NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
... has always represented a social party, and it still is today, although it has become slightly more of an elite club. But, between the atmosphere around the musicians and the audience, they all understand themselves, the music and the community (David Ake). Furthermore the listeners understand whats going on in their communities and they each fit in. As the band starts to play Jeff Decker the saxophone player leads the group of with the main melody and they begin to jam. Most of the forms of jazz follow a simple AABA form or a typical blues pattern.
The group sets up a theme and usually plays that part through twice and then come back to the beginning to start the improvising. Sometimes they choose on the spot who will take which solo and when, but some songs have a preset form that they like to follow. Josp described rules and norms that go along in the band regarding a solo. Each musician plays a little bit different but the solo is structured with a form that truly varies from player to player. Their band seemed really loose about soloing. They have been playing together for a long time so that their chemistry is really good.
That is they stay on the same page as each other during a piece and know what the other person is doing. Each of the band members has to play off each other accenting and embellishing. There is no specific leader that all the other members add on to, but the beat or groove, is what is played on (Berliner, Paul). When the band has a new comer or a guest sit in, they have to improvise the soloing a little bit, but it is still the same idea. On one evening they had a guest guitarist from New York, and as they begin the show, the guest had to take a supporting role. He or she being the guest has to wait for a solo spot and just take it until they have become totally comfortable with the group.
Sidney Becket said about improvising and playing live, When your really playing ragtime, youre feeling it out, your playing to the other parts, your waiting to understand what the other mans doing, and then your going with his feeling, adding what you have of your feelings (David Ake, pg 33). Although he is talking about a much older form of jazz the same feelings of improvisation are around today in much of the same way. The audience likes to see this interaction between the musicians and theres something about seeing it live that gives the music the feelings that the community loves about jazz. Kenny Barron said, Usually everyone takes their cue from the soloist, but anyone could initiate something and we would all follow suit Its a matter of give and take, (Berliner, Paul, pg. 348. ) As the group comes out of a solo, they signal to each other when theyre ready. The group comes back in all together with the chorus and everyone claps for the soloist. Its really all about the skill and the feelings you can evoke with your instrument and the chorus.
A solo isnt used to be show off or be better than the other guy. Its more about knowing what the other person is doing and understanding it and being able to add on to it. This has been with the music since it started. The music and culture of jazz have evolved and grown steadily from the 1920 s. The music originated in New Orleans by African Americans.
There were many musical influences that have came together to form jazz. Plantation music was one of the earliest origins. Slaves would sing and dance to white or European melodies, but putting the emphasis on the rhythm. The blues and ragtime music were also early influences on the start of jazz, as well as the big brass bands of the time. As jazz became a popular music and began to form its own social scene in the twenties, it began to run into many obstacles in gaining acceptance.
The clubs that opened up in New Orleans became synonymous with the night life and the negative connotations people were beginning to form. Many looked at it as a very sexual craze between the music and the dancing. The culture also did reflect a lot of spontaneous behavior as well as the music itself. Another problem surrounding the jazz scene was that there was a lot of drinking and smoking. People didnt want to hang out in a dirty club like that nor would they have wanted their children being involved with that type of a lifestyle.
It got to a point where jazz itself was prohibited. The critics were also tough on this new music. They thought of it as jungle music. Also many critics thought that the improvisation of the music was a bad thing.
Classical music was very popular at the time and this progression to music being made up on the spot angered many people. Jazz culture soon moved north to Chicago in what was called The Great Migration, (Ear, David). This is really where the music gained its acceptance and status as a popular expression and culture. The clubs of Chicago offered a new scene for the listeners and an open minded group of people. One thing that kept jazz popular here through the years was that the jazz clubs were one of the few places that served alcohol during prohibition.
Whites and blacks were beginning to mix together in social life simply for love of the music. The start of the mixing of the races in social culture took place in these clubs called the Black and Tans. In was also at this time period when recording and radio became popular in the jazz industry. These inventions spread the music out of the night club scene and into peoples homes all over the country.
It was through these media that jazz found its way to Harlem in the 1950 s. This would soon become the jazz mecca until it would follow a world wide spread. This led to an era known as the Harlem Renaissance in which formal jazz scores were written and arranged and the music began to be linked to symphonic music. AS jazz music gained acceptance in society three key things happened. The venues for which the music was presented became much nicer, the growing audience became more and more-cultural; crossing new racial barriers, and the once youthful dance music had grown up into a serious and respected art form. Jazz soon became representative of high-class thinking and sophistication.
This transformation of how people have viewed jazz has really allowed it to grow as it has today. It is more than a genre of music, and just shy of becoming its own art culture. Jazz is too other for musicology and not other enough for ethnomusicology, (Ake, David, pg 1) said sax player and ethno musicologist David Borgo. More than a music scene or a social culture, jazz is a lifestyle.
It is the listeners and the players living a jazz way of life. Robert Josp talking with friends completely relaxed before he plays a concert, or giving a drum workshop in the community is jazz. A Charlottesville newspaper critic for The Hook wrote about how he found Josp's new CD. Browsing through the jazz section at the local record store and buying it just because, is jazz. He hadnt heard it yet but knew that it would be good and ended up listening to it twice on a drive. Jazz is a saxophone player in Central Park playing solo, solely for enjoyment, or me as a college student, interested in music and writing this paper.
Doing research on jazz and becoming more involved with the local music community.
Free research essays on topics related to: player, band, jazz, solo, social culture
Research essay sample on Music Ethnography Of Jazz Culture In Charlottesville Virginia
