Jazz historiography
analytical Essay
788 words
The rapid development of jazz in both the United States and Europe generated a number of diverse musical expressions, including musics that most listeners today would not recognize as “jazz” music. In order to remedy this situation, jazz musicians and critics after 1930 began to codify what “real” jazz encompassed, and more importantly, what “real” jazz did not encompass. This construction of authenticity, often demarcated along racial lines, served to relegate several artists and styles (those outside a “mainstream” to the margins of historiography.
The issue of race is central to all discourses of jazz. Alongside race goes the problem of representation, or, who gets to play what for whom and under what circumstance. Problems of representation abound from the beginning of jazz history, usually centered on white representation of black music and culture from a negative vantage point. Iconic examples of this phenomenon include the 1917 release of
Livery Stable Blues by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band and Paul Whiteman‘s 1924 Aeolian Hall concert. The ODJB‘s recording was the first jazz record and the first representation of jazz to the majority of Americans, both black and white. Whiteman’s concert was invested in representing jazz to white Americans, showing how it had progressed from its primitive black beginnings to a more sophisticated style rooted in the fundamentals of European practice. Indeed, ideas of creation and control in jazz have usually been drawn along racial lines: black as creator, white as curator. In this mode of racial understanding in jazz, white jazz fans and musicians supposedly lack an essential “something” that makes them unable to innovate in jazz. Conversely, black musicians, while highly c...
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... of which modern jazz big band dance music (for example, the Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington and Count Basie Orchestras), bebop, and later Free Jazz- emerged.
Modern jazz, and particularly bebop, because of its hybrid nature has presented cultural critics, and especially critics of music, with a set of unresolvable issues. The music itself embodies contradiction. It can accurately be called both popular and high culture; it has an oral, vernacular lineage and one related to more innovative compositional techniques; it is Afro-American and European, romantic and revolutionary; and it has both escapist (ie, Sun Ra and late-era John Coltrane) and resistant (ie. Archie Shepp, Ornette Coleman) tendencies. As a result, jazz has become one of the most highly discusses and debated modern musical forms with controversial discourse surrounding its development.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that this thesis will seek to correct by including guitarists from outside.
- Analyzes the issue of authenticity, which is intimately tied to issues of race and social impact.
- Analyzes ethnicity, and/or musical pedigree, though there seems to be a hierarchy at work in those.
- Opines that while jazz may be an african-american music, it is still often viewed as being unique.
- Analyzes how the rapid development of jazz in the united states and europe generated diverse musical expressions, including musics that most listeners today would not recognize as "jazz."
- Explains that jazz's history of development is also connected to america’s social and historical shifts.
Related
- explanatory
- analytical
- Jazz And Popular Music: Multiple Influences Into Jazzexplanatory essayJazz music was developed around the 1900 African-Americans. It possesses an identifiable history and describable stylistic evolution. Jazz has borrowed from black folk music, and popular music has borrowed from jazz. These three kinds of music remain distinct and should not be confused with each other.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that jazz music was developed around the 1900 african-americans. it possesses an identifiable history and describable stylistic evolution.
- Explains that jazz is rooted in mingled traditions of american blacks, including west african music, european popular and light classical music of the 18th and 19th centuries, and later popular music forms influenced by african-american music or produced by black composers.
- Explains that jazz is the art of expression set to music. it is said to be the fundamental rhythms of human life and a man’s contemporary reassessment of his traditional values.
- Explains that jazz became a musical art form that reflected spontaneous melodic phrasing. according to legend, jazz was conceived in new orleans and moved up the mississippi river to memphis, st. louis and finally chicago
- Explains that jazz spanned many musical forms, from spirituals to ragtime and the blues. the word "jazz" was commonly and indiscriminately applied to being melodic or tonal.
- Opines that the influence and development of the blues can be overlooked when discussing the early years of jazz.
465 wordsRead More - Jazz Music Historyanalytical essayJazz has always seemed to be a purely American art. The American story seems to be embedded within this musical genre, particularly with the story of African-American slaves. The slave trade brought nearly half a million workers from Africa by the 1800’s, where strong musical roots were a definitive part of their culture. Their spiritual songs, chants, and hymns evolved to become the blues genre. When it was combined with ragtime, a musical genre characterized by syncopated rhythms, a very early form of jazz was created. Jazz stayed with America through its darkest times, from when Prohibition ruled the land to when the Great Depression was in full swing. But it remains a little-known fact that Europe was also experiencing its own “Jazz Age”.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the american story of african-american slaves is embedded in jazz, and how europeans, especially the french, embrace it with open arms.
