When World War II broke out in Europe, the situation for French jazz enthusiasts changed as both the Nazi and Vichy regimes attacked jazz as a foreign institution. Jazz represented everything that the Nazi party opposed. It was a genre of music created and performed by African Americans, as well as gypsies and Jews—their most hated enemies. The Nazis hatred for blacks was extreme. Blacks were distinctly different from Nazis not because of their differing religions, but because they viewed blacks as a fundamentally inferior race. The Nazis' belief in their own "superior race" was deeply rooted. Towards the beginning of the war, the Nazis were more focused on eradicating blacks from their lands than Jews. Their music encouraged improvisation—musical freedom--and stressed the importance of non-conformity, directly opposing the strict, regulated life of the Nazis. " When the Nazis invaded France in 1940, it was believed that jazz would be quickly extinguished. The opposite occurred. Without the German occupation of World War II, there would not have been a cultural resistance against the Reich Regime and jazz would have failed to develop as a French institution.
The cultural resistance against the Reich Regime allowed jazz to represent freedom and equality, and inspired those such as members of the Hot Club to take action. Jazz was considered a foreign music, originating in the U.S.—a clear enemy of the Nazis. It represented freedom of expression and individualism, the qualities that the U.S. formed its government upon many years earlier. The Nazis did what they could to suppress this "degenerate music" by issuing widespread propaganda and denouncing the music as illegitimate forms of entertainment that was toxic to the public. N...
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... scene of jazz, but to the cultural resistance as well. An Aryan gypsy by birth—a race equally hated by the Nazis—Reinhardt was a man who survived and accumulated significant wealth and fame during the occupation. His survival has been noted as "borderline miraculous." These musicians were able to distinguish particular aspect about French jazz that was unlike anything heard before. They were the first to pioneer real French jazz.
In conclusion, jazz would not have evolved and flourished without the Nazi occupation of World War II. Cultural resistance served as a catalyst for musical ingenuity throughout the war. Jazz prospered due to the repressive environment imposed by the Reich Regime. Ironically, the Nazis forced French musicians to create their own original sound and styles. In short, jazz was the French resistance's rebellious answer to Nazi repression.
...came from jazz's popularity was positive. Although some people were not happy with it, it improved so many people's lives in such drastic ways that it can not be viewed as "evil" music. With every new age group there will come change, and the people before it will not be as accepting. If you look through a timeline of, say, music, you will notice that as time has gone on, the music has gotten more sexual, more outgoing, more "evil", noisier, even stupider. Each generation needs something to set them apart, and to one-up the previous one. It is a natural way of life, proven by history. Jazz also helped many people in the years to come, the depression years, by uplifting their spirits. The pros of jazz music surely outweigh the cons, which makes it clear that the negative aspects of the music are only based off opinions, and the positive ones are based off facts.
In the late 1930’s, as war clouds gathered, jazz reached the pinnacle of popularity. Musicians’ skills and promoters’ efforts had made possible the success of “swing” . In the two years after the war began in September 1939, government spending for war production and defense reinvigorated the American economy and ended the great depression. Although the swing music that helped keep American spirits up during the Depression years still existed, there was an increasing amount of racial tension about bands formed by white men vs. bands formed by black men. White bands like Tommy Dorsey’s, which could play a broad spectrum of music, were hailed for their versatility. The black counterparts who sought to do the same were often indirectly accused of trying to get above themselves . This is important because many black musicians where losing work due to venues only hiring bands that were led by white men. Out work, or underpaid black musicians where often bought-out by white bandleaders who could offer them higher pay, and where looking for the best musicians they could find. This type of integration went both ways, as black bands would hire young, adolescent white musicians in an effort to get more
To understand the genesis of Jazz one must also understand the setting of its origin, New Orleans. The city was founded by the French in 1718, then in 1763 the city ceded to Spain and remained under Spanish control until later being returned to the French in 1803, and then was immediately sold to the United States under the Louisiana Purchase. New Orleans was also heavily populated by African slaves making up 30% of the total population of the city at this time; so New Orleans was experiencing a lot of cultural diversity and was being shaped and molded by the many different fashions of people who lived in the city. These different social groups along with their culture also brought with them their deep rooted musical traditions, the fusion and combination of these traditions would give rise to what we know today as modern day Jazz. Jazz is a genre of music that could only have formed in America; it draws from many different cultures and art forms creating a cocktail of traditional European and African music, mixed with a blend of Spanish tinge, with a strong base of blues filtered through the American experience.
