World Jazz Flashcards
1
Q
‘Jazz’ - General Comments
A
- Jazz is ‘best understood as a context rather than a concept’ / ‘a musical discourse’ (Beard & Gloag, 2016)
- ‘Jazz has never been a monolithic genre’ (Ake, 2012)
- Jazz was ‘invented in the process of being disseminated’ (Johnson, 2020)
- ‘Jazz has agency’ (Plastino & Bohlman, 2016)
- ‘Practically since its origins, jazz has been marked by an instability of identity’ (Lewis ed. Plastino & Bohlman, 2016)
- Jazz is not ‘ethnically predetermined’ (Ake, Garrett & Goldmark, 2012)
2
Q
International Recognition from US
A
- ‘Jazz’ (2001 Ken Burns documentary) describes the genre as solely American
- Non-US works rarely make canon
- ‘Jazz’ (2009 book) is 600 pages but never mentions a non-US artist
- US promote themselves as ‘jazz corner of the world’
- ‘Local heroes’ abroad ignored
- ‘American Exceptionalism’ idea
- ‘Worldmaking’ (Goodman, 1978) or ‘Worlding’ (Spivak, 1985) - jazz being confined geographically
- 1922 ‘Jazz Equator’ idea was prevalent in news articles
3
Q
Modernity
A
- Jazz is the ‘new movement’
- American Dream
- US used jazz against Soviets to appear more racially tolerant (Atkins, 2004)
- ‘Jazz bands came from the same country as Henry Ford’ (Hobsbawm, 1998)
4
Q
Alternative Terms for ‘Jazz’
A
- ‘Great Black Music’
- ‘Postmodern New Orleans music’ (Nicholas Payton)
5
Q
World Music
A
- Non-US releases ‘do not find their way into the canon of jazz’ very often (Plastino & Bohlman, 2016)
- Based on unfair ‘power relations’ with Othering practices (Guilbault, 2001)
- Exoticisation issues
- Binary opposition to mainstream US jazz
- ‘World music’ term invented in 1987 London pub
- ‘More of a marketing category than a genre’ following Peter Gabriel, etc (Shuker, 2017)
- ‘World music does not exist’ (Brennan, 2001)
- ‘World music is real if only because it is talked about as though it were real’ (Brennan, 2001)
6
Q
1961 US-Africa Musical Exchange
A
- ‘Randy Weston’s tour symbolised an American awareness of the importance of Africanity’ (Davenport, 2009)
- Weston later (2010) writes that ‘my music is solidly rooted in Africa’
- However, jazz labelled during tour as ‘America’s native music’
- Weston performed alongside native instruments and performers, which produced ‘intercultural communication’ (Stanyek, 2004)
7
Q
Pan-Africanism Example
A
- Black Panthers used music of Sun Ra
- Music also used by Marcus Garvey / ‘Back to Africa’ promotions
8
Q
Feedback Loop (Africa)
A
- ‘Both Africa and the Americas have shaped each other through a live dialogue’ (Matory, 1999)
9
Q
Jazz - African Origins/Shared Features
A
- (Oliver, 1970): ‘rhythmic character’, ‘nature of improvisation’
- (Wilson, 1992): ‘rhythmic dissonance’, ‘call and response’, ‘percussive’, ‘fast’, ‘physical body incorporation’
- (Weinstein, 1994): ‘polyrhythms’, ‘improvisation’, ‘collective participation’, ‘colour-based vocal parts’, ‘context’ e.g. political/spiritual
10
Q
‘Africa/Brass’
A
- John Coltrane album drawing on African influences (spirituality side, highly rhythmic, minimalist)
11
Q
Guy Warren
A
- Ghanaian jazz artist
- 1956 album ‘Africa Speaks, America Answers’ with song ‘An African’s Prayer’
- ‘It is the African music that is the mother, not the other way around’
12
Q
‘Highlife’
A
- 1920s Africa jazz-inspired music
- Initially for the elite only (later more mainstream with genres like ‘palm wine’ music)
- Accra Orchestra are a key group (Collins, 1987)
- ‘Ghana Freedom Highlife’ by E. T. Mensah is a very political example
13
Q
Important US/Africa Events
A
- Louis Armstrong 1950s Africa tour popularised the genre (Collins, 1987)
- 1971 Accra Soul to Soul concert was important (Collins, 1987)
14
Q
Names in Africa/Jazz
A
- Many artists have two: Dollar Brand = Abdullah Ibrahim / Guy Warren = Kofi Ghanaba
- Consider reasons/power dynamics
15
Q
Dizzy Gillespie and Chana Pozo
A
(Stanyek, 2004)
- Collaboration was genuinely positive because neither side was sacrificed
- ‘Live dialogue’
- Produced hit song ‘Manteca’
- Outcome = ‘collective action and human betterment’