- Explains that european composers were beginning to break away from the prescribed forms of classical period (1750-1825) and were continuing to search for new sounds to incorporate into their own music.
- Analyzes how claude debussy invoked several jazz-like characteristics in his pieces, and created an atmosphere that is not unlike some jazz music today.
- Explains that the avant-garde group "les six" was formed in paris in 1920 as a reaction against the chromaticism of debussy and richard wagner's hyper-romanticism.
- Describes milhaud's experiences in rio de janeiro: he frequented the thriving nightlife, and collaborated with brazilian composers, including heitor villa-lobos.
- Analyzes how negress's grating voice seemed to come from the depths of the centuries. she sang with despairing pathos and dramatic feeling, to the point of exhaustion, the same refrain.
- Analyzes how milhaud's ballet, the creation of the world, was written in the american jazz style, with heavy syncopations and the alto saxophone playing several jazz melodies.
- Explains that ravel was a fan of jazz before his tour around the united states.
- Opines that the popular form of ravel's music is french music, and the work of art appears only on mature conception where no detail has been left to chance.
- Explains that ravel's concerto, and every work that has been examined, were still "french" works; the composers weren't intending to try to make a carbon copy of what they thought was jazz.
- Analyzes how jazz was embedded in the main french composers' works during a period of great social, political and technological change.
1945 wordsRead More - How Did Jazz Influence Todayanalytical essayJazz, considered an American music, took root in New Orleans and spread throughout the nation and world, with the it’s influence shown in the modern era. In a television is aired, other music is played, or a cartoon is shown, Jazz has instrumented a key role in the forming of American Culture. Jazz contains many qualities that distinguish it from other groups, the origin influences, the qualities, and the lasting impact Jazz has left on the modern world.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that jazz, considered an american music, took root in new orleans and spread throughout the nation and world, with its influence shown in the modern era.
- Explains that jazz music originated from slaves when african americans were brought over in 1619 to jamestown, virginia, and later extended to the southern regions of the 13 colonies, primarily new orleans.
- Analyzes how the trumpeter louis armstrong reshaped jazz music into a similar structure of what is heard today. miles davis brought constant innovation and innovation to jazz.
- Explains that jazz popularized new european instruments and techniques that would not have been created otherwise. without jazz, the saxophone would have continued to remain in small military bands.
536 wordsRead More - When researching the history of a specific topic, the viewpoints of historians can widely differ. My findings have concluded that each critic or historian has his own way of arguing who or what made jazz a beloved genre within American pop culture. Some even contend the location of its early origins. Throughout the text, several other sources remain indifferent in summarizing jazz. Paying no regard to any of the authors’ stance, the sources mentioned within my writing have provided beneficial information that will be used within my research assignment.
In this essay, the author
- Concludes that each critic or historian has his own way of arguing who or what made jazz a beloved genre within american pop culture. other sources remain indifferent in summarizing jazz.
- Analyzes how shining trumpets author rudi blesh presented the reader with an interesting argument that jazz's roots are losing transparency and as a result, the music cannot be appreciated or understood.
- Analyzes how martin williams uses his critical expertise to apply the sounds heard from old jazz recordings to explain how the music developed.
- Analyzes how professor and composer leroy ostransky chose the locational element when studying the genre. he labeled the chapters with the cities that are attributed to popularizing jazz.
- Analyzes how joachim berendt used his book, the jazz book, to express how versatile jazz is and how it has changed throughout the years.
- Analyzes how marshall stearns, founder of the institute of jazz, devoted much of his writing to summarizing the genre. he credited african music with the arrival of jazz and gave accounts of how the music is a staple to the new orleans culture.
- Analyzes how nat shapiro and nat hentoff's book, hear me talkin' to ya, captured the memoirs of those who lived through the height of jazz’s popularity.
- Analyzes how jack v. buerkle and danny barker credited the black community for making jazz such a popular genre and also pays homage to black musicians in bourbon street black.
- Analyzes how samuel charters maintains a neutral stance regarding race in his publication, trumpet around the corner. he uses his first chapter to provide the history of new orleans and describes its authenticity.
