How are you?
Following the last week, I am going to
start my 48th lecture.
I had conducted music lectures at Art
Collage JANG in Seoul, South Korea every Saturday from March 2015 to December
2017.
I am going to introduce the lecture by
the lecture’s order every Saturday.
The 4th theme of “The history of Jazz”
I will introduce this week is “Chicago Jazz”. It is a summary of the contents
of “48th ACJ Music Academy, The history of Jazz: 4. Chicago Jazz”, which was
introduced on May 21, 2016.
New Orleans Jazz, which was settled
musically in the early 1920s, moved to Chicago until the mid-1920s and reached
its peak.
The reason many musicians who led New Orleans jazz came to Chicago
was that since the Storyville in New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz,
was forcibly closed, jazz musicians lost their ground in New Orleans, then while
they were traveling to other cities to find jobs, Chicago was a right city
because it is a big city having huge commercial districts with booming of construction
economy.
Also, another reason New Orleans jazz musicians
gathered in Chicago was the railroad structure of the United States at the
time. Chicago was the center of transportation at that time and people had to
change trains in Chicago to get from New Orleans to New York. Therefore, if
there were railroads that could go directly from New Orleans to New York, the
Chicago Jazz might not have born. In addition, some musicians who left Storyville
to find jobs after its closure confused Chicago with New York.
After the Great Fire in the 19th
century, Chicago, which had been active in reconstruction, demanded more Labor
force than any other cities in the United States, thus people naturally
gathered to Chicago. In this situation, many musicians who
originally wanted to go to New York settled in Chicago, and some people heard
about the situation and moved to Chicago.
The Great Chicago Fire (October 8, 1871 – October 10, 1871)
Jazz at this time is referred to as
“Chicago Jazz,” or perceived as just a transitional form from New Orleans jazz
to Swing. In fact, since many of the New Orleans jazz we hear now are recorded in
Chicago, sometimes Chicago jazz is defined as “New Orleans Jazz recorded in
Chicago.”
The main characters of the Chicago jazz
are the three major classes of New Orleans Jazz, such as the Original Dixieland
Jass Band, King Oliver and Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton, and additionally
Bix Beiderbecke.
The most famous musician in the
Original Dixieland Jass Band class was ‘New Orleans Rhythm Kings’, who spread
New Orleans Jazz to Chicago, traveling between Chicago and New Orleans.
New Orleans Rhythm Kings
Louis Armstrong, who came to Chicago, escaped
from King Oliver's influence and formed his own bands such as ‘Hot Five’ and ‘Hot
Seven’, and their music became occupied a very important position in jazz
history.
Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five
One of the most notable jazz musicians with Armstrong in this era is ‘Bix
Beiderbecke’, who played cornet. Beiderbecke was born in a white family in Iowa
near Chicago, and at the age of 15, he was already developing a jazz player's
dream under the influence of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. However, his
parents did not allow his son to become a jazz musician and transferred him to
a high school in Chicago, but eventually he did not graduate from the school, and
made a band called "Wolverines" with his friends. Then, he joined the
band of Frankie Trumbauer, who was active in clubs in Chicago, and then gained his
fame. “Singin’
the blues” and “Riverboat shuffle” are his remarkable songs. Beiderbecke, who
died at the age of 28 in 1931, had a very fragile and tender-hearted personality.
It was said that the direct reason for his early death was alcohol due to
discord with his family.
Bix Beiderbecke
Comparing Armstrong and Beiderbecke,
Armstrong's performance is very challenging, self-confident, and full of
inspiration, while Beiderbecke's performance is very lyrical and restrained as
if representing his tender sensibility.
Louis Armstrong
By the late 1920s, Chicago musicians
made their way to New York with popularity. They play Swing in New York, and
around 1930, Jazz's main stage actually moved from Chicago to New York.
You can also review this lecture from
following media.
Next week, I will introduce you “Swing
music” as the 5th theme of “The history of Jazz” lectures.
Thank you.
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