Jazz – Chapter 3 Roots of Jazz IB Music SL Jazz – Chapter 3 Roots of Jazz

The Roots of Jazz Jazz is also rooted in the cultural trends that reached back far into the nineteenth century. Jazz synthesized various kinds of (primarily African American) music making, such as: folk traditions popular culture European concert music Radical changes in dance music in the first two decades of the twentieth century The new technologies of radio and recording.

What kind of music is jazz? Congressional resolution of 1987 Art form Popular music Folk music Jazz is an African American music. musicians may be black or white or any other ethnicity. African American: not a race but rather an ethnic group (cultural) Ethnic features like music can be learned and shared. African American musical principles

Spirituals: call and response with religious poetry. Folk Traditions Serve to establish a persistent musical identity Helped create the hybrid nature of American culture Various Genres Ballads Work songs Field hollers Spirituals: call and response with religious poetry. Two kinds: polished Fisk Jubilee singers style; orally transmitted Pentecostal church singing. By 1920s, gospel music had developed. Spirituals are highly interactional, which influenced jazz musicians.

Blues Three-line (AAB) stanza distinguishes it from other forms, which usually were structured with two or four lines. Blues also has a distinctive chord progression. Unlike the ballad, the blues was personal Country Blues Combination of folk elements and new technology Performed by solitary male musicians accompanying themselves on guitar in the American South; form was loose Vaudeville (Classic) Blues When blues crossed over into pop music, jazz musicians got involved. Blues became more codified (twelve-bar stanzas) W.C. Handy: Recordings Bessie Smith (1894-1937)

Popular Music Minstrelsy Blacks found they could make more money highlighting their blackness. Racism made it difficult for black performers to succeed In 1843 in New York, the Virginia Minstrels put on a show in blackface Racist exaggerations in appearance and behavior were typical. White audiences enjoyed these depictions. Black performers After Emancipation, black performers started to perform in minstrelsy Racial stereotypes persisted in vaudeville, film (The Jazz Singer), and radio (Amos and Andy). Musicians, such as Louis Armstrong, who acted in film had to play into these stereotypes.

Dance Music Early slave musicians used their music for dance Nineteenth-century musicians were hired as servants. The dancing craze Late nineteenth century Early part of the twentieth century dancing began done in restaurants and cabarets. The Castles and James Reese Europe (1881-1919) African American-derived dances became a fad for white America The music was not toned down and was often ragtime. The Castles' musical director was James Reese Europe World War I Europe died in 1919 He left two kinds of dance bands: small and inexpensive, suited for jazz, and large dance orchestra

Art Music Learning music theory and notation is important Through public education, blacks learned classical music Classically trained blacks went to jazz to make a living Brass Bands Originally from England, they became the "people's" orchestra. John Philip Sousa (1854-1932). Took over the U.S. Marine band and made it into a top-notch, world-famous concert ensemble. Every town had a brass band made up of local townsfolk to play at parades and dances. Brass bands and jazz African Americans formed their own brass bands Influenced jazz directly through march form The third strain is the trio and is in a new key

Ragtime Ragtime embodied the mix of African American and white art, popular, and folk musics. The name comes from "ragged time." Coon Songs Early form of ragtime (later form of minstrelsy) Cakewalk: a ragtime exhibition dance parodying white formal dancing Ragtime pieces and Scott Joplin (1868-1917) Improvised piano ragtime Born in East Texas 1894 settled in Sidelia, Missouri, led a black marching band and studied composition. Moved St. Louis then New York; published rags, a ballet, and an opera Died in 1917 of syphilis

The Path to Jazz: Wilbur Sweatman (1882-1961) Wilbur Sweatman represents the new generation of musicians A clarinet player in show business, he became well known around 1910. Ragtime composer In 1916 he made his first recordings When Does Ragtime Become Jazz? By 1916 recording was taking over from the publication of sheet music Black musicians provided music that offered a new sense of cultural identity Jazz as we know it started in New Orleans, as ragtime, blues, march music, and social dance combined.