DEVELOPING
A BACKGROUND
Activity One
Share the following jazz timeline with the class at http://www.allaboutjazz.com/timeline.htm
in order to contextualize their knowledge.
Activity Two
One of the best things about jazz is that it has a rich tradition,
yet it is still a vital and growing art form. In the following activity,
students will see some current examples of jazz.
1. Divide the class into small research groups. Visit the Web site
of The Jazz Composers' Collective, a New York City based, non-profit
organization dedicated to presenting the original works of composers
who are pushing the boundaries of their self-expression at http://www.jazzcollective.com/.
Have each group choose one of these artists, read about their lives,
and listen to one of their compositions. Another alternative site
that may be used to learn about composers is http://www.meetthecomposer.org/conversation.htm.
2. Have each group create a presentation to share what they have learned
with the entire class.
STEPS
Activity One
Environmental influences permeate artistic expression in varied ways.
For example, Van Gogh painted the somber faces of potato farmers while
in Holland and vibrant landscapes when he lived in Arles. In this
activity, students will have an opportunity to explore cultural influences
in artistic expression.
1. Have the class engage in a debate focusing on the following scenario:
Two young and struggling jazz musicians are thinking about how to
best go about learning and becoming more proficient at their craft.
The first, Will, has decided to move to a rugged cabin in the woods
in upstate New York. He wants to surround himself with silence, and
feels that his creativity will flourish there. His closest neighbor
is acres away, and he must drive ten miles to get food. The other
musician, Jackson, has chosen to live in Greenwich Village in New
York City. His apartment is on the second floor of a building, and
overlooks a crowded, noisy, shrieking city street. His neighborhood
is rich with diversity and crowded with people and noise all hours
of the day and night.
2. Ask the class to choose which one of these men they think will
best be able to flourish as a jazz musician.
3. After everyone has had a chance to defend their decisions, lead
a class discussion focusing on the effects of culture on artistic
expression. Ask the class to generate examples from current culture
in which culture has affected artistic expression (for example, alternative
bands in Seattle, Georgia O'Keefe working in the desert, salsa, rap).
Activity Two
1. New York City is a jazz mecca with numerous festivals, concerts,
and performances. One great example of New York jazz is the Women
in Jazz Festival held annually at the Kennedy Center, New York. Have
the class read about it at http://www.apassion4jazz.net/wij.html,
and watch this year's webcast performance at http://www.jazzreview.com/webcast.html.
2. Have the class read the following article about the author's experiences
with jazz in New York City at http://www.allaboutjazz.com/articles/arti1200_06.htm.
Then have the students work in pairs to create their own personal
New York City Night of Jazz. They should choose a particular date
and then research the varied places where jazz is performed in New
York City. Some possibilities to begin with include the following:
http://elvispelvis.com/jazztour.htm
http://auto.search.msn.com/results.asp?cfg=SMCINITIAL&srch=5&FORM=AS5&RS=CHECKED&v=1&q=
NY+JAM+%2D+New+York+City+%2D+Jazz+Capital+of+the+World
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/clubs/ny.htm.
3. If possible, students should attend one of the performances they
have chosen.
Activity Three
One of the characteristics of jazz is its complexity. Many people
have struggled to define jazz, and there is no agreement as to exactly
what jazz comprises.
1. Ask the students to survey five people and ask them the question:
"What is Jazz?"
2. Create a 'DEFINING JAZZ' collage based on the survey responses.
3. Share and discuss the following quote from Ted Goia's, The History
of Jazz with the class: "It is a chameleon art, delighting us with
the ease with which it changes colors and the rapidity of its movements."
4. Divide the class into five groups. Have each group read the following
articles which provide a different perspective on defining jazz:
Group One: http://www.jazzsteps.com/reviews/whatis_goodquest.asp?partner=23053&sc=true
Group Two: http://www.jazzsteps.com/reviews/volatilejazz.asp?partner=23053
Group Three: http://www.jazzsteps.com/reviews/newshape.asp?partner=23053
Group Four: http://www.jazzsteps.com/reviews/whatisit.asp?partner=23053
Group Five: http://www.apassion4jazz.net/page2.html
5. Each group should write a one sentence summary to answer the question
"What is Jazz?" from each author's perspective.
