Getting to Know Hiromi Uehara

In conclusion, Jazz is life: it is hectic, fast paced, spontaneous and can fall apart at any moment. Colum McCann brilliantly captures these feelings and implements them into his story to give life to the characters and the plot. Many authors search for ways to give a heartbeat to their ideas but McCann took advantage of music. He understood the reader’s intimate relationship with this art form, regardless of their background, and pressed play. His use of jazz was incredibly appropriate and complex given the story that needed to be

Another important theme in Gilroy’s work was music and its associations with the African diaspora. Gilroy mentioned in the book “Black Americans were sustained and healed and nurtured by the translation of their experience into art above all in the music” (Gilroy 78). In the case of jazz and other forms of African music, Gilroy believed it created a sense

The birth of Bebop music was built on a similar evolutionary process that has taken over many different art forms since the beginning of human history. There was a yearning for change and a desire to break the binding chains of the standard New Orleans jazz, Dixieland, and Swing music (Aycock, 1997). In the 1940’s Dizzy Gillespie and a legion of young and talented musicians went to war against traditional jazz music and forged a new modern landscape of immense record sales, popularity and fame. The creation of Bebop catered to the would-be gods of jazz, because their talent rose to the top. Musical characteristics of Bebop shifted away from simple melody variations and moved towards intense improvisation and difficult harmonic progressions (Horricks, 1984). There was an air of confidence brewing amongst the young innovators and a sense of pride in maintaining their dominance. Dizzy Gillespie said this about the subject, “There were some who couldn’t blow at all but would take six or seven choruses to prove it. So on afternoons before a session Thelonious Monk and I began to work out some complex variations on chords and the like, and we used them at night to scare away the no-talent guys (Horricks, 1984, p. 30).”

Mia Michaels was born is Coconut Grove, Florida. As the youngest of Joe Michaels' children Michaels' grew up surrounded by dance, she was taught Jazz, Tap and Ballet by her father and her sister taught her contemporary. After she had learned all she could from her family Michaels went on to train in contemporary with Miami Conservatory, Miami Performing Arts Centre, Michigan Interlochen Arts Academy and with the New World School of the arts.

Count Basie, was born August 21, 1904 in Red Bank, New Jersey. He was a gifted pianist, bandleader, and composer. His mother was a pianist and his father was a mellophonist. His mother, not realizing that he would become an amazing pianist and bandleader, started off his journey by giving him his first piano lessons. Later on, William and his family moved to New York, where he was further influenced by James P. Johnson and Fats Waller. In New York, Waller taught Basie organ playing techniques. Further on in his life Count Basie had many top chart hits such as “One O’Clock Jump” and “Blue Skies” In the 1858 Grammy’s became the first African-American male represent of a Grammy Award. Throughout his career, he won many more. Not only was he a great composer and musician, but he was a good person who influenced many people's lives. This essay will outline the life of Count Basie and all of his

Louis Armstrong, one of the most influential figures in jazz music, enjoyed a career that spans across 50 years, and through different eras of jazz. Nicknamed” Satchmo”, “Pops”, and” Ambassador Satch”, Armstrong could do it all, he sang, occasionally acted, composed music, but was most famous for his cornet and trumpet playing. Although Armstrong is well known for his amazing trumpet play, he also influenced the direction that jazz music during his time was headed. Over the course of this paper I will concisely go over his early life, and focus more on his music career.

As a representation of Jazz music, I selected “Hello Dolly” by Louis Armstrong to illustrate some key elements of this genre. In “Hello Dolly”, Armstrong demonstrates scat-singing throughout the entire piece; also, this song can be

To most people the infusion of African tonality into Duke Ellington's music to create "Negro art", questions the connection between European music and Jazz. Here Constant Lambert responds to this.

did not always like the piano. When he was a small boy he liked the drums, his father

Long-revered altoist phenomenon David Binney is certainly proud of having created a very personal style within the modern jazz, mirrored along the nearly 30 years of his notable career. He has played with other ingenious artists such as Chris Potter, Bill Frisell, Donny McCaslin, Craig Taborn, Scott Colley, Edward Simon, Brian Blade and Kenny Wollesen. Those collaborations spawned truly exhilarating albums – Free to Dream (Mythology, 1998), Welcome to Life (Mythology, 2004), Out of Airplanes (Mythology, 2006), Cities and Desire (Criss Cross, 2006), Graylen Epicenter (Mythology, 2011) – that should be on the shelves of any jazz lover. In addition to his own projects, Binney has always a very busy schedule as a sideperson. The immensity of his

Chicago is known for breeding multi-talented people. Keiya is no exception. Her passion for music started in childhood and became more polished while she attended Kenwood Academy. At Kenwood, Keiya participated in band playing the saxophone. “I’m a singer first but I had to choose between concert choir or begininning band and the choir was full so I learned how to play the saxophone” says Keiya. She coyly admits that she didn’t like playing in the band anywhere near as much as she loves singing. After graduating Kenwood, Keiya joined the jazz program at Columbia College in Chicago. Keiya joined me for drinks and dinner at the historic Chicago Athletic Association Hotel.

He is unable to play because he will give himself away so we instead watch his fingers move across the air above the piano’s keys as whilst the sound plays in his head and too the viewer. Throughout the film we also see Szpilman pretending to play the piano as he taps his finger across his legs. It is moments such as these that help to maintain Szpilman’s willingness to survive by keeping silent, but also how piano gives fills him with the hope that is instrumental in his survival. In other scenes such as when a German officer asks Szpilman to play piano for him, and allows him to live because of his immense talent we begin to realise that Szpilman’s hope – music, does not only help him to survive mentally, but also physically as he can share the gift that he has to others. It is also important to note that Polanski only music by the Polish composer, Chopin is used throughout ‘The Pianist’. His sad and evocative music brings upon a sad mood, yet one with a hint of hope and with this, the director can more vividly express his ideas a way that dialogue or action cannot.

Billie Holiday, whose real name is Eleanora Gough, was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in 1915. She grew up mostly in Baltimore and always loved jazz. Billie was born to very young parents. Her mother was thirteen when she was born and her father just fifteen. (www.numberonestars.com, 2010)

Jazz music of the 1940’s and 1950’s was defined by a history of change since its beginning at the dawn of the 20th century. Almost every decade brought a new flavor to the movement, and by the 1940’s jazz had developed into a mature, complex form of music, with many nuances and avenues for continued change. It is important to trace the early movements in jazz to better understand the innovations of the Bebop and Cool jazz eras of the 40’s and 50’s.

This afternoon, I went to the music concert hall where is located in the music building for the listening hour, a small noon-time concert which is performed by the staff and students from the music majors. Since it is a free noon-time concert, most of the audiences just wear the t-shirts and jeans to the concert. Dresses are not required for the concert. The performance today is given by the Ananda Jazz Ensemble. They have played “Running Away”, composed by Bob Marley; “Madalena”, composed by Ivan Linz; “Conejitos y Ananda”, composed by Abi Romero; “La Bikina”, composed by Ruben Fuentes; and “Chukaro”, also composed by Abi Romero. Because this is a Latin Americdan Journey, all of the music performed is jazz music. All pieces played in the concert are an ensemble of piano, bass, and drums. During the concert, I was trying to be a perceptive listener; I enjoyed the music with concentration and paid attention to the music’s unity and variety, such as the dynamics and tempos. I also tried to associate the music with a picture when I listened to it and understand the emotion in the music.