Jazz Consisted of:• Folk and blues styles
• Emphasis on:
• simple harmony
• rhythm
• and improvisation (based on melody)
• Mostly ensemble playing with all instruments playing together except for solos
• syncopation
The special conditions that gave rise to its development in New Orleans were:
• Brass band marches were popular
• The red-light districts known as "Storyville" had clubs where dance bands played
• French quadrilles, ragtime and blues were popular there
• The Afro-Creole and vaudeville shows were influences there
• Tourists came to New Orleans and that is how the "jazz" style of the area spread
• Many Africa-Americans were hired to perform in brothels and bars: Buddy Bolden, Louis Armstrong and many others
With so many different ethnicities and cultures gathering together in one urban location, people latched onto their community traditions and introduced their folk music trends into American society. Irish, German, Italian, and Afro-American styles of music were all mixed into these areas. Much of the music also grew out of the uniquely American-Protestant movement -- the "spirituals" that served as basis for many movements -- jazz, blues, bluegrass, etc. French-African music of the Louisiana Creoles was heard by tourists in New Orleans, who took it back home to their own cities; the African-American migration of the same time was also responsible for spreading this music.
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The TPA (Tin Pan Alley) music industry originally referred to West 28th Street in Manhattan in 1885 when music publishers established their shop there. The name comes from the sound the pianos made -- a percussive sound like tin pans banging together. Eventually, the whole of New York City music publishing (including publishers and songwriters who produced popular music that was heard around the country) was characterized under the TPA umbrella. Some of the music published was known as "Race Music" -- code for music by blacks. Vaudeville stage actors used Tin Pan Alley music for their skits. TPA also published...
Blacks in Blues Music Biographer Lawrence Jackson wrote that author Ralph Ellison was exposed to the blues and classical music from an early age, eventually playing the trumpet and pursuing a degree in music at Tuskegee (McLaren Pp). When he moved to New York to pursue his writing career, Ellison was exposed to the musical developments in jazz and often attended the Apollo Theater, the Savoy Ballroom, and Cafe Society Downtown,
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Cool Jazz A Brief History of Cool Jazz December 6, 2012, would have marked the ninety-second birthday of pianist Dave Brubeck. The nonagenarian was looking forward to performing at the Palace Theater near his home in Waterbury, Connecticut. Sadly, Brubeck died of heart failure just one day shy of the celebratory concert. The concert went on as scheduled, but it was a memorial rather than a birthday party. It is what Brubeck
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