Jazz Age Essay

The Jazz Age was a period of radical behavior and care free living. This new music structure started the crazy decade that would change American life. “In the US during the 1920s, jazz was far more than a new musical style or genre”. A Focus on culture, fashion, and mostly freedom became huge. “The Jazz Age became a touchstone for a wide range of social and cultural issues.”1 Also the freedom during the period allowed for many different ethnicities, including African Americans, to gain freedom within society. This new music

Louis Armstrong was the greatest of all Jazz musicians. Armstrong defined what it was to play Jazz. His amazing technical abilities, the joy and spontaneity, and amazingly quick, inventive musical mind still dominate Jazz to this day. Only Charlie Parker comes close to having as much influence on the history of Jazz as Louis Armstrong did. Like almost all early Jazz musicians, Louis was from New Orleans. He was from a very poor family and was sent to reform school when he was twelve after firing a gun in the air on New Year's Eve. At the school he learned to play cornet. After being released at age fourteen, he worked selling papers, unloading boats, and selling coal from a cart. He didn't own an instrument at this time,

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about one of the most influential music genres in history, Jazz music and it’s influence on society during the great depression.

If one was to go out into the street, walked up to a random stranger and asked them if they knew who Louis Armstrong was, chances are that they would be able to answer you correctly. Louis Armstrong (Aug 4th, 1901 - Jul 6th, 1971) was an American trumpeter, composer, singer and occasional actor who became one of the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned many decades, from the 1920s to his death in 1971, and many different eras in jazz. He first came to prominence in the 1920s as a trumpeter and cornet player with no technique as well as being very skilled in scat singing, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, influencing many later jazz artists as well as shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance.With his very well-known and recognizable gravelly voice, a technique that was later named “crooning”, Armstrong was an incredibly influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser by bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes on demand. Renowned for his charming and incredibly charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet and/or cornet playing, Armstrong 's influence extends far beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the early 1970s at his death, he was widely regarded as a deep and profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first very popular

Music changed through the Renaissance as well, picking up a new flavor from the black community. Jazz originated in New Orleans and traveled north to Harlem. Black musicians enjoyed the sounds of jazz and its sorrows. Musicians capitalized on the sound, adding in personal stories of struggle, love, and faith. These musicians took their talents to the night clubs of Harlem; some places became famous like the Cotton Club. White musicians joined black jazz bands, and for the first-time multiracial bands were formed (Carney). One of the most famous musicians to come out of the Renaissance was a trumpet by the name of Louis Armstrong. “Having come from a poor family in New Orleans, Armstrong began to perform with bands in small clubs and play at funerals and parades around town in New Orleans” (Burns). Due to the mixing of races, race relations got better and people came together to appreciate the talents of others, race didn’t matter!

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.

Louis Armstrong's diversity and adaptability is widely recognized as one of the most influential aspect in jazz music. Louis Armstrong's musical influence is still the fundamental base for modern jazz today. "Louis Armstrong is jazz. He represents what the music is all about.” — Wynton Marsalis perfectly sums up his contributions. His diversity sets him apart from other jazz artists because he managed to stay relevant throughout different musical eras like, the ENOJ era, The Swing Era, Blues etc., until the end of his career. The accomplishments he has achieved throughout his life and the hardships he has gone through has shaped his persona, contributing to how he will become as an artist. His instrumental style, singing, career throughout musical eras, accomplishments, and etc., contribute to how adaptable and diverse he is.

Many great performers have come out of the jazz industry, but the most widely known is Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong. Louis began playing at a young age when he was growing up in New Orleans. His greatest inspiration was Joe “King” Oliver. He began following him and eventually Oliver became Armstrong’s mentor. Armstrong practiced his instrument and eventually he became the jazz great everyone knows today. Armstrong’s unique singing and masterful improvisation transitioned jazz from the traditional style to a newer, more rhythmic style. He popularized scat singing and was the first musician to have his solo on a recording (Rodgers 85). The solos Armstrong performed along with his popular scat singing helped make jazz musicians more popular along with making the fans take notice of Armstrong and jazz itself (Rennert 8).

Many people knew Louis Armstrong as the “first real genius of jazz”(Shipton 26). He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 4, 1901. Louis was the illegitimate son of William Armstrong and Mary Est “Mayann” Albert. He was abandoned by his father, a boiler stoker, shortly after his birth and was raised by his paternal grandmother. Then, at the age of five, he was returned to the care of his mother, who at the time worked as a laundress. Together with his mom, they moved to a better area of New Orleans. This is where Armstrong first fell in love with music; he would listen to people playing any chance that he would get(Tirro). He would attend parades, funerals, churches and go to cheap cabarets to be able to hear some of the greats play

Louis was born in New Orleans where he grew up and learned to play the trumpet. He also learned to sing. Because of his long improvised solos, he inspired jazz so that long solos became an important part of jazz pieces and performances. (Cayton, 462) Armstrong was the king of jazz trumpet players. The new style that he created gave a voice-like quality to his horn. (Hakim, 58) Although Jazz was very popular itself, a majority of the fans and listeners were younger people. Flappers were commonly known during this time. They danced to the jazz music with a whole new style.

Jazz is a music genre that has complex characteristics and history of development and thus many musicians and scholars face troubles in defining what jazz is. In general, jazz is believed to have born in New Orleans. Jazz developed for the pleasure of the social dancers. According to the “Understanding Jazz: What Is Jazz?” of John F. Kennedy center for the Performing Arts, Jazz was created mainly by Afro-Americans, and had elements of European and Afro-American culture. Also, it emphasizes few elements of Jazz, which are swing-feel, syncopation, and improvisation. These different culture and elements of jazz may be explained by how jazz

     The unique art form know as Jazz, was able to thrive initially in New Orleans. The most celebrated part of New Orleans was known as Storyville because it was a melting pot for Jazz. Storyville was so celebrated because it was the only region in the city that had brothels and pubs that allowed African Americans. Unfortunately, in 1970, President Roosevelt shut down the district in fear of violence between the natives and sailors. This resulted in a dispersion of jazz. Many artists traveled directly to Chicago after the closing of Storyville to restart their music.

The first jazz was played in the early 20th century. The work chants and folk

Nps.gov states that some of the greatest musician in America History has come from the jazz side of the world. Artist such as Louis Armstrong, Billy Holiday and Jelly “Roll” Morton, pave the way for jazz to reach its height as it did in the early 20’s with the upbeat tempo and smooth classical sound. These artist brung a unique sound to jazz that was not there. Louis Armstrong contribute to jazz is so remarkable, he played the trumpet like no other. His sound was so soothing to the ears. When you think about jazz, Louis Armstrong is one of the first names most people relate to jazz. Jelly “Roll” Morton was probably the most influence artist there is. An innovative piano stylist and composer, began his odyssey outside of New Orleans as early as 1907. He continue his work throughout the 1920’s and was mainly consider the reason of the swing era.

The Jazz Age was more than merely a musical revolution—“The Jazz Age denotes not only a period of early big band, but also the events and fashions of an era”. During this decade a number of modern developments were invented, which included an expanded telephone service, network radio, electric inventions, and records set in aviation. These modern developments had a profound effect on American culture, creating a rise in leisure, specifically mass leisure. Automobiles, movies, and the radio overtook the lives of Americans, becoming necessities and part of everyday routines. This period also marks the beginning of films with soundtracks, an audio component, marking the rise of the musical and giving the American people