Pre-Jazz and the Brass Bands
New Orleans -Why the Birthplace of Jazz
- Seaport city. This provided for the meeting of many different ethnic groups and different cultures. There was a market for music and entertainment. Lots of work in a port city.
- Liberal atmosphere. Strong influence of French, Spanish, West Indian traditions and Catholic religious attitudes. No prohibitions against "Devil's" instruments. Different attitudes toward blacks. Pride in being a cosmopolitan, sophisticated city. More mobility for blacks.
- Long-standing tradition of music (from Congo Square to present-day Mardi Gras). Congo Square provided performance opportunities for African music.
Other contributing elements:
- Storyville (1897-1917) provided places to work: houses of prostitution, cabarets, saloons, dance halls, etc.
- Reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment to justify segregation:
--forced downtown and uptown blacks together; deprived the Creoles of their privileged status.
--ramifications for the music: the Creoles had conservatory training and good instruments.
The pop market was theirs, too (balls and other social events). The blacks had a longstanding vocal tradition and no hang-ups about what was or wasn't possible on instruments.
Prerequisites for Jazz:
- a model on which to pattern the music
- instruments
- sources of music
- model: brass bands
- no fixed instrumentation (made do with whatever they had)
- played for all occasions
- were often associated with burial societies, benevolent and protective societies, or other community organizations
- usually 12-17 musicians
- each type of instrument had an assigned roll
- trumpet: melody
- clarinet: embellish melody
- tuba: bass line
- trombone: roots with slides, smears, slurs
- drums: military cadences, time
- everybody else: double some function above (even strings sometime)
- instruments: major source was confederate military bands; also used second hand instruments from other sources (ad hoc and homemade instruments were used as well)
- lack of formal training led to different attitudes about how to play these instruments, about what was possible, etc
Sources of Music:
- secular and sacred music of the historical past
- music of the day
- the blues
- music the Creoles knew: waltzes, marches, two-steps, overtures, schottichses, etc.
- music was borrowed from all sources and fixed up to meet their needs (not snobbish in what they borrowed from)
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