In my last posting, I essentially wrote a preface concerning the Origins of JAZZ and concluded with the idea of blending... This posting will serve to reveal more about that idea and how its influence crossed preset cultural divides to contribute to the development and evolution of this unique form of musical expression.
The term: "classical music" is actually the misnomer generally used to describe the music of European Composers; it's further been misused to give the 4 or 5 more traditionally-recognized styles an elitist credibility: Baroque, Romantic, Renaissance, French Impressionism, 20th Century and 12-tone Serialism. Notably: Julia Perry, Billy Strayhorn, William Grant Still, David Baker, Charlie "Yardbird" Parker, Thelonius Monk, Oliver Nelson, Miles Davis, James Weldon Johnson, Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Horace Silver, Eubie Blake, Bill Evans, Cole Porter, Mary Lou Williams, Earl "Fatha" Hines, George Gershwin, Gil Evans, Billy Taylor, Irving Berlin, Oscar Hammerstein, Erroll Garner, John Coltrane and Duke Ellington, just to name a few, have all written music which would and should qualify for inclusion under this heading, yet are notably omitted, and not necessarily due to ethnicity as some might mistakenly conclude.
When one considers French Impressionism for example, names like Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel come to mind, and if one has been thorough, then Eric Satie who preceded them both, but Duke Ellington, Bill Evans, Billy Strayhorn, Erroll Garner, Oscar Peterson, Gil Evans, Miles Davis and even Leonard Feather should also come to mind when discussing this style. Whether one is enamored with the canons and fugues of the Black Moors - Bach and Haydn, or enjoys the work which Bela Bartok, the Hungarian, adapted from folk melodies, or appreciates Handel's "Messiah" which he wrote while incarcerated in a jail cell, or the music of Schoenberg, Copeland and other modernists, Beautiful Music has always proven nourishing to the soul and healing to the mind.
If you are interested in music which originated in European Countries, you can visit the library and ask for the Norton Scores, 10th edition - The Enjoyment of Music (An Anthology). This is the standard resource which is most commonly utilized in most secondary education to enable students to begin their development of musical appreciation.
If you are, however, interested in American Classical Music (a.k.a. JAZZ), that is, the music which America has had to claim as its own and which has influenced all of the known styles -- including Country Western and today's Hip-hop, I would personally recommend that you begin with the field hollers of African Slaves, followed by Negro Spirituals and a few Blues Folk Songs and come forward through the deep southern blues (which planted a seed along the way for Mississippi Delta Blues, R&B and Rock & Roll's future) into the New Orleans "Blending" of Creole and Afro-Centric influences (later the "Blending" would include others who had migrated to America, many arriving on Ellis Island) through Louis Armstrong and so-called "Ragtime" (which was anything but raggedy - Scott Joplin, Eubie Blake, Fats Waller, Jelly Roll Morton).
The natural migration north into Chicago would follow without forgetting about what was going on out mid-west in Kansas City with Count Basie's Swing with Lester Young, and from there, heading further east into New York whereupon Charlie Parker would later upset the all too fragile apple-cart of the Big Dance Bands via his creation of Be-Bop a.k.a. "Hot Bop" assisted by Dizzy Gillespie and followed by musicians like John Coltrane but preceded by many, including Earl "Fatha" Hines who mentored George Gershwin. The Big Dance Bands I formerly mentioned included Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington. Around this time, Thelonius Monk came on the scene along with musicians like Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins and others who would venture abroad into Paris and points beyond (Denmark, Germany). No one would want to over-look the influential role JAZZ had on Broadway Musicals via composers like Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart collaborations and Richard teaming up a second time with Oscar Hammerstein, Eubie Blake, Scott Joplin and others. Just beyond this came Miles Davis (his latest news) and a musical growth spurt with "the birth of cool" which included his collaboration with Gil Evans.
Proceeding, one will note that JAZZ migrated to the West Coast with "COOL" continued and commercialized via its usage in Television (studio orchestras and later on early talk shows: Steve Allen, "Doc" Severinsen, Merv Griffin; chronicling-documentary shows concerning JAZZ featured Billy Taylor, Bill Evans and many other notables) and for all the Major Hollywood Movies which included appearances by Hazel Scott, Nat King Cole, Dave Brubeck and others. Film Music Composers like Calvin Jackson and Quincy Jones appeared on the scene. Notably, many of the songs made famous on Broadway found new life with singers like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Billy Eckstine, Nat King Cole, Carmen McRae, Della Reese, Nancy Wilson, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Johnny Hartman and many others whose interpretive abilities served to promote and market American Classical Music (a.k.a. JAZZ) even more as well as lending an even greater range to its character.
The natural migration north into Chicago would follow without forgetting about what was going on out mid-west in Kansas City with Count Basie's Swing with Lester Young, and from there, heading further east into New York whereupon Charlie Parker would later upset the all too fragile apple-cart of the Big Dance Bands via his creation of Be-Bop a.k.a. "Hot Bop" assisted by Dizzy Gillespie and followed by musicians like John Coltrane but preceded by many, including Earl "Fatha" Hines who mentored George Gershwin. The Big Dance Bands I formerly mentioned included Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington. Around this time, Thelonius Monk came on the scene along with musicians like Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins and others who would venture abroad into Paris and points beyond (Denmark, Germany). No one would want to over-look the influential role JAZZ had on Broadway Musicals via composers like Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart collaborations and Richard teaming up a second time with Oscar Hammerstein, Eubie Blake, Scott Joplin and others. Just beyond this came Miles Davis (his latest news) and a musical growth spurt with "the birth of cool" which included his collaboration with Gil Evans.
Proceeding, one will note that JAZZ migrated to the West Coast with "COOL" continued and commercialized via its usage in Television (studio orchestras and later on early talk shows: Steve Allen, "Doc" Severinsen, Merv Griffin; chronicling-documentary shows concerning JAZZ featured Billy Taylor, Bill Evans and many other notables) and for all the Major Hollywood Movies which included appearances by Hazel Scott, Nat King Cole, Dave Brubeck and others. Film Music Composers like Calvin Jackson and Quincy Jones appeared on the scene. Notably, many of the songs made famous on Broadway found new life with singers like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Billy Eckstine, Nat King Cole, Carmen McRae, Della Reese, Nancy Wilson, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Johnny Hartman and many others whose interpretive abilities served to promote and market American Classical Music (a.k.a. JAZZ) even more as well as lending an even greater range to its character.
This posting only serves to further scratch the surface and in no way is meant to suggest a comprehensive treatise, but rather a well-cropped snapshot from which the reader might begin to conduct his or her own research to further appreciate this God-given form of artistic musical expression.
