Jazz Influence On Rock And Roll

Superior Essays
“Through his clear, warm sound, unbelievable sense of swing, perfect grasp of harmony, and supremely intelligent and melodic improvisations, he taught us all to play jazz” (“History of Jazz”). In this quote, Wynton Marsalis was talking about Louis Armstrong. Jazz music has impacted the world and cultures, it shares in so many ways. Modern jazz has continued in this tradition, singing the songs of a more complicated urban existence. Now, jazz is exported to the world. Jazz music greatly influenced all kinds of music that is popular today. One of the types of music that was inspired by the elements of jazz was classical. “In the early 20th century, a number of prominent European and American composers became intensely interested in Jazz …show more content…
In order to understand the influence of jazz on rock and roll it is first important to understand the differences between jazz and rock and roll. Jazz is the several types of slave music combined together. Slaves sang jazz music to pass time on the plantations ("Jazz vs Rock"). Rock and roll has a standard three chord sequence. Rock and roll is a spin off of jazz, blues, and country music. ("Jazz vs Rock"). Both jazz and rock and roll have originated from blues but there are differences between them. In the past jazz music and rock roll have been separate, even though their time periods overlap ("Down Beats and Rolling"). A person can hear the elements of jazz in rock and roll music. In the United States rock was a knock on effect of jazz. ("20th Century Music"). Gospel spirituals and the blues have been drawn upon by rock. ("The Roots of 60s Rock"). Rock and roll may have gospel side to it but it is also very percussive. Rock and roll turned into music that has loud drumming. It also appeals to younger generations ("The Influence of Jazz"). Most of the youth today listen to some type of rock music. The variation can be from soft rock all the way up to heavy metal. “In rock, jazz found another opportunity to merge with new musical idioms, sounds, and concepts” ("Jazz-Rock Fusion"). There are many ways that a person can eighth notes. They can play them straight or uneven. There are also abundant different ways …show more content…
The first opera that George Gershwin was Blue Monday. It was only one act and it was based on jazz. The genre of the opera was folk opera ("Gershwin 's Operas and Musicals"). Folk opera is a combination between jazz music and classical music. Numerous musicals and operas took their shape from jazz music ("Gershwin 's Operas and Musicals"). Operas and musicals are different things but they both originated from jazz. “There 's no doubt the musical brilliance of the George and Ira Gershwin, Porgy and Bess operatic adaptation of the book Porgy, will continue to live through the ages. It still remains an often misunderstood and controversial story classic whose music has spawned simple but elegant songs that have become standards in the jazz music world” ("Porgy and Bess-The Jazz"). Gershwin wrote Porgy and Bess in the 1930s. Porgy and Bess was set in the 1930s in an African American neighborhood. It is a love story between a cripple beggar and a beautiful woman. Bess wants to turn away from her life as a prostitute and cocaine addict ("Porgy and Bess"). Porgy and Bess is an opera. Musicals are a totally different thing than operas. Gershwin is still very popular for his compositions involving jazz elements. All forms of music have influenced the musical theater, including jazz ("Gershwin 's Operas and Musicals"). There are twenty four different variations of jazz. Every type of musician and music has been influenced by jazz

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The History Of Jazz

    • 1314 Words
    • 5 Pages

    All music genres and styles have their beginnings, some better documented than others. Whether it be an effect of time period or geographical location of the birth of a music styling or it be related to the culture of a music that may practice and oral tradition as opposed to a written down, notation style of music. Regardless of the reasons, all music has it’s start. One of the more recent developments in music history is that of Jazz. Jazz is one of these styles that’s dawn is somewhat up in the air amongst music scholars and historians.…

    • 1314 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Before Rock music there was Jazz music, classical, blues, country music and others. Each type of music genre has either been inspired or inspired others to create their own music. The genres that had inspired Rock music was blues, rhythm and country music. And with that inspiration Rock music has inspired others to…

    • 1670 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Bebop Research Paper

    • 651 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Comparison of Swing and Bop Jazz Jazz music is one of the youngest genres of music that is played in this day and age. This genre of jazz encompasses several different styles such as bebop and swing. Both styles are different but they are still classified as jazz. Swing music is the older of the two styles jazz. Swing became very popular in the 1930’s to the mid 1940’s.…

    • 651 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Porgy and Bess is an English-language opera composed in 1934 by George Gershwin, with a libretto written by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin from Heyward's novel Porgy and later play of the same title. Porgy and Bess was first performed in New York City on September 30, 1935, and featured an entire cast of classically trained African-American singers—a daring artistic choice at the time. After suffering from an initially unpopular public reception due in part to its racially charged theme, the Houston Grand Opera production of the opera in 1976 gained it new popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed operas. While Porgy and Bess has become a cultural artifact, one of the controversies over the opera…

