Download Jazz - Rebecca Lofton

Rebecca Lofton
12/8/10
EDCT 585
Sounds like Freedom: Jazz, Maxine Greene and Existentialist Theory
I have included an additional component to this paper that looks at the possibilities and benefits
of implementing jazz analysis and study in the classroom
“Jazz and the blues have long had a transformative, often liberating effect on many
populations, for example. We have only to read the musical history of our country,
recall the stories of our great black musicians, heed such novels as Invisible Man
(constructed, its author said, according to the patterns of the blues), take note of the
importance of jazz in European art forms throughout the century, see how the Jazz
Section of the Czech dissident movement has become the live center of dissent.”
Maxine Greene, Releasing the Imagination
Introduction
From the existentialist point of view, each individual human being is alone in a
world without meaning and defines oneself through the choices that the individual freely
makes. (Johnson & Read, 16). The individual is central to this discussion, with
emphasis on the importance and power of freely engaged, active meaning-making that
offers possibilities of accomplishment. Or as Maxine Green suggests,”There is
something liberating about awakening to the realization that you are an autonomous
creature responsible for creating your own unique essence through the choices you
freely make” (Johnson & Read, 16). That freedom, however, requires an understanding
that the outcomes of our free choice depend on something outside of our own unique
existence, something that offers fulfillment and completion. Green addresses this as
one of the major dialectics within her Dialectics of Freedom. “We might think of
freedom,” she says, “as an opening of spaces as well as perspectives with everything
depending on the actions we undertake…” (Greene, Dialectic, 5). She goes on to say,
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“recognition of one’s freedom is a matter of being able to envisage things as they could
be otherwise, or of positing alternatives to mere passivity” (Rasheed, 17). According to
Jean Paul Sartre, an individual’s ability to reflect gives her the freedom to choose her
own destiny and gives meaning to things and events. In fact, according to Green,
awakening the imagination to conceive of the possibilities, of what might be is required
for real freedom (Green, Dialectic, 56).
Art lends itself nicely to the existential discussion as both something outside of
ourselves that completes us and as the reward of an awakened imagination. John
Dewey believed that the arts are the result of an “awakened imagination,” but that they
also “operate imaginatively, rather than in the realm of physical existences.” Art
represents a human artifact set free in the world, ready to be encountered, absorbed,
interpreted and refashioned. In every work of art, the imagination of the creator is
embodied in a material that serves as the medium for artistic expression (Dewey, 273).
Any work of art, once accomplished, exists as a meaningful entity independent of the
personal life of its creator.
Green reminds us that Herbert Marcuse believed that art makes the petrified
world speak, sing, perhaps dance. If art can open up the petrified world and provide a
new perspective on what is taken for granted, then those who engage with the arts
dream things they’ve never dreamed before, ask questions they’ve never asked before,
imagine things they’ve never imagined before (Green, Blue Guitar, 22). This
engagement with the arts, the making of meaning that takes place exists at what is
called the “aesthetic” pole, that place where the receiver “reaches out to grasp the work
that has been created at the “artistic” pole” (Greene, Blue Guitar, 193). It is between the
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aesthetic pole and the artistic pole that the work of art is brought to life, affected by the
receiver’s live, memories, injuries, and moments of pleasure. As educators, that is the
place where our curriculum should focus-on that space and what may happen there as
a work of art is realized by a human being, present as who, not what he or she is”
(Greene, Releasing, 138).
Of all of the arts that humans enjoy, though, Dewey believed that music is the
highest, because it causes us to think about the process of free will. In Variations on a
Blue Guitar, Greene speaks of the power of music and its ability to cause us to “push
back the boundaries of what we have thought of a beautiful” (Greene, Blue Guitar, 192).
Music taps into our imagination and enhances our explorations; it creates a sense of the
unpredictable and defines our own agency as we help bring the work alive (Greene,
Blue Guitar, 192).
There is a relationship between the creator of a piece of music, and the listener,
in that the listener participates in and to a certain extent re-creates the experience of the
music. Yet, the listener’s experience is grounded in her own lived experience, separate
from the creator’s experience, and that experience changes over time. As a result, the
listener makes new meaning from the music with each new listening, separate and
distinct from the meaning made by the creator. Greene identifies this as our
consciousness,
something experienced through the movements and gestures that embody us in
space, time and history, our differentiation from and integration with our past and
with other human beings and with the world in which we move about and live
(Rasheed, 34).
For John Paul Sartre, not just music, but jazz, specifically, was above all, a form
of release, emotional freedom and rebirth (Nettelbeck, 172). Towards the end of his life,
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Sartre showed through his writings (for example, La Nausee) that he had distilled his
understanding of jazz into a small number of essential qualities including self-renewal
and perpetual originality. He felt that jazz fostered openness and spontaneity; that it
made change and renewal possible (Nettlebeck, 174).
