“You see, we colored people have our own music that is part of us… [it’s] the product of our souls…” – James Reese Europe. Jazz is a popular style of music that emerged around the late 1800’s in New Orleans, a city of great ethnic diversity and unique musical styles. New Orleans’s cultural environment became the center of music which ultimately influenced the essence of jazz. Jazz music not only entertained the ears of many but also possessed the capability of bridging racial differences. If a listener was able to seep into the core of jazz, they would recognize that its improvisation and swing feeling was derived from the popular genres of ragtime and blues. Ragtime and blues share several similarities as well as differences, though each
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Scott Joplin published his classic ragtime compositions such as “Maple Leaf Rag” in 1899 which is filled with syncopated melodic motives which separated Joplin from other ragtime composers. Joplin wanted his music to be respected since in the earlier years ragtime music wasn’t appreciated by the larger public. However, years after his death, ragtime elevated and began to develop itself along the popular lines. The blues, on the other hand, was given a different outlook. The Blues was derived from the hollers and “field shouts” of African slaves and later expanded into harmonic, sensible and structured music with emotional content. When a musician begins to play the blues, they’re expressing their personal thoughts along with a wide range of emotions. Bessie Smith, recognized as one of the most powerful classic blues singers of the 1920’s and labeled as “The Empress of the Blues”, has made a significant impact in jazz culture. She began her professional career in 1912 where she first introduced to the world her rich, deep, and soulful voice. Some of Smith’s most popular blues hits such as the “Downhearted Blues” and the “St. Louis Blues” brought her into the public’s eye. “St. Louis Blues” expressed Smith’s creativity as she incorporates different parts of her life into a story with …show more content…
We notice that both genres originated in African American communities across the South and later expanded to other ethnic communities in the late 1800’s. The call-and-response form, short repeated melodic structure, improvisations, and dance feeling found in ragtime and blues heavily influenced the emergence of jazz. But even so, various jazz critics such as Ted Gioia believed that “ragtime music rivals the blues in importance--and perhaps surpasses it in influence--as a predecessor to early jazz” (pp.20). While other jazz listeners relied on the belief that “if it [wasn’t] for the blues, jazz wouldn’t [have] exist[ed]” (Abdul-Jabbar 198). Ragtime and blues together received a mixture of opinions toward their individual roles in the development of jazz. Nevertheless, by stepping back and to look at jazz culture from a holistic perspective, both key elements were essential the emergence of
Scott Joplin published his classic ragtime compositions such as “Maple Leaf Rag” in 1899 which is filled with syncopated melodic motives which separated Joplin from other ragtime composers. Joplin wanted his music to be respected since in the earlier years ragtime music wasn’t appreciated by the larger public. However, years after his death, ragtime elevated and began to develop itself along the popular lines. The blues, on the other hand, was given a different outlook. The Blues was derived from the hollers and “field shouts” of African slaves and later expanded into harmonic, sensible and structured music with emotional content. When a musician begins to play the blues, they’re expressing their personal thoughts along with a wide range of emotions. Bessie Smith, recognized as one of the most powerful classic blues singers of the 1920’s and labeled as “The Empress of the Blues”, has made a significant impact in jazz culture. She began her professional career in 1912 where she first introduced to the world her rich, deep, and soulful voice. Some of Smith’s most popular blues hits such as the “Downhearted Blues” and the “St. Louis Blues” brought her into the public’s eye. “St. Louis Blues” expressed Smith’s creativity as she incorporates different parts of her life into a story with …show more content…
We notice that both genres originated in African American communities across the South and later expanded to other ethnic communities in the late 1800’s. The call-and-response form, short repeated melodic structure, improvisations, and dance feeling found in ragtime and blues heavily influenced the emergence of jazz. But even so, various jazz critics such as Ted Gioia believed that “ragtime music rivals the blues in importance--and perhaps surpasses it in influence--as a predecessor to early jazz” (pp.20). While other jazz listeners relied on the belief that “if it [wasn’t] for the blues, jazz wouldn’t [have] exist[ed]” (Abdul-Jabbar 198). Ragtime and blues together received a mixture of opinions toward their individual roles in the development of jazz. Nevertheless, by stepping back and to look at jazz culture from a holistic perspective, both key elements were essential the emergence of