Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald. What many consider to be some of the greats in jazz. What do they all have in common? Their ethnic backgrounds. Race played a vast role in the history of jazz, and the development of jazz alone was hindered and funneled by the systemic racism that was so very present at that time in America. In the very beginning, the music that preceded jazz was for entertaining small groups of black slaves, primarily for allowing them to ease their oppression. The very fundamentals of jazz developed out of a musical revolution against the tyranny of the white male. But as jazz became more and more prominent as music and a money maker, the race personas were so profoundly lodged in society that it stuck out like a sore thumb. Since the beginning of jazz, it has been emblematically linked to the civil rights movement due to the fact that the music was enjoyed by blacks and whites alike. None other than Martin Luther King Jr. thought very highly of jazz: Jazz speaks for life. This is triumphant music.
Jazz is a musically diverse form
of music. The abstract ways of creation consisting of swung notes, ragtime rhythms, call and response vocals are theoretical, but what makes jazz truly special is not on the theoretical side but rather the provocative side. The form of improvisation is a particularly intriguing attempt to stay in the present. Improvisation is a musical creation of new musical ideas, spontaneously created based on previous knowledge. It is widely looked on as a skill which is not only hard to play, but harder to teach as it requires an individualΒs response to the audience and musicianship. One of the most well-known jazz pianists, Duke Ellington, created a music that is interactive yet varying, creating an immersive performance, which completely matched the audiences fervor. Duke maintained an elegant and nonchalant style very consistently and was not against change, but rather the contrary as he always searched for new influences (Latin and Asian in the 30s, and further expressive and unfamiliar sounds in the 40s) to ensure that he was always an efficient and absorbing musician.