Blog #5

This quarter in History of Jazz, I learned many new things and also had a few assumptions change that I thought I already knew.  Some of these assumptions included me thinking that jazz came out of one place and from only one person and also that it was just one sound and style.  Throughout the quarter I learned that my assumptions were wrong but on the right track.  There also was one specific concept that stuck out to me which was improvisation.  Before taking this class, I believed that I knew exactly what the definition was but I later learned that there was a much deeper meaning to the word.

I assumed that jazz originated from one place, not sure which place, but just one.  Little did I know that jazz did not come out of only one city or state but it came from many including,  New Orleans, Chicago, and New York.  Also, I assumed that there was only one person who basically created this style of music.  I later learned that there were many founding people associated with this style, including Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, Buddy Bolden, Louis Armstrong, and King Oliver.  In addition to my other assumptions, I never knew that there are many types of jazz and that it is not just one sound.  From this class and the readings I learned that there were subsets such as blues, swing, improvisation, and bebop. 

Upon taking this class, the definition I thought of in my mind of improvisation was as follows; any style, whether it is singing, instrument playing, or dancing, that was made up on the spot and as the music went along.  Improvisation, I eventually learned, is not only just a style of jazz music, but also something that can be expressed by the musician.  This style cannot be easily imitated or copied because of the fact it is made up on the spot making it original work.  Each of the musicians that used this style were able to claim their own songs and individuality which gave them their own identity.  Audiences knew who each of the individual musicians were because of their distinct sounds.  I really came to understand this concept in during one of the weeks of the course when Professor Stewart played audio recordings from multiple musicians who used this style.  It made me realize that this style was used to show the creative sides of each of the musicians who played this way.

Looking back on these past ten weeks, I have learned to appreciate jazz music a lot more.  This is because I now have evidence, reasons, and answers to my questions on this subject.  In addition to my greater appreciation of jazz, I also have a better understanding of the music itself and the culture in which jazz was created.

Blog #4

            Thelonius Monk grew up in a place called San Juan Hills, which was made up of many diverse people which came along with very diverse cultures.  The different blocks in San Juan Hills, made up the different cultures of the people that were living within this community.  According to Kelly, “every block is a different town” (Kelly 19).    Unfortunately though, this happened to be a very violent community.  Monk was fortunate to stay out of the violence for the most part, and focus all his frustration and emotions into his new style of music he was creating and the community that he was shaping.

Living in this violent, diverse community, Monk found many impacts that influenced his style of music.  Monk took piano lessons from a man named Simon Wolf who taught him “works by Chopin, Beethoven, Bach, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, and Mozart” (Kelly 26).  Simon was not a jazz musician and was not the one who taught Monk jazz.  Monk learned how to play jazz music from his surroundings and local musicians from the community, which he later learned to integrate the two different styles that he knew.  Another major impact on Monk’s style was the church he attended in the community.  His mom would always take him and he grew to love the sounds of the church hymns being played.  One last major influence on Monk was the Columbus Hill Neighborhood Center, which was an “elaborate after-school and summer program for children and adults” (Kelly 28).  This became Monk’s second home where it taught him not only social and musical skills, but also discipline and how to act in this violent community.

Being a black musician in a community that was full of blacks and whites, Monk had to face racial issues that no one ever wants to face.  Because of his color, he was a target for racial inequality and experienced it many times.  For example, “the word “nigger” flowed easily from the lips of many teachers, who were also quick to side with white children whenever fights broke out” (Kelly 20).  Instead of fighting back, Monk used all his frustration to create his style of Bebop and used his music to escape from all the racial inequality chaos.

Although Monk was gathering all his frustration from racial inequality and putting it towards his music most of the time, there were a couple of times, including an incident in Delaware with Nica in 1958, when he let the tension get to him.  Monk went into a motel looking for a glass of water where he was rejected by the owner’s wife and told to immediately get out.  When the police came and asked Monk to get out of the car, Monk responded “Why the hell should I?”.  Being punished for something he did not do left a mark with Monk and shows that the racial tension happening in the community even affected Monk.

The community that Monk wanted to and did create was a very modern one.  Monk had a very eccentric behavior about him, and nobody ever knew what he was going to do next, which made his style exciting.  One of his band members said, “the one thing above all that Monk has taught me is not to be afraid to try anything so long as I feel it” (Kelly 231).  When Monk would dance to his music, it would allow his band members to know that the music being played was actually swinging.  The music Monk would create always had everyone on their toes waiting for what was going to happen next.

Blog #3

Race has always been a very important factor in jazz and the development of it.  There had always been problems between races, dating back to the early beginnings of jazz.  The Swing Era of the 1930s portrayed many differences that the blacks and whites had because during this time, the musicians were not only fighting for economic advances and privileges, but also respect for the cultural background of their race.  Although it seems that this tension continued on throughout the 1930s, jazz actually brought whites and blacks together to make some magnificent music as a team effort.  Two main events took place during the Swing Era which was located at The Savoy and Carnegie Hall.  Benny Goodman, a white musician, performed in a “musical battle” against black musician, Chick Webb, creating something that has gone down in history.  At Carnegie Hall, Benny Goodman again performed with three other musicians, who all happened to be black.  At this performance some people did not enjoy the mixture of races but others still were very fond of it.  Black musicians and white critics also played a role in this racial immigration of the 1930s.  John Hammond who was a white critic had some very strong words against jazz musician, Duke Ellington, saying that his “tact and suave manner disguised a willingness to tolerate racial indignities for the sake of commercial success” (Swing Changes).  Even with this embarrassment of a critique, Hammond later became a fan of different black musicians such as Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie, and Billie Holiday. 

