Sidney Bechet Impact On Jazz

The first chapter is titled “A Bend in the Road”, which provides his perspective on jazz music. A man that attended Bechet’s performance asks him what will happen to jazz when all the great artists are gone and what will follow when people forget about the Jazz era. Bechet replies with, “I told him how my family beat time with their hands on the drums…how that’s jazz too, how you can just beat on the table and it can be jazz” (Bechet,2). What he means by this is that Jazz will be always with people. To further his explanation he also states, “But the music itself, the road itself – there’s no stopping that. It goes on all the time” (Bechet,5). Furthermore, Bechet also explains how jazz is an expression of “you” and that it started years ago with just a simple rhythm and melody. Lastly, he argues how Jazz came to be, from his own experience. He explains by stating, “The black man, he’s been learning his way from the beginning. As far back as time, as far back as Africa, in the jungle. My music is like that…I got it from something inherited, just like the stories my father gave down to me” (Bechet, 4). His statement provides a sense of enlightenment and that jazz will always be a part of history because with a sense of rhythm, jazz will continue to

For this analysis on Louis Armstrong’s West End Blues, I am going to concentrate on Louis Armstrong and how influential he was in the birth of Swing. He was extremely innovative in the way he played his instrument. Louis Armstrong had a brilliant trumpet sound. His power, range, and his rhythmic approach are all trademarks of his playing in the 1920s and 1930s. West End Blues is still considered one of the most influential and classic pieces in the Jazz Industry. I will explain why by breaking down the song utilizing the five elements of music; form, harmony, texture, melody, and rhythm.

The second generations of Jazz musicians were some like Joe “King” Oliver, Kid Ory, and Jelly Roll Morton. These people formed a small band and started to reshape the way the original Jazz music was played. They have made it into a different style with more complications and twists and turns. And so it became known as “Hot Jazz”. King Oliver found a young artist by the name of Louis Armstrong. He soon grew to become the greatest Jazz musician anyone has known. He is still a big star in the world today. By the 20th Century, African-American musical styles became the dominant force.

Thesis: Although Jazz music was first introduced over 80 years ago, the genre still influences artists and the new music they make to this day.

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.

“Little Louis” sung in a vocal quartet in his early teens. His rise to the top, though not overnight, occurred quickly, he played with mostly all the major bands in New Orleans over the next few years (Friedwald 350). In 1922, his mentor, King Oliver, invited him to work his Creole Jazz Band in Chicago. After recording with Oliver for over a year, Armstrong moved into what would become the most important early-jazz big band, Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestra (Shipton 201). As if it were not enough that Armstrong would rewire instrumental music for the rest of the century, his singing did the same for vocal music. He sang much as he played, but with a playfulness and a rasp, that would forever be part of American culture (Winfield 167). The first important trend in New York Jazz was Hot Jazz that was an incendiary style introduced by Louis Armstrong (Winfield 170). He was known for both his joyous ways with the trumpet and his peculiarly touching and funny vocal style. There was a cheerful impatience in his playing, an optimistic confidence that led him to risk going over the top (Shipton 157). Louis Armstrong is arguably the most important musician that the United States has ever produced (Shipton 160). Eldridge is the obvious link between Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. Armstrong could make an audience cheer, but Roy Eldridge, made those top and bottom notes feel like a natural part of what the horn should do (Friedwald 21). Blessed with

Aside from the typical cultural, social, and political factors influencing any musician’s style, an early life filled with poverty and hardship also shaped Louis Armstrong’s musical development. Some even theorize that it was Armstrong’s difficult upbringing that made his music so wise, so unique, and so revolutionary. Armstrong was an African American child growing up in the slums of New Orleans, close to abandonment, impoverished, and with too few constant people, resources, or homes. However, had his upbringing been different, his musical talents may never have been established to grow and thrive into one of the most internationally influential jazz musicians ever. When Louis Armstrong was placed in a boys’ home as a young boy, he was presented with the opportunity to play the cornet. He took up work in Joe (King) Oliver’s house, doing chores in exchange for musical lessons, developing into a

Louis Armstrong is a man of many talents and skills known for creating a new environment, especially in his home town of New Orleans. He was born into poverty on August 4, 1901 in the streets of Back o’ Town (Meckna). He’s a professional jazz performer who played with Oliver and Henderson. He started as a soloist for Henderson after marrying Lil Hardin. He has many nicknames in which some are Satchmo and Pops. He also played as a second trumpet for King Oliver. He interprets and contributes to the genre of jazz, creates great form through his performance in the “Hot Chocolates,” and his work represents a whole for equality and the civil rights movement.

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

     Jazz music is a blending of both black and white tradition and heritages. New Orleans was the center of many different ethnicities, such as French, Spanish, American, and African

Maynard Ferguson, jazz legend, internationally renowned big band leader and one of the world’s greatest trumpet players with his Big Bop Nouveau Band. He draws upon bebop, straight-ahead jazz, funk, swing, classical and contemporary music to create a fresh sound within the classic big band form. (cite from Jazz Alley web site) Because me being Korean, I personally was little surprised and impressed by two Korean were members of his big band. A massive piano player, Ji Young Lee, pretty amazing in all pieces, her extended work on “but beautiful” was really lovely and the most memorable. Stockton, powerful drum player, thrilled the audience especially one of my friend, with his solos. He was banging away using all his gear, play in energetic and lively. M.F. and his band provided a remarkable arrangement of "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone," as well as some elegant and very impressive, as Maynard ended a song by playing a soft muted trumpet, while the rest of the band played softer and softer, creating the effect of a fade-out.

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 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.

Utilized almost exclusively for dancing, the music of the big bands borrowed heavily from the techniques introduced by Henderson. Among the most popular bands were those led by Goodman, Glenn Miller, Woody Herman, the Dorsey brothers, and Artie Shaw. As a counterpart of the highly arranged orchestrations of these New York-based bands, a Kansas City swing style developed under the influence of Count Basie and Bennie Moten that emphasized a blues