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Syncretism

The blending together of cultural elements that previously existed separately.

Congo Square

An open space within Louis Armstrong parkin New Orleans. Famous for its African-music and historical African dances.

Africanization of American music and Americanization of African music

-Helped lay the groundwork for African-American contributions in jazz

Spanish Tinge

An Afro-Latin rhythmic effect that influences more conventional rhythms in jazz and popular music

Latin-Catholic Church

-More tolerant than English-Protestant ideals

-Under Spanish law: slaves could be set free without official permission, own property.

2 African Cultural Elements

-Music

-Folklore

Dr. Isaac Watts

-Christian Minister and Hymn Writer

-Tried to convert African-Americans to western music practice resulting in the "Africanization of American music"

Lomax (Alan Lomax)

Africans sang polyphonic, Africans quavered the text

Minstrelsy

-"Black face"

-A black imitation of a white caricature of black music

Work Song

-A song that is sung, encouraging music making when it contributed to the productivity of labor.

-Call and response.

5 Characteristics of Early African Music

-Call and response

-Integration of performance into the social fabric

-Cross fertilization between music and dance

-Focus on sound

-Richness of rhythmic content

Dionysian (Rhythm as a source of)

-Discipline

-Social control

-Power

2 African Diasporic Communities

-Creoles of color

-English speaking slaves and their descendants

Creole

A person of mixed European, Spanish, & First Nations people descent

Racial Politics between Creole and Black Communities

-Jazz tendency: represent "blackness" in America

-Scholars struggle with "whiteness" in jazz.....

-The participation of non-African-Americans within something that's understood as "black music"

Charles Hamm's "Founding Fathers" of Jazz

* Buddy Bolden

* Joe "king" Oliver

* Freddie Keppard

* Kid Ory

* Johnny Dodds

* Louis Armstrong

Important "New Orleans Innovators" (According to Ellen Southern)

-Jelly Roll Morton and his Sidemen

-Louis Armstrong

-Joe "King" Oliver

What does Ellen Southern Mention in her Book about the "New Orleans Innovators"

All mentioned are to be understood as "black" in her book

* This ignores the importance for creole culture

Code Noir ("Black Code")

a set of laws that established guidelines and regulations for the interactions between free individuals and slaves in France's colonies. These laws spelled out the rights, responsibilities, and rules of conduct that governed these relationships.

-It was liberal and gave opportunities for freed people of color

Creole Characteristics

* Well mannered

* Educated

* Segregated African-American culture

* Eventually.....conflict, due to language, religion, etc

post Louisiana purchase

Increased enforcement of

code noir's article

* Anyone having any degree of African blood was culturally considered black

Two types of Black music

Canal street split:

-Blacks: uptown

-Creole: downtown

Eurocentrism (European Exceptionalism)

* Emphasis on French instrumental and opera music

* Thought of black population as "unschooled"

Music in N.O.

* Many playing opportunities in N.O.

* -parties -picnics -funerals -clubs

Performance Style (Music in N.O.)

"Ragged" style

* "Growls"

* "Scoops"

* Spirituals: a religious song associated with black Christians of the south

Creole Music Culture

-Many were musicians

-They were frowned upon to participate in Jazz

1870 New Orleans + Musician Pay

* 40,000 African-Americans

* 7 listed as a musician

* 10 years later: 53 musicians

* $1: riding on a truck and playing for 5 hours

* $2.50: play a ball/dance for 8 hours

* $1.50-$2.50: house party for 5 hours

Jelly Roll Morton

-Antagonized by family (career choice)

-Was a Creole

The Blues

-Created a camaraderie For oppressed musicians: sense of identity, affirmation

-Lived an underground life in African-American communities (before popularity)

-1920s: emerged in popular recordings

-Early traces back to the 19th century

-Found in rural areas, impoverished parts of the country

-1912: appeared as sheet music

Country Blues

-Vocalist with guitar accompaniment.

-Most traditional form of blues.

-Some connections linked to African traditions

-Stringed accompaniment of the kora (21-string harp lute)

-Characteristic of griot music

Griot

-The West African storyteller

-Griot music: A wave preserving historical and folkloric stories for tribal units

Classic Blues

-Closer tie to jazz

-Singers would front bands

-Musicians stuck to a 12 bar form

-Draws from other forms: Tin pan alley, Minstrel Shows, Circuses, Vaudeville

Tin Pan Alley

Collection of New York City music publishers, and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the U.S. in late 19th/early 20th century

Vaudeville

-A theatrical genre. Made up of a variety of entertainment

-Separate, unrelated acts grouping together on a common bill

Classic Blues (Women and Jazz)

-Female awareness

-Nature of love

-Became Blues ethos

-Blues: folk art to mass entertainment

-High demand for the Blues

-Growth of recording market (female vocalists)

Race Records

78-rpm phonograph records marketed towards African Americans between the 20s and 40s

Jazz as folk music

-Early N.O. Jazz musicians

-Progressive

-They were NOT folk musicians

-They were not playing the music of their people

-This music: A merging of different ideals/attitudes on racial & musical identity

West Africans

-Mostly farmers

-Sang agricultural songs

-Traditional African song: Forbidden to sing (in new world)

-They continued singing....but with different context

Where did the Blues begin

Slavery

-Found its form there

Ragtime

Full body sound

➤ Dense (not for vocalists)

➤ Went to print (19th cent.)