            Some of these black musicians tried to integrate races together more than others, such as Duke Ellington, and were actually very successful with the process.  Many factors played a role in this success, the main one being the radio.  With the radio, everyone and anyone had the ability to listen to jazz music, whether it was from a white or black musician and the listener was either white or black as well.  The radio brought many opportunities for both white and black musicians because of the fact that anyone could get their hands on one to listen to the jazz music of the 1930s. 

Blog #2

In the 1920’s, both Chicago and New York were both a part of the jazz music.  New York however was the more important place and had a bigger impact on jazz during this time.  New York was a place full of new opportunities for every person associated with the city.  The diversity seen here and the integration of people forced the creation of different communities throughout the whole city.  Because of the endless opportunities, many people believed that New York influenced the status of black men as well.

            New York has been a piece of jazz history for a long time.  Jazz was seen and heard in New York not only in the 1920s but also before the migration.  Social and economic conditions in New York were always providing opportunities for everyone.  Because jazz music was popular during this time, people enjoyed listening and dancing to it, which meant that there were going to be jobs for musicians to provide the joy that this music brought.  The racial communities in New York brought many new cultures and traditions that were brought together.  The integration of the diverse backgrounds in New York helped shaped the style of jazz as well in the 1920s.

            During this time, there was a Harlem style of jazz.  This style was then split up into two Harlems- the Harlem Renaissance and the Harlem of rent parties.  During the Harlem Renaissance, “an entire elite had come together, drawing confidently on the full range of human expression…in which creative thought could flourish” (Gioia, 94).  This Harlem was in full support of the black culture and had a great sense of community.  The Harlem of rent parties on the other hand, was associated with “harsh economics, low salaries, and looming rent payments” (Gioia, 94).  Despite the harsher living conditions, this was the Harlem that created music.  Rent parties were “the special passion of the community” (Gioia, 95).

            The art form that best represents the culture and community of New York, I believe is ragtime.  With ragtime came the creation of the stride piano which was “the center of new music” (Gioia, 96).  Ragtime was a widely known type of music and also fit into the many diverse groups of people in New York.  According to Gioia, “ragtime was played all over, in bars, cabarets and sporting houses” (96) connecting to each of the different crowds of New York.  Jazz music connects to the audience through communication to an audience and tells stories through the communication.  This aspect of the style of music relates to Bakhtin in how he says that in every story there is someone in mind.

                         

Blog #1

           The emergence of jazz had many contributing factors at the beginning of the 20^th century, but the main factors came from New Orleans.  New Orleans is a place that people may refer to as a melting pot.  This meaning that because of its location on a map, many different cultures and traditions are brought to New Orleans therefore mixing them all together.  Because of the trade routes as well, different cultures are brought and taken away all the time.  With all these different cultures and traditions together in one place, lots of music was shown and listened to.  The mixture of the different types of music is what was the start and beginning of jazz in the early 20^th century.

            Jazz emerged in New Orleans instead of other American cities for a number of reasons, including the location and the fusion of the music that was there.  The main and most important reason jazz came from New Orleans and not other cities is because of the slavery that was present during this time.  There were two different types of slavery that were seen in New Orleans, which were the Latin version and the English version.  The Latin version was a more liberal way of slavery because of the amount of rights slaves were getting.  On the other hand, the English version of slavery was more of a form of supremacy where slaves were not given as many rights as they would get in the Latin version.  The slaves were bringing all their different forms of music together where jazz music would come from the different times that these slaves would play together.  A creole, which was a person that was a mix of races, also played a role in the jazz music.  Since these people were from two different racial backgrounds, the traditions and cultures were mixed. 

            Gioia mentioned many sources to show that jazz did emerge from New Orleans including Storyville.  Storyville was a “red light district that existed for a scant twenty years” and was known “as the birthplace of jazz music” (Gioia 31).  This place was known for the music that was played there yet most musicians who were interviewed always said that they never remember playing here, as if they didn’t want people to know that they played in a place like this and they didn’t want others to associate their early careers with this type of place.  If someone was looking for a place to listen to brass bands, they should have gone to Storyville because those were the most popular bands playing.  Two famous musicians, Buddy Bolden and Jelly Roll Morton, both were discovered in Storyville and being the well known jazz musicians that they are says something about this place.  Because of the mood and atmosphere with the sex and drinking associated with this red light district, lots of collaborating took place and people got into the mood to create and play this jazz music. 

            After reading and learning about all this information, I believe that the location of New Orleans was the most important factor in the emergence of jazz in New Orleans.  The fact that New Orleans was on a trade route and that different cultures and traditions were passing through, some staying others leaving, shows that with the mixture of all this stuff coming through, something big could be created and was created.  The roots that the slaves and Creoles brought to New Orleans also formed new traditions and new cultures that came together to form jazz.