Coming into this course, the extent of my jazz knowledge was mostly in the musicality of it (and even in that regard, I was ignorant to much of the technical structure) as a result of playing trumpet in the high school jazz band. I knew that improvisation was the most important aspect of a performance, and that, far from playing random notes, talented improvisers are utilizing an extensive understanding of the chord changes and melodic ideas that lie beneath the surface of the written tune. I must admit I had not thought critically about the racial, cultural, and historic background of jazz. I was aware that many of the greatest jazz musicians were black, but for whatever reason assumed that black and white musicians were equally responsible for the evolution of jazz. In fact, I assumed that jazz was more closely connected to classical music than to ancient African musical traditions, and further assumed that white musicians were probably credited with creating jazz out of classical tunes.
These assumptions were basically all crushed by the information and insight gleaned from this course. I assumed that jazz was played primarily in formal venues, like classical music is, when the exact opposite is true. Nearly all jazz was performed in small nightclubs, and the audience was not made up of passive spectators. As Miles Davis points out in his autobiography, "That's why I loved playing up in Brooklyn. People were really into listening to what you were playing. If you weren't playing anything, the people in Brooklyn would let you know it quick. I've always liked honesty and can't stand people being any other way." (Davis, Ebook Page 38). Learning the truth about where jazz was played clears up a number of other misconceptions I held. The black musicians performing in tiny nightclubs full of black people were free to experiment with sound and try new techniques in a way that white musicians, who were chasing the lucrative recording contracts and mass appeal to white audiences, never were.
"Clyde didn't get the job, though. Eugene did, because he was better-looking and light-skinned, and a real good alto player. But he wasn't even close to Clyde Higgins. And he told everybody that Clyde should have gotten the job. But that's the way things were back then in those days." (Davis, Ebook Page 42.) This quote from the Miles Davis autobiography relates to my incorrect assumption that jazz was a meritocracy, where musicians were judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their performance. Racism still exists today, but it a very taboo phenomenon. People who harbor racist feelings feel a great pressure to hide those feelings, but when jazz was developing, race shaped every moment along the way. This course informed me of what a destructive force racism was during the jazz age. White musicians profited hugely off of the hard work and ingenuity of black musicians, while giving them little to no credit. The nationwide popularity of jazz is a testament to the determination and dedication to art, whether it is performed by black or white players.
I enjoyed the fact that you brought up that jazz had more roots to Africa than to classical music, I never knew that the roots to jazz music was held in African roots, I had assumed that it stared in America and that's where its roots were, however, there are in fact strong roots to African tradition. I find it interesting that you assumed that whites and blacks were equally influential in the development of jazz, the opposite is true for me, I had thought that it was primarily black, however, while blacks may have been a larger part to jazz, whites and other cultures did in fact have great influence on jazz such as the white audiences, musicians, and mobs/gangs.
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