爵士乐—二十世纪美国社会文化的一面镜子 Jazza Mirror of American Society and Culture in the 20th Cen

爵士乐—二十世纪美国社会文化的一面镜子Jazza Mirror of American Society and Culture in the 20th Century
Abstract
Jazz originates from New Orleans of southern America at the end of 19th century and is characterized by a strong but flexible rhythmic understructure with solo and ensemble improvisations on basic tunes and chord patterns and more recently a highly sophisticated harmonic idiom In the 1920s-1990s Jazz develops very fast and in different periods Jazz has different characteristics As a musical form of America Jazz reflects the situation of American society and culture In the 1920s Jazz gets its first-step development and brings together elements from Africa and Europe Jazz is a kind of pure American black music because in this period the United States monopolizes this art In the 1960s-1970s Jazz gets new development some fresh elements are introduced into Jazz which reveals that America artists do not monopolize the scene and Jazz is spread to the world quietly Jazzs sad and strong rhythm and disappointing lyrics reveals a confusing American society and Americans contradictory feelings after the Second World War In the 1980s-1990s it seems that each European country has its own style in Jazz for different cultural backgrounds The melting-pot social and cultural environment brings about Jazzs multi-elemental development In turn the multi-elemental development of Jazz demonstrates the coexistence and co-development of different cultures and ideas in America Key Words
America society jazz culture reflection
摘要
爵士乐是19世纪末起源于南美新奥尔良的一种音乐形式它以强劲而灵活的旋律为构架在节奏与和音形式的基础上配合个人和集体的一种即兴表演越到后来爵士乐的风格越复杂谐和20世纪20年代到90年代爵士乐发展得很快并且在不同的时期有着不同的特点作为美国的一种音乐形式爵士乐反映了美国社会文化不同时期的情况20世纪20年代时爵士乐得到了初步的发展爵士乐将非洲与欧洲的元素相结合并融合成为新的文化显示出了美国特有的音乐表现特色爵士乐是一种纯的美国黑人音乐因为在这个时期美国独占了这项艺术在20世纪6070年代爵士乐有了新的发展一些新的音乐元素融入到了爵士乐这些融合是美国社会发展的结果它显示了此时的美国已不在独占爵士乐这个舞台爵士乐正在悄悄的走向世界在这二十年里爵士乐时而忧伤时而强劲的旋律以及令人绝望的歌词揭露了二战后动荡的美国社会和美国人矛盾的心情到20世纪8090年代时几乎每个欧洲国家因为文化的差异都有了各自的爵士乐风格美国社会与文化的多元发展带来了爵士乐的多元化爵士乐的多元发展则展现了不同的文化与思想在美国的共存与发展
关键词
美国社会爵士乐文化反映
Introduction
Jazz is a treasure of American culture which originated from New Orleans of
southern America at the end of 19th century Compared to other music forms it is a unique music form characterized by improvisational performance and changeable rhythm In terms of the way of performance Jazz isnt only performed by solo but also by a group of people And there is a great variety of musical instruments involved in the performance like clarinet saxophone trumpet and trombone and so on In playing Jazz the percussion instruments are also an important part such as drum double bass and the piano The entire musical instruments work together as if there is a party of sounds Then the player makes an improvisational dealing with the timbre cadence of the musical instruments However this is not enough Jazz emphasizes more on players distinctive performance than Jazz itself As a special music form it also requests players to put their own musical mind and emotions into the performance Only the sound from heart can make Jazz fantastic Especially its changeable rhythm always brings listeners into another world and sometimes it is so wild like a strong howling sometimes it is very soft as a weak patient In addition Jazz is also a free music form in which there is no certain rule rhythm or way of performance Because of the characters mentioned above it develops very fast in America and later sweeps the whole world Jazz brings together elements from Africa and Europe and then made them an expression of music unique to America And in the 20th century it develops very fast and followed the development of American society However in different periods Jazz has different characteristics especially in the 1920s 1960s 197os 1980s and 1990s In these periods Jazz replaces some popular music forms to be Americas mainstream popular music To some extent Jazzs development witnesses the progress of American
society and culture In other words its development may reflect the development of American society and culture In this paper three periods are taken as a clue to demonstrate the reflection function of Jazz In the 1920s Jazz gets its first-step development in America it differs from other music and injects new blood for American music Jazz is a kind of pure American music because in this period the United States monopolizes this art Its popularity is not contingent and the wild rhythm and improvisational ways of playing are its advantages These advantages bring many listeners for it in which people can throw away all social conventions rules and indulge themselves completely Through it disappointment and resistance are brought to players The mood reflects peoples attitude towards life after the First World War And Louis Armstrong the king of Jazz expresses the depressive mood in his songs like