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African American Music: From Spirituals to Jazz and the Blues — Transcript

by Austin Pegouske · 2,345 words · 414 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:01Went down to the river Jordan
0:04where John baptized three. When I walked
0:09the devil in hell, said Johnny baptized
0:13me. I say roll Jordan roll.
0:17Oh now roll Jordan roll.
0:20My soul arise ever Lord for the year and
0:25Jordan
1:07African-American spirituals developed
1:09out of the agony of individuals stripped
1:11of their home and identity, forced to
1:13travel to an unknown land and become
1:15slaves. Slave labor was excruciating and
1:18demeaning. Spending countless hours of
1:20backbreaking labor under the sun, slaves
1:22began singing songs to pass the time.
1:25Through several generations, work songs
1:26and spirituals developed as ways to pass
1:28the time and communicate with one
1:30another.
1:33Work songs focused on the rough
1:34conditions faced on a daily basis.
1:36Slaves were prohibited from talking
1:38about their master overseer, so they
1:40often incorporated code words to mention
1:42subjects that were off limits. Slaves
1:44were often expected to sing by their
1:45overseer if they were being silent.
1:48Constantly being oppressed and
1:50physically abused, these songs took on a
1:52sorrowful tune and told stories of
1:54hardship and struggle.
1:56Ex-slave Frederick Douglass once wrote,
1:58"The songs of slaves represented their
2:00sorrows rather than their joys. Like
2:02tears, they were a relief to aching
2:04hearts."
2:06Slave spirituals are often the most
2:08well-recognized forms of early
2:09African-American music. As slaves on
2:12plantations or in the city,
2:13African-Americans were allowed to attend
2:15Christian church. They often stayed
2:17after service to participate in song.
2:19Slaves took the common Christian themes
2:21of repentance and deliverance and
2:23incorporated them into a genre that
2:25would become one of the biggest
2:26influences on early American music.
2:29These spirituals also ignited a strong
2:31religious faction among slaves. Themes
2:34from the Bible like the Exodus became a
2:35metaphor for slavery, substituting the
2:37Mississippi or Ohio River for the Jordan
2:40River. Songs like Follow the Drinking
2:42Gourd became a metaphor of the Big
2:43Dipper, giving slaves directions to the
2:45Underground Railroad.
2:54Contrary to myth, slave and work songs
2:56were actually organized intelligent
2:57compositions. Their music has
2:59historically been labeled as monophobic,
3:01meaning there is one melody, one note at
3:03a time.
3:04This is not true at all. Upon dissecting
3:07these songs, one can see that their
3:08music is actually homophonic as the
3:10melodies often include accompanying
3:12parts and rhythms.
3:14One of the most crucial elements of
3:16slave songs, known as syncopation,
3:18actually originated in Africa.
3:20Syncopation is a rhythmic technique
3:22which involves stressing beats that are
3:23not normally stressed. Drums and other
3:25percussion instruments were banned on
3:27the assumption that slaves would use
3:28them to communicate ideas of escaping or
3:30uprising with each other. So, they
3:32implemented stomping and clapping to
3:34create cross rhythms that went against
3:36the fixed beat to create a sound
3:38previously unheard of to white settlers.
3:41Slaves that could play instruments,
3:43however, were allowed a banjo or other
3:44stringed instrument. Some songs use a
3:47call and response style of singing where
3:48a lead singer will call out a short
3:50verse and the rest of the workers, known
3:52as basers, will respond with the
3:54refrain, usually with a recurring theme.
3:57An interesting and crucial aspect of
3:59this nature of music is that it is
4:01imperfect. Basers may begin the refrain
4:03before the leader was finished with the
4:05solo, or the leader may begin the solo
4:07before the chorus was finished. This
4:10type of call and response created a
4:11unique blend of melodies and high and
4:13low pitches that were bound together by
4:15strong rhythmic elements.
4:18The actual songs sung were unique in
4:20themselves as they portrayed striking
4:22imagery without the use of rhyme scheme,
4:24as most songs originated as
4:26improvisations.
4:27Spirituals became synonymous with hope,
4:30whether for freedom or perhaps the
4:31darkest form of emancipation, death.
4:35Regardless, slave songs shared a common
4:37theme of fighting. Disguised as good
4:39versus evil or God fighting the devil,
4:41spirituals invigorated
4:43African-Americans' desire to fight their
4:45bondage and free their souls.
5:10Throughout American history,
5:12African-Americans have been patronized
5:13and continue to face prejudice in their
5:15daily lives.
5:16It has been said that humans use forms
5:18of art as an outlet from their daily
5:20lives. Music for African-Americans was a
5:22path used in their struggle following
5:24the abolition of slavery and the ending
5:26of the Civil War.
5:27One way in which African-Americans
5:29became involved with music was through
5:30minstrel shows.
5:32Tracing the inception back to Chatham
5:34Theatre in 1843, a white Irish-American
5:37Protestant with a black face sat on
5:39stage with three others dressed in
5:41plantation or slave-like clothing
5:42singing tales of slave life.
