Music and Society Modern World: Jazz and Culture

Jazz and Culture
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Introduction
From slavery to freedom, Jazz music has been an instrument of hope for the oppressed in the American society; specifically, this is a genre of music that saw the African Americans gainfully fight for equality in the society (Porter, 2002). For the African American jazz music was more than just a piece of musical element that they enjoyed on their free time. African Americans struggled with civil rights for the longest time (Verity, 2017). This is following the days of slavery that dominate the better part of the 19th century and the earlier years of the 20th century. For the African Americans living in the 19th century, they were treated as objects in a society that thrived on white supremacy. As the era on slavery came to an end, discrimination did not (Gabbard, 2015). As the majority of the years during the 20th century, were marred with segregation and discriminative measures that saw all of the African Americans treated as second class citizens. This meant that most of the African Americans did not get their basic rights (Gussler, 2017). Everything about being an African American at the time was a struggle (Burke, 2008). As such, they turned to arts where they would express their struggles in the society. One of the best platforms that the African Americans would use was music. music has been an integral part of the African American culture, where they are able to bring out the pain, suffering, frustrations, anger and remorse that they feel towards the society (Peretti, 1994). Jazz music in particular has been a corner stone in the revolution of the civil rights, forming a strong movement that would later see some of the most fundamental changes in the American society (Cambell, 1999). This was a music genre that saw the African Americans and the whites come together in a shift of the cultural foundation. It started a movement for equality among the Americans and has one so ever since (Levine, 1989). For the better part of the 20th and 21th century, jazz music is a corner stone of the social equality that is today enjoyed in the American society. It is a music that brought hope to the African Americans after years of oppressive treatment (Westphal, 2015).
Thesis statement: Jazz music brought about a cultural shift in the American society, creating a bridge between the marginalized and the rest of the communities.
Harlem Renaissance
African American music composition and performance was deeply affected by the social currents ("Strong social and economic mobility is considered part of American Dream, though there is relatively low social mobility in the U.S.", 2017). As such, it acted as a reflection of whatever challenges that the society was going through and most important, the experiences that the African Americans had (Hersch, 2007). While it all started in the south, where it was also confined at first, jazz and blues later on came to the northern parts of the unites states, during the first world war and later on became established in the northern black communities (HISTORY.com, 2017). This can also be attributed to the fact that during the great depression most of the people moved from the south and into the north as they looked for jobs and means to provide for their families (McCann, 2008). In the south, most of the industries were struggling and the civil rights were deplorable as most of the people sort refuge in the north where the working conditions were much better and the civil rights were more refined compared to the south (Grandt, 2004). Jazz, although largely overlooked played a major role in the call for equality in the American society at the time (Kirschke, 1995). One of the major movements that is intrinsically associated with the jazz music impacts on the civil right fight is the Harlem Renaissance (Shank, 2013).
With the likes of Louis Armstrong playing for the King Oliver Jazz Band in the 20s, Jelly Roll Morton making subtle impacts on the jazz pieces available in the mid-twenties and making way for great artistes such as Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington, the platform for change was set in motion. It is important to connect the Harlem Renaissance with the Great Migration (Gioia, 2011). As mentioned above, the south was still reliant on the segregation attitudes and policies even after the abolition of slavery (Harrison, 1991). However, the abolition gave the African Americans a chance to move to the north and seek the social equality that wanted ("The Harlem Renaissance [ushistory.org]", 2017). This was in reference to the Jim Crow laws that sort to demean the African Americans further even though slavery had been abolished (Lawrence, 2009). In the north, most of the African Americans, instead of wallowing in self-pity, rose up for the rights to be recognized as equal citizens of the land (Trotter, 1991). While coming to the northern states was seen a refuge from the deplorable conditions in the south, this too did not come without a struggle (Martin & Waters, 2009). Most of the whites in the north were weary of the African Americans flooding the job markets and industries ("Culture Shock: Flashpoints: Music and Dance: Early Jazz", 2017). As such the African Americans again faced resistance. It is from the resistance that the African Americans faced that most of the artists started to create content that was created to the social struggles in the society. This gave birth to the Harlem Renaissance (Powell, Bailey, In Skipwith, Hayward Gallery, Institute of International Visual Arts & Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1997). This was a literary cultural, artistic, and intellectual movement which began soon after the first world war (Gates, Higginbotham & American Council of Learned Societies, 2009). Starting in Harlem, the movement brought some of the most creative pieces in art, through movies, music, drama, paintings, sculpture and literature. Some of the pieces that were done during the time are still referenced to this day in the various scholarly and social platforms. Jazz was one of the pieces that came from the explosion in creativity at the time (Erenberg, 1998).
