The Jazz Singer : The Jazz Singer

The era of the Roaring Twenties, was a time of great societal change. Many of these changes were greatly influenced by jazz music. During this time, the country was coming out of World War I and the attitude of most people was dark and dismal. Dance and music clubs became tremendously popular in an effort to improve the quality of life for many people.

“Walkin and Swingin” is a piece of jazz performed by Andy Kirk and his band, the Twelve Clouds of Joy, that could be described as light, bouncy, and perhaps easy or even uncluttered. This was written by Mary Lou Williams for Andy Kirk and is a thirty-two bar piece with four choruses. However, the length of the sections is handled differently, with the last chorus section being shortened to six bars after the transitions between different instruments, from the saxophone and brass to the piano (seen from 2:16 to about 2:24). The song overall has a light tone, and has many instruments that contribute, including two alto saxophones, one tenor saxophone, three trumpets, two trombones, a guitar, a piano, a bass, and drums, as observed from the written sheet music. The piece is different from others in multiple ways, perhaps the most noticeable being the piano solo played by Mary Lou Williams, the multiple solos played by members of the brass instrument section, very quick but effective transitions, and the overall swing groove of the music. There is also a walking bass used at the bridge, and a very intriguing trumpet lead of the brass instruments.

Throughout history sound has been used to help convey a story. As early as the 1900’s, without today’s technology, movies would often be accompanied by a soundtrack played on a piano or record players. In 1927 The Jazz singer was released, a warner bros movie that featured music and dialog on the actual filmstrip. This film is

Have you ever made a hard decision? That’s what Mel has to do. He has to decide between has friends band garage or a career in a jazz band. While Mel may enjoy the time and band with his friends but he should do the Jazz band. Mel should do the Jazz band because we should always do what we can to get better at what we love. Even if that means we lose something else.

Dee Dee Bridgewater, born as Denise Eileen Garrett, is an American Jazz singer. She was born on May 27, 1950 in Memphis Tennessee. She was raised as a catholic in Flint Michigan. Dee Dee was exposed to jazz early because Matthew Garrett, her father, He was a teacher and jazz trumpeter at Manassas High School. Per her mother, Dee Dee scatted before she could even talk. Her father also played jazz records by jazz musicians such as Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis as she grew up. Realizing that she likes to sing, she became a singer. When she was the age of sixteen, she was a member of a rock rhythm and blues trio, singing in the clubs in Michigan. During this time Motown Records, a record label, was just starting up. Dee Dee auditioned for Motown

At its core, The Jazz Singer is ostensibly a Jewish-American story. The central conflict is Jakie Rabinowitz’s heritage, family, and upbringing coming to a head with his chosen career and where his heart lies: performance in an American pop cultural milieu. A reading of the film suggests that although hybridity can be found between the old and the new; the traditional and the modern; they are fundamentally in conflict with each other and cannot co-exist in their established forms: one must supersede the other. Cantor Rabinowitz is introduced with an intertitle description of his religious role in the synagogue, saying that he “stubbornly held to the ancient traditions of his race”. The adult Jakie Rabinowitz, by contrast, is introduced eating ham and eggs in a café before performing two numbers in the genre forbidden to him by his father as it debases “the voice God gave him.” He has changed his name - like Al Jolson, originally born Asa Yoelson - to Jack Robin, as he announces to his parents in a letter, who show concern over his choice of partner: his father thinks she may be (which indeed she is) a shiksa, while his mother emphasises that a non-ethnic name is not indicative of heritage (or lack thereof) in the “theayter.” Quintessentially American ‘Jazz’ music and performance is diametrically opposed to “the songs of Israel.” In The Jazz Singer, Jewish culture is preserved and assimilated into American life, but Jewish ethnicity is rendered invisible in showbusiness, and

There are many important women who significantly contributed to Jazz and left a legacy of women artists. In the early years of Jazz, it was considered a male professional and women who tried to be part of Jazz faced obstacles. This was from male musicians, critics, record producers, club-owners, concerts and also racism. Despite the obstacles, women forced their way to be part of Jazz and pushed for equality and visibility (“Gender Discrimination, 2014).

During the early 1900’s, a new style of music began to take shape in the colorful city of New Orleans. People from all over the world came to exchange stories, conversation, and music. Although it is a very hard genre of music to define, it is said that Jazz is the combination of European and African music that was brought in via the ports. With mostly an African American population, the musicians shared their music in Storyville - a cultural melting pot, and began to spread the “New Orleans Sound”. They contributed to what would soon be known as Jazz in 1917. The spontaneous nature of Jazz’s syncopation and sound makes it a very humanistic style of music and makes every performance original. Every day we improvise, whether it is in conversation or spur of the moment decisions. These truly unique elements caused Jazz to become a symbol of America, and changed music forever.

Before watching “The Jazz Singer”, I had no idea of its cultural or historical significance. I learned that it was the first motion picture to have synchronized dialogue and words. It set the precedent for cinematography, live voice recordings, and real-time dialogue. The film was based on a short story written only a few years prior. The story was called “The Day of Atonement” and was authored by Samson Raphaelson. The short story was then adapted into an onstage musical in 1925 before finally becoming a full length feature film in 1927.

     Jazz is a style of music that began and has been revolutionized within the United States. Jazz music first appeared in the city of New Orleans and eventually moved onto Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, and New York City. Jazz unites different elements of African, African- American, religious, brass brand, and blues style of music. The music of Jazz, and its changes through the years, is now a form of music that is known and respected throughout this nation and the world.

The first jazz was played in the early 20th century. The work chants and folk

Cool Jazz originated in the late 1940 's. It was created from the mix of classical music and jazz music. Miles Davis is known as the creator of cool jazz and his most important album was "Birth of Cool". People also say that cool jazz was a smoother style of bebop. The rhythm of cool jazz is more of a melodic flow. Cool jazz also originated in New York

     The music called Jazz was born sometime around 1895 in New Orleans. It combined elements of Ragtime, marching band music and Blues. What made Jazz such a different perspective of traditional music was its act of improvising. There was a widespread use of improvisation often by more than one player at a time. Songwriters would write the music down on a piece of paper, and then the Jazz musicians would try their best to play the music. Usually in a Jazz piece, musicians would use the song as a starting point to improvise around. Jazz musicians would play a familiar song to the audience, and by the time they were done with the piece they would stir up a totally different feeling away from the

Over time there have been many eras of music and many genres. One could say that the Classical music, or the Romantic era has been the most significant in music history. Although those times are very important to the music world, Jazz in the early 20th century is very significant to the history of music in the United States. Next is a little bit of history and what makes Jazz music Jazz.

The jazz is a musical expression that was created it in Africa America and also it is Americas classical music, but first it started 20th century in Africa America. When the Jazz started in the United States, it started first New Orleans, so the Jazz in that time started to become American’s popular music. According to the article Jazz, “The 1950s saw the emergence of free jazz, which explored playing without regular meter, beat and formal structures”, so the free jazz was changing during that time because it was played different (Jazz). In the jazz has faster tempos and it is playing without formal and beat. The elements of the jazz have a steady beat, fast tempo, and polyphonic texture. In addition, the part of rhythm of the jazz is that