Lonesome Road On the Sunny Side of the Street Hotter than That Snake Rag Then in the following few years jazz gets some new developments and Swing Bebop Cool Jazz and free Jazz appears one after another And in the 1960s-1970s some fresh elements and new techniques are introduced into Jazz making Jazz more powerful and advanced Compared with Jazz in the 1920s the requirement for players is improved It changes the past playing ways of following certain rhythm tone and accompany Improvisation and personality is the main feature in this period Its wild or soft rhythm impresses the audience greatly After World WarⅡAmericans lived a idle and scared life Material spending becomes their only way of living especially the young men have no ambition and passion as the war has exhausted their energy and vigor Accordingly Jazz in this period is filled with decadence and indulgence The musician
Miles Davis expresses the mood best in his music In a Silent Way Meanwhile the sentimental rhythm in Jazz wild and strong can also be the best demonstration In the 1980s-1990s with the development of American society American musicians do not monopolize Jazz It seems that each European country has its own style in Jazz for different cultural backgrounds Jazz of this period is not a pure American music but a multi-elemental music of the whole world In fact this big change is just the result of the influence of pluralism in the society and Jazzs multi-elemental development is just the reflection of the multicultural development of American society and culture
I Jazz –a Mirror of American Society and Culture
in the 20th Century
Jazz has different characteristics in different periods especially in the 20th century and always serves as a mirror of American society and culture In order to demonstrate the reflecting feature of Jazz three big periods of 20th century are taken as a clue
A Jazz in the 1920s
In the 1920s Jazz gets its first-step development and brings elements from Africa and Europe which are fused together with Jazz into a new music an expression unique to America In this period Jazz is a kind of pure American black music and the United States monopolizes this art Jazzs wild rhythms corrupted lyrics expose the decadence and dark life of Americans and truly reflect American society and culture
Jazz has a connection to the essence of America in a much more fundamental way It is an expression of the African roots of American culture the treasure of American
culture a musical medium that exemplifies the culture of the Africans whose culture came to dominate much of what is American Actually in many aspects Americas roots are in Africa In fact this is a factor for Jazzs first transmission to America Ralph Ellison perceptively describes the transformation of separate African and European cultures are at the hand of the slaves
the dancing of those slaves who looking through the windows of a plantation manor house from the yard imitated the steps so gravely performed by the masters within and then added to them their own special flair burlesquing the white folks and then going on to force the steps into choreography uniquely their own The whites looking out at the activity in the yard thought that they were being flattered by imitation and were amused by the incongruity of tattered blacks dancing courtly steps while missing completely the fact that before their eyes a European cultural form was becoming Americanized undergoing a metamorphosis through the mocking activity of a people partially sprung from America Townsend 78
Out of this fusion of African elements comes an idea that Americans believe central to their identity namely tolerance Both cultures come to realize each others value In the heart of Americans diversity is their strength Americans learn every day that other cultures and peoples may make valuable contributions to their way of life This great fusion makes Jazz a distinctly American music Jazz reflects two contradictory facets of American life On the one hand the band features a soloist who is an individual at the extreme On the other hand it is a team effort where every musician is completely immersed in what these groups does together listening to each of other players and
building on their contributions to create the music whole In the same sense American life is also a combination of teamwork and individualism a combination of individual brilliance with the ability to work with others In a word Jazz as an important part of American culture is based on real peoples and things and is the music from life Through it something more about America is known to the world