Jazz as Music
Jazz may well be considered America’s most influential and distinguished art
form, born from generations of African Americans who synthesized different musical
traditions into an entirely new sound. As a blending of sounds, harmonies and rhythms
from across the globe, jazz (originally known as jass) Jazz encourages cultural diversity
as it speaks profoundly of the American experience because of its democratic nature,
both in its practice, through the collaborative and improvisational qualities of
performance, and its important social role as an early meeting place for people of
different races. The confluence of different sounds and instruments in addition to the
different skill levels of the musicians led to the beginnings of improvisation, a
spontaneous conversation between two or more instruments. “Play what you hear, not
what you know” is a famous comment by jazz luminary Miles Davis, when giving advice
on the dynamics of a performance. Davis’ statement reflects the conflict between the
“long labor of symbolic construction” and the assumption of “spontaneity” internal to jazz
musicians’ way of acting musically in relation to themselves and to others (Gebhardt,
176). With this emphasis on improvisation, jazz lacks the polish and precision of other
more leisurely constructed arts. The jazz artist is expected to produce a new and
different performance each and every night. In fact, the moment that the jazz
instrumentalist begins t plan his solos in advance, he ceases, by that very act, to be a
jazz soloist. Each true jazz moment springs from a contest in which each artist
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challenges all the rest (Gebhardt, 85). The jazz artist lives in the moment, making
meaning spontaneously from the sounds and rhythms around him. Much like the
existentialist, the jazz artist is alone, making choices that define him and his music.
Jazz as Artifact
Using well known and influential works of jazz, I propose to look at the theory and
ideas of Maxine Green through a jazz colored lens, searching for interfaces and
similarities in their relationship with freedom. Certainly an argument could be made for
the inclusion of other equally important works of jazz; however, I chose the following for
their innovative and revolutionary approach to music, historical importance, reflection of
diversity of culture or lasting impact on our collective consciousness. The first piece,
“Sing, Sing, Sing (with a Swing) was recorded as a commercial release in 1937 by
Benny Goodman and his orchestra. The 1938 Carnegie Hall recording, however, is the
one that most exemplifies the improvisational nature of jazz, lasting 12 minutes, 37
seconds. The second piece, “In the Mood,” was recorded by The Glenn Miller
Orchestra August, 1939, is the quintessential theme song for an entire era and nearly
made jazz the American popular music. Next, Dizzy Gillespie’s 1947 recording of
“Manteca” reflects his role as the founder of Afro-Cuban jazz with the blending of AfroCuban rhythms and jazz harmony. The fourth piece, “Straight, No Chaser,” was
recorded by Thelonious Monk in 1948 gives voice to both traditional jazz, elastic blues
and the new and innovative styles that Monk is best known for. Up next is Dave
Brubeck’s 1959 recording of “Take Five” which makes use of a quintuple (5/4) time
signature, an unusual signature for American music. In spite of the uncommon time
signature, “Take Five” reached #25 on Billboard’s Hot 100 list. Last, John Coltrane’s
1964 recording of
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“A Love Supreme” was an album-length suite that blended hard bop and free jazz styles
and is considered to be one of Coltrane’s greatest recordings.
Using Greene’s synthesized democratic framework for classroom interaction and
inquiry, I have developed a series of six questions with which I propose to examine
these exciting and important works of jazz musicianship and their historical significance.
As I consider each of the pieces of music against the questions, below, I will be looking
for relationships to Green’s ideas of freedom and democracy, instances where the
music demands wide-awake attention and encourages the making of meaning, music
that allows individual interpretation but supports the idea of a larger culture, music that
encourages cultural diversity and discourages apathy and indifference. My six
questions are, as follows:
Does the music require the listener to be “wide awake”, or present?
Does the music foster self expression?
Does the music encourage personal responsibility for our collective well being?
Does the music support self reflection and help with the exploration of ideas
about self and the world in which we live?
5. Does the music encourage consideration of who we are as individuals and
members of a culture?
6. Does the music allow individual disagreement but support group consensus?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Analysis
The first work I analyzed, Sing, Sing, Sing (with a Swing), resonates with the core
concepts of freedom and democracy. At a whopping 12 minutes long, it was an
anomaly at the time and required multiple 12-inch 78 discs to hold the full recording.
The Carnegie Hall recording captured the excitement of jazz being played ‘uptown’ for
the first time, and as a result, there is considerable improvisation on this recording.
