Jazz In America Yesterday & Today

Jazz In America Yesterday & Today Period 4 APUSH By Chris Jackson

Focus Jazz culture serves as a reflection of the time period, continually evolving while remaining true to its original roots as a vehicle of individual expression. • How has African-American influence shaped the evolution of jazz music? • What were the prominent styles of jazz throughout the 20th century? • How has jazz evolved to reflect the time period? • How does contemporary music show its roots in jazz?

What Is Jazz? • West Coast slang referring to the music of Chicago around 1915 • There were several basic features that remain true even today: • Improvisation • Syncopation • Blue notes • Polyrhythms • Swung notes } These elements represented a distinct breakaway from the traditional European music of the time

African-American Background • Jazz is a result of African-American and European contact • Based on the “call-and-response” pattern of African oral tradition • Served as a raw and energetic rebuttal of what was musically acceptable at the time, and became the voice of a generation of African-American youth

Creoles • Free colored peoples living in French dominated New Orleans • As offspring of French masters and African slaves, they enjoyed rights similar to those of whites • Many of them lost these privileges when the Spanish took over in 1764 • Some became traveling musicians, resulting in the evolution of the Southern minstrel show and widespread exposure to African music

1920s “Jazz Age” • During WWI, the Great Migration of African-Americans to the north sparked the jazz scene in Chicago and New York • Jazz was part of the Harlem Renaissance, a celebration and outpouring of African-American creativity • Prohibition encouraged many whites to visit the nightclubs of Harlem, where they were exposed to jazz performers • The invention of the radio further increased jazz’s popularity and its growth nationwide Eddie Ross, 1921, Ross’s Reel

1930s “Swing” • Jazz was performed primarily in a big band setting with about 20 musicians • It also served as a form of dance music • Optimistic – attempted to boost morale in the face of the Great Depression • Benny Goodman Quartet – the first racially integrated band Duke Ellington, 1941, Take The ‘A’ Train Prominent artists: Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong

1940s “Bebop” Charlie Parker, 1946, Yardbird Suite • Characterized primarily by significantly faster tempos and complex lines • Chordal improvisation – primary focus on the soloing aspect as opposed to the melody • 1947 – The University of North Texas became the first US university to offer a degree in jazz studies 1967, Thelonious Monk Prominent artists: Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie

1950s “Beat Generation” • Counter cultural movement of writers protesting primarily against conformity in society • Free Jazz Movement – turned jazz into a way to challenge racism • The evolution of rhythm and blues into rock and roll as a high art form 1960 Max Roach album, We Insist! – Freedom Now

1970s - “Fusion” • Mixture of jazz improvisation with rock music’s energy and rhythms • Smooth jazz – influenced by R&B, funk and pop • Complex time signatures and rhythmic patterns, especially in guitar, base and drums 1989, Miles Davis Mahavishnu Orchestra, 1973, Birds of Fire Prominent artists: Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter

Contemporary Jazz • Smooth jazz – downtempo • Mostly successful in radio format, both traditional and online • Increasing popularity of jazz worldwide, especially in Japan and Europe Kenny G, 1986, Songbird Prominent artists: Roy Hargrove, Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard

Jazz & Hip Hop • Jazz rap progressed through the 1980s and 90s, incorporating jazz influence into hip hop • Early hip hop group Gang Starr released several albums sampling jazz classics as instrumentals • Similar roots of free artistic expression and raw, energetic rebellion Courtney Pine, 2000, The Jazzstep

Legacy • “Jazz is also the most inclusive. It’s a music that will take anything” – Gerald Early • “It is from the blues that all that may be called American music derives its most distinctive characteristics” – James Weldon Johnson • “Jazz is hereby designated as a rare and valuable national American treasure” – H. Con. Res. 57 (1987)

Sources • http://www.examiner.com/jazz-music-in-nashville/111th-congress-reaffirms-jazz-as-a-national-treasure-and-honors-miles-davis-kind-of-blue • http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/su/cja/jazzmaps/ctlframe.htm • http://www.jazzistry.org/timeline.html • http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/su/cja/greatmigration.html • http://www.spirit-mag.com/spirit/index.php?id=92 • http://www.apassion4jazz.net/timeline.html • http://articles.cnn.com/2008-08-15/entertainment/hiphop.jazz_1_hip-hop-jazz-history-of-african-american-people?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ • http://jazz.about.com/od/historyjazztimeline/a/JazzCivilRights.htm

Jazz In America Yesterday & Today