Essay History of Jazz Music

Submitted By Kamkammm
Words: 1343
Pages: 6
Open Document
Kameron Moore
Period: 5

As George Foreman once said, “Boxing is like jazz, the better it is, the less people appreciate it.” When it comes to music, many may believe that their favorite genre is underrated, but that isn’t the case with jazz music. Even though there may be no true definition of jazz music because it is subject to opinion, there is no doubt that jazz music influenced many cultures to expand its beauty into an international phenomenon. Originating from southern United States during the 1900’s, this music was not extremely popular when it first started out. Of course with the ever present battle that African Americans had to face when it came to equality, their opinion was not encouraged and they had absolutely no say when it came to their rights. In order to put a stamp on the era and ensure other Americans that they were there to stay, music became an outlet for blacks to freely express themselves although their actions were quite controversial.

To begin, jazz musicians didn’t take what they sang about lightly. Most of the musicians’ aim was to sing about everything that the whites has stereotyped them for and let their voices finally be heard. They did not hesitate to sing about racial, social, and sexual oppression that they received from society. (enotes.com) Music was an alternate universe in a sense; they actually expressed their freedom in music even though society didn’t recognize it until decades later. Not only that, but jazz music was a way for musicians to express themselves without being ignored because in the beginning, jazz music’s primary audience was aimed towards black, and jazz artists wanted people to see their spontaneity. Furthermore, through jazz music, the idea of improvisation quickly picked up, especially with the technique of scatting.

During the height of the 20th century, it was no shock that blacks were barely being treated as humans, let alone able to have a say in society. However, music became a way of fighting back in a sense. The pure social injustice that the blacks had to overcome was no small feat; in fact, the government had to create three separate amendments to the constitution just to allow blacks to obtain citizenship and vote! When it comes to the cultural aspect of jazz music, Africans are usually the ones who are recognized. Before jazz music was created, Africans celebrated in multiple ways through song and dance. Thanks to jazz music, their form of celebrating completely transformed and easily became a past time for not only blacks to enjoy, but eventually the entire world. On the other hand, although it still involved blacks, American culture was involved in the upstart of jazz music. Major American cities including New Orleans, Detroit, New York, Chicago and many more (nationalhumanitiescenter.org). Most of these major cities introduced new ideas of “late-night” entertainment and controversy because of the provocative messages that were conveyed through jazz music. Culturally, jazz music became a revolution, even though its content had been, for the most part, a taboo, and completely changed the music industry for good.

While jazz music did create a new type of music that Americans were not used to, its influence went as far back as the slave days. On plantations, slaves sang spirituals which were at times used as secret codes at churches to help fellow slaves escape by following the North Star (wiki.answers.com). Looking past the musical aspect, World War II influenced musicians when writing their lyrics. After the Second World War, jazz music was more respected as an art form and that transitioned the idea of singing rather than dancing to jazz music.

Just as jazz music was starting to catch on, it appealed to the general public, and even those who couldn’t read music. Unfortunately, most of the education that people received when it came to learning jazz music was available to the wealthy who were able to afford formal education/private
Show More

Related Documents: Essay History of Jazz Music

Jazz Music History Essay

Throughout Music history, especially when focusing on Jazz, it is critical in noticing all the instruments involved in the music. For example, many soloists consist of using the piano, the trumpet or the saxophone to create a unique and fun or a more slow and deep sound that will arise from all of the other Jazz artists. Furthermore, it is also seen that many composers use specific instruments to highlight their styles and focus the song on a specific mood, for example, they will take the bebop style…

Words 619 - Pages 3

Essay on Ragtime and Blues Influence on Jazz

October 14, 2011 Seeing Ragtime and Blues as Parents of Jazz 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…

Words 1368 - Pages 6

Jazz Synthesis Essay

Honestly, I think that jazz has come to a stand still where it is now seen as a classical genre. Everybody plays it different because it’s improvised music, but you can’t do much more than that in the United States. I think that if jazz was to evolve it would be in another country where jazz has not been discovered. Jazz is an already known genre in the US, so it has already spread north to big cities like New York, Boston, Michigan etc... If we haven’t seen any big changes to the music, then we will more…

Words 371 - Pages 2

Jazz and Armstrong Essays

one of the great pioneers of Jazz. His contribution to Jazz and American music is undeniable. While growing up in New Orleans in poverty, Armstrong became passionate about music by listening to the jazz musicians of his time such as King Oliver, at a time when jazz was relatively new. Armstrong’s improvisation was a hallmark of his music. He used melodic paraphrases and chord-change-bases improvisations to captivate and charm his audience. He showed how versatile jazz could be by varying the melody…

Words 599 - Pages 3

Jazz Appreciated Essay

Donald Jazz Appreciation Music is a form of art in which a musician freely expresses themselves with various instruments to create sounds and harmony and also allows the listeners to gain feelings or emotions and appreciation to the art (marriam Webster). No other type of music creates emotion better than jazz; and no other class allows one to experience the full effects of jazz music than Jazz Appreciation classes. The importance of jazz appreciation classes is to gain background and history knowledge…

Words 625 - Pages 3

African American Music Essay

African American music is a large recognized and acknowledged attribute to world culture by being created from unity from enslavement, and creativity. There are several different types of music genres that are under the umbrella term African American music. These types include blues, jazz, spirituals and gospel. They reflect the attitudes and concerns of both the performers and their culture at a specific time and place in history. Eddie Meadows explains that Ethnomusicologists espouse the generally…

Words 730 - Pages 3

Ralph Ellison Jazz Influence

Throughout history, music has always been a means of expression. Musicians in their respective time periods have always used music as a way to discuss the trials and tribulations they have faced. However, there is no better example of this than Jazz and Blues music. Gaining popularity in the early 20th century, Jazz and Blues music was pioneered by African American musicians. The lyrical content of songs in this idiom usually spoke about issues that pertained to the African American experience at…

Words 1093 - Pages 5

Essay about DAA1500 Origins Final

Stephanie Pickett DAA1500 February 3, 2015 Origins Assignment Jazz dance has been around for many centuries and has evolved tremendously with time. Jazz dance originated in the African culture in the early 1800s when African slaves were captured and required to migrate to the United States, West Indies, Central America, and South America. Dance is an important part of life in the African culture as there are dances for many occasions such as birth, puberty, marriage, and death. Many Africans also…

Words 713 - Pages 3

How Did Jazz Culture Impact The 1920's

Jazz Culture: Jazz started in New Orleans as a fusion of African and European music and played an important part in wider cultural changes in this period, and its influence on pop culture continued long afterwards. How did jass impact the 1920’s: Throughout the 1920s, jazz music changed into integral part of american popular culture. Jazz Culture Facts: Jazz started in New Orleans in the early 1900s. The jazz age is the name given to the age in American history between the end of WW1 and the start…

Words 229 - Pages 1

The Trumpet Research Paper

Throughout history, music continues to change. One instrument that has been able to stand the out from the others is the trumpet. Many instruments have had their time and faded away. The trumpet has survived them all. It is one of the most popular instrument of all time. With talented musicians like Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis, making the trumpet more well known to others. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the roles the trumpet played in jazz, the individuals who made an impact, its functions…

Words 617 - Pages 3