Jazz Influence On Jazz

The article “Jazz and White Critic” by Amiri Baraka brings light to an element of jazz criticism that he is frustrated by. Baraka finds controversy in the ideas white critics write about regarding jazz music. Baraka states, “Most jazz critics have been white Americans, but most important jazz musicians have not been.” In the 1960’s, when Baraka made this statement, jazz was becoming more popularized and socially accepted. African American jazz musicians took a long, strenuous journey over decades to push their music into the spotlight to become one of the most popular music styles in society internationally. The special element of jazz is its raw emotion. Baraka distinguishes between “White Jazz”, music

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

     The music called Jazz was born sometime around 1895 in New Orleans. It combined elements of Ragtime, marching band music and Blues. What made Jazz such a different perspective of traditional music was its act of improvising. There was a widespread use of improvisation often by more than one player at a time. Songwriters would write the music down on a piece of paper, and then the Jazz musicians would try their best to play the music. Usually in a Jazz piece, musicians would use the song as a starting point to improvise around. Jazz musicians would play a familiar song to the audience, and by the time they were done with the piece they would stir up a totally different feeling away from the

Jazz to me is one of the inherent expressions of Negro Life in America: the eternal tom-tom beating in the Negro soul—the tom-tom of revolt against weariness in a white world, a world of subway trains, and work, work, work; the tom-tom of joy and laughter, and pain swallowed in a smile. Yet the Philadelphia clubwoman… turns up her nose at jazz and all its manifestations—likewise almost anything else distinctly racial…She wants the artist to flatter her, to make the white world believe that all Negroes are as smug as near white in smug as she wants to be. But, to my mind, it is the duty of the younger Negro artist …to change through the hidden force of his art that old whispering “I want to be white,” hidden in the aspirations of his people, to “Why should I want to be white? I am Negro—and beautiful.”

Jazz to me is one of the inherent expressions of Negro life in America: the eternal tom-tom beating in the Negro soul-the tom-tom of revolt against weariness in a white world, a world of subway trains, and work, work; the tom-tom of joy and laughter, and pain swallowed in a smile. Yet the Philadelphia club woman , turns up her nose at jazz and all its manifetations-likewise almost anything else distinctly racial... She wants the artist to flatter her, to make the white world believe that all Negroes are as smug and as near white in soul as she wants to be. But, to my mind, it is the duty of the younger Negro artist, to change through the force of his art that old whispering "I want to be white, hidden in the aspirations of his people, to "Why should I want to he white? I am Negro-and beautiful"

“JAZZ” is a documentary by Ken Burns released 2001 that focuses on the creation and development of jazz, America’s “greatest cultural achievement.” The first episodes entitled, “Gumbo, Beginnings to 1917” and “The Gift (1917-1924), explain the early growth of jazz as it originates in New Orleans and its expands to Chicago and New York during the Jazz Age. In assessing the first two episodes of Ken Burns' 2001 documentary, "JAZZ," this essay will explore the history of jazz, the music's racial implications, and it's impact on society. In doing so, attention will also be given to the structure of the documentary, and the effectiveness of documentary film in retelling the past.

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

This volume could be considered as a celebration of jazz, the music genre. Walter Dean Meyers, the author, presents nine of the most famous African-American jazz artists through fifteen extraordinary free verse poems. Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, and Duke Ellington are some of the famous artists included in this group. The verses and illustrations perfectly capture the improvisational rhythms of jazz. The layout of the book is as eclectic as the music. Some of the poems occupy just one page while some others can fill several. Words written in different font styles help convey the distinctiveness of this genre. The volume begins with a two-page introduction by the author and ends with a glossary of jazz terms and a timeline. The artists

     There is so much richness in Negro humor, so much beauty in black dreams, so much dignity in our struggle, and so much universality in our problems, in us-in each living human being of color-that I do not understand the tendency today that some American Negro artists have of seeking to run away from themselves, of running away from us, of being afraid to sing our own songs, paint our own pictures, write about our selves-when it is our music that has given America is greatest music out humor that has enriched its entertainment media for the past 100 years, out rhythm that has guided its dancing feet From plantation days to the Charleston…Yet there are some of us who say, “Why write about Negroes? Why not just a writer?” And why not-if no one wants to be “just a writer?” Negroes in a free world should be whatever each wants to be-even if it means being “just a writer…” (Hughes, 773)

I think Ragtime, Stride and Boogie Woogie Jazz all had an influence on modern day jazz. If I had to choose which one I think had a greater impact, it would be boogie woogie. It may be because I really like this kind of jazz.

The alto saxophonist, John Coltrane, was one of the most cultural-ethical leaders of avant-garde jazz, in the 1960’s. He was an innovative composer and artist who pushed the boundaries of contemporary jazz. Avant-gardism liberated artists from the traditional form of jazz and pushed them to question and change the whole idea of jazz itself. Coltrane was the type of musician who believed that he could always be better than he already was. It was not unusual for someone to see him always practicing his music, he would practice for hours and hours a day. Coltrane mastered a lot of the different styles of jazz, because of this he went on to learn different types of music from different backgrounds so that he could use it to improvise his music. From all the jazz artist we have learned this semester, so far, Coltrane seems to be the one who had the greatest passion for jazz. For this, I admire his hard work and passion he had for jazz. Even though he had already learned just about everything he could about jazz, he still kept trying to learn new

One cannot speak about music especially in America with referencing Jazz or the Blues. The two genres of music are synonymous with the American music scene originating from Southern America. Their similar point of origin has caused much confusion in distinguishing the two mainly due to the way today’s artists’ music crossover. Both Jazz and Blues, are two independent genres that formed concurrently in the 20th century and were produced at the same time.

African Americans were responsible for bringing jazz music to Europe. Due to the fact that the people in Paris were far more excepting of colored people, many African American singer and dancers made their way to Paris to start their careers and a make a name for themselves. There are few cities in the world that are more associated with jazz than Paris (Pelzer). Most of the time, African American’s in Paris were just looked at by Parisians as entertainers (Stovall). These African American were objects of Parisian curiosity and fantasy, and the audiences were very much intrigued by the exoticism that went into so many performances. These foreign entertainers became the backbones of the Paris Jazz Age (Pelzer).

The mystery of Jazz and its powerful impact on the music community can be explained largely by the context of it’s creation. Jazz was born in the United States, and because of this, many have referred to Jazz as “America’s music.” Like America, Jazz has a balance between structure and spontaneity. It capitalizes on the fluidity of the musicians, having several different instruments with independent spirits, coming together as one to form a great piece of music. Unlike other styles of music, Jazz has a certain way about it that makes it stand-alone in the world of genres. It improvises, moves, and transforms itself in a moment’s notice based on the musician’s intuition. Just as America harbors democracy, so too does a jazz ensemble, showing both the responsibility to a larger group, yet still allowing room for individual freedom. It all comes down to how well others can respect the overall framework and structure of the jingle.

Jazz is a form of meaningful communication that exists without verbal exchanges. Besides being a pleasure to the ear, jazz music is a type of music that a talented composer arranges. The emotional performance of the musician undergoes many changes. The personal experiences of each musician makes the music special through the use of his phalanges. This intimacy is then used to convey certain ideals that pertains to an issue outside of music. The extensive impact that the communication between the performer and the audience creates makes jazz unique; no other form of music has the ability to influence issues in other subject areas so easily.