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Beginning of Jazz
New Orleans Jazz and its socio-cultural development
Why was New Orleans the city where jazz was initially developed?
#1 Cultural Diversity
: Thriving commercial port: Need for desire and entertainment
: Gateway between the U.S and the caribbean
: Racial and ethnic diversity - French and spanish, presence of many free blacks, whites and prevailing musical traditions
: In the early 1900's New Orleans would be heavily stratif i ed - Whites, Creoles ( French Speaking, lighter skinned, often had classical music training), Blacks ( English speak ing, darker skinned, blues and spirituals)
#2 Wide range of musical traditions: Ragtime, Marching bands, Opera, Funeral Pro
cessions, Latin styles, Popular songs, Spirituals and the blues
#3 The need for festivities and escape from dif f i cult living conditions
: Humidity, heat and the spread of disease
: Lack of a modern sewage system
: High mortality rates
Two important Locales for the development of New Orleans jazz
: Congo Square
- Under french rule, slaves were allowed to congregate in this area outside of the main city
- Slaves could gather here to sing, dance and play instruments
- This
: Storyville
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Monday, May 3, y - Neighbourhood where prostitution was legal and saloons and gambling halls f I our- ished. As such, there was a huge demand for music
- Government closed it down in 1917 and many instruments who got their start there were forced to move elsewhere for example Louis Armstrong.
The Creoles
: The Creoles had a mixed heritage of french and black
: Typically they spoke french and had a lighter skinned appearance
: They also tended to have classical music training of some sort, making it tougher on them to adjust to the new style.
Nick Larocca and the Dixieland Jazz Band
Background
: This group made the f i rst recording to feature the term "jazz" ( New York City, 1917)
: There were no recording studios in New Orleans at the time, so New Orleans musi- cians had to go to either NYC or Chicago to record
- Eventually the band gained a contract with Victor Records.
: Early example of the complicated story of race in jazz
: This band was all white when jazz was pioneered by blacks
: They were the f i rst band to commercialize jazz.
: Although they played by ear, this band worked out all of its music ahead of time.
Some basic Vocabulary
: Chorus: In jazz, the main tune
: Collective Improvisation: Simultaneous improvisation, typical of New Orleans Jazz
: Front line: The melody instruments ( In new orleans jazz, cornet, clarinet, trombone)
: Stop time: Silences interrupt the steady beat in the bass and drums.
: Syncopation: Accenting of beats that are normally unstressed
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Monday, May 3, y
Joseph Nathan "King" Joe Oliver - Pioneer in the development of New Orleans Jazz
The creole Jazz Band
: Like most jazz bands of th