History of Jazz - essay
Whether it is in a motion picture soundtrack, the back round to a conversation or setting the mood on a romantic evening with your significant other music plays an integral part in the lives of every American. Many people’s lives, especially younger people’s, revolves around the world of music in some way. As with most things in the world in the twentieth century, music as we knew it and know it now has changed significantly. From the hymns and prayers of church and the early days jazz and blues music has evolved to many different things. We now have enough genres or styles of music to need binomial nomenclature but just enjoying the music we have today is not enough. It is important to know how music as we know it came to be.
The start of the twentieth century saw a big change in the world as new inventions and advances in science and technology were altering the way people lived every aspect of their lives. The changing world of music was no different. At this point in history music in America was mainly limited to songs sung at church or the European influenced opera. At the turn of the century, however, a new style of music was beginning to emerge. Combing the ideas of gospel and the feelings of African American people the blues style began. Pioneered by artists such as George W. Washington and Mamie Smith blues music “combined the styles of the past with a new type of song” (Oliver, 2). At first popular only to black people and for a time blues music could be found in stores for blacks only causing the acceptance of blues for non-blacks to be slow and therefore it became known as race records. Although slow to start the music really gained fans in the twenties and thirties. The music was so popular to blacks because it embodied the thoughts and the feelings of the people at that time. The music was a way to keep the memory of the slave era alive through the lyrics as well as communicate the current feelings of the times, this contrasting the other styles of music which were based on old ideas and stories that had little relevance to the people, especially the African Americans. This style was also revolutionary because the artists were individuals not a band or a group. One person was singing and playing an instrument and while other instruments accompanied the main performer was the focus.
The blues style of music lead to the start of another style if music not heard before in the world, jazz. Jazz combined elements of not only blues but also ragtime and marching band music. This new style combined elements of the blues music with more of a band feeling but was revolutionary because jazz musicians and bands strayed away from written music. “They break from Western musical traditions, where the composer wrote a piece of music on paper and the musicians then tried their best to play exactly what was in the score. In a Jazz piece, the song is often just a starting point or frame of reference for the musicians to improvise around” (Alexander, 1). This type of improve illustrates the experimental nature of American artists and their yearning to break away from tradition. Jazz was also monumental because it was one of the first genres of music where both blacks and whites helped shape it. Although mainly pioneered by black artists, some of the first recordings of jazz were done by white bands. Innovators such as Louis Armstrong, Buddy Bolden, and Duke Ellington ushered in many waves of jazz artists that forever changed the way music was played and distributed. Since jazz is mainly improved very little sheet music was ever made which made it impossible for people to hear jazz unless they went to see a show live or listened to it on the radio, but due to the limitations of the new recording technology jazz recordings sounded very little like the actual sound. Although New Orleans is considered the birth place of jazz where they used woodwinds, horns, and drums it quickly spread to other cities, most notably Chicago and New York where the piano was used to elevate the music.
The free style improve of jazz mirrored the rich, extravagant life style that many Americans were living at the time. The open minded spirit of the twenties and the start of the thirties helped to advance jazz music to the style now known as big band or swing music. Swing music is basically made up from a jazz band with more pieces and music to dance to. This is a far cry from the moody and slow rhythms of jazz heard before this. Although the swing sensation was built on jazz and blues it had many things different then the previous styles. Where jazz and blues artists were predominately backs the predominant artists the big band movement was lead by many white composers. Another example of the difference between the genres was the fact that the artists returned to more of a form approach, where jazz and some blues were improvisations the Swing style was more structured and the pieces were written down. Band leaders such as Glenn Miller, Fletcher Henderson, and Benny Goodman brought about this new style of music to the mainstream through the dance halls and nightclubs of the big cities. The young adults of the times could not get enough of the swinging music of the twenties and thirties, and record companies noticed this and for the first time in history this music was targeted specifically for the younger person in mind. This was the real start of the capitalistic nature of the music industry.
As Swing music reflected the feelings of the roaring twenties and thirties the onset of World War II changed he nation’s music significantly. While the style remained unchanged and the big brass bands remained popular artists like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Judy Garland gained in popularity immensely. Singing about American pride and the war became the popular things to do. Songs like God Bless America and Kiss the Boys Goodbye topped the charts. Up until this point blacks played a major role in the development of American music, but with the start of the war blacks are almost completely deleted from the popular music scene. This is due to the war effort and the shortage of certain supplies needed in both the military and the music industry, “Owing to a shellac shortage during the war, which caused a cutback on the number of records that could be produced, the major U.S. labels make a strategic decision to abandon the production of African American music” (Garofalo, 10). After the war ended in the middle of the forties music remained patriotic but returned to more of the jazz type, although now dominated by white artists such as Sinatra. But jazz as the centerpiece of American music was about to change.
As the forties came to a close so did the jazz age. A reemergence of rhythm and blues appeared, although the new age of R&B, as it was called, differed from the original seen in the early twentieth century. Contrary to the improvisation and instruments of old blues the new style focused more on lyrics and faster beats. Pioneered by Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Bo Diddley the music had mass appeal to both whites and blacks. The teenagers loved this new upbeat music but due to the prejudices of the times, however, this new style of music was looked down upon by the adults as music for blacks only and many parents forbade their children from listening to it. Thus the name was changed from R&B to Rock and Roll to appeal to the white audiences. There was a public backlash against the black artists and a white leader was needed to unite the races again. The stage was set for Elvis Presley and in 1954 he took it. Elvis fused the current popular rhythm and blues with country and formed the new rockabilly. For the first time combining the African American blues style with the predominantly white country style Presley became huge. His provocative moves and the upbeat music was exactly what the teenagers of the times were looking for. Elvis ushered a wave copycat artists as well as many new artists with experimental new sounds. Artists like Buddy Holly and Bill Haley helped to bring a genre of music to a race that did not have access to it before. This new Rock & Roll started music that would transcend the oceans and continents.
As everything else in history is involved what we have today is the results and consequences of what we had in the past. The effects of the slave trade and the oppression of the blacks led to the start of many different types of music. These styles of music built on top of each other and evolved through the years and as times changed so did the music. If Duke Ellington never played jazz there would have been no Glenn Miller. Without Miller there would have been no Bo Diddley, and with no Bo the world would not have heard of Elvis. Music is one of the few mediums that extends to and is influenced by all races. It would be nearly impossible to cover all music or trace the line of one style of music without diverging into another similar style. Music acts a soundtrack to our lives, no matter the age or race of the person music plays an important role.
References
All Music Guide. www.allmusic.com/
Alexander, Scott. “History of Jazz before 1930″ www.redhotjazz.com
Garofalo, Reebee. “From Music Publishing to MP3: Music and Industry in the Twentieth Century.” American Music 3 1999
Oliver, Paul. Blues Fell this Morning. New York: Horizon Press, 1960
Schuller, Guther Early Jazz Oxford University, Oxford University Press, 1986
Weinstock, Len “The Origins of Jazz” www.redhotjazz.com
