Jazz is one of the greatest things Americans will be remembered for? That is a pretty weighty statement/
Jazz has offered a precise prism through which so much of American history can be seen — it is a curious and unusually objective witness to the 20th Century. It is the story of two world wars and a devastating Depression — the soundtrack that helped Americans get through the worst of times.
nd Jazz is also a story about race and race relations and prejudice, about minstrelsy and Jim Crow, lynchings and civil rights. Jazz explores the uniquely American paradox that our greatest art form was created by those who have had the peculiar experience of being unfree in our supposedly free land
In a filmed interview for a documentary history of our national pastime we made several years ago, the writer and essayist Gerald Early told us that "when they study our civilization two thousand years from now, there will only be three things that Americans will be known for: the Constitution, baseball and jazz music
"Composition is slowed down improvisation," and both disciplines deal with the same challenge — how to organize and present ideas in a coherent fashion.
One of the most common misconceptions about jazz is that it is spun out of the air in a totally impromptu manner. This notion exists because many small jazz groups do not read music when they play. The truth of the matter is that what those musicians are actually doing is spontaneously creating a very sophisticated form of theme and variations
The framework is flexible so that the soloists may shorten or lengthen their improvisations depending on the inspiration of the moment. The other players, then, have a responsibility to react to what has preceded them
To many, composed music and improvised music seem to be opposites, but in jazz, they merge in a unique fashion.
But improvisation is not the be all and end all of jazz. Composers such as Duke Ellington and Eddie Sauter wrote, on occasion, jazz compositions practically devoid of improvisation. But the real challenge comes when a composer integrates improvisation into a
This website offers resources for teaching about jazz music in the general music classroom. The lesson plans and activities are based on the PBS documentary "Jazz: A Film By Ken Burns" and specifically designed for grades K-5 or 6-12.
This is a great website for learning about the history and development of Jazz in the United States. It includes geography, musician biographies, information about musical instruments, and more!
This site offers a 10 part series of 75 interviews and over 500 pieces of music on the growth and development of jazz. Begins in the New Orleans and takes the viewer through to Lincoln Gardens, Southside Chicago.