Jazz Music Research Paper

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

Jazz has always been a part of the American tradition. Some may say they like Jazz for its rhythmic twist and turns. Others may love the soothing melodies from an improved Trumpet solo. All in all, Jazz has been an American staple and has molded today’s popular music, into what it is today. It’s very different from classical music, which is written out and strict. Jazz is much more. It’s made up of spontaneity and improvisation, which makes up an idea on the spot. There are many wide varieties in Jazz. There is Bebop Jazz, Avante Garde Jazz, Acid Jazz, Free Funk Jazz, Soul Jazz, Swing Jazz, and many, many more! These forms of Jazz can be seen and heard in some of your favorite music of Today. It’s been widely used by the world. There is an important reason as to why this genre contributes to the growing of music. We first take a look into the root of all Jazz. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the country of Africa was the first known country to use rhythm primarily for the element of musical expression, and ensembles composed entirely of percussion instruments created extended polyrhythmic works. These polyrhythms, which means the “layering of multiple rhythms.”, were record in Western music. African music did not use paper, or sheet music. Instead, they relied on Aural rituals, learned by ear and also used” spontaneity, which is later said to be known as improvisation”. In Africa, most of the music that was expressed was for religious

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 Musician. He was born Charlie J. Allen in Jackson, Mississippi, but was raised in Chicago. He graduated from high school and began playing music during the early 1920s. His musical instrument of choice was the trumpet and he soon became a session trumpet player for such jazz greats as Hugh Swift, Billy Butler, Don Pasquall, Dave Peyton, Doc Cook, Clifford "Klarinet" King and the extensive ensemble of Johnny Long. He joined Earl Hine's band in 1931 and would go onto play with him until 1934. With Hines' he played on some of his classic recordings such as "Mad House", "Darkness", and "Cavernism", among many others. He also played a stint with the Duke Ellington Orchestra beginning in 1935, but never recorded any solos with Duke's orchestra.

Jazz is first seen in America in the early 20th century, in one of the most diverse and unusual cities of the time, New Orleans. It’s roots however can be traced back all the way to African and European music. It’s rhythm and “blues” quality is seen in African music, as well jazz’s tradition of playing an instrument in your

Music is and has been an inconceivably paramount piece of black culture, when concentrating on any kind of black music it is all that much an investigation into the back mind. Music has been a piece of the black cultural scene going over to slavery. Despite the fact that Jazz music is cherished and performed by individuals of each national background, in America, the groundbreaker, pioneer and innovator in every venture forward of Jazz has been the Negro. Unequivocally in light of the fact that the black culture talks so effectively in Jazz, it has gotten to be adored and respected everywhere. Between the two, there is no division of consecrated, secular, music, vocals, or instruments.

“Modernism was a cultural movement that was based on the idea of artistically re- creating new, unique, and radical forms of expression. In regard to music and modernism, jazz and Bebop were considered a part of this category due to the way in which these musical modes created new aesthetics, techniques, and a major cultural effect.”

As black artists merged the rhythms and feelings of West African music with the emotions of blues and ideas of ragtime and new type of music began to emerge from the South. With an eclectic mix of races, class and urban and rural environments, New Orleans came to be the center of early jazz development. The eventual explosion of jazz in the 1920s was foreshadowed by the quick rise to popularity jazz experienced in the city. Jazz music provided black artists with a possibility of relatively steady employment and eventually facilitated the dispersion of black culture throughout America. As jazz rose to popularity there was certainly a great deal of resistance on both musical and racial levels. Fearing perversions of moral and musical ideals, many whites resisted jazz initially. Once jazz experienced an increase in popularity revisionist histories appeared, removing black contribution or playing up white roles in the development of jazz. Segregation still appeared frequently as black bands could not get jobs playing to white

How has the development of jazz been a vital key for the African American community in America? What prominent black musicians developed the jazz genre while maintaining aspects of equality and progression? Jazz in itself has been an over-all outlet for the feelings in which black people face relating towards discrimination and racism. It was a way of voicing the terrible representation in which blacks were given by white people in America, as well as a way of taking such intense feelings and translating them towards a safe outlet that would be heard. Equality, not completely, was beginning to form between different cultures and races because people began to see that black musicians could play the same, if not better, than white musicians.

Jazz is a musical genre that originated from the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States. It had evolved from roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s, it has become recognized as a major form for musical expression. As it spread around the world, many different cultures contributed their own experiences and art styles to the art form. It has been hailed all around the world as “one of America’s original art forms”.

Jazz has had a significant effect on American culture. It has played a significant role in defining America’s cultural capacity’s and has been the catalyst of issues that have dealt with race, politics and sex over the past hundred years. It has also served as a podium of national identity and expression to the country to such an extent that it has become widely known as America’s Classical Music. In this essay, one will present the impact that jazz as had on American culture, taking into consideration the issues and ideologies that contributed to its cultural significance. The origins of jazz are widely attributed to African Americans, it though however became associated and integrated with the white-middle class and took on a new idiom that encapsulated and infiltrated American culture.

This style was differentiated because of its improvisation, cultivation of the performers as well as composers and finally because of its professionalism. Jazz was originated during the first years of the twentieth century in New Orleans. Jazz have been directly connected with terms such as racism, urbanization, two world wars, civil right movements and others. Black people were being exploited by whites and suffered discrimination. Black felt that they were financially ripped off and that they were not recognized.

Artistic endeavors can be classified into movements or eras: paintings have Impressionism, Cubism, Neoclassical, etc. Music is no different. As with other methods of expression, music, like art and literature, is frequently a mirror of the social, political and economic times during which it is created. Jazz music, which originated with black musicians, began out of the depths of the depression and quickly went through a period known as the Swing Era, which brought jazz music out of dark, smoky clubs and into the mainstream of America. It created a positive energy so desperately needed by a country going through one of its most depressing times in history, the 1930s.

While jazz is an independent type of music especially in contemporary entertainment, there seems to be consensus that jazz has developed as a result of it being able to bring together and transform the influence from other types of music. The historical perspective holds that jazz reminds the black Americans the oppressions and societal restrictions that have been long placed upon them on grounds of race (racial discrimination) . Recent scientific studies have an even more interesting perspective. Scientists hold that consistent listening to jazz can actually improve attention spans by altering the patterns with which the brain releases neural waves . Listened through a workout, jazz can decrease fatigue and provide motivation especially if the beats per minute are made to match the heart beat