Environmental Transformation

Prior to taking this class I had relatively little Jazz knowledge. I was aware of the “big name” jazz performers such as Louis Armstrong, Billy Holiday, Benny Goodman, Miles Davis, and Duke Ellington, but that was the extent of it. This class has ignited a new thought process when I consider Jazz musicians, because I am now aware of the dialogic theory between an artist and their community, city, audience, venue, etc. My focus has shifted from the individual performer, to the Jazz community and the effect it can have in shaping a city's environment as a whole. For example, I am now aware of the Creoles and the cultural integration of New Orleans, the economic influences Jazz presented in Chicago, and the integration of the Two Harlem’s in New York (Gioia pp25, 55, 93, 135). It's important that I now understand Jazz as a dynamic and ever-changing art (based on the community, environmental factors etc), rather than my old assumption of it being a very static musical form. The social, racial, and economic dynamics present in these Jazz cities has shifted my focus to the important influence the musicians exerted on their communities and the audiences they touched, rather than solely on their individual musical talents.

I now understand this aspect of dialogic as being the idea that a “jazz piece was a dialogue between the artist and his audience, where the artist speaks to the audiences needs and desires, while the audience is in turn affected in these cultural changes these new sounds create” (Stewart Lecture). Prior to this class I had assumed that these Jazz musicians were simply one of a kind musical genius’s who personally created the various jazz forms (Swing, Bebop, Big Band etc.). Yet in reality, I am now able to look at these creations on a much larger scale, as being instead accredited to the interactions and environments between these special musicians and their communities.

An example of this can be seen when examining the community of San Juan Hill where Thelonious Monk was raised. Despite Monk’s incredible musical talents, his tight knit community, a close sense of extended family, and a diverse childhood atmosphere, was what really fostered and laid the foundation for his success and musical style (Kelley, pp. 25-40). Had Monk not experienced such diversity growing up, his music would therefore not have been impacted in the way it was (for example aspects of musical dissonance being reflections of diversification). Monk’s musical creativity and innovation was not simply due to the fact he was a musical “genius," but instead placed an emphasis on the context of his surroundings. 

Another example of this dialogic, and context based focused can be seen in the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. In this integrated space, “there was something in the air there, a demand to be given something on the part of the people that shapes matters, so that when a group needs to get really together and tightened up, this is where it books in” (Stowe, 20).  Even in a space such as the Savoy dance room, the focus was on the environment and racial interactions, rather than on the specific performers on stage.

In conclusion, I really did not have much of a jazz knowledge at all prior to taking this class, aside from the basic recognition of key figures (Armstrong, Billy Holiday etc.). Through taking this course, I am aware of the progression of Jazz through the various cities, as well as being able to recognize that in fact jazz was an interaction between the artists and their community, and both of these aspects are what have shaped jazz throughout the course of its history. I have a better understanding of Jazz music's influence in shaping the ideas and attitudes towards Black Americans in America, and allowing the rest of the nation through Jazz music to respect the accomplishments of the musicians from the Jazz Era.