WHAT A WONDERFUL MAN OF THE WORLD:

a praise to LOUIS ARMSTRONG

Place Jazz

in the context of African-Americanmusic in general

Place the individual jazzmaninto the context of Jazz

Analogy

Tension between freedom and social orderin their comitted groups and public life

The music they perform -> jazzFreedom for soloists but appear at their best in the company of their groups

When Approaching Legends as

-> Charlie Parker <--> Coltrane <-

-> Miles Davis <--> Armstrong himself <-

Be cautious about individual gifts

Notion found in many Histories of Jazz

The very nature of Jazz performance

makes evident

performers depend on one another

in everything they do

The Hot FiveFrom Left to Right: Louis Armstrong, Johnny St. Cyr, Johnny Dodds, Kid Ory and Lil Hardin Armstrong.

Early Years of Jazz

with special reference to the

life and work of Louis Armstrong

Stupendous Cultural Achievements

FromU. S. Slaves

Generation after Generation

Kidnapped, Middle passage, Slavery

Dispossessed of material and immaterial things:

the support of kingThe respect & status within the group

Stable family lifeDeference due to the old

Factors of Slavery

Nothing to wait for but

A lifetime of labour &

Physical and continuous punishment

Tool of survival

Learn something about survival

Their use of music to make sense of an otherwise

senseless situation

Identity

Knowledge -> who they are -> what have been done to them

Contrast -> that is who (“what”) you are -> less than fully human

Around 1800 by unknown artistAround slaves, dancing became a physical resistance test

Learning bits & piecesIn plantations

FromEuropean culture

The houses of their MastersAnd

Churches

The Great Awakening

Black slaves singing their spirituals

combine certainty of heaven

with the hope of freedom in this world

Linguists say there is no such thing as a primitive language

In the same way no music can be considered primitive

Black Diaspora + White music

Absortion of European musical traditions

Attraction and Repulsion

Between European and African values

Metaphor

Black people efficient and imaginative with the spoken word

Tension between Western Euro-American + African-American music

Improvisation versus notation

New Orleans

The Blackest of Black The Whitest of White

Spanish & French originsWealth & corruption

CosmopolitismDevotion to pleasure

Contrast -> puritanism

Place CongoDancing the bamboula in the Place Congo

New Orleans

Class of Creole Blacks

Every culture contributes something to the creation of this style

New Orleans

After oppressive legislation of 1894

Reclassified as Black

Forced to play with Blacks

New Orleans

The result of creole musicians (european style) into rougher atmospheres (held together by a minimum written material)

Musicians with the ability to play both styles; skilled in reading and writing music

New Orleans

CREOLE TEACHERS WITH EUROPEAN STYLE

Something of that training was fostering special abilities into new musicians

-> Armstrong

BLUES, RAGTIME, …

New Styles

1917 - > first recording of jazz

Players could improvise faithful to the community

Due regard to overall effect

Mutual human care

Satisfaction of the (dancing audience)

Louis ArmstrongEarly life deprived materially and emotionally

1913 -> ARRESTED (COLORED WAIF HOME)LEARNT TO PLAY THE CORNET

He himself played for pennies on street corners

1922 - > KING OLIVER SENT FOR HIM AND ARMSTRONG WENT TO CHICAGO (A SENSATION)

1924 -> AFTER MARRYING LILLIAN HARDIN (CLASSICALLY TRAINED) SHE HELPS HIM IN HIS CAREER

SUMMARY

Owned these skills: Slow vibratto, cadences, melodic inventiveness

keywords

Historical Hardship

• Steorotype threat• U.S. Slave Descendants• Racism• Segregation• Undervalued by Official

Culture• Their values disputed

and contested• Considered primitives

Affirmative action

• Survival• Orality• Identity• Comitted group• Complex web of human

relations• Black Expressing Culture• Political action (music)• Human right: the power

to define oneself

West end blues soloLouis Armstrong