Wednesday, June 24, 2015

More Information About Jazz Music

By Ruthie Calderon


There are lots of genres of music with each claiming its distinct fans. African American societies in the US claim the sole responsibility as the originators of the style. It is taken to be a traditional genre considering a multicultural community that forms its background. Jazz music came into play in late 19th century. It sprung in numerous parts of the Unites States in form of not only new but independent musical technique.

It is normally difficult to describe this genre given the different variations of music it has some dating back over 100 years. Most fans attempt to define it from the standpoint of other musical traditions with examples like European music and African music, even though the description is at times wider. The descriptions differ as per various fans with others going for the broader description and others preferring the shorter form.

The style makes use of syncopation, swung note, polyrhythms, and improvisation. It has aspects of American popular music, brass tradition, and European harmony. In addition, to the above it has African musical elements like ragtime and blue notes. Jazz drew on various local, national, and regional musical cultures resulting to several distinct styles during its spread around the world.

Each genre of music has a crucial role, which it serves in addition to the usual entertainment purpose. One of the areas it served was uniting people, mainly its supporters despite their age differences. Jazz has been important leveler and unifier and is still held as such. It generated and sustained artistic subcultures that are responsible for nowadays new and advanced artistry.

It helped bring to attention the black culture and history. This historical role can never be forgotten. The other role it served is that of highlighting the contribution of blacks to American society. Others associate this term with racist and oppressive society where restrictions were the order of the days. To others it reminds them of failed artistic visions due to the situation of the days back then.

Fans of this genre grew with the boom of both live band appearances and recording industry. It is normally connected with nightclubs and nightlife. Experts and performers in the field widely travel performing at all types of venues from dancehalls to restaurants. Previously there was strict color bar, which performers were not expected to cross but the introduction of swing jazz resulted into global integration.

Part of progress of this style saw women innovators and performers enter this professional dominated by male performers. Women were only allowed as instrumentalists back in 1920s. Female performers were unheard of back then as they were given minor roles such as pianists. Female entertainers replaced men only after they enlisted and since then remained in this field. Musical bands with female performers made their appearance during World War 1.

To finish, throughout evolution the genre continues to claim talented and innovative artists who continuously reinvent and reshape it. It is spread globally in every continent and claims great legacy. It has had several legends down its line who served a great role shaping it to what it is nowadays. The harmonies, engaging rhythms, and rich melodies are some of things that make it special.




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