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History of african music
History of african music
History of african music
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In Cornell West reading on Afro-American Music: From Bebop to Rap; West discussed three major points about Afro-American music. West also discuss on how Afro-American music alienated young people. Afro-American music, its rhythmic effects are meaningless with status quo according to West. Afro-American music is a reflection on Afro-American culture since the early times as slavery.
According to West “First, the rise of the United States as a world power focused international attention more pointedly on native U.S. cultural forms and styles.” As the Untied States grew in power, so did Afro-American music came to be with a social freedom and linguistic wealth instead of pecuniary wealth. Example, Jazz with its melody and vocalization shown frustrated aspirations and aggressive emotions of Afro-Americans. West agreement is Jazz grew to a socioeconomic and political contexts as a style of “cool” of the early 1950 by artists as Chet Baker and David Brubeck. West agrees as Jazz paved the way for various type of music today. Afro-American music became distort over time.
Second point We...
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.
In the midst of the Cold War, an era of racism and culturalism emerged in America. The American international reputation rested on President Eisenhower’s shoulders. Due to emance discrimination against minorities, the United States government appeared separated and weak in the eyes of communist Russia and throughout the world. It was Eisenhower and other major political figure’s responsibility to repair that image and once again create a façade that America is united. In Penny M. Von Eschen’s work, Satchmo Blows Up the World: Jazz Ambassadors Play the Cold War, she analyses how U.S. politicians used the music of rising black Jazz musicians to sway nations worldwide to fall back in love with American culture, mask the evident racism, and ultimately win the Cold War. She also brings to light the well deserved credit that these ‘jambassadors’ had in spreading Jazz around the world and making these tours as activism for black culture. Though each party had their own way of portrayal to create peace and unity, these groundbreaking entertainers conveyed it through creating an international jazz culture
According to Albert Murray, the African-American musical tradition is “fundamentally stoical yet affirmative in spirit” (Star 3). Through the medium of the blues, African-Americans expressed a resilience of spirit which refused to be crippled by either poverty or racism. It is through music that the energies and dexterities of black American life are sounded and expressed (39). For the black culture in this country, the music of Basie or Ellington expressed a “wideawake, forward-tending” rhythm that one can not only dance to but live by (Star 39).
White artists have been taking these genres of music and changing it. They rid the music of its black feel, sound, and color. Jazz is a type of music genre that was created by African Americans in the 1910s. “Yet when jazz gained mainstream popularity in 1917, its face was neither black nor Creole. The first jazz record released to the masses was that of the self-proclaimed ‘Original Dixieland Jazz Band,’ a group of five white musicians” (Ainsley). When jazz grew in popularity, white artist were giving the credit for originating this form of music. When artists talk about taking away the color of genres like jazz and rock-n-roll, this means getting rid of the African Americans sound. “When appropriating black musical forms, white artists such as Paul Whiteman often reshape and redefine the styles to “minimize their association with ‘Blackness’” (Hall qtd. in Ainsley)”. One artist that was known for appropriating African American music was Paul Whiteman. Then another famous musician, Elvis Presley, started doing the same with his music. “In the early 1950s, Sam Phillips—the Sun Records executive who helped Elvis rise to stardom—proclaimed, ‘If I could find a white man who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars’” (qtd in Ainsley). Popular music artists like Paul Whiteman and Elvis Presley took these genres and made it into own style. They take
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.
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...
Throughout history, music have defined or depicted the culture and social events in America. Music has constantly played an important role in constituting American culture, where people have expressed themselves through music during flourishing and turbulent times. In the 1930’s, Swing music created a platform for audiences to vent their emotions in the midst of Great Depression and political unrest. Such strong relationship between music and culture can be seen throughout history, especially in the sixties.
expanding, sharing it’s enthusiasm throughout the world. The evolution of jazz aroused the curiosity of the nation. As Blacks received their freedom, they were able to
Last Sunday I went to jazz bar in Manhattan and I listened “Latin Jazz?E Latin jazz is “a fusion of African and indigenous rhythms from the entire Latin American Diaspora with the language of jazz?E It was first known as coop, but you are now familiar with it as afro-Cuban. When talking about afro-Cuban jazz, it is difficult to not mention certain turning points in history that made this music possible. The roots of much, of the music might be traced back to African Cuban slaves. In Cuba itself, music and dance are so essential to national character that you can not disentangle them from the country’s history. “The story of Latin jazz music is thus one of religions and revolutions, power and liberation, the collision of civilization?E In the United States we can never completely understand our own music, without referencing it to Cuban music. There are various characteristics that can define Latin jazz ranging from the savant grade to more popular forms. Some forms of popular music that most people are familiar with would have to be the mambo, salsa, cha-cha, and afro-Cuban jazz. These types of music were originated from north America, but to elaborate further, Latin immigrants can to new York and brought with them distinctive rhythms that blended together. Theses types of music and other music are contagious and an evolutionary process. No one person can take the credit for Latin jazz of any form of music that comes into the united s...
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...
Black culture in our society has come to the point where it is allied with pop culture. The most popular music genres, slang terms, to dance forms it all comes from black culture. Hip hop emerged from black culture, becoming the soul of it that is seen in the media. Hip hop helped the black community by creating new ways of expressing themselves, from breakdance, graffiti, rap and other music, to slang. This culture was rooted in their tradition and created from something new. Hip hop created a new form of music that required the use of turn tables, ‘cuts’, loops, rhythm, rhyme, stories, and deep-rooted emotions, but also incorporated black oral forms of storytelling using communal authors.
Now a days, many believe that jazz is not that important of music genre, but with our history, jazz plays a big role. “Jazz does not belong to one race or culture, but it is a gift that America has given to the world.”, quoted by Ahmad Alaadeen. Jazz in the 1920’s opened the eyes of whites and invited them into African American culture; it evolved Americans to where we are today since it brought a change to the music scene, an acceptance of African Americans, and a change of lifestyles.
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
Powell, A. (2007). The Music of African Americans and its Impact on the American Culture in the 1960’s and the 1970’s. Miller African Centered Academy, 1. Retrieved from http://www.chatham.edu/pti/curriculum/units/2007/Powell.pdf