Jazz in America Max Lewontin AP American Literature 10/24/08.

Jazz in AmericaMax Lewontin

AP American Literature

10/24/08

The 1920’s• The “Roaring Twenties”, after the end of the grueling First World

War, were a time of great opulence and extravagance• The Twenties were very different from the time before the war,

when people embraced economy and simplicity• The decade was a time of great change, when there were great

advances in technology, the economy was strong, and America flourished culturally as well with new, more daring clothes, movies, ideas and music

• This period ended in 1929, when the stock market crashed, sending the country into turmoil and destroying this atmosphere of extravagance, reverting back to the cautionary ideas and lifestyles of the previous decade

What is Jazz?• Jazz is a uniquely American musical style which came into its formative years

during the Twenties• Jazz combines European harmonic ideas with African rhythms and African

American spirituals and blues• The style of jazz that was initially popularized used syncopation, which

emphasizes and accents the “weak” beats in a measure which are not often accented

• Syncopation was later abandoned by many jazz musicians, who began to play longer, non-syncopated notes instead

• Jazz in the 1920’s was played both by big bands and by smaller combos with only a few instruments

• The 1920’s were known as the “Jazz Age”, a term coined by F. Scott Fitzgerald, (author of “The Great Gatsby”) due to its great popularity throughout the decade

Unsyncopated(accents on 1st and 3rd beats)

Syncopated(accents on 2nd and 4th beats)

The Origins of Jazz• Jazz began in New Orleans, which is called the “Cradle of Jazz”, due to its large role

in shaping jazz in the early part of the 1920’s• In the late teens and early twenties, New Orleans was a crossroads for many

different cultures; European, African and Caribbean cultural traditions crossed in the city

• The result of the blending of these different cultures was a new style that combined different pieces of each culture’s musical traditions to create a new kind of music

• Jazz spread beyond New Orleans quickly, (supposedly after the closing of the Storyville red light district in New Orleans), making its way into the rapidly growing new American cities

• Many jazz musicians moved from parts of the south into the expanding metropolises in the East and Midwest: New York, Chicago, Kansas City, and cities became centers of the jazz community

• Jazz’s growing popularity was fueled by rapid population growth, a move away from rural areas and the increase in technology, which permitted music to be transmitted by record and radio, further increasing the circulation of the new music

New Orleans, 1900

Jazz in the 1920’s• After moving to the bigger cities, jazz was first performed at small cabarets and

speakeasies

• As it grew in popularity, it eclipsed these venues and began to be played in bigger clubs like the Cotton Club in Harlem

• The popularity of jazz also increased because of the passage of the Volstead act in 1919, which banned alcohol to be sold in public places. This led to a rise in illegal speakeasies and clubs, where jazz was often played

• Although jazz was primarily played by black musicians, there were several white jazz bands, which were often regarded as a lesser, much more commercial form of jazz, although this was not always the case

• The rhythms and style of jazz inspired many different dances of the time, as well as made it the favored music of many high society parties that would have previously played classical music

• Jazz was embraced by many young people who thought of it, along with flappers and frequenting speakeasies, as part of a culture of rebellion against the old, pre-war stuffy society

The Cotton Club in Harlem

Jazz in the 1920’s

1920’s jazz bandleader Duke Ellington (piano), playing “Mood Indigo”

The Jazz Controversy• While jazz was cheered by many, it also had many

detractors. Critics called it savage, crude, noise, and even tried to ban it from being played in many public places

• This controversy was rooted as much in the music itself as in the social ideas and norms at the time

Jazz band,1920’s

The Jazz Controversy:The social conflict

• Jazz was often attacked for the strong feelings it incited in people at the time

• One newspaper even charged that putting a movie theater that featured live musicians playing jazz next to a maternity hospital would instill “jazz emotions” in the babies born there

• Supporters of jazz argued that it was simply a mode of expression and had no harmful affects on the listener

• This conflict was really rooted in the tensions at the time between the old establishment, and the younger people, who were more inclined to participate in all the fads of the time; dressing like a flapper, going to speakeasies, and listening to jazz

Speakeasy, 1920’s

The Jazz Controversy:The Music

• While there were many social conflicts that occurred during the 1920’s involving jazz, the music itself also was very controversial for these reasons:

• Jazz uses a lot of improvisation, both by individuals and by a group, which was very uncommon for music at the time

• Broadway show tunes and spirituals were often used as source material for jazz in addition to original compositions, making it seem to be derivative, unoriginal music

• Jazz also redefined the relationship between the composer, singer and player, as the music was often spontaneous and did not involve any written music at all

• Jazz was also cited as “simple” because there was often no written music involved, making it seem much cruder than other music of the time (classical music, show tunes or marches) that did involve written music

The Jazz Influence• Beginning in the 1920’s, many modern classical composers (such

as George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, and Igor Stravinsky) embraced the stylistic elements of jazz and created classical works that involved jazz in various ways

• Jazz is present today in many ways; through samples of older jazz that show up in new songs, and through new jazz artists that have expanded upon the foundations of the music of the 1920’s to create many new styles of jazz throughout the years

• As jazz embodied change in the Twenties, when it was the music of the new, rebellious youth; jazz also was a prominent part of American culture during many eras, including the Civil Rights Movement, when it was one of several music styles embraced by people of a new generation

Works Cited"Jazz Age." American History. 2008. ABC-CLIO. 20 Oct. 2008 <http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com>.

"jazz." American History. 2008. ABC-CLIO. 20 Oct. 2008 <http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com>.

"jazz." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 24 Oct. 2008 <http://0-www.search.eb.com.ilsprod.lib.neu.edu:80/eb/article-9110142>.

Ogren, Kathy J. The Jazz Revolution: Twenties America & the Meaning of Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.

“United States." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 24 Oct. 2008 <http://0 www.search.eb.com.ilsprod.lib.neu.edu:80/eb/article-9111233>.