    • 384 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Soul of American Jazz Name: Louis Armstrong Born: New Orleans Died: New York August 4th, 1901 July 6th, 1971 (age 69) Mention of jazz music, the first people to associate people, is likely to be a clown image, nicknamed Uncle Satchmo (Uncle Satchmo), little cute. He is a husky singer, with a small hand often. His New Orleans jazz style, in Dick Dixieland peiqu, playing the advantages of simple structure, dramatic works.…

    • 1707 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jazz was a new genre of music that emerged in the 1920s. It consists of blended instrumental ragtime and vocal blues which created an exhilarating new sound. As a result, this music became a popular hit and spread across the country. In addition to jazz, jazz orchestra became popular. It was jazz music performed with drums, saxophones, pianos, and many more.…

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jazz Age The Jazz genre has blossomed during the 1920s that has carried an impact to modern day. When the Great Migration happened, many African Americans had migrated from the South into the Northern and Western area. The known and pronoun white area had become a diverse community. The movement was followed by the Harlem Renaissance; also created because of their culture and artistic abilities such as painting, writing, music, and more.…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Louis Armstrong Influence

    • 1562 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The United States of America has been one of many great countries to lead the world in technology, politics, and art. Music has existed in various forms such as rhythm and melody since the day human beings could hear and feel. Jazz is a genre of music that was born in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This broad genre of music has roots that pull from pre-existing elements that are traced back to African-American slave culture. Some of those elements include single line melodies, call and response patterns, work songs and gospel influences.…

    • 1562 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the late 1800’s, industry and social dynamics were changing dramatically and in the sub-culture of New Orleans, jazz was used to express an era with music. Progression with music and the times go hand in hand, this is because relevance is a key contributor in the dialogue of music and how it is received amongst its listeners. The component of relevance is what keeps styles of music around for a long time or short lived, moreover, jazz has held its weight in the music industry. To this day jazz is still being played on the airways, with different variations from when it started 100 years ago. According to Wynton Marsalis, "Through his clear, warm sound, unbelievable sense of swing, perfect grasp of harmony, and supremely intelligent and melodic improvisations, he taught us all to play jazz.…

    • 1072 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Harlem Renaissance

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Jazz music, as well as similar styles, integrated themselves into white culture:”Black musicians began to merge with white musicians[...] As time progressed, black music became more acceptable in white culture. Most blacks were a big part of jazz, however, some were a little slow, as Laban Hill writes, “[...]wealthy blacks felt that jazz music was more acceptable[than it was previously]”. Music and dance are the gateways to the soul, and Hill expresses that in his writing. Music and dance is something that everyone can relate to, and Hill describes how: “[...] distinctly African American music and dancing had a greater on the majority white population than [...] literary or artistic creations”(Hill 56).Music is a way to the heart of humans, we are drawn to melodies and beats.…

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    F. Scott called the 1920’s the “Jazz age.” Jazz is a musical form based on improvisation. Jazz was made into three different forms of music African American blues, ragtime, and European-based popular music. Louis Armstrong have a major part with the jazz influenced. Mr. Armstrong was a unofficial ambassador of Jazz.…

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    What exactly is jazz? According to Virgil Thomson, the American critic and composer, “Jazz, in brief, is a compound of (a) the fox-trot rhythm, and (b) a syncopated melody over this rhythm” [1]. An understanding of the elements of jazz allows the listeners to further appreciate the very art that has defined American culture for generations. Critical to the development of jazz are African and European music, brought by the foreigners who sought a better life in the New World and who were sold to into slavery, respectively. Originally from New Orleans around the 1890s, Jazz remains today as a remarkable type of art form that is crucial to American culture and history.…

    • 1721 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Musicians began developing their own signature style, a cornetist and trumpeter named Louis Armstrong made a name for himself as one of the most influential artists in jazz history. Nicknamed “Satchmo”, “Pops”, and later “Ambassador Satch” Armstrong was an all-star virtuoso influencing numerous musicians with his gallant trumpet style and unique vocals. He displayed a charismatic stage presence that was noticed not only by the jazz world but by all popular music, earning him the reputation of a remarkable blues…

    • 1312 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hip Hop 1900s

    • 1431 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Music in the 1900s was very popular/influential and produced many talented artists. The genres of music known at the time was hip hop, rap, jazz, classical, and rock and roll. Music at this time broke boundaries and brought people together who bonded over a single genre of music. Great musicians erupted during this time. Music did not belong to a single race/gender of people, but a multitude of people.…

    • 1431 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jazz Compare and Contrast Jazz was the music of the 20’s people who listened to it back then were considered rebels. The artists that really got the ball rolling with this new sound was Jelly Roll Morton, Joe King Oliver, Sidney Bichet, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington. These men changed the way people looked at music for ever. They come from different backgrounds but impact the music world in a long lasting way, which leads to their own situations by the end of their careers.…

    • 1140 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics