Jazz is more than music. It is a way of thinking that has defined literature, philosophy and music. Surrounded by its own unique lifestyle and culture, jazz has been in perpetual evolution. Emerging from the oppression of slavery, Jazz inspired musicians to define and express freedom through music. As jazz evolved it began to inspire freedom just as freedom had inspired it. New anthems written for the civil rights and anti-apartheid protests demonstrated that jazz had the power to inspire change. Coated in a shell of glory, jazz had been hiding its own internal darkness. Discrimination has been rampant throughout the culture of jazz. Racism, addiction, ageism, mental illness and the power of first impressions have limited or ended the careers of many great jazz musicians.
The biography, Thelonius Monk, the Life and Time of an American Original by Robin D.G. Kelly is an in-depth discussion of the internal jazz culture from the late 1930's until Monk's death in 1982. Thelonius experienced discrimination throughout his career yet became a pillar of modern jazz. Thelonius Monk suffered from bipolar disorder. His condition was confused for creativity and eccentricity. Although loved by his fellow musicians, critics, venue owners and the New York City Police all prevented Monk's career from reaching its full potential.
Thelonius Monk started showing symptoms of an undiagnosed bipolar disorder early in his career. Monk would often spend days without sleep, visiting friends houses and playing their pianos for long periods of time. Alternatively, he would occasionally spend days at a time in his room. He was chronically late for performances sometime because he couldn't decide what to wear. Often during shows, Monk would leave the stage...
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...sician to win a Grammy award in both classical and jazz genres. Christian has earned Grammy nominations, released ten recordings in ten years and was selected by Marcus Miller to "be" Miles Davis on his album Tutu Revisited. Marsalis has said that what Scott plays is not jazz. In return Scott has called Marsalis a traditionalist who lacks the ability to innovate. In reality both musicians have merit. Just like Ornette Coleman and Thelonious Monk, Marsalis and Scott are just two musicians arguing about new vs. old. In the end both will go down as curators of their own respective styles of jazz. Discrimination has destroyed or delayed that careers of jazz musicians since its founding. However discrimination has not hindered jazz's ability to evolve and if discrimination is eliminated from jazz then it will once again become the cultural centre point that it once was
Throughout history, and even today, music has shaped America’s culture, society, and even politics. One of the most outstanding and enduring musical movement has been from African American artists, ranging from bebop to jazz to hip-hop to rap. During the 1920’s , jazz artists stepped into the limelight and began their impact on American and even world history. Louis Armstrong was one of the most influential leaders during the Harlem Renaissance and his jazz legacy and impact of American history is everlasting. A master of his craft, Armstrong and his music heavily influenced America’s white and black populations from the 1920’s and up until his death.
Music is magical: it soothes you when you are upset and cheers you up when you are down. To me, it is a communication with souls. I listen to different genres of music. When appreciating each form of music, with its unique rhythm and melody, I expect to differentiate each other by the feelings and emotions that it brings to me. However, I would definitely never call myself “a fan of jazz” until I witnessed Cécile McLorin Salvant’s performance last Friday at Mondavi Center. Through the interpretations and illustrations from Cécile’s performance, I realized that the cultural significance and individual identity are the building blocks of jazz music that create its unique musical features and support its development.
Jazz is referred as “America’s classical music,” and is one of North America’s and most celebrated genres. The history of Jazz can be traced back to the early era of the 20th century of the U.S. “A History of Jazz” presents From Ragtime and Blues to Big Band and Bebop, jazz has been a part of a proud African American tradition for over 100 years. A strong rhythmic under-structure, blue notes, solos, “call-and response” patterns, and
The word “jazz” is significant to America, and it has many meanings. Jazz could simply be defined as a genre or style of music that originated in America, but it can also be described as a movement which “bounced into the world somewhere about the year 1911…” . This is important because jazz is constantly changing, evolving, adapting, and improvising. By analyzing the creators, critics, and consumers of jazz in the context of cultural, political, and economic issue, I will illustrate the movement from the 1930’s swing era to the birth of bebop and modern jazz.