Was a type of composition

What was the first two step rag?

Mississippi Rag

Who was the first African-American to publish a rag?

Tom Turpin (1897)

-Harlem Rag

Storyville (Post Civil War, 1900-ish)

-Red light District, considered birthplace of jazz

-Engrained into jazz history

-Some historians say only piano music was played in

-But most establishments only had player piano

-Bands found in dance halls & cabarets

Spasm Bands

-Groups made up of hodge podge instruments: gourds, cigar box guitars, pipes, etc.

-Created blurring of musical genres

-Central to creating jazz

NOLA Brass Band

-Brass bands development of rep. changes due to the constant evolution of popular music

-Brass band foundation dates back to beginning of the 19th cent. (Congo Square)

Brass band activities were based off of African origins

✤ Europe has a profound influence on it as well

✤ German, Spanish, & Italian immigrants migrated to New Orleans before Civil War

✤ Offered music lesson to black musicians in New Orleans on brass instruments

Military Music influence and involvements

Brass Brand Instrumentation (Evolution)

-Woodwind instruments in dance bands influence the instrumental evolution of brass bands

✤ E flat clarinet ==> B flat clarinet

✤ Alto & baritone bugle horns ==> alto & tenor sax

✤ Tuba ==> sousaphone

✤ Valve trombone ==> slide trombone

Benevolent

-an organization/group of people that gives money & helps a particular group of people in need

✤ These societies felt it to be important to preserve African culture

✤ Benevolent societies hire brass bands for parades & social events

✤ Traditional hymns & spirituals become part of brass band repertoire

Funeral Services

-After the funeral ceremony, bands played upbeat music or upbeat versions of the music that was sung/ played on the way to the grave sight

✤ Band and grand marshal: first line

✤ People who followed the band back: second line

Second Line Beat

-Directly related to Africa & Congo Square

-2 measure clave pattern

First Brass Bands

-1880 marked as the official beginning of N.O. brass bands

✤ First bands:

✤ Excelsior, Eureka, Deer Range, Pelican, Pickwick, Olympia, Onward, & St. Joseph Brass Bands

-10 to 16 players (All were dedicated musicians and also educators)

-Wore military style coats

-saw a decline during the great depression

Jazz Triangle

❖ 1. New Orleans

❖ 2. Chicago

❖ 3. New York

❖ New Orleans sound ==> Chicago

❖ Chicago sound ==> New York

Mississippi River (Jazz Age)

❖ Possible jazz lifeline

❖ Took blues roots up north

Chicago Jazz

❖ Romanticized

❖ Jazz traveled to Chicago by land.....not water

❖ Not luxurious

❖ More "makeshift"

❖ "Dreamland Ballroom"- Doubled as a roller skating rink

❖ "Lincoln Gardens" (King Oliver home base)

❖ "Dipper Mouth Blues" King Oliver

-"White Music"

Bix Beiderbecke

❖ Chicago jazz leading figure

❖ Played very little in Chicago

❖ Recognized as a New York resident

Chicago Stylistic Traits

-Horns play brief intros & interludes

-Clarinet. Adopted New Orleans Cornet style (not arpeggiated)

-Saxophone. Linear/ melodic approach

-No counterpoint/ weaving together. Less dense

N.O. Stylistic traits

-Start on melody

-Clarinet. Arpeggiated approach

-Trombone. Tailgating. Slurs connecting harmonic motion

-More ornamented. More counterpoint. More weaving together

Flare Up

Polyphonic outburst initiated by a drum break.

Explosion

Dropping a "bomb". Term from be bop drummers. Igniting the soloist at the top on another 8 measure phrase.

Shuffle Rhythm

Consistent groove. Gives a feeling of forward motion.

A Break

A New Orleans attribute. 2 or 4 measure interlude when the band pauses and the soloist steps forward.

Did chicago musicians stay?

❖ Many Chicago born stayed (musicians)

Changes in NOLA jazz (Jazz Age)

❖ Repertoire changes

❖ 32 bar forms (more common)

❖ Blues/multi-themed ragtime structures/less common

❖ Blues recording craze subsides

❖ Jazz now = mass entertainment

❖ Encompassed many different styles