New Orleans emerged as center of
commerce in the southern United States in the 19th century. This
status also made New Orleans a melting pot for many different cultures “unlike
anywhere else in North America” (Stewart). The majority of the population was
of West African descent and as such, music became an integral part of everyday
society. This tradition allowed jazz to borrow from many different styles of
music and to flourish as an entertainment form. Jazz has multiple origin
stories, from the brothels of Storyville, which was “kind to hot music,” to the
churches of New Orleans where Buddy Bolden is rumored to have gotten ideas for
his music (Gioia 29-30). Gioia writes that many of the musicians would play in “cabarets
and dance halls” in Storyville, not in the brothels, which he claims was
probably what tabloids would write (Gioia 29).
Another source for jazz music rests
with the 8th Regimental Band from Mexico who came to New Orleans
during the 1884 New Orleans Exposition. These musicians were classically
trained and brought woodwind instruments and stayed in New Orleans after the
exposition. Many aspiring Black and Creole musicians were trained classically
by the members of the Mexican national band and later went on to become great
jazz musicians. Undoubtedly, we can say that the Mexicans left “unquestionable
imprints upon jazz and blues in New Orleans” (Johnson 229). Jazz, however would
not have formed without influences from many other cultures, most notably,
African culture and the distinctive Creole culture in New Orleans.
I think the most important factor in
the birth of jazz in New Orleans was the class conflict that lay at the heart
of the city. The Creoles in New Orleans wanted to distance themselves from what
they considered the black underclass and tried to imitate the European culture
present in New Orleans. After the Civil War, the Creoles were brought down to
the same level as the lower class due to legislature passed in 1894. The better
trained Creole musicians had to compete with the “less schooled, more
boisterous black band” who ended up dominating the music scene, albeit they did
integrate many parts of Creole music. New Orleans jazz, thus became a musical
genre not exclusive to a single ethnicity, but an integral piece of identity
for many cultures.
Commented on Phil Coren's post at <blst14philcoren.blogspot.com>
I am interested in the idea that class conflict is at the core of jazz's inception. I have been having trouble reconciling the collaborative aspects of jazz with this class conflict. One could argue that the multi-layered aspects of New Orleans culture caused conflict but also added to the dissonant sounds of jazz. There is a discourse in the way jazz is played and perceived which is fascinating. I think this would be a really interesting area of study, and should maybe be discussed further.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Delia and your essay in that the class conflict probably was an important contributor to the formation of Jazz. I would like to add to this argument the idea that the class conflict was only about creoles trying to preserve their economic and social position. To reconcile the musical influence, I would propose that music provided a kind of bridge between the two "classes". White people went to see black musicians, too, so in a way music was the connecting factor across social and economic divides. This is just an idea though and should be discussed further. Your argument and Delia's argument that this conflict added to the dissonant sounds of jazz is still reconcilable with the theory I proposed here. In short, I think that there were nearly no boundaries for musical interaction, even though there were stark economic and social conflicts.
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