The Jazz Age in South America - Essay Example

JAZZ MUSIC Jazz originated in the 20th century in the communities of the African American in the South America. It is basically a mixture of African and European music as it is influenced by the traditions of both, African and European music. The “jazz age” as it is called is the main era when the jazz music flourished; the twentieth century (Kirchner). Initially, the word "jazz" was used as a slang word and was only used to refer to the music in the city of Chicago.  The influx of slave trade in the year 1808 brought millions of Africans to the United States of America. The slaves bought with themselves their music traditions (Cooke, 7-9). There were grand dinners and festivals arranged which featured the African dances in the city of New Orleans. Similar gatherings occurred in New England and New York. The African music lacked the harmony present in the European music but the rhythms reflected the similarity of the two music genres (Cooke, 11-14). An increasing number of black musicians eventually learnt how to play various European instruments in the early 19th century, especially the violin. The black slaves who had come as a result of the slave trade had by now learned the harmonic style of European music and incorporated it into their own music styles (Cooke, 14-28). Many historians agree to it that jazz began just prior to the 20th century and its birthplace is the city of New Orleans. Prior to the World War I, the Creole band which was a band of New Orlean black musicians toured many parts of the country and therefore, jazz music was introduced to many cities like this. The Dixieland band group created the very first example of Ned Orleans style jazz by recording the music. The very first Blues number was the “Dallas Blues” recorded in the year 1912. There were many hit songs from different musicians in the 1900’s including Saint Louis Blues by W.C Handy and Indiana by Ballard MacDonald. The latter was the first recording by the Dixieland jazz band. Until the 1950’s, jazz was considered as music intended mostly for dancing (Tyle). Jazz is more than hundred years old but the actual circumstances of the birth of this music are rarely known because the recordings of the first jazz band were lost and therefore it is difficult to assume as to how it sounded, but it is possible to create an account of its emergence by gathering scraps of tit bits and information pieces. Jazz music was different. In the beginning, many musicians had worried about the impact of Jazz on the young generation, as such its interest in the classical music but this proved wrong. The improvisation in jazz music over the years has made it adaptable to all kinds of audiences and listeners (Morton). The roots of jazz are definitely rooted in Africa but paradoxically, the culture of America is firmly rooted in Europe. Jazz musicians used various musical instruments available in America but which were largely of European origin. Many of the Jazz musicians were familiar with the musical theories of European classical music. By the year 1930s, jazz began being heard in the Europe as well. Django Rheinhardt was a Belgian guitarist who became the first non-American jazz innovator. Many jazz musicians have found exciting opportunities for artistic growth and career development in Europe than in the United States because of more concern over the arts education in the Europe. The beginnings of a unique European style of jazz emerged in France with the Club de France in 1934. The main instruments that were played included the steel stringed guitar, violin, and double bass; the guitar and bass playing the role of the rhythm section (Bill) Though jazz can be performed by almost any number and combination of instruments, the main instruments include saxophone, clarinet flute, vibraphone, trumpet, piano, guitar, banjo, tuba, double bass, bass guitar, and trombone and drum kit. These also cover most of the instruments which are introduced when children are being taught jazz music (Teichroew). There have been many influential jazz musicians from both the America and Europe. Louis Armstrong is a well known name in jazz music. He was the most influential trumpet player and singer from America. He has a major role in the creation of modern jazz. Duke Ellington was a popular band leader and jazz music composer. He is also known as a pioneer in jazz and was responsible for making jazz music an art form. Charlie parker was also one of the pioneers of jazz and a saxophone player, plus a composer. He was famous for his clan tones, improvisations and fast playing of the instrument. Charlie also contributed to the idea that jazz musicians were beyond entertainers; they were intellects and artists of their own kind. Miles Davis was the central jazz musician of the 20th century. He is responsible for the development of many jazz styles and also the emergence of free jazz, fusion, techno music and funk. Many artists owe their success to Miles including John Coltrane and J.J Johnson. Davis has received many awards and reward during his life which includes eight Grammy awards. Count Basie led the most successful band in the history of jazz. He was a composer plus band leader. His orchestra included known players like Sweets Edison and Buck Clayton. He was also a winner of the Grammy awards. (Koehler) Maarten Altena, a Dutch bassist, recorded his solo album “Hanicaps” in 1973. The main point of free jazz in Germany was FMP collective which was founded by the saxophonist Peter, pianist Alexander and trumpeter Manfred. Guenter was a multi instrumentalist in Germany and is responsible for starting free jazz in Europe in the year 1964. Irene Schweizer was a Swiss pianist who pioneered the Indo-Jazz fusion and recorded “Jazz meets India” in the year 1967. The music was improvised by many Indian musicians, for example by Diwan using a sitar and by Keshav using a tabla. Until the 1950’s, Europe had lagged in jazz music and was behind America in this regard. The influx of World War II helped in the export of jazz music plus musicians to Europe, but very few European musicians came up to the standards of the jazz music and were not comparable in achievements to the American jazz musicians. It was the introduction of free jazz that broke the barrier and European musicians enjoyably endorsed free jazz with fervor. They soon after became skilled in this art. European jazz flourished at the same time when the creative music was spreading out of Chicago. It eventually became a norm for United States musicians to tour Europe for several years (Scaruffi). Jazz festivals have become very common in the Europe. For example, Hanza jazz festival in Poland, Rotterdam International jazz festival in the Netherlands, Dundee jazz festival in the United Kingdom and the Monte Carlo Jazz festival in Monaco (Ultimate guide to jazz festivals). Jazz music is something which is ongoing and is a tradition in progress. It has become a global language eventually during the years since its origin. WORKS CITED: Kirchner, Bill. The Oxford companion to jazz. Oxford University Press. 2005. Tyle, Chris. The trends, people, and events that shaped the jazz standards canon. Jazz history in standard time. Cooke, Mervyn. Jazz. 1999 Morton, Jelly. Culture Shock. TV series and beyond. Crow, Bill. Jazz Anecdotes. New York: Oxford University Press. 1990 Teichroew, Jacob. Jazz instruments. Koehler, Classy. 15 most influential Jazz artists. 27 February 2010. Scaruffi, Piero. A history of Jazz. 2005. Ultimate guide to jazz festivals. Upcoming jazz festivals. Read More