An Explanation Of The Jazz Song

However, as the musical preceded it hit me that this issue is still very active today. In our pop culture today music such as rap and hip-hop is often viewed as an African American music type because overwhelming majorities of the artist are of African American descent. This creates a divide making it seem as if the music is only written for one race, although one artist that I believe is very similar to Huey in Memphis is Macelmore; a white rapper who brought the hip-hop genre to people everywhere and is accepted by both whites and African Americans. Macelmore made it his mission that hip-hop is written from the soul of a person regardless of the color of their skin. The theme that resonated with me throughout the musical Memphis is the idea that music and love can conquer any boundary in their way even something so imbedded in a culture such as segregation.

The era of the Roaring Twenties, was a time of great societal change. Many of these changes were greatly influenced by jazz music. During this time, the country was coming out of World War I and the attitude of most people was dark and dismal. Dance and music clubs became tremendously popular in an effort to improve the quality of life for many people.

“Walkin and Swingin” is a piece of jazz performed by Andy Kirk and his band, the Twelve Clouds of Joy, that could be described as light, bouncy, and perhaps easy or even uncluttered. This was written by Mary Lou Williams for Andy Kirk and is a thirty-two bar piece with four choruses. However, the length of the sections is handled differently, with the last chorus section being shortened to six bars after the transitions between different instruments, from the saxophone and brass to the piano (seen from 2:16 to about 2:24). The song overall has a light tone, and has many instruments that contribute, including two alto saxophones, one tenor saxophone, three trumpets, two trombones, a guitar, a piano, a bass, and drums, as observed from the written sheet music. The piece is different from others in multiple ways, perhaps the most noticeable being the piano solo played by Mary Lou Williams, the multiple solos played by members of the brass instrument section, very quick but effective transitions, and the overall swing groove of the music. There is also a walking bass used at the bridge, and a very intriguing trumpet lead of the brass instruments.

This inspiring song is appealing through its overall sound and message. It addresses issues of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s, which is also a prominent issue and theme in The Secret Life of Bees. Specifically, Rosaleen and Zachary Taylor experience the violent effects of the Civil Rights Movement (and the fight against it) in the book. The song’s basic meaning is that in America, a change for equality and love will soon be made for blacks across the nation. This song had a large cultural impact on America, and I believe it still does today. It serves as a sort of “fight song” or anthem of hope for black people across the nation. This song also applies to Lily’s story in The Secret Life of Bees. She experiences many tough times in Sylvan, living with T. Ray, her father. T. Ray often abuses and mistreats her, likely a direct effect of Deborah, his former wife and Lily’s dead

The two most obvious one’s are the music and drug symbols. Two that one might not catch are the light and darkness symbols. Light being the good, while dark being the bad. When the narrator found out that Sonny got busted and put in jail, he started to think to himself, “I didn’t want to believe that I’d ever see my brother going down, coming to nothing, all that light in his face gone out,” (Baldwin 122). He references the light to a bright and young Sonny. After hearing the news, it reminded him that there were also shadows where there was once light that shined. This vision of his younger brother makes him realize that Sonny was once like the boys he now teaches. Some of his students share and face some of the same darkness’s that Sonny does. “All they really knew were two darknesses, the darkness of their lives, which was now closing in on them, and the darkness of the movies, which had blinded them to that other darkness, and in which they now, vindictively, dreamed, at once more together than they were at any other time, and more alone,” (Baldwin 122) The narrator explains how the boys are immersing in darkness and they don’t even know it. Darkness here represents the chances the boys don’t take advantage of and the lack of opportunity they are presented. This darkness that casts over them doesn’t give them hope to want to attempt anything positive. Fate has brought them together but because nothing will ever come their way, they are alone in suffering. This dark reality of living in Harlem leaves no light of hope for these young boys. The narrator now begins to understand the pain and suffering that his students and Sonny go through. Between prejudices towards African American’s in Harlem during the 1950’s and living in severe poverty decreases the chances of them ever escaping the dark reality of life. This setting and darkness make is easy to turn to drugs, crime, and violence