6. Individual groups should share their results with the class.
Activity Four
1. Share this information with your class or read it at http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/jazzed/swing.html:
The 1930s ushered in a style of music that became the most accessible
and popular in jazz history. From 1935, when the U.S. was recovering
from the Great Depression, big bands flourished as the dance craze
swept the country. Nationwide exposure to "swing" music via radio
broadcasts and recordings enabled the music to thrust into popular
culture. Band leaders including Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington,
Jimmie Lunceford, Artie Shaw, Cab Calloway, Benny Carter, Earl Hines,
Chick Webb, Tommy Dorsey, and Charlie Barnet became household names
and popular music icons.
At the onset of the swing era, jazz had begun to take on more standardized
characteristics. Prior to the 1930s in New York, Chicago and the Southwest,
bands began replacing the traditional small group New Orleans style
of jazz, featuring collective improvisation, in favor of larger and
more powerful groups consisting of twelve to sixteen musicians. One
of the reasons for this change was the constraint of current technology.
With the lack of microphones, or any form of electrical amplification,
dance bands had to make other plans in order to be heard in large
ballrooms and dance halls. By increasing the number of musicians,
the volume also increased. No longer could the collective improvisation
of the New Orleans style be sustained with a larger ensemble without
sounding like chaos. New approaches to dealing with jazz on a grander
scale had begun taking root by the early 1920s. The earliest musicians
to create these big bands included pianist Fletcher Henderson, Duke
Ellington and Benny Moten, as well as bandleaders Paul Whiteman, Jean
Goldkette, and Ben Pollack. With the increase in ensemble size, arrangers
became key to the success of these bands. Bandleaders like Duke Ellington
became famous as composers and arrangers, while other leaders hired
staff arrangers or commissioned music for their groups.
The early New York big band style of the 1920s focused on the orchestration
of commercial tunes from Tin Pan Alley and original compositions,
eventually infusing "Hot" jazz soloists like Louis Armstrong, Bix
Beiderbecke, Coleman Hawkins and Benny Goodman into the arrangements.
2. Have students work in pairs and visit the New York Public Library
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at http://www.nypl.org/research/sc/scl/MULTIMED/JAZZHIST/jazzhist.html.
Choose one of the artists, and listen to their story and their music.
3. The class should create a play, where each group presents a short
feature on their particular artist. One group should be assigned to
create the narrator part.
Activity Five
Jazz varies greatly. In this activity students will listen to a broad
range of music and read different opinions about jazz.
1. Scroll down the page at http://www.apassion4jazz.net/juke.html
and listen to Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts," Davis' "So What," Morton's
"Jelly Roll Blues," Monk's "'Round Midnight," Rollin's "St. Thomas,"
Brubeck's "Unsquare Dance," Ellington's "Take the A Train" and Parker's
"Donna Lee."
2. Choose two other songs to listen to.
3. Divide your students into small groups. Visit the following site
at http://www.allaboutjazz.com/threads/young.htm and read comments
written by people discussing young people and jazz. Have each group
choose a favorite and share it with the entire class.
Activity Six
1. Share the following poem from the DUQUESNE LITERARY MAGAZINE which
was written about jazz artist Miles Davis.
One Miles Davis Night
Sleepin' in the sweaty neon blue,
body clingin' to the bed,
sheets
on the floor.
Cold water
rushes over the clammy skin
for relief.
Refrigerator light
iced beer in hand,
lookin' out the window...
The
beatin' of the night continues
as cars pass underneath the yellow
streetlights,
slidin' by on the misty black.
Fire escapes hum
like the business of the day.
People hangin' lazily,
talkin' and thinkin',
starin' at the neon blue
that's thick and heavy
with
a million kinds of sweat
all minglin' together in the air,
just
hangin' there
like everything else...
2. Have students respond to this poem in their writing journals.
3. Divide the class into pairs to share their responses to the poem.
Activity Seven
1. Divide students into small groups to conduct Internet research
on varied jazz musicians. Included are possible site to begin research.
Group One: Louis Armstrong http://kennedy-center.org/programs/jazz/ambassadors/Lesson10.html
Group Two: Charlie Parker http://www.pbs.org/jazz/kids/nowthen/parker.html
or http://www.charlieparker.com/
Group Three: Dizzy Gillespie http://www.kennedy-center.org/honors/history/honoree/gillesp.html
Group Four: Michael Brecker http://imnworld.com/brecker.html
Group Five: Duke Ellington http://www.duke.edu/~bwj1/bio.html
2. Each group should create a presentation based on their research.
This may be in the form of a skit, a poster, a music performance,
a story, or any other artistic rendering which captures the essence
of the particular artist.
3. Small group presentations will be shared with the entire class.
Activity Eight
Each student will write a paragraph that defines their own personal
understandings of jazz. |
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