Given that, the listener must be wide-awake to follow the music and hear the call-and
response going on between each of the musicians. This performance provided lots of
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opportunities for self-expression of the performers while at the same time encouraging
personal responsibility for maintaining the overall rhythm of the piece, and ultimately,
the success of the concert. The ideas of self-reflection and ideas about self are clearly
illustrated in this recording through the articulation of the musical language by the
musicians. As we consume the music, we recognize individual musicians and their
approach as well as their style. We hear their responses to the drum solo of Gene
Kruppa, we hear their adjustments to the trumpet playing of Harry James. One can not
help but hear the give and take that is inherent in any improve work-musicians who
bring their social, cultural and musical ideas to the stage. But their individuality blends
together so that after each musician has had his say, they come together with a final,
finished product.
As the best known of the ‘Big-Band’ swing era songs, “In the Mood” is a strong
choice for analysis. Its popularity is in part, because of its accessibility – it is traditional
big band swing, as opposed to more modern jazz. At 3:33 long, the song is long
enough to engage the listener. That said, because the song is so well known, it is not
necessary for the listener to be fully present. Chances are, she has heard this song
before. The song is also very structured and rehearsed. Unlike other works analyzed in
this paper, there is very little improvisation and self-expression. Without the
improvisational aspect, the scripted music does not encourage personal responsibility-it
encourages conformity. Further, without improvisation, self-reflection and ideas of who
we are as a culture are not considered or open for dialogue. Finally, because the music
is scripted, it does not allow for individual disagreement and group consensus. As a
result, “In the Mood’ does not support Greene’s ideas of freedom and democracy.
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“Manteca”, by Dizzy Gillespie, is a signature example of Afro-Cuban jazz. As a
social activist, Gillespie shunned economic security in order to express his music and
social views which included social justice and a disdain for racism. When Gillespie
blended African and Cuban rhythms with traditional jazz harmonies, he opened the door
for Latino musicians by hiring Afro-Cuban musicians. .With this collaboration came an
emphasis on co-composition and simultaneous improvisation, the insertion of non-jazz
repertoires, the accommodation of instruments not typically found in jazz ensembles,
the use of multilingual texts and the use of notions of cultural difference as a basis for
collaboration (Meadows, 172). The resulting fusion, found in “Manteca” requires the
listener to be fully present and wide awake. The music begins with strong African
rhythms are that juxtaposed with more traditional jazz styles, back and forth throughout
the piece. The on-going improvisation supports self expression and personal
responsibility for the well-being of the piece. The blending of Latin, African and
traditional jazz rhythms and harmonies supports self reflection and consideration of who
we are as individuals and as part of a larger culture. The simultaneous improvisation
and use of atypical jazz instruments to create alternating rhythms supports the idea of
individual disagreement, yet the intercultural blending supports the final production.
“Manteca” encourages cultural diversity and discourages apathy and indifference; it is
clearly aligned with Greene’s ideas of freedom and democracy.
“Straight, No Chaser” by Thelonious Monk is a non-traditional composition built
on a blues foundation and makes use of rhythmic changes that stress three beats in the
melody against 4 beats in the rhythm section (Meadows, 240). As such, the music
requires attentive listening with a wide awake listener. The composition starts with a
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drum introduction and then swings along for awhile, causing the listener to become
comfortable with the beat. Then, without warning, the drummer interrupts the swing
with a rhythm change, which forces the improvising musicians to pay close attention to
the rhythm line. So while self expression is encouraged, the collective well-being of the
music must be present in the minds of the musicians. Given the intricate structure
Monk used in this composition, and the heightened awareness and presence of mind
that the musicians must have for a successful performance, there is a need to
constantly revisit what is being played and what will be played next. The musician can
not just be in the moment, but must also be ready for the future. “Straight, No Chaser”
is innovative and groundbreaking in its use of a multi-rhythmic structure, and Monk is
recognized as one of the true geniuses of jazz. And while it supports many of Greene’s
ideas, specifically freedom and wide awakeness, it does not encourage consideration of
self or one’s place in the larger culture.
Dave Brubeck’s 1959 recording of “Take Five” was developed from a rhythm
pattern in 5/4 time developed by drummer Joe Morello. Brubeck then urged his alto
saxophonist to write a melody to float over the rhythm and the rest is creative history.
Written during the height of ‘West Coast Jazz’, the recording enjoyed surprising
popularity. As with the other pieces we have listened to, “Take Five” requires the
listener’s attention to hear the 5/4 rhythm. Once heard, it is difficult to let go. The idea
of a time signature that is uncommon supports the idea of self expression and personal
responsibility for maintaining the beat. Although the piece has only limited
improvisation, that does support opportunities for self reflection and individual
disagreement. The end result, of course, is that the group comes together for a
cohesive product. The piece is innovative and groundbreaking with its uncommon beat
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and historically relevant, but is not culturally significant and does not encourage
questions of self. “Take Five” supports some of Greene’s ideas, including the notion of
wide awakeness, and it discourages indifference.
