|
|
This is only a preview of the paper
Click here to register and get the full text.
Existing members click here to login
|
|
|
With reference to Jelly Roll Morton’s “Jelly Roll Blues”, to what extent can the composer be considered the “inventor of Jazz”?. Jelly Roll Morton (born Ferdinand Lemott) was born in New Orleans on the 20th October 1890. Jelly Roll Morton was an American Jazz composer and pianist. Born in New Orleans he served his apprenticeship until he followed the migration of Jazz out of the South to the West Coast, and eventually to Chicago. Its here that he made his first recordings. By the late 1920s he had moved to New York where he began working with larger groups, using elaborate harmonies and improvised solos. He was considered to be the first important Jazz composer, developing the New Orleans style to its finest. It is here where he died on the 10th of July 1941. Jelly Roll Morton began using the term “Jazz” in 1902 to specifically “show the difference between Jazz and Ragtime”. Morton claims to be the originator of Jazz with a vision that Jazz entailed both contrast and variety through numerous ways that included instrumentation, texture and timbre. To prove the context of Jazz, Morton “Jazzed” up any type of tune; ragtime pieces, operatic excerpts or even Sousa marches to show that “Jazz is a style that can be applied to any type of tune” . Although Morton claimed he began writing his first Jazz pieces in 1902, there appears to be no evidence to substantiate this. Jazz supposedly originated in New Orleans. However, similar styles of playing evolved in Memphis, Dallas and Kansas City independently of one another. However, before the New Orleans style developed, Ragtime was a prominent style of music. Ragtime refers to the style of piano music that was perfected by Scott Joplin around the turn of the century. It was a written music that was popularised by the distribution of printed musical scores. Ragtime demands great technique, reading ability and a rhythmic prowess. It takes on a “metrical” style with a structured form that typically consists of AABBACCDD. Joplins music is regarded as quintessential, and along with boogie-woogie (a simply blues based piano style), and blues played an important part in the birth of Jazz. Many people would agree that Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin is one of the most popular, if not the most popular rag of all time. The ‘statistics show that Maple Leaf Rag sheet music was the most reproduced music of the time’ . It takes on the typical structure associated with ragtime music (AABBACCDD). It is played metrically with an element of flowing and constant movement. Other characteristics of rag music that is evident in Maple Leaf Rag is the use of a crotchet, chromatic bass movement (see example 1), that is reminiscent of later jazz walking bass. There is also use of heavy, bulky chords, which accentuates the constant tempo and movement (see example 2). Example 1. Bars 9, 10 and 11 Example 2. Bars 26 and 27 Morton was a teenage piano player in New Orleans during the heat of the ragtime craze; it would have been likely that he was immersed in this musical style from an early age. He saw Jazz as a new music that had ‘eclipsed a fading ragtime’, but he could recognise how the two were related. He could make clear distinctions between Jazz and Ragtime, “Ragtime is a certain type of syncopation and only certain tunes can be played in that idea” . Jazz on the other hand uses improvisation especially in the right hand, a characteristic that ragtime music lacked. By this point, Morton claimed he had isolated Jazz as an area not covered by Blues or Ragtime. Morton’s conception of Jazz as music different from Ragtime was unveiled on his very first compositions Original Jelly Roll Blues and New Orlean Blues. According to Jelly Roll Morton, both these compositions were an introduction to the beginning of a new style and era. By analysing Original Jelly Roll Blues the arguments for and against Jelly Roll Morton being the inventor of Jazz can be discussed. Original Jelly Roll Blues was composed by Jelly Roll Morton around 1905, although the first known recording was not produced until till early June 1924.
Approximate Word count = 2771
Approximate Pages = 11.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
|
|
|
|
|
|