Description
Let’s look at the early decades of the music we now call jazz. In this two-part course, we will start our exploration in New Orleans, where multiple ethnicities and several musical traditions all converged to give birth to this uniquely American musical genre. We will then take our story to Chicago, in the 1920’s, and wind up in New York, which will remain the epicenter of jazz from the 1930’s up until the present day. Genres examined include trad jazz (dixieland), the Harlem School of stride piano, blues, early swing, and more. Vintage recordings, as well as live performances from the lecturer, will keep this presentation as lively as the music itself.