Hugh Arkinson May 6, 2004 BAMS 306 Jazz: The American Heritage From the beat of ragtime syncopation to soaring gospel choirs mixed with call-and-response vocalizations and the moody blues, jazz has become a much-loved form of music worldwide. Since it came out of the South ...

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 ...

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...

Perhaps more than any other form of music, jazz music means America. Jazz music, like America itself, is a melting pot of ideas, emotions, and traditions. According to Joachim Berendt, jazz is a form of music that emerged in the United States as a combination of African American and European...

Big Band Big band refers to a jazz group of 10 or more musicians, usually featuring at least three trumpets, two or more trombones, four or more saxophones, and a rhythm section of accompanists playing some combination of piano, guitar, bass, and drums. Big-band music as a concept for music fans i...

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...

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...

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 ...

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 ...

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...

"It is America's music – born out of a million American negotiations: between having and not having; between happy and sad, country and city; between black and white and men and women; between the Old Africa and the Old Europe – which could only have happened in an entirely new...