Louis Armstrong

Trumpeter-composer Wadada Leo Smith owns an inimitable avant-jazz voice and an out-of-the-box creativity that is patented throughout a prolific career. If last year he delighted me twice with A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke (duo record with pianist Vijay Iyer) and America’s National Park, this year he strikes again with another couple of powerful albums, Solo Reflections and Meditations on Monk and Najwa, the object of this review and a bow to major American jazz artists. The album’s acute bite…

Through improvisation and virtuosic playing, musicians were able to combine both traditional melodic phrases and new chord progressions that led to the emergence of jazz music. Bebop and cool jazz incorporated fast tempos from African American cultures with European harmonies in order to create new music, representing the existing ethnic diversity in the US. The sociocultural environment of Harlem allowed for African American musicians to gather and produce bebop music by drawing from their folk…

The word Klezmer is derived from two Hebrew words, “kle” means instrument or vessel and “zemer” means song (Netsky, p.5). Klezmer music was born from the villages of Eastern Europe where Jewish troubadours (also known as klezmorim) would entertain at different a functions that were happy and joyous like weddings, birthday parties, and anniversaries. Klezmer music can be dated back to the 1800’s from Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants (Netsky, p.5). The Bible talks about music being played in…

Beautiful melody, unusually chords and a great sense of rhythmic patterns are only a few characteristics that describe Thelonious Monk’s music. Monk was one the few American jazz composers that gave a spiritual feeling in his music. During his lifetime he played melodies and used chord progressions that no one has ever played before. He epitomizes what a jazz musician is supposed to be, whether if it’s through his compositions, his piano playing or someone else playing his music, you know right…

The article, ‘The Mysterious Jazz’ by Greenville Vernon and Jelly Roll Morton’s 1938 oral history Library of Congress Recording talks about the origins of Jazz. Jelly Roll Morton’s perspective on the origin of Jazz is more historical than that of Greenville Vernon. They have similar perspectives on how the origin of Jazz came about, however, Jelly Roll Morton is able to expand more on the history and origin of Jazz. In the New York Tribune, ‘The Mysterious Jazz’ article by Greenville Vernon…

Listening to Jazz for the Soul Jazz is widely regarded as one of the most influential types of music in American History. Since it’s formation, jazz has represented the literal sound of freedom for many African Americans. James Baldwin’s “Sonny's Blues,” tells the coming of age story about a young man named Sonny and his life as an aspiring jazz musician. To become one of the great jazz musicians Sonny must focus on listening to those around him including his older brother. Ironically the…

Bolero reaches Puerto Rico Music Scene Generally, when you discuss about Puerto Rico’s music, some of the first things that occur to your mind include dynamic and a diversity of cultural resources. In addition to the original Puerto Rico music, nowadays, the musical scene of this country is also influenced by genres coming from other cultures, as well. One of these genres is bolero, which originates from Cuba. Having its origins in Cuba, bolero has quickly reached the souls of Puerto Ricans, so…

Sal Salvador was conceived in Monson, Mass. on November 21, 1926. His family unit moved to Stafford Springs, Connecticut in 1927. Salvador's first guitar was given to him by his dad. His principle musical enthusiasm for the starting, which he had in the same manner as various of his buddies, was playing hillbilly music. Amid the mid 1940s Sal started to end up amped up for jazz music essentially through the recordings of trumpeter Harry James. Sal Salvador first started playing jazz on an…

On November 8th, 2015 I viewed a recorded pop music performance of Selena Quintanilla titled “Selena Live”. The performance originally took place on the evening of February 26, 1995, at the Astrodome Stadium in Houston, Texas. The legendary Tejano music star, Selena Quintanilla, became one of the most famous Latin music artists around the world. She was referred to as the “Queen of Tejano”. Tejano music, also known as Tex-Mex is a popular music genre that blends European, Mexican, and U.S.…

Q1. Choose 1 to 2 aspect(s) in the “Roaring Twenties” and discuss the concept of materialism and consumerism. The popularity of jazz music first originated in the legal red-light zone of New Orleans, Storyville (Kurtz, 1986). Jazz orchestras and bands formed and were hired to perform at nightclubs, ballrooms, and dance halls around East Coast of USA. The technological advancement of radio broadcast facilitated the popularisation of this essentially Afro- American style of music in the…