In the 1920s Jazz gets its primary development and this distinctly American music quickly finds its way to the whole America Its wild rhythm improvisational performing and changeable tone give listeners a fresh feeling and it abandons traditional music forms and outdated performing ways to separate itself with other music In this period Ragtime Dixieland as a branch of New Orleans impresses every American and the young man indulge them in it completely Jazzs every note makes them crazy and then the word JAZZMAD comes into being in America Its rhythm sometimes sounds like howling for escaping the tightened rope and sometimes is so grave like a weak patient The changeable rhythm seems to expose the contradictory sides of their inner heart Louis Armstrong the king of Jazz expresses the sad mood in his songs like Lonesome Road On the Sunny Side of the Street Hotter than That Snake Rag and etc For example in the song of Hotter than that Louis repeats the word hotter " hotter hotter hotter hotter than hell hotter than hell when the sun goes down cold day in helland points the peoples life is as evil as the hell and their inner hearts are contradictory under the war And another song On the Sunny Side of the Street is filled with beautiful things and Louis repeats the sentence" on the sunny side of the street" to express the yearning for a happy and peaceful life As for the band feature it
is solo and it requests players to put their own heart and find their playing styles in jazz Improvisation and particularity are the main characters As the saying goes art is from life as a music form Jazz connects with the real social life of Americans In this period America has experienced the First World War and the domestic situation is unstable The whole society is under the shadow of fear and disappointment The war especially for those who has witnessed it firsthand is brutal and represents a profound failure of western civilization The young people try to do everything to escape responsibilities because after the First World War there is a general prosperity in America and they are tired of politics economics restrictions and international responsibilities They are angry with the consequences of the war and likened it to what the poet Ezra pound called an old bitch had gone in the teetha botched civilization Townsend 68 In 1920 F Scott Fitzgerald in his novel this Side of Paradise describes the wild rebellious young men and women after the First World War and he makes a true portrait of the very young people with their new ways of dressing their disregard of manners and propriety And in his another novel All the Sad Young Men he makes a beautiful metaphor of the country which seems to be blind and deaf to everything And the very man for this sentence is Gatsby the hero of novel The Great Gatsby he isnt only a representative character of materialism but also a devout follower of American Dream In this novel F Scott Fitzgerald reveals the corruption that wealth causes and the unworthiness of Gatsbys goal much in the way the writer sees the American dream crumbling in the 1920s as Americas powerful optimism vitality and individualism become subordinated to the moral pursuit of
wealth Then in Ernest Hemingways full-length novel The Sun also rises he also dramatizes the sense of lost direction for this generation after the war The young mens energies are exhausted by the war and destroyed by the war It is this life style that gives the decade of the 1920s such nickname as The Jazz Age So Jazz of this period is just the embodiment of corruption fear and disappointment of Americans and demonstrates the real face of American society in the 1920s
B Jazz in the 1960s-1970s
Jazz in this two decades are merged with some fresh elements and gradually develops to a multi-elemental music Jazzs new development witnesses the development of American society and culture In the two decades America develops very fast and becomes the strongest country of the world Because of immigration new cultures new ideas are brought to America which brings about multiculturalism of America
In the 1960s-1970s Jazz continues to explore its way to every corner of America and even the whole world Since 1920s different forms of Jazz such as Swing Bebop and Cool Jazz appear one after another In the 1960s free Jazz appears and begins to be popular The great musician Coleman changes the past ways of composing music according to certain rhythm accompany and harmony Jazz requests improvisator to give vein to all their energies and passion Jazz of this period puts more emphasis on improvisation and offers more space to players And rocks instruments volumes and styles are introduced into Jazz and fusing Jazz sprouts at the narrow space of Jazz and rock In 1965 the fusing Jazz becomes a member of Jazz family Its earliest and famous fusing experiments are done in the recording of musician Miles Davis In a silent way
