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Blog 5: The Significance of Jazz and Genius

What were your assumptions about the history of jazz before attending this class and assess whether, and to what extent, the class has changed, revised, and/or reinforced those assumptions? Also, pick one concept — Improvisation, Dialogic, Call and Response, Genius, Blues, Swing, African, etc.,—that has been used in class, and discuss how your definition of that concept has changed through participation in this class. Before taking this course, I did not realize the tremendous role jazz played in the evolution of music and pop culture in general. I consider pop culture to have begun with literature, theater, and classical music concerts long before jazz and minstrel shows. However, these new forms of entertainment certainly added an extra dimension to popular culture: the American dimension of culture influencing itself like a feedback loop. Ted Gioia says of minstrel music’s effect on jazz, “A black imitation of a white caricature of black music exerts its influence on another hybrid...
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Blog 4: The High Priest of Jazz

“There’s no reason why I should go through that Black Power shit now. I guess everybody in New York had to do that, right? Because every block is a different town. It was mean all over New York, all the boroughs. Then, besides fighting the ofays, you had to fight each other. You go to the next block and you’re in another country.” (p. 19) Larry Ridley recalled: "contrary to that attempt to portray him [Thelonius] as some people did as wierd or whatever, he was a very bright and brilliant person.... I remember telling Thelonius how I was sick of whites calling us `boys' and stuff like that. He said, `Ain't no drag, Larry, because everybody wants to be young.'" (p. 417) What aspects of his community did Monk allude to in the above quotes? How did that community shape his music? How did he try to transcend traditional racial politics? Does his strategy take on added poignancy in light of his arrests, especially with Nica in Delaware in 1958? What kind of community ...
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Round 3: Hammond v. The World

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Given that race has always been a discourse in the history of jazz, why did race become explicit in the 1930s—written and talked about in the “Swing Era” as never before? Despite the fact that it has always been a discourse in the history of jazz, race became explicit in the 1930s because of one man: John Hammond. A product of the popularization of jazz and swing, Hammond was an early jazz critic and manager identified by his contemporaries as the most influential person in the swing industry. (Swing Changes, p. 54) His most important move was discovering Benny Goodman in 1933, at the time a relatively unknown studio musician. This would lead to a sensational musical event that would forever change the world’s then-hesitant appreciation for jazz. Before Hammond and Goodman, the history of blacks playing at Carnegie Hall was almost nonexistent. In 1912, James Reese Europe brought an African American orchestra to the venue for a groundbreaking successful performance, leading to ...
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Blog #2: Oppan Chicago Style!

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Which city was more important to jazz in the 1920s—Chicago or New York? Why? What role did social and economic conditions and the racial communities of that city play in shaping the expression of jazz in that city? Was there a Chicago or Harlem style of jazz? If so, what was it, who played it, and what distinguished it from others? Whose (band or individual) art best represents the culture and community of the city you chose? Why? Please provide references from the readings and lectures. By the 1920s, New Orleans had played its hand and jazz had moved on to gain prominence in Chicago and New York. Although both cities played an important role in the evolution of jazz, but Chicago certainly had the greater impact. First let us consider the role played by New York. There, jazz flourished in the plebeian half of Harlem culture. The other half, the sophisticated intellectual class of Harlem, tended to look down upon this type of music. New arrivals from the South were ...
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Blog #1: New Orleans and the Emergence of Jazz

What did New Orleans contribute to the emergence of jazz at the beginning of the 20 th century? Why did jazz emerge in New Orleans instead of other American cities? What were some of the sources of New Orleans jazz as mentioned by Gioia? After considering the evidence that Gioia presents, what do you believe was the most important factor that explains why jazz emerged in New Orleans? New Orleans played a crucial role in the rise of jazz as an art form. The city was a bustling hub for commerce in the 18 th century, and one of the biggest markets was the slave trade. The African slaves brought over their own forms of art with them, which resulted in the famous Congo Square. A large open space in the city, it became the place of congregation for slaves to come rejoice and dance on Sundays, their typical day off. The whites of the time found amusement in this, which led to the rise of the first form of pop culture, minstrel groups that mocked the African slaves and their customs ...
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