Finally, John Coltrane’s 1964 recording of “A Love Supreme” is an album length,
four-part suite, purportedly expressing Coltrane’s quest for spirituality With this
composition, Coltrane creates a rhythmic frame that is inserted directly into the melodic
portion which give freedom those instruments normally carry the rhythm (the bass and
the drum). This shift in jazz towards a more free form of expression requires a listener
who is present and wide awake. Self-expression and improvisation of the musicians is
complex requires careful attention to the underlying rhythms. Each musician must be
responsible for their part in the collective and be completely aware of where the other
musicians are for the piece to work. The piece included here is the 1st movement, or
Acknowledgement and begins with the clang of a symbol, followed by a fluttering
saxophone. A slowly building bass line is next, and lays the foundation that is present
throughout the rest of the piece. Written as a spiritual piece, “A Love Supreme,” does
indeed cause questions about self and our place in it. Careful attention to the multilayered composition rewards the listener as the bass line continues to carry the theme
and at the end, is echoed by the chant, “A Love Supreme, A Love Supreme.” “A Love
Supreme” fits nicely along side the other selections that support Greene’s ideas of
freedom and democracy and strongly discourages apathy and indifference-this music
demands attention and presence.
Application in the Classroom
Bringing jazz into the classroom, both as an experience, and as tool for
connecting with curriculum, opens up myriad possibilities for student learning. Jazz
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fosters discussions of social justice and equality, questions what it means to be free,
paints a picture of cultural diversity and presents a metaphor for the fabric of America.
Jazz also fosters discussions of what America represents, and who we are as a people.
Jazz, can provide a reflection of historical events and changes in technology, pop
culture and musical production and reception. Jazz can speak to urbanization and
mass media. Jazz can inspire an understanding of existentialist ideas being present
and wide awake, freedom, self reflection and self-expression. It can encourage cultural
diversity while it discourages apathy and indifference. In short, jazz is a valuable tool
that can be used to engage students and enhance their learning.
I agree with Greene when she says that we need to bring aesthetic education
back to the curriculum. She further defines the aesthetic experience as one that
“requires conscious participation in a work, an ability to notice what is there to be
noticed in the work of art” (Greene, Releasing, 125). At this moment in education, when
standards, scripted curriculum and core subjects of English and Math are the only
offerings for the classroom, the “open-mindedness and sense of exploration” that is
made possible with “aware aesthetic involvements” may be just the thing to engage
students and foster an excitement about the possibilities that exist (Green, Blue Guitar,
22). Jazz is well situated to be part of aesthetic education because it is the music of
possibilities.
Of course, that is not to say that jazz is the only tool that educators should
employ. Some familiarity with the material is necessary to implement a curriculum that
makes use of any of the arts. But jazz should not be discounted simply out of a lack of
knowledge. The National Endowment of the Arts as well as the Smithsonian Institute
for Jazz both provide excellent lesson plans, complete with documentaries, musical
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recordings and masters for student handouts that will help even the most novice teacher
bring jazz into their classroom.
What Have I Learned
I have been a fan of jazz for over 30 years and invested countless hours (and
dollars) pursuing that passion. In the years of my attention to jazz, however, I never
consciously considered the relationship that clearly exists between this music and the
ideals of social justice, democracy for all, and personal responsibility embraced and
embodied by Maxine Greene. By thinking about Greene and her core philosophical
ideas and then using those ideas to craft probing questions, I have gained new insights
into both the music and the philosopher. Jazz musicians are alone, devoid of meaning
and purpose, until that moment when they freely chose to play and interact with their
fellow musicians. In the moment, they make music, and in turn, meaning, with their
choices. Clearly, this music that requires attention, presence and an ongoing dialogue
is a soundtrack made for ideas of existentialism.
As an educator, it occurs to me that we are also alone, devoid of any real
meaning until that moment when we freely chose to interact with our students, and the
things that we bring to that interaction are the things that we make meaning with.
Likewise, our students, too, are alone until they freely choose to interact. It is critical,
then, that the things we bring to our classrooms are engaging and relevant to our
students, otherwise, they will freely choose to remain uninvolved and removed from
reach. As a method for examining my own philosophies, analyzing specific pieces of
jazz was interesting, although more difficult than I expected. Because of its appeal, I
can see the value of using music in the classroom to bring students closer to an issue or
more clearly illustrate an idea. In fact, I agree with Greene, that the education we
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provide our students needs to include the aesthetic as well as the scientific. We need to
bring the arts back into the curriculum and into our classrooms. And we need to create
curriculum that helps our students to make sense of their lived worlds and helps them
build their own realities within society. And we need to remember to listen to our
soundtrack – everyone has one.
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