Greetings,
[DISCLAIMER: this post is not intended to offend a particular race. I expose the black and white races solely for the purpose of education.]
Jazz was born in america as whole musical improvisation from the wombs of the black race within the mid-1800s. The fiddlers (violinists) on plantations would start to improvise, and the slaves would dance to the improvisation. Different devices would be a part of (bass, drums, harmonica, trumpet, and so forth.), however there was no studying of music notes on paper; all performed individually. The classical music of whites is the antithesis of the unique jazz improvisation born of the black race.
As time progressed (post-slavery), blacks started to take classes from whites, each privately and in schools. This was the arsenic (lethal poison) that ultimately murdered the jazz improvisation of the black race. Musicians similar to Scott Joplin, Jellyroll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, and a bunch of others started to learn and write jazz on paper; this was the primary main dose of arsenic administered to jazz.
Shifting into the early 1900s, jazz large bands grew to become standard, particularly for dancing. Blacks combined White’s classical music with a rhythm referred to as swing, and a hybrid was fashioned. Band leaders similar to Duke Ellington, Rely Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Lionel Hampton, and plenty of others flooded the scene. The arsenic was being consumed over these years by blacks and jazz as effectively. Each had been unaware that they had been dying in installments.
The following wave of black musicians to eat the arsenic of whites had been referred to as Be-Boppers. They embrace Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, and plenty of others. Whereas the large bands supplied little room for improvisation, be-bop supplied prolonged house for improvisation below the arsenic of European (Bach-ian) concord and the White American Commonplace Music Guide. It’s rumored that Charlie “Chicken” Parker rang the doorbell of his idol, classical music juggernaut Igor Stravinsky. Igor allegedly closed the door in Chicken’s face. My poor, pitiful black of us nonetheless really feel the want to worship whites and grovel for his or her approval; it’s insane.
Marching ahead in time with bigger doses of arsenic administered to blacks and jazz by whites, we come across musicians: John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, and a bunch of others within the “Publish-Bop” period. These musicians had been so hopelessly absorbed in impressing Whites with their arsenic classical coaching, or mind-boggling technical prowess on their devices, that they fully misplaced sight of the truth that the unique jazz was about individualistic improvisation plus name and response.
It was by no means meant to be poisoned by the arsenic of white classical music—studying notes and taking part in inflexible, repetitive chord progressions ad-nauseum. This preconceived classical arsenic has virtually turned jazz into a dull corpse, however not fairly but.
Shifting ahead, we come to the following wave of musicians: these of the avant-garde and fusion eras (Nineteen Sixties and Seventies). The arsenic within the earlier a long time of jazz didn’t alienate the originators (blacks). Nevertheless, the black jazz avant-garde gamers: Solar Ra, John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Don Cherry, Lester Bowie, Archie Shepp, and plenty of others, most definitely alienated virtually your entire black race.
The irony is that they tried to return to the roots or basis of jazz throughout slavery, which was the whole or full freedom of the person to improvise no matter she or he desired with different people doing the identical; or just returning to the period earlier than the ingesting of white classical arsenic music. The extra that the avant-garde musicians tried to regather the blacks that that they had alienated within the late Nineteen Sixties, the extra that these blacks “ran for the hills” to get away from the unique jazz devoid of arsenic.
My evaluation is that the first distinction between jazz throughout slavery and avant-garde jazz of the Nineteen Sixties is that avant-garde jazz lacked a danceable groove. Whereas jazz throughout slavery maintained the magic danceable groove. Consequently, blacks started to flock towards Motown, Stax, Chess, and plenty of different file labels and the “danceable groove” artists that these labels produced.
Lastly, most arsenic-poisoned black jazz artists minimize ties with the avant-garde and commenced to crossover into the music pattern that was based by my mentor and second father, Eddie Harris. His songs “Pay attention Right here” and “Freedom Jazz Dance” had been danceable grooves that he performed intricate solo improvisations over. He grew to become an in a single day “soul-pop celebrity,” and others adopted his lead: Herbie Hancock, The Crusaders, Grover Washington, Michael Brecker, Stanley Turrentine, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, and a slew of others emerged.
I used to be sitting on a sofa subsequent to trumpet titan Dizzy Gillespie, and he informed me, “Robert, I needed to cease performing with Charlie Parker as a result of he saved taking part in songs sooner and sooner. We had an viewers of about 10 folks. We took a break, regarded throughout the road, and noticed “Trumpet Sensation Jonah Jones” on the marquee. There have been traces of individuals wrapped across the block. At that second, I made a decision to get an Afro-Cuban large band merely to put the dance again in our music in order that our folks would come again to us.” I used to be speechless and easily nodded to show understanding.
Therefore, the three murderers of unique jazz had been:
- White classical arsenic music
- Black jazz musicians whose sole objective for existence was to impress their former white slave-masters and grovel till whites accepted them into their society.
- Your complete black race fully discarded their very own art-form for the brand new fad or hit of the week.
When the race that creates an art-form out of the blue shuns their created art-form, that art-form will inevitably die a gradual and painful loss of life. Whites play for nearly all white audiences in classical music. Latinos play for virtually all Latino audiences in Latin music. Asians play for virtually all Asian audiences in Asian music, and so forth.
Nevertheless, White’s classical arsenic now dominates the jazz that Blacks created. Their major ambassador for the promotion of white arsenic in jazz is none aside from my brother and former employer, trumpet titan Wynton Marsalis.
In contrast to the aforementioned races and their music, Wynton (and practically all black arsenic-jazz gamers at present) performs in live performance halls crammed with fully white audiences. Wynton is their champion, and that’s all that he dreamed of as a toddler—to be accepted and appreciated by whites. Most blacks that had been raised within the South have this mentality, sadly.
I performed classical flute music and I really like listening to orchestras. Wynton’s optimistic achievement was changing into one of many best classical trumpeters in historical past. I might by no means deny this truth. Nevertheless, Wynton is trying to fuse classical arsenic with black jazz. This has by no means been and can by no means be a actuality, for the unique black jazz was destroyed by the three murderers above within the Seventies.
Ashes to ashes, mud to mud. ⚰️
Thanks For Studying,
(C) Prof. Robert Stewart Ph.D