Harlem music
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Jazz and Swing music were new genres around 100 years ago. It was a way of feeling that changed music forever. Jazz evolved from slave songs and religious African American folk songs that were then translated into modern, up beat music. Jazz’s originators and most important innovators were primarily African American and is a major part of their culture. One of the biggest influences of jazz happened to be Louis Armstrong. Working Man Blues is one of the first recordings of Louis Armstrong who became one of the most important figures is jazz history. Even though music like jazz had a been around, The Harlem Renaissance led jazz to take a foot hold into the attention of Country and soon all people began to enjoy the sounds of jazz just as African Americans did. Jazz became infused in American culture as a whole and everyone regardless of skin color listened to it.
Now, jazz is played and listened to by people of all cultures and races and includes musical elements and styles from all over the world. Jazz has gone from being America’s music to being the world’s music. In the song Louis Armstrong's "wild Man Blues" their are no lyrics;typical of the genre at the time. However the music shares a powerful message of the political and social turmoil that blacks had to endure but through that conflict they came out victorious and their spirits never broke. Artists like Armstrong where able to capture this message and translate it into their music and that is why it had such a profound effect on the country as a whole and now on a worldwide scale in present day. |
Important people
Aaron Douglas |
The Movement
The Harlem Renaissance was the cultural, social and artistic movement that took place in Harlem, New York from 1910 to around the 1930's. The movement was considered to be the rebirth of African American arts. Originally Harlem was an upper-class white neighborhood in the 1880's, but because of over development it led to abandoned buildings and landlords seeking to fill them . In 1903, middle-class families from another area known as Black Bohemia moved to Harlem, and other black families followed suit. Following in which was to be later known as the great migration, thousands of Black Americans migrated in large numbers from the South to the North along with immigrants searching for a better life, in the 1920's over 300,000 African Americans from the South moved to the north, and Harlem was one of the most popular destinations for the people who were doing so. This population shift
caused Harlem to become a mecca for African american culture in the Unites States resulting in a Black Pride movement with leaders like Du Bois working to ensure that black Americans got the credit they deserved for cultural areas of life. The Harlem Renaissance was a major turning point for African American culture as well as the country as a whole. During this period the music that Blacks played such as jazz became much more attractive to whites, this lead many white composers and musicians to incorporate much of the traditional African American music into regular mainstream America. In addition plays, written by African Americans changed the outlook of African Americans to the general public, in addition literature such as "Harlem dancer" and "If we must die" started to make major appearance in major publishing and became the outlet and foundation for African Americans to express the reality of life in America as an African American. In doing so the Harlem Renaissance brought the black experience to American cultural history. The Harlem Renaissance redefined how America viewed African Americans This new identity led to a greater social consciousness, and African Americans became players on the world stage, expanding intellectual and social contacts internationally. This incredible movement for black culture as well as America as a whole was triggered as the result of WW1 where the migration of workers from Europe ended while there was still a high demand for unskilled factory labor this triggered thousands of blacks to uproot from their homes in search of better opportunities. In addition continued racism even after the war as well as race riots and other civil uprisings may have triggered the Harlem renaissance in itself.
caused Harlem to become a mecca for African american culture in the Unites States resulting in a Black Pride movement with leaders like Du Bois working to ensure that black Americans got the credit they deserved for cultural areas of life. The Harlem Renaissance was a major turning point for African American culture as well as the country as a whole. During this period the music that Blacks played such as jazz became much more attractive to whites, this lead many white composers and musicians to incorporate much of the traditional African American music into regular mainstream America. In addition plays, written by African Americans changed the outlook of African Americans to the general public, in addition literature such as "Harlem dancer" and "If we must die" started to make major appearance in major publishing and became the outlet and foundation for African Americans to express the reality of life in America as an African American. In doing so the Harlem Renaissance brought the black experience to American cultural history. The Harlem Renaissance redefined how America viewed African Americans This new identity led to a greater social consciousness, and African Americans became players on the world stage, expanding intellectual and social contacts internationally. This incredible movement for black culture as well as America as a whole was triggered as the result of WW1 where the migration of workers from Europe ended while there was still a high demand for unskilled factory labor this triggered thousands of blacks to uproot from their homes in search of better opportunities. In addition continued racism even after the war as well as race riots and other civil uprisings may have triggered the Harlem renaissance in itself.