5:45This was the first performance of
5:46Emmett's Virginia Minstrels and is still
5:48generally considered to be the birth of
5:50the commercialized blackface minstrelsy
5:52show.
5:54In their early form, these
5:55impersonations were conventionally
5:57staged by white male performers
5:59blackening up their face and when they
6:01were not wearing white gloves, also
6:03blackening their hands.
6:05The visual picture was completed by
6:07dance, music, and song performances.
6:10This form of entertainment became a
6:11central part of the saloons, taverns,
6:14and music halls across Britain.
6:16Glasgow, a city departing point for
6:19America, had developed close ties with
6:21certain American states such as
6:23Virginia, a place where American musical
6:25influence was truly alive.
6:28During this time period, sheet music was
6:30evolving.
6:31The evolution of sheet music led to more
6:33racial cues and circumstances throughout
6:35these shows.
6:37The Irish in America, as a group, used
6:40the phrase blacking up to establish its
6:42ethnic separation from other races
6:45across the country.
6:46There were two groups of Irish Americans
6:48that participated in blackface
6:49minstrelsy.
6:51These two consisted of the Irish
6:52Catholics and the Irish Protestants.
6:55Christopher J. Smith suggests that when
6:57we examine all the sources, we should
6:59see that the roots of blackface
7:01minstrelsy go back virtually to the
7:03founding of the American colonies.
7:06During this entertainment period based
7:09on cross-race impersonation, blackface
7:12delineation or minstrelsy consisted in
7:14the grotesque and caricatured
7:16impersonations of African-American men
7:19and were performed by white, British, or
7:20American men in most cases. However,
7:23after the end of the Civil War, blacks
7:25were thoroughly integrated into minstrel
7:27shows.
7:28When one race impersonates another for
7:30entertainment, reception becomes a
7:32barometer of ethnic hegemony,
7:34interracial politics, and power. Oh, Mr.
7:36Billy.
7:38You know I'm crazy about my girl. I love
7:42that woman. Tell me, Cotton, how do you
7:44kiss your girl? Well, first you got to
7:46get a girl. Then you draw her close up
7:48to your chest, smooth over with fine
7:51caress, put lip to lip and gum to gum,
7:54then close your smackers, and yum yum
7:58yummy.
8:02Artists have been repeatedly tempted to
8:04appropriate and even try to reassign
8:07signifiers from this tradition, but
8:08blackface and its undeniable
8:11associated minstrel repertoire retain
8:13the power to reopen these hard to heal
8:15deep wounds.
8:18While most regarded them as a
8:19representation of African-American low
8:21cultural, one vision originated among
8:24whites and another originated among
8:26blacks.
8:2720th century artists also had to address
8:29the derogatory way in which minstrels
8:32represented black people.
8:34Most regarded them both as instances of
8:36African-American low culture.
8:39In today's society, we see the impact of
8:41minstrel shows and blackface
8:42performances.
8:44The language of modernity therefore
8:46involved a measure of what historian
8:48Michael North calls racial
8:50ventriloquism.
8:51Yet it wasn't only white writers who
8:53resorted to this practice.
8:55Although one might imagine that early
8:5720th century black modernists would have
8:59seized the opportunity to silence the
9:00ways of minstrelsy.
9:02In fact, they did no such thing at all.
9:05Minstrel tropes are still ubiquitous in
9:07black modernist literature.
9:10Wallace Thurman, Langston Hughes, Alain
9:13Locke all used, interrogate, and revise
9:16the form of these minstrel shows.
9:19As the minstrel men of the 19th century
9:21encouraged styles of racialized
9:23masculinity, contemporary white youth
9:25too were attracted not only to the music
9:27but various cultural artifacts extended
9:29beyond.
9:31What was once considered to be hip and
9:33cool for blacks was now beginning to be
9:35liked by whites.
9:38This began with the integration of black
9:39and whites in the minstrel shows at
9:41saloons and theaters all across America.
9:43Simply put, blackface minstrelsy was
9:45for, by, and about the white community.
9:48Although in its early period it was a
9:50form of engaging the black other, it is
9:52misleading to suggest that this
9:53engagement might even have been
9:55supportive of action to correct the
9:57other's social plight.
9:59Black minstrelsy promoted racism and
10:01undermined the African-American race
10:02during this time period, thus allowing
10:04prejudice and stereotyping to live on
10:06after the Civil War.
10:13After the transatlantic slave trade had
10:15ended, it is during this period to which
10:17America witnessed the birth of a
10:18powerful musical expression conceived as
10:21the result of the black man's struggle
10:22for his survival and freedom.
10:25Known for his ability to endure, his
10:27spiritual strength, and his outstanding
10:28sense of rhythm, black men in America
10:30would use these characteristics to shape
10:32the sounds and ideas of their music in
10:34the years to come.
10:36The earliest trace of black music that
10:38still exists today is the blues. In the
10:40difficult period of transition from
10:41slavery to freedom during the mid-19th
10:44century, the blues became an outlet and
10:46a therapeutic release for black men to
10:48unburden himself from the cruel and
10:49harsh realities of his life.