Not only did Davis serve as an architype for upcoming musicians, he exposed his audience to the realities of an oppressed American by way of his music. Growing up he had to work harder than his white peers to get the same chance, and he took note of this. According to the book, Miles Davis: the definitive biography, Davis commented on using injustice as his motivation, “It made me so mad that I made up my mind to outdo anybody white on my horn. If I hadn’t met that prejudice, I probably wouldn’t have had as much drive in my work” (Carr 6). Injustice made a profound influence on Miles. During the civil rights movement Miles Davis became a voice for the black community. Because of Davis’s initiative to deliver music that would bring strength and truth to the African American community, jazz music had become a symbol of power and strength instead of “black music.” In a book by Ingrid Monson she speaks about the relationship between the civil rights movement and jazz: “the defiance and resistance of jazz musicians has often been confused with romanticized politics of style that views music’s relationship to the civil rights struggle as mostly symbolic. Here the defiant attitude of musicians…has been viewed as the heart and soul of the relationship between music and politics” (Monson 56-57). Miles Davis was a manifestation of the
Monson, I. (2010).Freedom sounds : civil rights call out to jazz and Africa. New York Oxford: Oxford University Press.
its abilities to bring people together and sometimes even make people happy. Although the jazz era ended almost a century ago, this time influenced by Louis Armstrong was a huge cultural shift that still remains in our society in which African-Americans are a vast part of our music industry amongst pop, rap, reggae, and more.
Imagine you are walking the streets of New Orleans. You are standing right where jazz was established in the United States of America. Jazz wasn’t just about music, it also affected the culture involving social, economic, artistic and jazz leaders.
A 1949 study of 113 German artists, writers, architects, and composers was one of the first to undertake an extensive, in-depth investigation of both artists and their relatives. Although two-thirds of the 113 artists and writers were "psychically normal," there were more suicides and "insane and neurotic" individuals in the artistic group than could be expected in the general population, with the highest rates of psychiatric abnormality found in poets (50%) and musicians (38%). (1) Many other similar tests revealed th...
By the end of World War I, Black Americans were facing their lowest point in history since slavery. Most of the blacks migrated to the northern states such as New York and Chicago. It was in New York where the “Harlem Renaissance” was born. This movement with jazz was used to rid of the restraints held against African Americans. One of the main reasons that jazz was so popular was that it allowed the performer to create the rhythm. With This in Mind performers realized that there could no...
Jazz music has got a lot of importances as much as it lacks a correct definition. It plays a role in the entertainment sector. It entertains the listeners who are passionate to the art. They get a special entrainment especially for the working class who find listening to jazz as an activity done during the leisure time. Jazz on the other hand is very educative and informative of the past and the current issues. Since it is a long time art, it can be used to safeguard and protect the cultural practices of the people of the community. The culture is stored in the jazz songs and easily passed from one generation to another. It can also be transferred from one community to another since jazz music listeners are all over the world. Hence jazz music is a store of culture of a people of a particular social locality or geographical location.
Jazz is an American genre that developed from ragtime and blues in the early twentieth century in urban areas of the U.S. This genre is characterized by strong, prominent meter, improvisation, distinctive tone colors, and performance techniques. The development of Jazz made a postive, lasting impact after World War One ended. It became a way of bringing young people together. Jazz became the basis for most social dance music and provided one of the first opportunities for public integration. Subcultures like the gangs of New York and Chicago encouraged the subjugation of the black artists to the white man’s economic and social power, often resulting in gang leaders having complete control over
Jazz music prospered in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Jazz was created by African Americans to represent pain and suffering and also represented the adversity that racial tension brought. (Scholastic) African American performers like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie “Bird” Parker came to be recognized for their ability to overcome “race relati...
Not only is it nearly impossible to pinpoint jazz’s conception in time, many locations are accredited with its origin, the United States allowed for jazz to start gaining popularity and leading into the change it had to the music scene. When jazz is brought up, many first think of its birth place being New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans has always been a big musi...
As it mentioned above, the title itself, draws attention to the world-renowned music created by African Americans in the 1920s’ as well as to the book’s jazz-like narrative structure and themes. Jazz is the best-known artistic creation of Harlem Renaissance. “Jazz is the only pure American creation, which shortly after its birth, became America’s most important cultural export”(Ostendorf, 165). It evolved from the blues