- Analyzes how professor michael g. white's article, "reflections of an authentic jazz life in pre-katrina new orleans," delved into the genre by telling of his losses following katrina and his experience with musicians that are not so well known to the outsiders.
- Analyzes the sources they have provided, including locational factors, origins, and the individuals responsible for creating such a successful genre.
1105 wordsRead More - What Did We Do To Be So Black And Blue Summaryanalytical essaySome people consider jazz to be a “black music”, so white musicians should not be included in the history of it. Others think it’s unfair to call jazz a “black music” or that white musicians need to be given more credit in jazz history. DeVeaux argues that jazz music has origins in traditional African musical culture and is based on the experience of African Americans, so it should be considered black music. But at the same time, he also argues that white musicians did play an important role in jazz, both from a consumption and production standpoint. This fact should not be ignored because to do so would be to rewrite history. This should never be done even if doing so might be considered good for social movements. DeVeaux sensitively found a middle ground, so his argument could mean unity for critics who before could only see jazz as either black or white. This article also encourages unity within music and could increase equality in jazz for musicians. Through this groundbreaking article that destroys racial barriers, DeVeaux has successfully answered the question he posed for himself at the beginning of his
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how scott deveaux's article "what did we do to be so black and blue?" discusses issues involving jazz and race — the involvement of white musicians in what many people consider a "black music".
- Argues that the symbiotic relationship arises from the time before the civil rights act, which abolished segregation, but it's still important today.
- Analyzes how meltzer agrees that whites play an important role in jazz history, so deveaux uses his argument to validate his views.
- Analyzes how deveaux disagrees with meltzer that jazz is at odds with the everyday actuality inside the art because of the influence of white consumers.
- Analyzes how deveaux clashes with collier on the position that jazz is "black music" because the techniques of jazz are from african american traditions.
- Analyzes how collier's counterargument is that we can't claim that a cultural artifact belongs to anybody because this would mean no one from other ethnicities would be able to create or critique it.
- Analyzes how deveaux argues that jazz is black because it's "uniquely rooted in the experience of black americans" and criticizes collier for being selective.
- Analyzes how deveaux and collier agree that calling jazz a "black music" fails to take white musicians into account.
- Analyzes how deveaux uses lee's book to support his stance on this matter. lees objects to the marginalization and unfair criticisms that white musicians in jazz receive just because they are white.
- Explains that deveaux's main argument in this paper was one for balance and truth. he argues that jazz music has origins in traditional african musical culture and is based on the experience of african americans.
1742 wordsRead More - Blacksanalytical essayThe music of the Harlem Renaissance - including jazz, swing, and big band - was an inherent expression of the joyous revolt from the confinement of racial prejudice experienced by African Americans. Jazz became extremely popular in Harlem in the 1920s. Historians agree that the musical genre of jazz was most i...
In this essay, the author
- Describes the harlem renaissance as a blossoming of african american culture, especially in the creative arts.
- Explains that jazz, swing, and big band was an inherent expression of the joyous revolt from the confinement of racial prejudice experienced by african americans.
- Analyzes how thematic musical expressions african-american artists recorded during the harlem renaissance were used as a means of expressing their black identity. gender allowed for women to express their views on race and gender relations.
- Explains that thomas wright waller was born on may 21, 1904, in new york city. he learned to play piano, reed organ, string bass, and violin.
- Describes how fats waller branched out to radio with his shows "paramount on parade" and "radio roundup" from 1930-31, and the cincinnati-based "fats and his rhythm sextet."
- Narrates how elizabeth "bessie" smith was born in 1894 in chattanooga, tennessee. she began performing as a street singer in 1912 and later in the rabbit foot minstrels.
1283 wordsRead More - Jazz Influence On African-American Societyexplanatory essayJazz is a work of African-American society, but in this music we can see the influx of almost every other music played in the streets of big cities of United States. In jazz we can find a connection to the Caribbean dances and Italian opera, as well as blues, rag time, military marches and the singing style of Baptist choir. Jazz has evolved over the years and many factors have influenced its final form. One of the many was the history and tradition of Western African music, which captured slaves brought with them to the United States.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that jazz is a work of african-american society, but in this music we can see the influx of almost every other music played in the streets of big cities of united states.