The Harlem Renaissance was a key element in the explosion of the African American culture and jazz was a reflection of the same (Jones, 2011). African Americans would use the music to express themselves with regard the experiences that they were having in the society that was largely white supremacist (Harrison, 1991). While at the start, jazz music was largely associated with dance, it evolved and became more personalized where the artistes would use it as a platform to sensitize the masses on the plight of the African Americans. The Harlem Renaissance brought out the capabilities of the African American community relative to their creativity. This was a platform to show the whites that the African Americans who were for the longest time considered inferior also had great talent and subtle views about their society and how to create a sustainable culture in America (Dean, 2006).
The culture Shift
With the growth and the explosion of the African American culture, there was new life in the society. Through the social shifts that were growing, what was socially acceptable changed. Jazz was now playing in most of the night clubs and became a sensational piece of art where the people could freely interact. It created a spirit of freedom, as most of the people now could engage in activities that were considered social unfit (Townsend, 2000). There was a more exciting night life among the African Americans which would later be extended to whites (Poiger, 2000). Even activities such casual sex, alcohol and drugs became part of the social change (Leonhardt, 2013). This indicated a creation from the norm, which allowed the people to break free and live in a society that was largely idealized in the music. There was an element of liberalism in the music that was then reflected in the society, with the way that the people dressed, their attitudes and even their language (Conyers, 2001). Jazz music created a society that was now increasingly becoming aware of their freedoms and the need for equality (Anderson, 1994). It represented a people that were opposed to the norms in the society and thus considered rebellious (McNally, 2000). This significantly instrumental in the attitudes that most of the people had adopted (Anderson, 1994). The nightlife, drugs, alcohol, casual sex and breaking the prohibitions were part of rebelling from the society that formed, them the whites.
‘No aspect of the Harlem Renaissance shaped America and the entire world as much as jazz. Jazz flouted many musical conventions with its syncopated rhythms and improvised instrumental solos. Thousands of city dwellers flocked night after night to see the same performers. Improvisation meant that no two performances would ever be the same. Harlem's Cotton Club boasted the talents of Duke Ellington. Singers such as Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday popularized blues and jazz vocals. Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong drew huge audiences as white Americans as well as African Americans caught jazz fever. The continuing hardships faced by African Americans in the Deep South and the urban North were severe. It took the environment of the new American city to bring in close proximity some of the greatest minds of the day. Harlem brought notice to great works that might otherwise have been lost or never produced. The results were phenomenal. The artists of the Harlem Renaissance undoubtedly transformed African American culture. But the impact on all American culture was equally strong. For the first time, white America could not look away.’ ("The Harlem Renaissance [ushistory.org]", 2017)
Pop Culture
The revolution brought about by the jazz music in the African American society started attracting the whites (Gerard, 1998). This was relative to the break in the norms that the music represented and the fact that the new culture created did not have any restrictions (Trotter, 1991). The African Americans did no restrict the whites and the whites too started taking up the liberal approach to life (Heyd, 1999). This was a new shift in the way the society was molded (Evans, 1999). The culture in the American society was slowly changing (Philipp, 2017). Even before the legislative changes came along, most of the society has started embracing the shift in the level of equality between the African Americans and the whites (Gerard, 1998). For the first time in a long while the culture of the minority became a desire for the majority in the society and more so those that were considered the superior races in America (Hennessey, 1994).
Women and Jazz
For the women in the society, jazz music brought about a relief from their traditional roles (Marcoux, 2012). The music was a symbol of rebellion and it allowed the women in the society to finally break free from the traditional roles that they had been accustomed to (Peretti, 199...