Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

Elements of Jazz

From Cakewalks to Fusion

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Jazz is a uniquely American art form, one of America's great contributions to not only musical culture, but world culture, with each generation of musicians applying new levels of creativity that take the music in unexpected directions that defy definition, category, and stagnation. Now you can learn the basics and history of this intoxicating genre in an eight-lecture series that is as free-flowing and original as the art form itself. You'll follow the evolution of jazz from its beginnings in the music and dancing of the antebellum plantations to its morphing into many shapes as its greatest innovators gave us ragtime, the blues, the swing music of the big band era, boogie-woogie, and big band blues. You'll follow the rise of modern jazz in all of its many forms, including bebop, cool, modal, free, and fusion jazz. And you'll learn how the course of jazz was changed by key technological innovations, such as the invention of the microphone, which allowed smaller-voiced singers like Bing Crosby or Mel Torme to share a limelight once reserved for the bigger voices of stars like Bessie Smith or Al Jolson. Beginning the story on those antebellum plantations, Professor Messenger reveals how the "cakewalks" of slave culture gave birth to a dance craze at the end of the 19th century that was ignorant of its own humble roots. And he explores the irony of the minstrel shows, which derived from Southern beliefs of black cultural inferiority yet eventually spawned a musical industry that African-American musicians would dominate for decades to come. As a bonus, the lectures are also very entertaining, with Professor Messenger frequently turning to his piano to illustrate his musical points, often with the help of guest artists.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Bill Messenger, narrator of Course No. 728 in the Great Courses Series, is a professor at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and an accomplished jazz pianist. Unlike most audiobook experiences, this is clearly a recorded series of lectures. One hears pages being turned, and Messenger occasionally corrects himself mid-sentence. He illustrates his lectures with piano sequences and is accompanied on some lectures by a bassist and/or vocalist. These musical illustrations are essential elements of the program, and they work unusually well. Messenger's interactions with his guest accompanists seem natural and unrehearsed. If one wants an entertaining and informative primer on jazz and jazz history, this course fills the bill admirably. R.E.K. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading