Farzam Abdi
Dizzy Gillespie’s 1956 World Tour
In 1956 Dizzy Gillespie embarked on a musical tour that was founded by the U.S State Department. He and his band travelled to other side of the world and other boundaries outside U.S in the name of cultural diplomacy and to show the world the new culture that was developing in the U.S through the language of music, a culture with hope, no racial boundaries, gender equality and freedom. USC Professor Nicholas Cull explains the degree of importance of cultural diplomacy, "America woke up to the need to communicate effectively with the rest of the world." (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6276832, October 16 2006).
The tour went around South Asia, Middle East and Eastern Europe. Dizzy was considered a suitable candidate for leading the tour and was recommended by Powell to the head of the State Department. He had played in New York’s Basin Street, the Showboat in Washington and as the headliner in Birdland. For Dizzy, this was an opportunity to work in a bigger band since his big band broke up in the early 1950s due to economical reasons. “I went to Washington once, in 1956, playing with a small group at the Showboat, and received a call from him (Adam Powell) saying come down to the House Office Building the next day because he had something to tell me. I arrived there and all these reporters were standing around, and then Adam made a statement: ‘I’m going to propose to President Eisenhower that he send this
Before the big evolution of rock and roll, the United States was heavily involved in World War II. In this
Another thing was the music of the 1940s, the 1940s was the decade of “the crooner” as the other form of entertainment the musical entertainment also played tribute to the war by many popular songs like “God Bless America”. This songs were sometimes were taken to war and it made solders said that the music took them home and they loved it.
Harker, Brian. “Louis Armstrong, Eccentric Dance, and the Evolution of Jazz on the Eve of Swing.” Journal of the American Musicological Society, University of California Press Journals, 1 Apr. 2008, jams.ucpress.edu/content/61/1/67. Accessed 13 Apr. 2017.
When J.J. Johnson was 11 years old, his mother, Nina, sent him to piano lessons, and he briefly played the baritone saxophone at school. At the age of 14, J.J. Johnson’s classmates wanted to be in a band and needed a trombone player, so he took the opportunity and never looked back. Johnson and his friends were really enjoying the concept melody solos from the tenor saxophonist, Lester Young, and he was also drawn to the Trombone work of Dickie Wells. Therefore, around 1941 and 1942, J.J Johnson joined two bands called Clarence Love’s Regional Touring Band and Snookum Russell’s Band. Johnson then received a suggestion to join the band of Saxophonist Benny Carter for an extended tour, so the spring of 1945, Johnson worked with Carter’s band as a trombonist and a staff manager.
According to www.talks.cam.ac.uk, “Globalization emphasises difference, promotes pluralism, and increases diversity through the accelerating circulation of a multiplicity of cultural practices. In turn, music affected these elements of globalization in significant and often unexpected ways.”
Music, in the history of Puerto Rico, has played a role of great significance as a means of cultural expression. The five centuries of musical activity shows that Puerto Ricans have created, developed and promoted a variety of genres ranging from folk music, concert music and new genres. The Puerto Rican music and native musicians have shaped and enriched the identity of the Puerto Rican people and their roots.
From its inception, Jazz has applied both innovative approaches in different degrees and boundless configuration. And has continually amplified, progress, and modify music through various distinctive episodes of growth. So, an all-encompassing denotation of jazz is likely vain. Additionally, jazz as a music whose prime attribute was “improvisation,” for example, revealed to be too regulated and chiefly false. Meanwhile composition, adaptation, and ensembles have also been imperative constituent of Jazz (for most of its backstory). Furthermore, “syncopation” and “swing,” often viewed as important and distinctive to jazz, are certainly lacking the genuineness of it, whether of the 1920s (or of later decades). However, the prolonged perception that swing could not transpire without syncopation was utterly refuted when trumpeter Louis Armstrong often produced vast swing while playing repeated, and unsyncopated quarter notes (Armstrong, L., Fitzgerald, E., & Middleton, V. (1988). Satchmo. Gong.)
Additionally, there are other countries who had their influences in music in the USA, for example Mexicans. Mexicans helped to develop the Tex-Mex
Even before the war, music was a large part of entertainment to the American people. In the article Music of the 1860’s, it mentions how people would go to concerts that would be performed by bands to listen to music.
Many people felt the same pain as President Richard Nixon,” Mrs. Nixon and I shared the sorrow of millions of Americans at the death of Louis Armstrong. One of the architects of an American art form, a free and individual spirit, and an artist of worldwide fame, his great talents and magnificent spirit and richness and pleasure to all our lives”(www.satchmo.com/LouisArmrrong/quotes.com). People knowing that the best trumpet player in the world has been
"I became very preoccupied with writing serious concert music that would have a specifically American flavor." (“UXL Biographies” 2). Those were the words of Aaron Copland, which he told to Edward Rothstein of the New York Times. Copland wanted to make American music speak in its own unique way. Over the course of his existence he did that by composing some of the most well-known classical scores and ballet theme of his time.Truly studying Aaron Copeland’s life, an individual can recognize that Copeland is a true American icon by analyzing his life experiences and understanding how his tremendous impact and influence had touched lives of Americans, most particularly, musicians.
The music that was present in World War II was extremely versatile and happy, which helped keep spirits high among everybody. Styles such as swing, blues, and jazz were popular music styles at the time. By the end of 1941, 96.2% of Americans owned radios. This granted greater access to music and information on the war. This is in contrast to World War I, where most citizens of the world were not as connected to the war through radio. In a way, the mass distribution of music was unifying for the American citizens and troops. However, many African-American musical artists used music to highlight the hypocrisy of the Americans fighting for freedom at that time because there was still a lot of segregation and discrimination in the United States and in it’s military.
Music plays a significant role in societies all over the world. It allows people of all ethnicities and backgrounds to express themselves. Different music genres help to inspire other artists to create new music that they would not have thought of before. In various ways, Britain and America have influenced and inspired one another for many years. Music was, and still is, a huge connecting factor between the two countries. The Beatles and Bob Dylan, two of the most famous artists of all time, demonstrate how Britain and America had a profound influence on each country’s music culture.
The history of American music begins with a fundamental process of exchange through all different social lines, where diverse cultures meet, and mix. Music has and always will be defined as sounds that are arranged in a particular pattern that are played to be meaningful and pleasurable. The chronology of music began in the Medieval period, when chanting was introduced into the Church. Music has then moved its way through many stages: renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic and leading up to 20th century American music. American 20th century music is made up of a diverse number of styles that are reflected by cultural traditions and the era’s of the past. Immigrants from Spain, France, England, Germany and Ireland all contributed and brought their own unique styles to the forefront, hence creating American music. African Americans created influential musical traditions that include rhythm and improvisation that were later combined with European traditions and other indigenous music.
On a greater scale, music literacy affects the entire world. Obviously, if musical literacy didn't exist, there would be no music. That would have cost the world a great deal, since music isn't confined to modern times. Music has been around as long as the first humans have, and it has been a part of defining each time period. The lyric music of ancient Rome exemplified an emphasis on storytelling, and the Harlem Renaissance served as a way for African Americans to finally be able to express themselves musically. During the 1960's, rock music became not only a new form of music, but also a form of rebellion for American youth.