Download Ellington And Jazz In The 30′S Essay, Research Paper Duke

Ellington And Jazz In The 30′S Essay, Research Paper
Duke Ellington and the Harlem Renaissance:
The term Harlem Renaissance refers to an artistic, cultural, and social time of writing about race
and the African American’s place in American life during the early 1920’s and 1930’s. It is hard
to put a specific time and date in terms of social criticism, protest and political advancements,
because of the fact that it took a long time for it all to develop. Overall, the Harlem Renaissance
was a time of African American’s expressing talent and ideas, and was the center of urban black
life in America.
All oppressed African American’s knew that if they wanted to express themselves, they would
go to Harlem. Harlem was your best chance at changing your life. Harlem was considered the
heart of the Renaissance in African American letters, creating the name The Harlem
Renaissance. Harlem was the center of African American life. Most black literature of the time
referred to Harlem as Home. Harlem stands as a symbol for the best and worst qualities of
African American life during the early twentieth century. The Harlem Renaissance was a time
where blacks would show their true identities, emotions, feelings, opinions, etc. Blacks
expressed themselves socially, culturally, and through various forms of arts, such as paintings,
literature and music.
The main music of the time was Jazz. Jazz music began sometime around 1895 in New Orleans.
It combined the elements of Ragtime, marching band music, and Blues. The main difference
between Jazz and these other types of music was the widespread use of improvisation, often
played by more than one player at a time. Jazz represented a break from Western musical
traditions, where the composer wrote a piece of music on paper and the musicians then tried their
best to play exactly what was in the score. In a Jazz piece, the song is often just a starting point
or frame of reference for the musicians to improvise around. The song might have been a popular
line or blues that they didn’t compose, but by the time they were finished with it they had
composed a new piece that often showed little resemblance to the original song. Many of these
jazz musicians were not good sight readers and some could not read music at all, never the less
their playing thrilled audiences and the spontaneous music they created captured a joy and sense
of adventure that was an exciting departure from the music of that time. The first Jazz was
played by African Americans and Creole musicians in New Orleans. The cornet player, Buddy
Bolden is generally considered to be the first real Jazz musician. Other early players included
Freddie Keppard, Bunk Johnson, and Clarence . Although these musicians’ names are unknown
to most people, then and now, their ideas are still being elaborated on to this day. Most of these
men could not make a living with their music and were forced to work menial jobs to get by. The
second wave of New Orleans Jazz musicians like Joe “King” Oliver, Kid Ory, and Jelly Roll
Morton formed small bands, that took the music of these older men and increased the complexity
and dynamic of their music, as well as gaining greater commercial success. This music became
know as “Hot Jazz”, because of the often break neck speeds and amazing improvised polyphony
that these bands produced. A young piano player named Edward “Duke” Ellington was
discovered in New Orleans. Ellington soon grew to become the greatest Jazz musician of his era
and eventually one of the biggest stars in the world. The impact of Ellington and other Jazz
musicians altered the course of both popular and Classical music. African American musical
styles became the dominant force in 20th century music.
Duke Ellington was born in 1899. His interest in music began when he was very young. As he
grew older he began to become more and more recognized for his talent on the piano. He became
interested in jazz and started to expand on that interest. He brought style and sophistication that
the world of Jazz had never seen before. He considered himself a composer and arranger; not just
a regular musician. He arranged and composed most of his own songs. He began playing music
professionally in Washington in 1917. His piano playing influenced well-recognized musicians
such as James P Johnson, and Willie Smith. He formed his first group in Washington and called
it the Washingtonians. The Washingtonians stuck together for a long time. They easily changed
with the trends from the hot jazz of the 20’s to the swing music of the 30’s. During the 40’s and
50’s, Ellington reached the peak of his fame. He was more famous than he had ever been in his
entire career. During his prime, Ellington played with famous groups such as The Luis
Armstrong Quartet and Count Basie. In the 70’s most of The Washingtonian’s band members
had died off, but the band in its later years still attracted musicians even after Ellington died of
cancer in 1974. When Edward Ellington (Duke) died, his son, Mercer Ellington took over the
band and kept it going. Overall, Duke Ellington was one of the leading figures in the history of
Jazz Music. He was also one of the chief innovators of style and change. His fame and
accomplishments attracted people to Harlem early on until he got big and famous and began to
travel away to share his music with the world.
Duke Ellington, as well as many other people thrived during the Harlem Renaissance. As you
can see, the development of music during the Harlem Renaissance greatly affected the change in
style, even up to this very day. Rap music is a way of expression, just like Jazz. It is just a new
style developed in the same manor as Jazz. Today the music industries are thriving, just as they
were in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Music is not recognized as it should be. Without music, life
would be dull, and people would have less inspiration. Music has a powerful effect on people,
and is a large factor in the change of today’s societies.
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