspectives shifted distinctly, when the American Dream surged through hearts of the previously shunned race, migrating in mass numbers, known as The Great Migration. With the traveling immigrants, they brought about Jazz to liven up the dull streets with legendary names such as Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington. Their new sounds caught thousands of people’s attention, improving the African American race to new confidence as never before. As a result, their legacy not only established new grounds for African Americans but also contributed to America’s modern swing to the sounds of Jazz.
On July 24, 1701, the oldest city outside of the original thirteen colonies was founded. This city would go on to be one of the more fascinating cities of the United States. Not only is this city home to riveting buildings, such as the only floating post office in America, but it is also home to Motown. This city is Detroit. With the merger of different styles of jazz and blues, Detroit was filled with potential; it wasn’t until Motown, though, that this talent reached a national level.
Ray Charles was an outstanding performer, a piano player, and a songwriter. Despite the fact that he had been blind from early childhood, Ray Charles had managed to become a brilliant pianist. At the beginning of his musical career, he happened to accompany the rising star, Ruth Brown, with a piano play. Ray Charles stunned her with the ability to perform as if it was in a recording studio in spite of his blindness. Besides his masterly piano playing, Ray Charles had a remarkable baritone voice and the ability to feel and express music.
In the post war prosperity, teenagers became a powerful market of their own. Wexler writes, ”Their buying power was real, their emotional needs immediate, their libidinous drive no longer reflected by the dead-and-gone fox-trots of their parents. Suddenly there was another force at work – old but new, primal yet complex, a music informed by the black genius for expressing pent-up frustration, joy, rage or ecstasy in a poetic context marked by hip humor and irresistible rhythm.” (Brackett, pg. 91) Fats Domino found fame in rhythm and blues as well as early rock and roll. He was known to shove his piano across the stage at the end of his music show and by the 1950’s he had three (3) one million-selling records to his credit.
James Brown is another person in my era who was very popular and well known for his influence on music as well the introducing of a drug into the lime light PCP. Brown was born extreme poverty but worked his way to be one of the greatest of the funk and R&B music making people give him the nick name "The Godfather of Soul." His musical style influenced many artists to come. Brown was also known for his crazy personal life, as well as role in activism for the black community in combination in his songwriting and advocating for the benefits of education to the
Motown was a transformative sound that arrived just at the height of the civil rights movement. Such success coming from a black business and black artists forced the rest of America to reexamine their racial prejudices that they still clung to. It seemed that it’s founder, Berry Gordy, knew from the start that Motown was something special when he hung a sign that read “Hitsville USA” above the recording studio’s headquarters. The success was almost instant for most Motown artists with song after song becoming number one hits on major music charts. However, the success was not easy, as it took strenuous amounts of work to mold the artist’s looks and sounds into something that would popularize them among the white population.
Motown Motown didn’t just make great music, they made an impact in the civil right movement. Though you can’t see the impact as much as you see the impact of Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X, they did play a role in the movement. Motown was started by Berry Gordy in 1959. He didn’t only care about making money through his music, he wanted to help out in the movement of civil rights.
It was clear that from the very beginning of Jackson’s career that he was one of his favorite artists. Brown engaged in the Rock ‘n’ Roll style of music, and Jackson idolized him as his godfather even though he did not fully get to match Brown’s level of the style. Jackson was more popular in pop music but in later years, it was not hard to see elements of Brown style in some of Jackson’s rock music such as You Rock My World and Give in to Me where the vocal techniques and performances could indeed be traced to those of Brown. Brown was also credited with providing a new direction for R & B that would later evolve into soul in the 1960s (Soul: a Historical Reconstruction of Continuity and Change in Black Popular Music, 33). The style applied vocal and instrumental elements.
Referred to as the "Black Liberace", James Carroll Booker III was an anomaly of prodigious talent and self destructive behavior. He was obsessive, he had one-eye, and he was absolutely prolific. He encapsulated the spirit of New Orleans through his playing and advanced piano vocabulary. He played a mix of gospel, blues, R&B, jazz and boogie-woogie.
In this paper, I plan to examine the influences that Miles Davis had on jazz. Starting with the bebop era, when his career first began, to his final collaboration released following his death. While in school Davis had learned how to play the trumpet, and following graduation he attended Julliard in New York. However, he dropped out of Julliard in 1945 in order join one of bebop’s pioneers, Charlie Parker. It was
When Michael Jackson died, he was the king of controversy. To some, he appeared to be “The King of Pop” (Mrs. Moyer) while to others, he was seen as a monster who had chewed at children’s innocence. His life seemed like the perfect example of bent perspective, and that’s why it can be truly difficulty for many to believe and understand that he wasn’t a terrible nor fine-tuned man. Michael Jackson had an extremely difficult life, filled with conditions that seemed considerably difficult for any man to survive in, let alone thrive in. Even though Michael was surrounded by abuse and constant pressure, he pushed onwards, finding music, and making it his own.
The reporter of this story attended Sean Combs 46th Birthday party in New York City. This story highlighted different aspects of the birthday party, but mainly it gives a glimpse of what Brandon Harris calls the “Black American Dream”. This article also serves as kind of an advertisement for Puff Daddy’s new album. Puff Daddy aka Sean Combs is an example of musical artists that grew up in poverty and made it into the one percent, the typical rags to riches story.
I will never forget the first time that I heard Michael Jackson even though I wish that I had been born earlier so that maybe I would have had a chance of seeing him live. However, even though he is not alive anymore his music lives on and we still listen to him today because it is so good and really makes people interested in his life. As W.E.B Du Bois says, “artists have used goodness... as the one true method of gaining sympathy and human interest. ”
