Jazz

Jazz History Concert Report II For my final concert writing critique, I decided to attend the live Ball State Student Jazz Combos on Tuesday, November 8; this event took place in Choral Hall inside of the university’s Music Instruction Building. The wooden hall was smaller than I thought it would have been, but it gave the concert setting a more intimate feel. There were three groups presenting that day, each under a different director. Because each group did not have a specific name, I had to…

all young and powerfully talented, are Alex LoRe on alto saxophone, Matt Davis on guitar, Johannes Felscher on bass, and Jimmy Macbride on drums. Some tunes feature a group of woodwind players that plump for a classical chamber tone rather than a jazz-oriented drive. The admitted influence of classical minimalists…

Jazz, it is the original true form of American music; jazz musician Winton Marsalis said in the film Jazz by Ken burns that, “Jazz is the first true art form to come from the soil of America”. This belief stems from the fact that Jazz as a genre emerged from the wake of the civil war in America. It was after the fall of slavery and the new interaction between these previously enslaved peoples and the rest of the country that Jazz was able to emerge. The years before jazz saw the city of New…

The Life of Art Tatum Author Taylor Jr. who goes by the name of Art Tatum is said to be the greatest jazz pianist of all time, known for his famous two-handed runs. Art was born in October 13, 1909 in Toledo, OH to pianist Mildred Hoskins and Guitarist Arthur Tatum Sr. Completely blind by cataracts in one eye and nearly blind in the other, Art played music by ear, mimicking the sounds he heard from other musicians such as Fats Waller. He played so well that by age three he was considered a…

Food, music, clothes, language, they all have one thing in common having to be an influence that African American Communities have in the United States.The background story of African American in North America started as enslaved Africans brought to North America and forced into working as free labors. Coming into a continent completely different from what Africans were used to, they were forced to adapt to the western world. Working as free labors, Africans had a huge impact on the economy of…

and say, “Everything turns on Jazz.” (This would be another topic of discussion: whether or not he says it in French) The camera would follow the direction of the padre’s finger and pan towards the night sky. The electric piano in the background of the music sounding like the twinkling stars above. In the night sky, the blinking light of a Mexican-Afro satellite is visible to all. It would be a disgrace not to end this adaption of the novel with a jazz tune. Jazz is a core idea of the Véa’s…

West Coast Trip Charlie “Bird” Parker is one of the most iconic figures not only in the modern jazz history, but also in the jazz history overall. Charlie Parker had an extraordinary melodic gift and regularly created solos that consisted of ling-lined melodies, each of which was elegant improvised composition unto itself. This gained a wide following among jazz musicians and greatly influenced the Jazz community in the iconic shift is music. Parker’s self-destructive behavior and lifestyle,…

Big Band period of the 1930's, jazz, or swing, had turned out to be well known and fused the African components of syncopation and riffs. Riffs, rhythms, and syncopations are only a couple of attributes of African American impact on basically all music, and jazz music, specifically, took this impact to an alternate level. What changed was that already, in the mid-nineteenth century, jazz was basically syncopated music yet was more as per walking and piano music. Jazz is very improvisational,…

vocalist/composer/dancer, Jen Shyu, meritoriously earned the trust of groundbreaking jazz luminaries such as Steve Coleman and Anthony Braxton. Born in Illinois to Taiwanese and East Timorese immigrant parents, the New-York based singer brings her musical heritage and other multi-cultural influences into nine original compositions, which she calls doors (to other worlds). Although heavily steeped in the world music genre, her work also includes gritty jazz layers piled up by her Jade Tongue…

each period. During the 1600 – 1700’s was a particularly hard time for the African Slaves. They struggled through inhumane conditions to survive, but they still wanted to express their feelings through dancing during this time. This was the birth of jazz dance and only the start. The style was a collaboration of European dance that highlighted the harmonies and social dance, combine with African styled dance that emphasized the rhythm and torso movement as well as integrated low movements, bent…