This kind of music style provides the original art with new appreciative points of view And in the 1970s Jazz and blues grow up in America together and they both convene finally at a fusion This is another great fusion in Jazz The fusion injects Jazz with new blood After the fusion Jazzs tone is still agile sometimes it is loud and sonorous sometimes it is bold and unrestrained In terms of the performance solo is not the only way instead team efforts also become the band features At this time American artists do not monopolize the scene and Jazz is spread to the world quietly
The development of Jazz has a close connection with the progress of the society America is a country of immigrants and every year thousands of immigrants with their different cultures and traditions come here to fulfill their America Dream Immigration has plainly brought huge benefits to America These new cultures interact with American culture and this multicultural state of American society is just Americas particularity and advantage Although America doesnt monopoly the art of Jazz Jazz is still the treasure of American culture However Jazz of this period does not sound as sweet as the promises of American Dream In Jazz the sound of emptiness and corruption is echoed After the Second World War a buying spree becomes a central feature of American postwar life People vie with each other to buy all kinds of consume goods Materialism is felt and practiced everywhere Meanwhile the influence of the war continues to exist and patriotism refuses to tolerate dissents The cold war and international confrontation limit the freedom of social dissidents whose criticism of government policies might be labeled as communist propaganda Opposition to strict social conformity leads to the appearance of the Beat Generation The musician
Miles Davis expresses the mood best in his music In a Silent Way" silent partner silent regrets silent movie on silent wings my silent undoing silent Angel silent nation silent prayer my silent love colliding I mind all these silent things demonstrate the players inner contradiction struggle disappointment for American society and rules Obviously Jazz in the two decades is the embodiment of the depressive life of American people
C Jazz in the 1980s-1990s
In the 1980s-1990s with the help of internet Jazz sweeps over the whole world and nearly every country has its own style of Jazz Jazzs multi-elemental development becomes the main trend
In the two decades Jazz has caught on to the audience like wildfire What once was a pure American genre now is seeping into other countries Other genres such as bluegrass metal country and southern blues have spliced them into Jazz Within the two decades it seems that each European country has its own style in Jazz for different cultural backgrounds Jazz can be found in US UK France Italy Sweden Denmark Holland Belgium Poland Germany Brazil Argentina Japan Hong Kong and so on As a matter of fact the music of the two decades is called music of modern creation New technology various electronic instruments and advanced recording equipment almost exhaust Jazzs fusion completely in style And in the so-called modern creative music there is little of Jazzs original elements On the contrary in the two decades the elements of any music style can be found in Jazz The development of the society accelerates the changes of Jazz and in turn Jazzs development
demonstrates the societys progress
Compared to Jazz in the 1920s 1960s 1970s Jazz of this two decades is endowed with new meanings It isnt filled with corruption fear and disappointment It isnt a wreaking stage for those degenerated young men It is an auditory enjoyment it is full of nice yearnings for a better future life Jazzs great changes are in fact the real reflection of the society In the two decades America has walked out the shadow of wars and develops very rapidly Lorah Johns a great American Jazz musician with Indian blood describes the real situation of American society in the song Sunrise Sunrises means hope the repetitions of the word sunrise reveals a peaceful America Being the strongest country and great country of immigration in the world America attracts more and more immigrants to come Of course culture merging becomes its peculiarity So America is called melting pot And with the acceleration of technology globalization and internationalization have become the main trend of the whole world The world is as small as a globe village in which countries can communicate with each other closely Multicultural development of American society brings about the fusion of Jazz with elements from other cultures and makes it also become multi-cultural and multi-lingual
II Jazz Another Melting-Pot
In modern society Jazz continues its multi-elemental development This great development trend is indispensable to the globalization and integration of the world The earth is like a global village in which people from different countries