“Traditionally, most blacks lived” in the South, but in the twenties, lot of African Americans “moved to the cities in the North.”(Blacks Set Out). They were in search for a better life and more opportunity. A lot of them got good jobs as factory workers or even business men. In fact, “On the eve of World War II, Ford employed more than 10,000 black workers,” which was “a far larger number and a far greater representation than at any other firm in the automobile industry”, since many other companies jus gave them the “menial positions”. (Employment segregation ). Reports have proved that “African American small businessmen enjoyed a measure of success in the 1920s economy” (Consumerism). A lot of African Americans became very wealthy, including Bessie Smith. When this song had come out, it was just a few weeks before the Great Depression hit.The Great Depression hit after the the stock market fell dramatically on October 1929, “which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors” and caused unemployment to skyrocket because of “failing companies” firing workers that they could not afford to keep ( The Great Depression). Once that hit, it made the song even more relatable because everyone had

It is not true that the book only serves to bring together wonderful songs and dances. Today the book must be equally yoked to the songs and music of the musical. It is an important combination that makes a powerful performance. Jerome Kern understood this before anyone else and just about every musical made today has an important message, choreography, power actors and actresses who can sing their hearts out. We see this in Dream Girls, Chicago, and Rent. The stories are powerful portrayals of people fighting for what they want. Each musical follows their story and is accompanied by music that matches each situation and emotion.

One main difference I noticed between “Josie” and “Dr. Jazz” was that “Josie” is much more mellow in tone, though both have laid back vibes because one one instrument is used, compared to “Dr. Jazz” which is very much a big band song. Tempo wise, both songs are pretty similar though not exactly the same, but both genres can vary just as much tempo wise between songs. The texture in “Dr. Jazz” is much thicker, but with a smooth feel of the instruments because of all the instruments making the song that much more intricate in general. In “Josie”, the texture is very much one layer and thin in general because it is only the one instrument and the artist singing.

It represent the thirteenth amendment because this song is an anti slavery song. This song is one of the contributor toward the abolisher of slavery.

Furthermore this song tells how he doesn't want to be alive and in one lyric he

This is a story of a young jazz musician (Sonny) from Harlem, NY who gets addicted to heroin, is arrested for using and selling drugs, and returns to his childhood neighborhood after his release from prison. He moves in with his older brother (the story’s narrator) and his brother’s family. The two brothers sort of reconnect after a very tense few weeks during which both try to deal with their anger towards each other. Drugs are a central part of the story, but it’s also about family, music, and trying to overcome life’s struggles.

This cover would paints a picture of someone walking down the street crying because their day did not go the way they wanted it to, although this would be functional for Jazz lovers it does not illustrate anything significant that would make this song stand out. The cover by Reigning Sound paints a picture of being back in the 50’s. When I listen to this song, I picture myself wearing a poodle skirt and my boyfriend’s letter jacket while sitting at a car hop waiting on my

This song relates to the story because

The end of the 1920s was known for the ending of the silent film in Hollywood. With the advancement of sound technology, it has transformed the way we view films in today’s world. It all began with a film called The Jazz Singer, directed by Alan Crosland, starring Al Jolson, Warner Oland, and May McAvoy. The film is about a little boy named Jakie, whose father is a Jewish cantor, and he defied his father by not wanting to follow the family tradition of cantors. He wanted to be a performer, specifically, a jazz singer. One day, he was discovered by his neighbor Moisha and thus he got beat up and kicked out of the house. Jakie vowed to never return home. A decade later, Jackie is a performer with the help of his lover Mary with a new identity by the name of Jack Robin who wears a black face when on stage. One night, his father fell ill and was asked to sing at the synagogue, however, it fell on the same day as his opening show on Broadway. Jakie had to make a tough decision choosing between his family or his career.

When I listen to this song it gives a sense of hope, hope that everything will be alright. The songs sends out a powerful message that anyone and everyone can help and make a difference in the world. The style of this song is so powerful it’s an eclectic style of many incredible genres such as; gospel, rock, hip-hop, R&B etc. many of the famous artists of this song were called the United Support Of Artists for Africa, despite their musical differences came together and created a moving and inspirational meaningful song. That touched millions around the world, even today it’s still an iconic song to plenty such as myself connected to the world through those powerful lyrics, when Jackson wrote, “