Jazz: The End Take

       

I have always been decently musical my whole life, and jazz was a genre I was really taking an interest in. Upon taking the class, most of the readings were quite interesting and not dull. I had hoped that this class was just as thrilling and exciting, and demanded more attention on different songs and artists. Of course, I wanted to learn about the cities that influenced jazz, but I was more interested on important artists such as Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, and Stan Getz, and their specific songs that changed the styles of jazz.

            My assumptions before taking this class were somewhat revised. Although learning about Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and Thelonious Monk was super interesting, I found that most of what I learned was the social and cultural aspect to jazz. Rather than focusing mainly on artists, the class structured around city’s and styles of jazz. The different, distinct sounds were definitely awe-striking as they were pertinent to the lifestyle at their times, such as the blues from work songs and stride from Harlem. San Juan Hill was a battlefield between all sorts of races in New York, but each culture’s diversity brought the great, robust tradition of New York jazz. I found that it is not rather so much the artists themselves, but the cities that connected their musicality that incorporated our understanding of the history of jazz.

After taking this class, I understood that jazz is completely American, not just African-American. I had a pre-conceived notion that jazz was based solely on Black principles and that white people who tried to play jazz were only trying to pretend to understand the pain and suffering of African Americans. Although parts of my pre-knowledge are true, jazz did not form only through African-Americans; rather it was a process called syncretism that incorporated most of jazz’s original principles. Some scholars believe that jazz was the African style of playing European music. But really, it was the blues from the slaves and ragtime from the Creoles that created our understanding of jazz.

And jazz continually developed. In Chicago, soloing and improvisation became important to sustaining a jazz lifestyle. Racism and prejudice separated social classes and presented different methods to performing jazz. In fact, even the social aspect to the cities such as Kansas City incorporated an element of atmosphere where jazz was interchangeable with gambling, bootlegging, and prostitution; basically sex. Jazz was rebellious, a pop culture spread through radio, and a boiling pot of many cultures. Basically, it was an American genre of music. And that is exactly what is so intriguing and exciting about jazz! The pure form developed from America relating to mixing of cultures that initially started with an African music and dance tradition. Thus, I have a deeper appreciation of jazz, as it represents my homeland. Plus, it’s super catchy and danceable.

I Give You, Jazz Superstar, Thelonious Monk!

Have you ever listened to “Blue Monk” with its offbeat rhythms, yet delicate melodies? Harmonies jump in and out, and yet, smooth transitions and unorthodox stresses and pauses complete this song. The piano mostly dominates, with many sustained uses of the pedal. How did Thelonious Monk generate such talent? How was he inspired? Where did he learn to play so (amazingly)?

            Well, Thelonious Monk should give some of his talent’s credit to San Juan Hill. His mother, Barbara Monk fostered three children and moved to New York City to find better opportunities for her and her kids. With help from Barbara’s cousin, Louise Bryant, Thelonious would soon live in San Juan Hill, starting at a very young age. But, the living conditions there were described as “humans hives, honeycombed with little rooms with human beings. Bedrooms open into air shafts that admit no fresh breezes, only foul air carrying too often the germs of disease” (Kelley, 16). However, San Juan Hill was as known for a different reason, “its reputation for violence” (Kelley, 16). Mostly consisted of Southern and Caribbean Blacks across the avenues, San Juan Hill was a battleground between them, “Irish, Italians, and Germans that lived along the avenues” (Kelley, 18). Thelonious Monk remembers, “Then, besides fighting the ofays, you had to fight each other. You go in the next block and you’re in another country” (Kelley, 19).

Yet, San Juan Hill was a center of amalgamations of cultures because of its high diversity. People spoke “English with a Carolina twang and a West Indian lilt” (Kelley, 18). Despite the violence, music was played everywhere, “in the hallways, in the streets. Every household had an instrument” (Kelley, 20). Thelonious Monk improved his ear through the community. Simon Wolf was a classically trained pianist and violinist who studied “Bach, Beethoven, Liszt, and Mozart extensively” (Kelley, 26). Being exceptionally trained, Wolf “was amazed by how quickly Thelonious mastered many pieces not to mention his curiosity about the piano’s mechanics and his wide range of musical interests” (Kelley, 26). But, Thelonious’s jazz talent came from Alberta Simmons, who “made a living playing ragtime and stride piano in tiny speakeasies” (Kelley, 27). Simmons taught Thelonious the mechanics to stride piano techniques and helped “develop his left hand.” Even the church was another important source of music. There “he became steeped in the sacred music of the black Baptist tradition” (Kelley, 27). Probably the most influential was his mother, who “did not believe in corporal punishment and encouraged her children to be free-spirited, vocal, and opinionated, albeit respectful. Barbara did what she could to introduce her children to the city’s rich culture” (Kelley, 22). And Thelonious Monk would be surrounded by Caribbean music such as the rumba, son, habanera, and the tango.

But what separates Thelonious Monk from others is not so much his exposure to the many different types of music, but his unorthodox ways to break social norms. Monk used his musical art to create a new community through dissonance in music. He was known for his race rebel persona because he adopted a younger generation of Blacks and whites who were rebelling against the structures of American society and conformity (Lecture 2/28/13). It was just not simply a Black community anymore. But race was still a problem throughout American society, where racial discrimination overpowered especially during his arrests in Delaware in 1958 with Nica, a Jewish woman whose family died in the Holocaust. Nevertheless, Thelonious Monk will forever be cherished, “embodying a vision of a new community of artistic souls, rebels against middle class conformity” (Lecture 2/28/13).