Blog 5

Prior to attending this history of jazz course I knew close to nothing about jazz music and even less regarding its history. I always assumed that jazz music began and evolved in Chicago. It was clear to me that jazz was well liked by many nationally and worldwide, but I continued to believe that its evolution and progression had primarily occurred in Chicago. Black Studies 14 has greatly heightened my understanding and appreciation of jazz music and its history. I now know much more about the main cities, people, and instruments that helped jazz music develop overtime. I also have a come to realize the significance that the syncretism of different cultures have had on jazz, not only regarding the integration that occurred in New York but also early on starting with the blending of the African and European aesthetics. I have a greater appreciation for the music and a much better understanding of all the elements that contributed to the development of jazz.

In this History of Jazz course I have learned that jazz did not begin or solely evolve in Chicago, I now know that it traveled through many cities in what is known as the great migration. New Orleans, Chicago, Kansas City, and New York are four cities that played major roles in the ripening of jazz. One thing that all these cities did have in common was their melting pot quality. This was a very important quality because the diversity had a great impact on jazz music. We see influences from a variety of different cultures in jazz, there are aspects of European, African, French, Spanish and many others type of music. (Gioia, 6). These different cultural aspects have had a racial impact on jazz music but jazz has also reciprocated that impact on race integration and segregation in these cities.

A special quality that jazz has preserved from the beginning is its diversity in its makeup. It is a blend of many different musical cultural aspects from all around the world mixed into one and that becomes jazz. Syncretism, “the blending together of cultural elements that previously existed separately” (Gioia, 5), took on an entirely new meaning for me as I journeyed through this course. Jazz in itself is a melting pot of musical aspects from different cultures, there are pieces of European, African, Caribbean, and many other types of music that are blended and used to create jazz.

From the start we saw the mixture of races in New Orleans influence the formation of jazz. The infusion of the European, African, and creole styles were some of the greatest contributors to early jazz. Aspects of African music are also seen in jazz; Benjamin Latrobe made sketches of the instruments “These drawings confirm that the musicians of Congo Square, circa 1819, were playing percussive instruments virtually identical to those characteristic of indigenous African music” (Gioia, 7).  The string and percussive instruments such as the ones that were used at Congo Square and shown in the article “African Art in Motion” (Thompson, 13) were important additions to the Africanization of European music. Not only are these African features seen in instruments but also in the style of play, blues for instance has many traits from African sorrow and work songs. The blues music spoke a lot of the conditions of people’s lives just as work songs did (Gioia, 13-20). We also see a European aesthetic in jazz with the inclusion of the piano, which was commonly used in European classical music. The African and European aesthetics blended creating a syncretism that added to the uniqueness of early jazz music.

Now that we are nearing an end to the quarter I can honestly say that my perspective towards jazz has greatly changed. I have a great appreciation for the music because I now know more about how many influences have come together to evolve and develop jazz music. I also understand the significance behind the music whether it is blues, bebop, or swing. The assumptions I had prior to taking this course were far off from the reality of jazz music.