In “Sonny’s Blues” James Baldwin uses imagery and the theme of music to help strengthen the relationship between the narrator and his younger brother, Sonny. Throughout the story there is a continual struggle for the two brothers to understand each other. The narrator, who is the older brother, is an algebra teacher. He thinks that musicians and bar workers are the bottom of the barrel. The younger brother is Sonny, who at the beginning of the story is arrested for heroin and is also a jazz pianist.
Black people lacked a voice in the early 19'00s and they needed a way to express themselves. They would put their heart and soul into what they were experiencing in music. Jazz not only being entertaining but also expressive. I can recall a quote from the movie that said if every piece of African American history was to be wiped out, jazz music alone would suffice to define us as a people and make us credible for helping to add to U.S history. Such strong words when it comes to
Scott Joplin had played in New York, and other great musicians followed in his footsteps. After The Original Dixieland Jazz Band played on Broadway, jazz musicians imitated the New Orleans sound. While not attaining the undisciplined and wildly erratic beat of New Orleans jazz, the popularity of jazz in New York increased drastically. The 1920s proved to be a Golden Age of jazz in New York. Jazz was diverse and appealed to people from every echelon of society.
The emergence of jazz formed as social state of affairs between the black and white populations in late 19th century. The white wanted to keep the black slavery under control while the African-Americans propelled to develop and maintain their own culture and traditions. Jazz, as a unique genre of music, represented their traditions and experiences and passed down through generations. These included ragtime, an upbeat primarily piano-based style, and the blues, rooted in the work songs of the Southern plantation and sharecropping tradition. The difference between these two styles involves artists, major composition and influence.
On the streets, in dance halls, and in Storyville cabarets like The Big 25 and Pete Lala’s, Freddy Keppard and King Oliver experimented with music so new, it didn’t even have a name. New Orleans, the devastated but recovering city, forever will be associated with the birth of jazz music, the first original art form developed in the United States, which went on to spread across the continent and around the globe during the 20th century. 3. Restrictions upon the use of African drums impacted
Sonny’s Blues, by James Baldwin, was about two brothers from Harlem. The older brother’s name is unknown, and the younger brother being Sonny. Sonny’s brother was a high school math teacher. Sonny, lived on his own and had the dream to play music with jazz musicians. But, he ends up getting arrested out of his apartment.
Aidan Ford Jazz Music Jazz music first began in the late 1880’s and is a mix of African music and modern day European music of that time. Jazz music was originally started by the African Americans of New Orleans, which is why New Orleans is infamous for its jazz artists. As time went on new jazz artists formed rose up out of New Orleans. As the news of jazz spread throughout America, the people began to love it and it became one of the most famous genres of music in the 1920’s and 30’s. Jazz became so popular during these times, because life in America back than was rough for a lot of people.
Jazz changed the world for Blacks because it gave them the freedom to express themselves without constraint. Jazz has no limits, which gave Blacks the freedom to be original. The first known form of jazz in the United States was called Ragtime and it was introduced in 1895 by Ernest Hogan. New Orleans became the “official” birthplace of jazz in the 1910’s because many jazz artists performed in brothels and bars in what s known as “Storyville.” Performers from New Orleans then traveled to big cities such as New York, Chicago, and Kansas City. Louie Armstrong and Charlie Parker came along and helped introduce the world to Scatting.
As you may know, the origin of the jazz is blues which played among the black American before 1920s' in New Orleans. So many people have image that jazz is played by black American mainly. Of course, there are lot of black jazz musicians, but in recent years, the jazz is getting more popularity in west/east Europe and Middle-East, especially Israel. They mixed the folk music in their country into cutting-age jazz music. I think it is very interesting trend of the current jazz scene.
Hard bop differentiated with the West Coast's cooler, calmer response. It was type of rejection to the more relaxed, West Coast jazz, called Cool Jazz. Hard bop's influences included bebop, blues, rhythm and blues, and black gospel music. Though this style of music was set out for all people to listen to, it mostly set for African Americans, which is known as being “Afro-centric”. Hard bop was used as a form of releasing emotions by African American men to illustrate their frustration with the social, political, and economic problems of America at that time, which aimed mostly at segregation and racism.