communicate closely with each other In addition with the help of internet Jazz has a faster way of transmission to every corner of the world On the internet people can easily grasp the latest news of foreign countries and download any information from all kinds of sources Certainly listening to Jazz of different styles is not a hard thing on internet Besides in modern society technology becomes more and more advanced and plays an important role in the multi-elemental development of Jazz With the promotion of advanced technology Jazz is accepted and favored by more and more people no matter what the styles the instruments of performance or recording equipments are Although Jazz cant reach the height of popularity it did in the 30s 40s 50s 60s and 70s there are still great jazz musicians out there who touch the whole world and there are still fresh ideas in Jazz
However there is a concern that Jazzs multi-elemental character would bring about the disappearance of the unique American Jazz and the loss of its American features After all today Jazz doesnt only belong to the United States and it becomes the music of the world In fact nearly every country has its own style in Jazz for different cultural backgrounds Jazz like a melting-pot is merged with new elements and cultures As the hometown of Jazz America is a melting-pot country and the waves of immigrants witness the multicultural development of American society which in turn further promotes the fusion of Jazz with other music thus leading to its multi-elemental development In this sense Jazzs multi-elemental development truly reflects the social characteristics of America At the same time the harmonic fusion of different elements in Jazz also shows the coexistence of different cultures which accelerates the
multicultural development of American Society Therefore Jazz serves as another melting-pot in which different elements coexist harmoniously to fully present its charm and its reflecting feature
Conclusion
From the analysis it is obvious that in spite of different characteristics in different periods of time and its multi-elemental development in the last few decades Jazz as a mirror of American society and culture in the 20th century remains unchanged
In recent years technology helps Jazz improve itself in instruments of performance recording equipments in the beginning but end up destroying its original feature in the end making Jazz lose its pure American uniqueness However as Frank Zappa once said Jazz is not dead it just smells funny Broukal 98 Jazz may not have been dead but it is defiantly in a coma In the future there are still great Jazz musicians standing out with fresh ideas and hot spirit Although it is very likely that Jazz will not reach the artistic height it did in the 1920s-1970s with the development of the society it will become even more popular and be accepted by more people because of its multi-elemental and multi-cultural feature Therefore Milada Broukal makes a comment on the development of Jazz Jazz right now has hit the bottom of the bell curve and has nowhere to go but up Broukal 86
Focusing mainly on US expression from the 1920s to 1970s namely from the period of cultural efflorescence associated with the 1920s through the black
revolution of the 1960s Jazz witnesses two broad eras of turbulent political and artistic change during which different forms of art in American art circle influence one another in unexpected ways and by unexpected means and during which Jazz music provides a key metaphor and soundtrack And in the 1980s to 1990s Jazz escapes the dark shadow of wars and has new meanings which results from the development of science and technology and social progress and takes on a tendency of multi-elemental development In this sense Jazz is the embodiment of American society and culture and its development and changes witness the progress of American society and culture Jazz is not only a mirror of American society and culture but also is in a large sense a symbol of America As for Americans they have the Bill of Rights the Constitution and the great art Jazz
Acknowledgements
I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to my tutor----Yuan Bin vice Dean of School of Foreign Languages and Cultures who offers me academic and constructive advice on composing this paper His patient help and timely encouragement are worthy of high acknowledgement On the process of composing the paper he also played an important role in indicating a bright road in my future writing His useful advice and help made my paper much more mature than before
Then I am very grateful of my lovely friends Jiang Dan and Liu Qian who offered me
quiet situation to compose my paper and discuss with me about my paper
At last I do need to thank the persons who give me my lifemy father and my mother for their warm care and the chance of study Thank all people giving me advice and encouragement
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