Jazz the Sound of the Heart
In a blog written by Virginia Hughes she states that “Music moves people of all cultures, Vocal Jazz and collaborations with other sub-genres such as bebop jazz, cool jazz and hard bob didn’t only affected the culture throughout the eras, but created an outlet for many artists to express their repressed feelings during difficult time periods, and allowed a strong rooted foundation for Jazz in whole to continue to develop. “Vocal Jazz” has been able to touch the deepest human emotions through the voice of the songs and powerful melodies behind them.in a way that doesn’t seem to happen with other animals. Nobody really understands why listening to music — which, unlike sex or food, has no intrinsic value — can trigger
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Merriam Webster dictionary defines Jazz as “a type of American music with lively rhythms and melodies that are often made up by musicians as they play (Webster, 2015). Music is extremely powerful and has the ability to change people’s feelings; in fact, music therapy has recently become a popular method of helping people deal with problems such as stress, anxiety, and pain (Music Therapy Makes a Difference, 2004). Vocal Jazz is rhythmic poetry tied with powerful instruments and the lyrics behind it, all are a key component of what makes it a powerful …show more content…
One has to ask how Jazz and more specifically Vocal Jazz got its foundation from. Blues was a major component in Vocal Jazz, it comes from the pain, suffering and agony of African Americans along with other emotions. Vocal Jazz continued along to help express agony, but added more elevating keys and melodies to be able to give it a more diverse sound. During the 1900’s the city of New Orleans was seen as a Melting Pot for music, from blues, to church gospel, to marching bands gave life to Jazz. From then on Jazz has been able inspire many artists to connect with the emotions within all of us. Louis Armstrong aka Satchmo, aka Pops, the singer without a voice is what most referred to him as and some went as far as even naming him the greatest. Billy Exstine, an American singer during the swing era, went as far as to say “that Louie Armstrong was the greatest singer in the world without a voice. And he was because what Louie did to a song, nobody else could do.” He single handedly created “scat” when Armstrong sang horn-like nonsense syllables during a recording of “Heebie Jeebies." According to Satchmo he dropped the lyric sheet, being a true professional he improvised the sounds of the horns (NPR Louis Armstrong: 'The Singer ') Louis Armstrong was able to
The first appearance of jazz was at the turn of the century in New Orleans and is called “Dixieland Jazz,” or “Classic Jazz.” It developed out of music for street parades in the black community. It also had deeper roots in a style of music called “Blues,” which was used to express the daily experiences of the community (History). Other influences include the combination of West African folk music with the popular classical music of Europe, developing into syncopated rhythms and chord variations on classical pieces (Passion).
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
Jazz was introduced directly after World War I by African-Americans (Boundless.com par. 1). Although jazz was composed by many different African-Americans the main founder of jazz was Ethel Waters (McCorkle par. 8). Jazz was first played in New Orleans, but as the African-Americans moved north, white citizens caught on and tuned jazz into a new craze (Lindop 107). Even though jazz was created in New Orleans, Chicago became the home of jazz music (Bingham 8). The first jazz players derived the tune from a mixture of Latin American, African, and European rhythms, making it very popular among many different types of people (“Latin Jazz” par. 1). Jazz was so well-liked because it gave the artists the opportunity to make the predetermined tune their own (“What is jazz par. 1). When listening to jazz the same song is never heard twice because the band members each put their own spin on the way they play their instrumen...
Armstrong is not only a trumpet player, as a singer, he is also very successful. For many years, jazz lovers tried in ecstasies to imitate his unique voice and scat singing, which was nonsense but with a rhythm. Armstrong was the first to successfully use scat singing, which eventually became a major feature of jazz concerts. His singing method affected almost every jazz singer, including Coypin Crosby in the 1940s, the most charismatic singer in jazz history Billie Holly and Frank Sinatra. Of course, Armstrong's achievements in jazz music could not be summarized by the above description.
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 culture to be exact, is the topic at hand. Jazz culture expands throughout many genres and is expressed in many ways. The many genres of jazz are Big Band, jazz funk, modern jazz, smooth jazz, Latin jazz, and jazz fusion. Each of these comes with its own unique sound and origin. Latin jazz, for example, employs rhythms from both African and Hispanic backgrounds. The sound is particularly up tempo with divided eight beat patterns. Jazz artists who have portrayed these qualities of jazz to the world are at the very core of its culture. Many people who are in places of power in this society or are held in some form of esteem have had some exposure to the arts, whether it is classical or jazz. This is due to a desire to be culturally diverse which is a quality held in high esteem in regards to a more worldly point-of-view. There are many aspects of Jazz music that could be approached, but there is one point in particular that must be expressed in detail. The influence on the genre ...
Jazz was portrayed through different styles of writing throughout each story. The first author focused on telling a story based on a time period of revolution while the second, focused on writing an interview-formatted story. Both stories did display sense of Jazz as a catalyst to feeling different types of ways no matter the situation. The group mentioned in the first story was able to revolt and share their beliefs of Jazz through performances. The author showed how Jazz affected even the people who were against it. Jazz touches everyone in some way like many other types of music. The second story didn’t mention Jazz a lot, but gave way to the feeling that Jazz heals people. As soon as the protagonist heard Jazz music, he was cured from his disease. Not everyone will view Jazz in the same way, but Jazz affects everyone as seen in the passages before.
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.
The influences of Jazz music came from African Americans and Europeans. The African American influences to jazz provided a call and response to jazz music.
Though jazz has changed, the background behind it still inspires those today. Even though each artist has their particular style or expression, they all can agree that music is art. They can all agree that music is about emotions and feelings. Through the years, just as all things do, Jazz and Bebop have grown and flourished across America and the World. All in all, Jazz for African Americans opened the doors in America, jazz alone opened doors and ears all across the Earth.
Jazz, the music genre that changed a nation and empowered the African American community is not only a form of music, but a form of power. From the late 19th to early 20th century, jazz rocked every corner around the nation, starting with Jazz clubs in New Orleans. This genre gave birth to so many different subgenres that many have a difficult time defining it. Big band, swing, and bebop are only a handful of subgenres that stem off of jazz, but each has their own unique flow.
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...
Although jazz isn’t as popular as it once was, there are still people who enjoy listening to jazz and musicians that strive to learn the genre. In conclusion, the evidence is overwhelming that jazz has had a large impact on American culture. The birth of jazz started with African Americans and has lasted throughout the years because of African Americans. Events such as the Great Migration and Harlem Renaissance allowed for artists such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington to spread the popularity of jazz. Jazz was able to change how Americans viewed African Americans and their culture and essentially invited Americans into their culture and shape America to where it is today.
Jazz is the best-known artistic creation of the 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. In the formally standardized, instrumentally accompanied form of “city blues”(as opposed to the formally unstandardized and earlier “country blues”), the blues was to become one of the two major foundations of 1920s jazz (the other being rags). City blues tended to be strophic songs with a text typically based on two-line strophes (but with the first line of each strophe’s text repeated, AAB) and a standard succession of harmonies underlying each strophe’s melody.... ...
In contemporary society, people live their lives at a faster rate than ever before. Therefore, people need a balance and an outlet to help them keep healthy in their personal and social daily life. Jazz provides a medium for people to balance themselves. It balances the individuals and groups, with its lyrics, tempo and performers.