GLST 490 – Day 6

1. The Origins of Jazz GLST 490 – Day 6

2. Housekeeping Items • What did you think of Myron's talk? • How is the course going for you so far? Likes? Dislikes? Suggestions for improvement? Other comments? • Clarifications: genre presentations should be about 15 minutes. Proposals for major projects should include: -topic description or thesis statement; -how you are going to approach it; -a few prospective sources, and -if possible, a rough outline in point form.

3. The Originsof Jazz • Myron provided a marvel- ous foundation for our next topic: the origins and development of jazz. • As he mentioned, Creoles of colour had a fairly high status in New Orleans. They were often well-educa- ted (including in music theory)‏ worked in the professions, and had even owned slaves in the past. Their status reflected the fact that New Orleans was more racially tolerant than other places in the U.S. Source: Google Images

4. The Origins of Jazz • In addition, New Orleans' slaveowners had allowed their slaves to congregate once a week in Congo Square to drum, dance and play musical instru- ments. This helped keep Af- rican musical traditions alive. Source: http://www.crt.state.la.us/hp/laheritage/AfricanAmericanLife/color/african_17.jpg

5. The Origins of Jazz • After the 1896 Dred Scott court decision and the promulgation of “Jim Crow” laws, Creoles were downgraded to the same status as 'Negroes,' or full-blooded Afro-Americans. Thus, the two groups began to mingle more, and former's mastery of European musical concepts began to fuse with Afro-American traditions. • Prior to their 'downfall,' the Creoles – along with whites – had supported a thriving musical culture in New Orleans that included no less than three opera houses. In general, New Orleans was a meeting point for the cross-fertilization of different musical traditions: French, Spanish, Mexican, Caribbean, African, and Anglo-Saxon.

6. The Origins of Jazz • As a result of all these influences, New Orleans can be described as a cultural hearth that send out its shoots of influence to other sub-hearths (Chicago, New York, and eventually other parts of the Eastern seaboard, Kansas City, and the West Coast). • As Myron indicated, they were three main streams that fed into jazz: marches (which were popular after the Civil War due to the large number of regiment al brass bands in the city), ragtime, and the blues, which itself had evolved from field hollers, work songs, and European church and folk music. Another influence on jazz was music from the popular (with whites) minstrel shows of the late 1800s.

7. The Origins of Jazz • Ragtime, which reigned as a dominant music form from 1897 to 1918, was – as Myron pointed out – an excellent example of the fusion of African and European traditions. It got its name because the rhythm tended to be before or after the beat, thus producing a 'ragging' or syncopated feeling. • Its most famous exponent was Afro-American composer and pianist, Scott Joplin, who composed dozens of rags and even operas. http://www.elisemoreau.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/scott_joplin_190722.jpg

8. The Origins of Jazz • The blues probably began to emerge after the Civil War, but we have no recorded examples of it until the 1920s. • Jazz (originally 'jass', a term for sex or excitement) emerged at the end of the 19th century, with its first main exponent being Buddy Bolden, of whom no music survives. http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nathanielturner.com/images/New_Folder4/buddyb8.gif&im grefurl=http://www.nathanielturner.com/buddybolden2.htm&h=371&w=517&sz=173&tbnid=GcVuvPq_uC00 6M:&tbnh=94&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3DBuddy%2BBolden%2B-%2Bphotos&zoom=1&q=Buddy +Bolden+-+photos&usg=__ayjw5TsDMRjW2PqNzih9JGMfWpk=&sa=X&ei=h_CaTJmhNouWsgOpooCkBA &ved=0CB4Q9QEwAA

9. The Origins of Jazz • One factor that contributed to the vibrancy of the New Orleans scene was the fact that the city had long been 'wide open,' supporting a wide range of bars and brothels, in the district known as 'Storyville,' that carried on a party atmosphere until late at night. • In addition, musicians played at picnics, dances, in marching bands and funeral processions, at political rallies, and a host of other functions, and they played different music and different instruments, depending on the occasion. They were always on the lookout for hot new sounds. • Thus, the services of musicians were in high demand.

10. The Origins of Jazz • A key characteristic of New Orleans jazz, or what came to be called 'dixieland,' is the high degree of improvisation. Initially, this was because groups were small and they wanted to fill out the music and sound like a larger ensemble. Consequently, each instrumentalist played more notes. • Improvisation is not as characteristic of European music in the past. It exists to an only slight degree compared with African-inspired music. However, it has become one of the key hallmarks of jazz. Indeed, in the '20s, much of the jazz band repertoire consisted of putting a “jazzy,” improvisational twist on existing popular or blues songs.

11. The Origins of Jazz • Another early form of jazz was stride piano, of which James P. Johnson was the acknowledged master. This emerged out of ragtime and, for a while jazz and ragtime overlapped, with performers like Jelly Roll Morton playing both. ttp://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.riverwalkjazz.org/images/public/pagebuilder/12003.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.riverwalkjazz.org/JMN/June_2007/index.shtml&h= 330&w=259&sz=36&tbnid=847OGFGimR_0KM:&tbnh=253&tbnw=199&prev=/images%3Fq%3DJames%2BP.%2BJohnson%2B-%2Bphotos&zoom=1&q=James+P.+Johnson+- +photos&usg=__HSL4dOivjBszvQ-QSoKRU0KfsVY=&sa=X&ei=_vaaTIfTMIG6sQOSg-TjBA&ved=0CBwQ9QEwAg

12. The Origins of Jazz • Myron mentioned that sheet music and player pianos (and the rolls that went with them) represented two technical innovations that helped popularize ragtime. • Two factors that contributed enormously to the explosive growth in the popularity of jazz were recording technology and the commercial development of radio (at the beginning of the '20s). • The first jazz record was made in early 1917 by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. This was a group of white musicians who, far from being original, basically copied their style from black musicians, while refusing to have anything to do with them, and even denying that blacks had contributed anything to the music. This was the first of many cultural appropriations.

13. The Origins of Jazz • One factor that contributed to the diffusion of the New Orleans sound to other cities in the U.S. was the fact that, in 1917, the head of the U.S. Navy demanded that city officials shut down the red light district because of what he perceived as its detrimental effect on sailors. This put a lot of musicians out of work, and many started travelling to other parts of the U.S. • Chicago, in particular, became the new headquarters for jazz in the 1920s. A leading New Orleans cornetist, King Oliver (who had played with another early jazz musician, Kid Ory), created a band there and recruited Louis Armstrong to be the second cornet. Louis later married the pianist, Lil Hardin, who encouraged him to go solo. It was Louis who gave jazz a new emphasis on the solo performer. He also allegedly invented scat singing when he forgot the lyrics to a song.

14. The Origins of Jazz • Other notable musicians on the Chicago scene include the influential pianists, Fats Waller, and Earl “Fatha” Hines, and white cornetist, Bix Beiderbecke, who regrettably died at a young age – in part, as a result of excessive alcohol consumption. • The '20s also saw the birth of the big band sound or swing (most prominent in the 30s and 40s) as a result of the innovations of black bandleader, Fletcher Henderson, whose arrangements were later copied by white bandleaders. Duke Ellington also got his start in the '20s performing music for 'jungle shows' – risqué dance reviews in exotic settings for white audiences.

15. The Origins of Jazz • “Swing” gets its emphasis from the pronounced emphasis on the first and third beats of a measure, and from its tendency to play a little ahead or behind the beat, thus producing a 'jerky' feeling that made people want to dance. Source: http://ellingtonweb.ca/