Influence of Jazz and the Blues with an Emphasis on Louis Armstrong and Willie Johnson
Perhaps more than any other form of music, jazz music means America.Jazz music, like America itself, is a melting pot of ideas, emotions, andtraditions. According to Joachim Berendt, jazz is a form of music thatemerged in the United States as a combination of African American andEuropean music. The instrumentation, melody, and harmony are influenced byWestern music while the rhythm, phrasing, and production of sounds areinfluenced by African American music. When we examine at the history ofjazz, we encounter a variety of musicians and styles that are unique andimpressive in practically every way. Undoubtedly, jazz us unique and important to the soul of American music. One incident that emphasizes the significance of jazz occurred in 1977.This was the year that NASA launched Voyager I and included a recordedgreeting for anyone who might discover it. This recording included the jazzgreats Louis Armstrong and Blind Willie Johnson as representatives ofAmerican culture. That NASA would include jazz musicians indicates thesignificance that jazz music has had not only on American music, but music While jazz is distinctly American, it can sometimes be difficult to
"Oriental Strut" and "Cornet Chop Suey" illustrate Armstrong's finest stop-playing to date, according to Gioia. (86) Gioia notes that "Armstrong always took delight in the use of stop-timechoruses, a technique in which the band would play a simple rhythm pattern. Gennari points out that Armstrong's influence and "vanguard techniquesare, for example, no less central to a definition of twentieth centurymodernism that Picasso's" (Gennari 1991 450). To put this into perspective, Gioia notes that today, Armstrong'scontributions are "obscured to modern listeners by the very success of thetrumpeters trailblazing. In the final analysis, Armstrong's stiffest competition during this period was primarily with his own landmark performances of the past. For instance, on the song,"Many Make Up Your Mind," his lead is very firm. Interestingly, Johnson always expressed a desire for preachingover being a musician. Indeed, Armstrong's innovation paved the way for other artists toexperiment and grow in areas where it was simply not possible beforeArmstrong. Duke Ellington once described jazz as a "freedom that takes manyforms" (Ellington qtd. As we have observed, jazz is often seen as amusical outlets and response to the oppression that African Americansexperienced. Gennari notes that this allows for jazz to generate newmeaning with almost every performance. " In this piece, the guitar takeson the role of the preacher and Johnson's voice assumes that of thecongregation. In fact,Shipton asserts that Armstrong's recordings from 1925-8 were extremelyinfluential across the world. Armstrong brought a sense of swing to the small jazz group.
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Acceptance Essays