Jazz was a unique form of music, there had never been anything like it before. It was rebellious, rhythmic, and it broke the rules- musical and social. It started a musical revolution, “With its offbeat rhythms and strange melodies, jazz was blamed for everything from drunkenness and deafness to in increase in unwed mothers.” Jazz was seen as immoral and worried the older generation that their kids would lose interest in classical music. It was also seen as against society because it came about from the African- American culture, but despite all of that, jazz led to a new era of music that still prevails today.
The Jazz Singer, released in 1927, is a black and white film that centers on a young man who wishes to conquer his dreams in becoming a professional jazz singer. This film, directed by Alan Crosland, demonstrates new developments from the decade of the 1920’s. During the decade, many new advances; such as the introduction of musicals and other technological advancements, were created. The Jazz Singer utilized these new advances of the decade and incorporated them into each scene. This is evident due to the elements of being the first talkie film, the introduction of the new musical genre and the introduction of the Hollywood stars system. By utilizing the new advances of the decade, Crosland’s film, changed the way cinema would be seen forever.
Jazz is the kind of music that makes me want to do one of two things. Depending on the mood of the jazz, sometimes I feel like relaxing and just listening to the music and letting it run through me. Other times I feel like getting up and dancing as if I have not a care in the world. The jazz concert I attended on at SLO Brewing Company on October 6, 2001 inspired me to do both of these due to the variety used by the musicians in dynamic, rhythm, tempo, and many other aspects of music.
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...
Latin Jazz Last Sunday I went to a jazz bar in Manhattan and I listened to “Latin Jazz”. Latin jazz is “a fusion of African and indigenous rhythms from the entire Latin American Diaspora with the language of jazz”. 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.
Also known as the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties, the American people felt that they deserved to have some fun in order to forget the emotional toll and social scars left from the war. The Jazz Age was appropriately named due to the illegal activities and good times, which included music, parties, and flapper girls. Jazz was a new style of music that originated out of the New Orleans area, where one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time – Louis Armstrong – began his career. The energy of jazz was a very new and almost uncomfortable style for the very traditional, rigid family of the 1920s. Young people in particular seemed to enjoy this new music the most, as it made them feel carefree. The energy of jazz was symbolic of the era’s trans...
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
However, some people question if Jazz truly had the meaning of freedom and rights. Was Jazz truly a music of African American or made for the entertainment of the White Americans? In the article of “All That (White) Jazz,” the author Terry Teachout says “For most Americans, "jazz" in 1939 meant the big, polished swing bands that crisscrossed the country playing written-out arrange elements of dance music, not the hot combos that improvised in big-city nightclubs” (Teachout). In other words, although originally it was the music of African American people and the music of improvisation, the true meaning of jazz and the true element of jazz has changed throughout the time and has become a form of entertainment for white American people. In addition,
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...
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.
Before I take this class, the jazz music is familiar as well as unfamiliar to me. I am pretty sure that I heard jazz performance at many times, but I cannot tell what jazz is. And there was a time when I thought jazz music was belong to the upper class, however I understand the jazz music is regardless of class and race, so much even it more tends to lower middle class. In the early of 19th century, the New Orleans was owned by the French, and due to the lax management, lots of African-Americans got away from slaveholder from America’s south. They got married with French under the “mixed marriages”, therefore there were huge amount of mixed-race know as Creoles. The Creoles had the same rights with white people, they got