Personal Narrative-It Was Always Smooth 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

outlasted the Jazz Age, but during the 1920s it expressed the exuberance of the era. Jazz is

The Jazz Age was a cultural tectonic shift that took place in America during the 1920’s, or "the Roaring Twenties”, from which both jazz music and dance emerged. This movement was coupled with both the equally phenomenal introduction of mainstream radio and the conclusion of World War I. Although the era ended as the Great Depression victimised America in the 1930's, jazz has lived on in American pop culture.

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"

The problem is, author F. Scott Fitzgerald didn't see the Jazz Age as all about hip music and sparkly clothes. He associated the entire period with materialism ("I want things! Lots of things!") and immorality. For many of the post-World War I era's newly wealthy, materialism and immortality were the name of the game. The novel's star is Jay Gatsby, a young, rich man in

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 people of today, raised by the sounds of The Beatles and Pearl Jam have forgotten all about the musicians that paved the way for these artists, and the musical styles that evolved into rock and roll, rhythm and blues and rap or hip hop. Unfortunately the music that once dominated the night clubs, restaurants, and radio stations is now heard only in elevators or when we go to a grandparents house to visit. What is left of jazz are small portions of the music that people take and sample with in a new song. Jazz and its historical figures have mistreated and forgotten by today's society. One of the figure most forgotten is John Birks Gillespie, known to the jazz world as "Dizzy" Gillespie.

Although Jazz has changed so much the central essence of Jazz has remained the same throughout all the changes in America. Jazz is seen as separate from the popular music industry. Capitalism is seen as cheapening and deteriorative force by Jazz musicians. What Jazz is today is accomplished by encompassing all music that has come before. This depth gives it roots and uniqueness

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.

I used to always go over to my grandparent’s house and watch my grandfather go crazy over this “Jazz” music. He explained to me that it wasn’t Jazz unless it swung like the greats. I listened to a song “Sing Sing Sing” the other day from one of my Jazz collections that my grandpa gave to me and realized that their was so much energy and pizzazz in this music. He explained to me that it was all put together by a guy named Benny, and I understood why.

The nineteen twenties can be bestowed numerous names, such as “The Roaring Twenties,” or “The Prosperity Decade.” One name, however, is specifically attached to the nineteen twenties; “The Jazz Age.” It is during the nineteen twenties that jazz music becomes emphatically prevailing. With this new age, however, as with every age, comes a demeanor of fashion, spirit, and custom. The wealthy class of the Jazz Age, composing of Jay Gatsby, the Buchanans, and so on, prospers during this time. In chapter three, Nick Carraway proceeds to one of Jay Gatsby’s splendid parties, and scrutinizes the denouement of the amalgamation of wealth and a “Jazz Age” party. As Nick Carraway alleges on page forty, “By seven o’clock the orchestra has arrived, no thin five-piece affair, but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums… The bar is in full swing, and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside, until the air is alive with chatter and laughter…” From the quote on page forty, one may indubitably visualize how those such as Jay Gatsby or the Buchanans subsist on an everyday basis. During the Jazz

Jazz is a small attribute that is part of a broader scope, blacks who have the roots of jazz should be featured to make it complete. The themes of this movie are about goals in life and having to achieve them, and music is also a theme but not so prevalent to achievement. Having music grabs the attention and gets the upbeat of a person and dancing, this makes telling a story to be unique instead of the normal dialogue, and it keeps the pot moving forward. The protagonist gets what they want in life as explained by the movie.

Even though Jazz music was predominantly of African-American audiences, it grew to all listeners of music regardless of their race. But, if we look at the audience of today, the listeners of Jazz music are white. Jazz was also able to grow during its height because of the fact that music was able to be recorded. This gave everyone the ability to hear this genre of music, even if they were not able to go out and enjoy it live. Also during this time and through the mid-century Jazz was the dance music of Americans. Jazz in fact influenced the younger crowds in how they dressed, their language, as well as a certain attitude. Most of all, Jazz, more than most other music, has been firmly related with the societal, political, and financial impacts of American urban communities and in addition the changing status of American workmanship and music all through the

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