Readings in Jazz History Essay

fart, the unison which was innate(p) and blossomed in New siege of siege of Orleans at the turn of the twentieth century, later travelled wholly over the country getting new features and figures. The New Orleans manage style included polyphonic melody in which different tuneful instruwork forcets simultaneously command different variations on a particular piece of euphony and which includes freer rhythmical improvisation. Usu in every(prenominal)y the musical instruments included trumpet, clarinet, and trombone all playing different melody at the identical time. Starting from New Orleans roll in the hay traveled to Chicago, Kansas urban center, New York and an opposite(prenominal)s and make them its centers for a certain period.Kansas City do flourished in the 1930s, when the town was an entertainment heavy(p) during the Depression. The citys unique clayey was cosmopolitanly defined by the credence of its peals on blues, fast tempos, and frank turn over stru ctures. Local bands dieed to a risque degree in relative isolation from emergeside influences. The top quality of Afro-Ameri hatful origin of fare mattered to many other cities, precisely did not reach Texas until the centerfield mid-twenties. And the impact of the representatives of New Orleans style, so decisive in other part of the country, was less strongly felt in this region.In contrast, the sound of the blues was permeating in Texas. Kansas style, baronial by the originate of larger dance bands, was characterized the inclination for the blues. The Kansas City style as it evolved in the 1920s and 1930s incorporated an informal transport chart style relying on simple memorized parts. Among the pioneers of Kansas City joc key out were Count Basie band (featuring Lester Young) and Jay McShann band (featuring Charlie Parker). One of the around authoritative of the Kansas City players from the 1930s was Lester Young.Among his achievements was the change of mellifl uous improvisation in malarkey, where he hitered an preference to the gamey, syncopated style. Jazz style became distinguished by flowering of cool enjoy, a supple manner of phra babble cross ways bar lines, a greater sensitivity to intervals that to a lower placelay harmonies, and emotional elevation. Lester elaborated the techniques of retire improvisation and broadened the musics emotionality. Among other prominent players was Count Basie whose band worked on refining swing style, music which largely derived from the blues, relied on formal, syncopated arrangements to support soaring, execute solos.It was propulsive music, infectious and irresistible. Murrays thesis on the return of Kansas City have sex to its roots in New Orleans seems to be more than like wishful view. If to look at jazz of the 1930ies more atdecadetively, it allow become obvious that it was earlier the reconsideration of the true nature of jazz than a throwback. Kansas City jazz once more return ed to improvisation, to free performance, but improvisation instantly was intentional, the true jazz musician was that who could play without heaps, who could improvise with melody and create off hand.However, if to return to New Orleans improvisation, it was regulate by the lack of education. The musicians of that time were not professionals and many of them just reproduced on the exemplify the music the way they felt it. So the difference in the grounds for improvisation is the key factor that does not result the assertion that Kansas style is the throwback to the initial form of jazz to be feasible. I cant stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession, let all two days or ten years.if you can, then it aint music, its close-order drill or exercise or yodeling or something, not music. (96) these words of billystick Holiday convey the general attitude towards the jazz that existed among prominent musicians and jazz critics in the 1930s. The survey of t he thought processs on jazz music and its nature expressed by such musician as Louis Armstrong, Billy Holiday and Duke Ellington as well as jazz critics Robert Goffin and John Hammond leads to the conclusion that all of them meet in the view on the nature of jazz.Though with different approaches and rendition both musicians and critics stand up for the idea that real jazz is the music which is not written down and played all times in the same way. In other words all of them stay the opinion that improvisation is the only key feature of true jazz what makes it comfortable music. However, as it was mentioned there are stock-still some variances in approaches.Thus, Goffin for example, uses the term hot jazz to define improvise form and claims that hot jazz, is otherwise known as improvised jazz, a type of music that was in existence long out front it was formally tabulated. The epithet hot is employ to any passage in which the executant or executants abandon the melodic theme an d develop an imaginative structure on the initiation of that theme and incorporated with it. (83) At the same time he points to the problems related to the setting jazz tunes within fixed slews that result in nothing but poor resemblance of real music.He contrasts melodic jazz to hot jazz in favour of last mentioned songful jazz has contributed nothing to music and will only be remembered for its unspeakable blandness whereas hot jazz is a fanciful principle which can scarcely work to affect the music of the future in the most original and unexpected directions. (84) especial(a) attention Goffin pays to Louis Armstrong, whom he considers the supreme sense of jazz (85). Speaking about Louis Armstrong, he also defends the idea of improvisation to be the true music.He, actually, differentiates between swing and jazz, attributing latter to the contemporary commercialized music. Swing for Armstrong is exactly that type of free music ground on improvisation which was used in New Orleans thirty years before his time. The same as Goffin does Armstrong rebukes the practice of writing down music, and explains that purpose by the quest for cyberspace of record book companies. At the same time, John Hammond distinguishes African-American musical traditions from the popular commercial phenomenon which he refers to as swing that is played predominantly at this time by white bands.He accuses people involved in music business of commercialization of jazz and passing it of any value Not the least(prenominal) of the despoilers are the commercial gentlemen, who produce all kinds of ridiculous recorded jazz under the caption Swing, and who are directly obligated for the stunt music that great men like Armstrong play these days. In this high society there are always eat Food people to sell their wares by tying them up with something popular. (103) Hammond stands out in this team by the most fervent wish to surmount racial conflicts in jazz realm.He ceaselessl y points out to the fact that Black musicians hurt from being prejudiced by auditory sense and record companies, despite the fact that the jazz is originally black music. Therefore, considering these ideas, we can reach to the conclusion that all of mentioned participants of jazz area have common understanding of improvised nature of real jazz, and all of them note that with putting music in the frames of scores the musicians deprive it of its emotional load, feeling and originality. While, the tendency to written scores existed and evolved there mustiness have been an explanation to it.The professionals discussed above harbour in view that the main curse to the jazz was the commerce, practiced by record companies that tried to gain maximum profit from popular music of those days. And, as it unremarkably occurs, such practice contributed to the simplification of music. However, feeling back, this tendency did not have fatal effect for jazz, while today we can see that jaz z did not stumbled in its progress and continues its development appearing in such modern forms as sharp jazz, nu jazz etc.Works cited magnetic dipWalser, Robert. Keeping Time Readings in Jazz History. New York Oxford University Press, 1999