- Describes the prehistoric era of jazz, when slave labor songs developed, called work song, and negro spirituals, which influenced the formation of the current jazz music.
- Explains how the minstrel show influenced the development of jazz. it consisted of comic dialogues with dances and songs, individual performers, and points of the program that enjoyed greatest applause.
- Explains that ragtime, a musical form derived from dance form, was formed in southern and midwest states, mostly missouri.
538 wordsRead More - Evolution Of Jazz Music: The Evolution Of Jazzanalytical essayThe Evolution of Jazz 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.
In this essay, the author
- Explains the origins of jazz, the regions of it, and cool jazz and hard bop.
- Explains that the origins of jazz—blues and ragtime—is an important part of any jazz music.
- Explains that jazz music in new orleans began at the end of 19th century, however, the first jazz record by "original dixieland jazz band" was in 1917.
- Analyzes the differences between cool jazz and hard bop, which have striking contrast than classical jazz.
- Opines that jazz music is never stop to develop and evolve no matter in europe, africa, or asia. in the future music stage, we need the music combines with more music style, in order to create and develop more perfect work.
707 wordsRead More - Jazz Improvisation Essayexplanatory essayNo one could truly write a paper on a jazz artist without starting on where everything started. Jazz has been called America’s classical music. Along with the blues, its forefather, one of the truly native music to develop in America. We all know how jazz is known as improvisation and its rhythmic form. Also originated from the African American communities of New Orleans in the 19th and 20th centuries. Yet its impulsive, risky ventures into improvisation gave it critical cache that the blues lacked. Jazz was also and is still being a way of bringing people together and enjoying the moment. Like every other styles of music, some of them makes you want to dance, some makes you think or are filled with surprises. Rapidly the dance element faded into the background and improvisation became the key element of the piece. As it evolved, it split into numbers of different styles from the speedy, hard-hitting rhythms of the be-bop and the laid-back, mellow harmonies of jazz. Throughout the years, and in all the different styles, those still remain the qualities that defined Jazz.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that jazz originated from the african american communities of new orleans in the 19th and 20th centuries, but its impulsive, risky ventures into improvisation gave it critical cache that the blues lacked.
- Explains that jazz is difficult to define because there are too many varieties. improvisation is improvising; making things up as you go along; swing feel is the type that makes you want to dance or clap your hand.
- Explains that nathaniel adams coles was an american musician who first came to fame as a jazz pianist, also known for his soft baritone vocal style.
- Explains that cole started his career in the 1930s and led a band called "shuffle along" which made their first professional recording in 1936.
- Describes how cole became a musical phenomenon in the 1950s. he scored numerous hits, including mona lisa, ella fitzgerald, frank sinatra, and was attacked by white supremacists in alabama.
- Explains that nat king cole was the first african-american to host a television show called the nat-king-cole-show, which featured count basie, peggy lee, sammy davis jr., and tony bennett.
- Narrates how nat king cole's final recording l-o-v-e remains hugely popular and has been featured on a lot of film soundtracks.
1073 wordsRead More - Missed notes, unfamiliar formal structures, and technical intricacies have plagued musicologist’s understanding of Miles Davis’s performances and why he is considered “someone who is indisputably one of the most important musicians in the history of jazz.” However, as Robert Walser discusses in his article, “Out of Notes: Signification, Interpretation, and the Problem of Miles Davis,” part of the problem is the approach taken by musicology for analyzing jazz music itself, attempting classicism of jazz to legitimize it as part of the European classical music tradition. Walser decries that when attempting to analyze and understand jazz music and performance we may need to consider alternative analytical methods.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the problem of musicology's approach to analyzing jazz music itself, attempting classicism of jazz to legitimize it as part of the european classical music tradition.
- Analyzes how walser argues that music analysts need to develop a vocabulary that does not merely attempt to legitimize or classicize jazz.
- Analyzes walser's analysis of davis' 1964 version of "my funny valentine" to one performed by tony bennett in 1959.
- Analyzes walser's analysis of davis' recording of "my funny valentine" based on the actual recording and the concept of signification.
- Concludes that walser's article is informative about the shortcomings of the use of traditional analysis when attempting to understand jazz music in general.
- Describes walser, robert, and miles davis in the musical quarterly 77, no. 2, 1993.
1034 wordsRead More