September 19, 2013

Ragtime

Scott Joplin
Jellyroll Morton
dance-oriented - the point was the crazy rhythm
trend was pushed by people who played the songs from sheet music

Jazz

Louis Armstrong - the first true jazz musician
the trend of dancing and black music being the soundtrack was a growing and expanding trend
there was a famous couple who danced all over America - white - their band was black
this was a big deal
people loved the music, loved the dance and the music caught on

1920s - the Jazz Age -
radio
phonograph
a whole boom in recording black artists
HOWEVER, black men are scary
SO, what do you predict as a 20s-30s trend in listening to black music?

There was a boom in female black singers - the kind of music they sang was a bluesy, jazzy mix - sometimes called TORCH

These women were almost all big, hard-living, sad, exciting, sexual, highly costumed performers - it was a real show

What was the kind of music upon which they were drawing?

BLUES

deep in the south there is a place where the people are completely “country”
the music from down there was a really weird, haunting, creepy, dark music that was influenced by religious music and white country music -
it was called DELTA BLUES
a traveling performer heard this and said “I heard a dangerous Negro male singing a haunting melody”
he started recording these singers - they were TOO black

Son House

Robert Johnston - most interesting story

blues holler - high pitched yodel
talking guitar
whining tone, pulling strings, etc
lyrics were super dark
played hard, rhythmically

Charley Patton - he taught them all

Juke Joints - boozecans - illegal bars with homemade liquor, no rules, all black audience - hard core party spots, no electricity in the middle of nowhere

BLues singers would travel from place to place hitting these bars - too black!

The women, however, could do a version of this music.

Piano based.

These women were PACKAGING black music for mixed audiences -

Guitar was a dirtier, grubbier instrument, but PIANO sounds upper class, and rich people have them and it’s nice

This kind of music spreads and changes

Boogie Woogie - Stride -

piano jazz + blues without the girl singer
dancing again!
Fats Waller is kind of the king of this
AND he crosses over - when the white folks can dance, they spend money on the record
weird thing - white people seem to better accept a fatter black male - less sexually threatening? jollier looking? weird
HUGE

WHITE PEOPLE PICK IT UP!

Why don’t we make whole bands that play this kind of jazzy, striding, dance music!

this becomes the worldwide soundtrack to the late 30s and 1940s

HUGE bands, HUGE SOUNDS, HUGE CROWDS!

A group of black performers burst of those big bands and say, HEY! I want a small combo, and I WANT TO BE THE STAR!

I don’t want anybody to dance! Just. Listen. To. ME!

GENIUS MUSICIANS BURST OUT

Dizzy Gillespie
Charley Parker
Lester Young

This is first pop music that got an open influence from, and was associated with, drugs.

Tea meant pot.

Cool mean high. (heroin high)

Jazz/Blues Survey

2 musicians from Jazz
2 musicians from Blues

listen to at least 1 song by each
two is best
pick one from each
write a paragraph about it - negative or positive

what’s going on in the song?
what’s good, what’s bad?
what instruments?
what qualities?
how do you think the audience reacted in the time period?