“(What Did I Do To Be So) Black and Blue” The genre of Jazz has been subject to constant change and development throughout history. Drawing on the various cultural practices of the areas where it became popular, one of the most widely known was New Orleans Jazz. Considered the Birthplace of Jazz, New Orleans was home to a vibrant musical scene, influenced heavily by the combination of a traditional African musical texture and rhythms and key points of European harmony and form. Throughout the evolution of Jazz, the use of blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, the swing groove, and varied melodic texture betrayed quite the African roots of the genre and became the standard elements of the style. Performers such as Armstrong helped to
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In the show “Hot Chocolates,” actors mingled on stage with humorous feats of acrobatic dance, all focused on the plight of blacks in the racist society of the time, presenting racial stereotypes all very similar to those seen in the minstrel shows performed. The piece seemed to be just rather a bluesy ballad sung by a little black girl after her man left her for a lighter-skinned woman. Many overlooked the piece “Black and Blue” and the statement it created in the …show more content…
Armstrong's version was released with strategic alterations which heightened that sense of racial protest. By removing the song from the context of “Hot Chocolates,” it became a more accepted by African Americans looking for equality and opportunity in a society dominated by white men. Armstrong removed many of the comical and controversial lyrics instead replacing them with trumpet solos and instrumental interludes. The lyrics he did sing were a selected balance of humor and protest. He chose to keep the complaint “I'm white inside, but that don't help my case/ 'cause I can't hide what's in my face” in order to make his point, while also retaining the minstrel show allusion “feel like old Ned,” and the lighthearted phrase about even the mouse leaving the house, helped to carry the complaint of mistreatment across to the audience while still being innocent enough to the ears of whites to not cause an uproar. Armstrong chose to use instrument solos to create a musical value to his interpretation which is a reason it became very
In the show “Hot Chocolates,” actors mingled on stage with humorous feats of acrobatic dance, all focused on the plight of blacks in the racist society of the time, presenting racial stereotypes all very similar to those seen in the minstrel shows performed. The piece seemed to be just rather a bluesy ballad sung by a little black girl after her man left her for a lighter-skinned woman. Many overlooked the piece “Black and Blue” and the statement it created in the …show more content…
Armstrong's version was released with strategic alterations which heightened that sense of racial protest. By removing the song from the context of “Hot Chocolates,” it became a more accepted by African Americans looking for equality and opportunity in a society dominated by white men. Armstrong removed many of the comical and controversial lyrics instead replacing them with trumpet solos and instrumental interludes. The lyrics he did sing were a selected balance of humor and protest. He chose to keep the complaint “I'm white inside, but that don't help my case/ 'cause I can't hide what's in my face” in order to make his point, while also retaining the minstrel show allusion “feel like old Ned,” and the lighthearted phrase about even the mouse leaving the house, helped to carry the complaint of mistreatment across to the audience while still being innocent enough to the ears of whites to not cause an uproar. Armstrong chose to use instrument solos to create a musical value to his interpretation which is a reason it became very