- This topic has 4 voices and 8 replies.
-
Posts
-
I recently heard that the Constitution of the US, jazz music, and baseball are the three most significant American contributions and got to thinking these three things say a LOT about the US. The constitution for many reasons which should be obvious for many reasons, jazz because it is conducive to improvisation, and baseball because it is like 'a ballet with infinite possible moves on the field at any given time' are the reasons I heard.My question is how do you think this holds up in modern times? If we are talking technological advances I think the list could be expanded to include many things like the Model T, lightbulbs, and the internet (the list could go on for awhile). If we are talking cultural I think these probably still hold up to this day. Really open ended question here
Whenever I see or drive by a little league or amateur league baseball game, I can't help to think this is America, but I think football (American football, aeth) has probably overtaken baseball as America's sport. Jazz, not so much because of improvisation, but because it is the only genre of music that has crossed racial lines and united America in that way. (can you say the same about Rap today?)
Jazz, not so much because of improvisation, but because it is the only genre of music that has crossed racial lines and united America in that way. (can you say the same about Rap today?)
I can agree with that but I don't think jazz was alone in this movement as a lot of early 1890's & 1900's ragtime music was written by blacks (most notably Scott Joplin) and whites (like Joseph Lamb) alike.
Agreed. But I was thinking more along the lines of the Harlem Rennaisance where jazz music became really popular with all.
Jazz, not so much because of improvisation, but because it is the only genre of music that has crossed racial lines and united America in that way. (can you say the same about Rap today?)
How about the Blues?
How about the Blues?
I think one could make the case that the Blues is the most distinctly-American form of music, but this has to do with the way it evolved with more appeal to people in more isolated parts of the country (i.e. Mississippi Delta, Texas, the Deep South). Jazz, on the other hand, grew in popularity in more cosmopolitan cities such as New York where foreigners would more likely hear it. I know that jazz artists of the 50s and 60s were playing shows in Europe, owing to their popularity across the divide back then.
Jazz, not so much because of improvisation, but because it is the only genre of music that has crossed racial lines and united America in that way. (can you say the same about Rap today?)
Interesting comparison with rap, and that may be true. One thing that strikes me about jazz is that it was adopted across racial and geriatric lines....think of older white people filling the ball rooms, dancing to white band leaders like Glenn Miller or Benny Goodman. Of course, this was probably at least 30-40 years after jazz first came into its own in the mainstream. One could say that today, you now have groups of white adults in the same situation (like at wedding receptions) dancing to rap hits of the 1990s or early 2000s.I would say that other candidates for things "Americana" might be nuclear weapons, restaurant franchising (i.e. uniformity in product when produced in different locations), and the Walmart-type of convenience store.
I categorize blues with jazz (which is probably incorrect) and I think when jazz became nationally popular that's when blues did too.
How about the Blues?
I think one could make the case that the Blues is the most distinctly-American form of music, but this has to do with the way it evolved with more appeal to people in more isolated parts of the country (i.e. Mississippi Delta, Texas, the Deep South). Jazz, on the other hand, grew in popularity in more cosmopolitan cities such as New York where foreigners would more likely hear it. I know that jazz artists of the 50s and 60s were playing shows in Europe, owing to their popularity across the divide back then.
I brought up the blues because it crossed racial and cultural lines much like jazz. It was more than just the rural music scene too - while most folks think of the blues having its roots in the deep south and the Mississippi Delta, it can also be traced to Appalachia and the West -- there are some "blues DNA" in some of the old cowboy songs as well as country music, rock and roll, soul, funk, and yes, even rap. As America's appetite for the blues grew, it migrated to the cities and evolved differently. Memphis blues were different in sound from Chicago blues - and blues singers in Nashville and New Orleans went different directions as well. Blues musicians such as Robert Johnson and Son House influenced almost every form of popular music in the last fifty years.
Well yes, I think that most every musical genre has influenced by another or other genres, and so I don't doubt that the blues was influenced by music in a variety of regions. But it has been my understanding that what we would identify as “the blues” grew up as a largely regional phenomenon in the South (I perhaps mistakenly was implicitly including Appalachia in this), and offshoots like Chicago Blues would probably be more recent derivations. When I think of “original” or “historical” blues, I think of scratchy recordings of a black man from Mississippi singing with a guitar, rather than the Stevie Ray Vaughn type of music from more recent years.
Well yes, I think that most every musical genre has influenced by another or other genres, and so I don't doubt that the blues was influenced by music in a variety of regions. But it has been my understanding that what we would identify as "the blues" grew up as a largely regional phenomenon in the South (I perhaps mistakenly was implicitly including Appalachia in this), and offshoots like Chicago Blues would probably be more recent derivations. When I think of "original" or "historical" blues, I think of scratchy recordings of a black man from Mississippi singing with a guitar, rather than the Stevie Ray Vaughn type of music from more recent years.
Maybe another thread can be started sometime in the future on music history which I think would be pretty interesting. Would you say in terms of inspiration it went something like: Jazz > Blues > Rockabilly or something to that effect? Rap I think came from probably funk and before that possibly motown (one of my personal favorites), although the latter two sound different I think I base that on the fact that motown allowed colored folk to perform whereas in the early 60's and prior it's my understanding that colored performers would have to use their cars as dressing rooms and enter from the back door.
