Film Analysis: The True Welcome PBS Episode 4

The Jazz Age was a cultural movement that took place in America during the 1920 's (also known as "the Roaring Twenties") from which both jazz music and dance emerged. This movement matched with both the equally phenomenal introduction of mainstream radio and the conclusion of World War I. The 1920s was the decade that marked the beginning of the modern music era. Some of the popular music genres were Jazz, Dance Bands, Blues, and Broadway. The decade marked the beginning of independent record companies, smaller operations that weren’t afraid to take a chance on music and artists that the bigger companies shied away from.

On the home front, World War II had an incredible effect on the American jazz scene. One of the biggest setbacks fro jazz was the increasing difficulty with travel during the war. Musicians struggled to travel around the country to perform, as the rationing of rubber and gasoline limited the mobility of many swing bands. In addition, there were fewer buses and trains available for bands, as the majority were often occupied with servicemen on War business. Between the Great Depression and World War II, America needed money, and the multimillion dollar business of ballroom dancing and big bands was targeted with an incredibly-high 30% "Cabaret Tax." This tax led to the closing of numerous clubs all around the United States, because ballrooms and clubs could no longer afford to pay big bands to come play. The tax started the economic cycle that closed many of these recreational

A.Attention Getter: The 1930’s is a decade that will always be remembered as one of the worst times in American history, but the genre of music that began to flourish during these difficult times will forever be influential. Many turned to music as a coping mechanism during the Great Depression. Jazz became an outlet of expression for the many artists experiencing hardships and it also let countless people forget about their troubles for at least one night by dancing and having a good time.

The Cotton Club lost some of its freshness as performers played dazzling, yet emotionless jazz but Ellington brought his own style of music which interested the nation’s

I. Introduction a. A testament to the United States' unprecedented prosperity in the Roaring Twenties, jazz's growing popularity sparked a grave controversy, with many viewing the appeal of jazz as either an annoyance or a threat. b. Should the testament to the United States’ prosperity in the Roaring Twenties about jazz’s growing popularity be viewed as an annoyance or threat? c. Jazz’s growing popularity in the United States in a time known as the Roaring Twenties, was a dramatic turning point in the American life. The growing of this musical industry meant jazz would be thrived in adversity and come to symbolize a certain kind of American freedom, and would be called upon to lift the spirits and raise the morale of a

One of the greatest tragedies in the 20th century can be seen in the debasing of the Jazz genre as a unworthy equal to it's predecessor, European Classical music. This can be seen in various statements about Jazz, such as Boris Gibalin commit, "The "Jazz Mania" has taken on the character of a lingering illness and must be cured by means of forceful intervention."1 This conflict can be traced through out the history of Jazz, as Classical composers have relatively disregarded this new type of music. Before Duke Ellington's Cotton Club performances, Jazz play on the radio was delegated for late night audience only. This sub-culture treatment has led many critics to disregard the Jazz movement as a dance craze, or unsuccessful recreations

The audience was wrapped in the complexity and intensity that radiated in this piece. This was due to the disjunct melody, as the piece sounded generally uneven, with recurring wide leaps as the piece had a wide range. It was mesmerizing, watching the technique and fast pace hand movements. Furthermore, the song had a general homophonic texture as there was a clear dominant melody being played, with a few different chords supporting the melody. Despite there being a few tempo changes as the song alternated in pace, the piece sustained a duple meter, emphasizing on the jazz rhythm. The uniqueness of the piece was especially brought out through the frequent dissonance harmony, which made the piece more interesting to listen to. The piece had an overall free rhythmic feel, allowing the combination of distinctive rhythms and dynamics into a unique melody. The timbre of the piano matched the style of music as it was successful in giving the jazzy tone to the piece. Nevertheless, I think that the use of a full orchestra is more successful in delivering the full jazz melody as each instruments timbre provides an interesting influence on the

In America, at the time of the Big Band Era, the Great Depression had reached its highest peak. Jazz took a hard hit, as did the rest of the country, during

During the time of the bustling 1920’s a new movement in American culture was booming. As the great migration was rapidly growing, new ways of expressing emotions were blossoming into a revolutionary movement. This movement of the “New Negro,” also known as the “Harlem Renaissance” was quickly coming into the light of society, exploding in the Harlem neighborhoods of New York City as artistic ideas took turns that nobody could ever imagine. Among these new creations of artistic creativity the most prominent was the clear transformation that music went through during this time. Boundaries were beginning to break in society as well as in music as rules were being broken and new forms of music were simmering, thus, Jazz was born.

The 1930s, historically remembered for the Great Depression and President Roosevelt’s New Deal, demonstrated a time of great racial tension and segregation. Slavery dissolved and the Ku Klux Klan remained less popular; the struggle of African Americans, however, was not over. Racial segregation continued to thrive with half of African Americans out of work, their jobs given to whites who were struggling from the Great Depression (“Race During the Great Depression”). The New Deal, created to promote equality and produce jobs, was largely ineffective on the front of desegregation, doing little to help the black American community. One place that African Americans were able to prosper: jazz. However, even the jazz community itself proved

The Swing Era: Last week, we discussed the role that jazz music played in shaping different areas of popular culture from women’s clothing to fine art. In comparison, how did swing music impact society? Discuss the political, economic, and especially the social influences on society in your response. In week 1 I learned that jazz music brought a lot of changes especially for women.

Developed in the early 19th and 20th centuries, Jazz is a genre of music that originated in New Orleans among the African American culture. The 1920’s became known as the as the Jazz age, making jazz acknowledged as a form of musical expression. New Orleans played a great role in the evolution of jazz music in the 20th century. At this time, the people of New Orleans hailed from many different cultures. As new settlers arrived in New Orleans, musical traditions from all over the world began to unite. African American musicians merged European musical tradition with such music as blues, ragtime, and marching band to create a new style of music—jazz. (Haber, 2016).

Pbs.com Ken Burns states that just like all music jazz went through it trial era of music. The swing era was very popular through the early 1930’s into the late 1940’s. The swing style type of music consist of large number of band member featuring at least three to four saxophones, two or three trumpets, two to three trombones, a piano guitar and a bass violin. Not including the lead vocalist of the groups. Swinging was a life style that lifted anyone

Swing was the dominant idiom of the 1930s and much of the 1940s. Basically, it was a form of dance music played by a large band, and was the medium through which most white Americans first heard Jazz (Schuller,1989). Although the decade 1935-45 was called the Swing Era, swing arrangements had been played by large bands beginning in the 1920s. Bandleader-arrangers Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, and, later, Count Basie, worked out arrangements for their 10 to 12 piece bands, which, unlike traditional jazz bands, were divided into instrumental sections.

The 1920’s in American history seem to be very exciting. It was the height of the Harlem Renaissance, where African American literature, poetry, art and music emerged. You had all this African American talent growing and blasting into the mainstream. Historians refer to this time period as “The Jazz Age”. When jazz music was introduced to the public at clubs and dance halls it took off! People were either captivated by it, or appalled by it. Jazz was all about movement; it was driven by syncopation and improvisation, and for some it was considered “the devil’s music.” The novel Jazz by Toni Morrison allows you to wonder down the seductive streets of Harlem where it all began. The book gives a sense of both the scandal of Jazz music and the