What is Jazz? According to the dictionary, jazz is defined as, "A kind of syncopated, highly rhythmic music originated by Southern blacks in the late 19th century" ("Jazz" 232). But, everyone should at least agree that jazz is the mother of all music, and is referred to as ...

J.J. Johnson was born James Louis in Indianapolis on January 22, 1924. At the age of nine, Johnson became very interested with music thus learning the piano with a church organist. He took further interest in music once he attended Crispus Attucks Senior High school playing the. He started out pl...

JAZZ RESEARCH PAPER SARAH VAUGHAN GOLDEN HITS MERCURY RECORDINGS 1990 SUBMITTED BY KATRINA GRIFFIN 2011.4 HUMANITIES PRO CHAMBERS According to Joseph Levey of The Jazz Experience: A Guide to Appreciation, "The jazz song is, at least, partially a literary form of expression; instrumenta...

Louis Armstrong is one of the most important jazz musicians and one of the greatest jazz musicians of the world. He is also one of the most influential musicians in the jazz music and its history. He had a special voice which by some people was called a "gravel-voice". The style that he p...

1928-This was one of the most important years of the 1920s. During this year inventions and new technologies led the way to a new society. In 1928 the first commercial televisions were being produced. Blacks and women were beginning to play an important role in American culture. Amelia Earhart ...

Billie Holiday was known, as one of America's most memorable and influential all-time great jazz vocalist. The inspiration for many aspiring singers today, Holiday had a singular voice steeped in aching emotion and fueled by an uncanny sense of swing. She not only stamped her distinctive signat...

Jessica Pilot An epiphany is a moment In "Sonny's Blues" we see the relationship of two brothers, both from two very different world emerge into something deeper. Both deal with their two different lives, one chooses to go about it more traditionally, and be a school teacher, the other fi...

Writing about Music Listen to the compilation tape carefully once or twice, and then choose one piece to explore in depth. You may NOT write about Bessie Smith's recording of "St. Louis Blues" or Paul Robeson's recording of "Go Down, Moses." Listen to your chosen piece two or three more times (...

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday was born April 7th, 1915, in Baltimore. Her original name was Eleanora Fagan. Although her father, Clarence Holiday, was a guitar/banjo player in Fletcher Henderson's band, she didn't break into the music world until her late teens. After being si...

I am the Duke; the Duke of jazz that is. I have earned it. I have won thirteen Grammy's. I was the first jazz musician to be elected as a member of the Royal Music Academy of Stockholm. I have been honored with the Legion of Honor by the French government. And by the end of my fifty year care...

Treatment for Hoagy Carmichael: An American Composer The documentary of Hoagy Carmichael will begin with the responses from interviews with random people edited together answering the question: Who was Hoagy Carmichael? The narrator begins with a brief (no longer than 90 seconds) synopsis of Ho...

American popular music from the 1930's reflects the cultural and social characteristics that shaped the American identity during the period. The music of the thirties is important when trying to understand the American people during a time of new technology, a massive growing in the population ...

Billie Holiday, probably the singularly most popular jazz vocalist of all time, was plagued by tragedy her entire life. Her grandfather was one of 17 children of a black Virginia slave impregnated by her white Irish plantation owner. When Billie was born in Baltimore, MD, her parents were only teena...

Bessie Smith "The Empress of Blues" as she is known to the blues community. She grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her family was very poor and she was left alone as her parents were taken from her, just before she was an adult. She was a large woman about 200 pounds and stood six feet tal...

Ferdinand Joseph "Jelly Roll Morton" LaMenthe was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on October 20, 1890. As a child he began to learn how to play the piano at age 10 years old. He was taught by Tony Jackson, composer of songs like "Pretty Boy" and other hits. Tony Jackson is among t...

Chris Fouts Louis Armstrong : "Satchmo" Louis Armstrong, also known as The Great Satchmo, was one of the greatest musicians in the United States during his time. The actual date of Louis Armstrong's birth has been debated over time. Some say that he was born on July 4th, 1900. Others say t...

Louis Daniel Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901. Although he was born on August 4, 1901, he celebrated it on July 4, 1900. He did this because it was what he was told and therefore believed. Louis came from a poor family in New Orleans. His father, Willie Armstrong, worked as a laborer, and he...

During the 1920s new economic interests and interactions came into light. These combined with the development of the arts and entertainment helped to form the reputation for the "Roaring Twenties". Economics now allowed people to spend more and make more money. The arts and entertainme...

During the 1920s new economic interests and interactions came into light. These combined with the development of the arts and entertainment helped to form the reputation for the "Roaring Twenties". Economics now allowed people to spend more and make more money. The arts and entertainme...

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday was born on April 7,1915, in Baltimore. Billie Holiday's grandfather had been a Slave in Virgina. Billie's parents, Sally Fagan and Clarence Holiday, were both born in Baltimore. They married as teens, soon after, Sally gave birth to Eleanora Fagan. While growing up,...

Bessie Smith, known as the "Empress of the Blues," was the most influential and controversial classical blues singer of the 1920s. During her prime, her powerful blues voice sold almost a million records and gave her a weekly salary of about $2000, placing her at the top of the blues charts. Tho...

Cabell Cab Calloway III lived an exciting and sometimes turbulent life - from street hustling as a young boy to performing in movies as well as for presidents. Cab is probably best known for his many years of live entertaining around the world. From his early days performing at such speakeasies as t...