Blues

The masterful, classic composition “Potato Head Blues” by legendary musician Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven band is widely regarded today as one of Armstrong’s finest recordings. This song is a quick-paced jazz melody with the trumpet along with the piano providing what I believe is to be a 4 beat per measure rhythm. “Potato Head Blues” also sounds different from that of Joplin Rags since I counted 2 beats per measure. The song also does not seem to have much variation with a constant…

The blues, like any music genre, is a representation of emotion. Most of the time the emotion that is associated with the blues is well feeling blue. When a person gets laid off or someone close dies, they feel blue. If one starts to listen to some of the artist of the blues genre; however, one can see quickly that there are other emotions that can be associated with the blues. One can view that the blues is also about overcoming those hard times or letting go of those emotions that are making…

“Sonny’s Blues” “Music is a world within itself, it is a language we can all understand.” - Stevie Wonder James Baldwin avowed that “It is only in his music… that the negro in America has been able to tell his story,” and music of various kinds features prominently in “Sonny’s Blues.” The story’s title evidently promotes blues music, however the story itself strongly suggests the essence of jazz music. In the title, “Sonny’s Blues”, the blues are not only the genre of music that is mentioned…

The Man and His Music Out of all the styles of blues genre, the most influential was the Mississippi Delta blues, also known as the Delta blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta. This style of blues was recorded from the 1920’s through the late 1930’s. The Delta blues goes way back in American history. But it is mostly referring back to the African-American history. There is not one specific person who invented the blues, African Americans were the ones who started it all. But they mostly…

which “points toward the future of jazz” makes a valid point (Starr & Waterman, 88). ODJBs were playing during the ragtime craze, so their music exemplifies some of that, but begins to carry some of the predominate features of jazz. Even “Dipper Mouth Blues” still has some of the ragtime influence in it and there is again a difference between this song and…

his current self with his traumatic childhood. Much like the emphatic repetition of the “old blues song” that Pilate sings, in order to solve the mysteries of their family’s origin and carve a place for themselves in America, Milkman and his family uses music to heal themselves and eachother. Music and musical terminology are used to promote healing in the novel; but the recurring use of Pilate's “old blues song” creates a vein of psychotherapy that is more individualistic and specific to her…

Konstantin Dimopoulos’ “The Blue Trees” is what is known as environmental art. Like “land art” or “earthworks”, environmental art makes use of nature to create nondestructive art. “The Blue Trees” is at first a little underwhelming, after all, at its core it is literally just a tree painted blue. But as I have come to understand, it is actually an ongoing project with an important message. The formal elements of “The Blue Trees” did not seem to be too complex. The color used to paint the trees…

Few cities can claim the legacy of blues. There’s a generation of blues musicians that have brought their beautiful music to the Temecula Valley, attracted by the charm of the scene of a city domained by the wine culture, it seems like the pair goes very well hand in hand. The public is always eagered to hear vibrant guitar riffs and suspended harmonica chords. Missy Andersen at the Miramonte Winery on November 21st, 2015 was no exception. The large enclosed courtyard provided a festive ambiance…

representative music genres were Ragtime and Blues. They were exceptionally prominent in their distinctive music styles, rhythm, and beat. Without these two original music forms, there would have been no starting point for Jazz music to build up its specialties. However, the two similar yet different…

“Sonny’s Blues”, written by James Baldwin, was first published in 1957 in Partisan Review and was later published again by Baldwin in a collection of short stories called Going to Meet the Man. “Sonny’s Blues” is the story of two brothers, one an Algebra teacher in Harlem and the other a jazz musician tuned heroin addict and drug dealer both suffering from the inequalities faced by African Americans before and during the Civil Rights Movement. The story does not begin with background information…