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New York City Essay

Decent Essays

New York City is known as the birthplace or launching pad for countless musicians careers. In addition to launching scores of careers, New York serves as a pivotal location for several genres of music. Whether it was the birthplace or just a key city in a movement’s growth, New York’s boroughs and neighborhoods hold distinct legacies in these three genres expansion:

Blues and Jazz
The Jazz Era in New York City served as a catalyst in the genre’s expansion. While it originated out of the southern U.S., New York City and Chicago served as Jazz hotbeds in the north. Those hotbeds helped propel the sounds of the south across America and to Europe.

Nowhere in New York City holds more blues and jazz history than Harlem. The upper Manhattan neighborhood was the home of venues like the Cotton Club and the famed Apollo Theater. These famed destinations brought the greats of the day to the city, sparking the Harlem Renaissance in collaboration with the …show more content…

For your own look into the era, consider taking a tour of The Apollo.

Punk
A trip down to Greenwich Village brings you to the home of where punk rock began. In fact, it was Hilly Kristal’s famed CBGB that gave birth to not only punk, but also new wave. Upon its opening in 1970, CBGB would spark the punk movement behind upcoming acts that included The Ramones, Blondie and the New York Dolls. In the ensuing years, more venues would pop up around the city, giving the genre a growing platform.

Because of CBGB, punk developed a sort of home base for their sound. As it continued to solidify, the movement would spread to other major cities before reaching the suburbs and even rural parts of America. While the genre doesn’t necessarily resonate with every person, those that love the genre continue to flock to the area even after CBGB’s closing in 2006. ***Note these are just three of NYC’s many contributions to the expansion/birth of musical genres***

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