11:03She make me
11:05thank you ma'am, thank you ma'am.
11:12It is during this time, while performing
11:14in the company of whites, that the black
11:15American singer had to develop dual
11:17personality traits as a survival
11:19mechanism by removing black slang,
11:21verbal codes, and suggestive material in
11:24order to appeal to the white crowds.
11:26At the turn of the 19th century and the
11:28beginning of the 20th, the earliest
11:30forms of jazz emerged when black
11:32musicians and other African Americans
11:34became immersed in modern life and
11:35society.
11:36In what was originally known as a [ __ ]
11:38song during the American minstrelsy
11:40period, it was during the early 20th
11:42century where it acquired the additional
11:44label of ragtime. With the focus
11:46primarily based exclusively upon
11:48syncopated time and not so much melody
11:51or fine harmony, ragtime would become
11:53the precursor to modern-day jazz.
11:55Seen as a revolt against Victorian codes
11:57of behavior, the black American artists
11:59of this time were abandoning accepted
12:01musical styles of the time period and
12:03entering risky stylistic and social
12:05terrain.
12:07Being a direct challenge to western
12:09norms and culture, the birth of jazz
12:11music was more than just music. It was a
12:13cultural movement which influenced the
12:15attire, language, and attitude of all
12:17its followers. In this respect, jazz
12:20became a prototype for later forms of
12:22music such as rock and roll and hip-hop
12:24because it was hated by the bourgeoisie
12:26and the musical establishment of that
12:27time period.
12:29Largely associated with the drug use and
12:31deviancy, jazz music in its earliest
12:33forms was referred to as the devil's
12:35music.
12:37One cannot discuss the rise of jazz
12:39without mentioning the great Jelly Roll
12:40Morton. Identified as a major influence
12:43on the development of early American
12:45jazz, self-proclaimed inventor of jazz
12:47was responsible for writing the first
12:49complex and self-conscious compositions
12:51employing breaks, stop time devices,
12:54improvising feeling, and the swing
12:55rhythm. All factors of jazz that would
12:57continue to shape the genre for decades
12:59to come.
13:00Growing up as a Creole in New Orleans in
13:02the early 20th century, Jelly Roll
13:04Morton became both the face and the talk
13:06about jazz music. Known for his
13:08flamboyant demeanor, Morton was also a
13:10whorehouse entertainer and alleged pimp
13:13with a diamond tooth and a large
13:14wardrobe of flashy suits, making much of
13:17the American society associate jazz
13:19music with criminality and deviancy.
13:23Growing up in New Orleans, Morton
13:24describes the city as the stomping
13:26grounds for all the greatest jazz
13:27pianists in the country. Wherever jazz
13:29was being played, Martin notes how there
13:31is no discrimination of any kind, and
13:33people of different color and
13:34backgrounds mingled together just as
13:36they wish to, and everyone was just like
13:38one big happy family.
13:40Although by the early to mid-20th
13:42century, major cities like New York and
13:44Chicago both had established jazz
13:45scenes, they cannot be comparable to New
13:48Orleans. Historically, New Orleans was a
13:50major port where on Sundays a place
13:52called Congo Square became a destination
13:54hotspot for slaves and free blacks for
13:56Sunday recreation and market activity.
13:59Here in Congo Square, African music was
14:01performed throughout the early and
14:02middle decades of the 19th century,
14:04leading many historians to believe that
14:06jazz, and by extension all black music,
14:09traces its genealogy to this iconic
14:11square in New Orleans.
14:12Another major reason why New Orleans had
14:14such distinct jazz culture would be the
14:16city's complex social order of white,
14:18black, and Creole inhabitants, who each
14:21had their own unique musical
14:22performances and styles.
14:24With the racially mixed and diverse
14:26city, there's no wonder how New Orleans
14:28jazz became such a unique style and
14:29expressive art form.
14:32Although many see a direct connection
14:34between African music and dance and the
14:36early rise of jazz, Jelly Roll Morton
14:38stresses how early jazz was a unique
14:40product of America, not Africa.
14:43He notes how African music is nothing
14:45like New Orleans music. Just like oil
14:48come out of Oklahoma, jazz came out of
14:49New Orleans. Starting with Jelly Roll
14:51Morton, followed by other New Orleans
14:53greats like Louis Armstrong and King
14:55Oliver, all three allowed jazz to branch
14:58out and become music that no longer only
15:00belonged to New Orleans, but to the
15:01world.
15:03While the blues, ragtime, and the
15:05evolution into jazz can all be traced
15:07back to African roots, it was the
15:09African American who truly shaped the
15:11foundation of what the future of modern
15:12music would sound like. Although
15:14originally only heard in the streets and
15:16clubs of New Orleans, the once forbidden
15:18and demonic music scene would spread
15:20like wildfire and penetrate mainstream
15:22American culture placing the black
15:24artist at the center of attention in the
15:25public eye. Characterized by their
15:27carefree, lazy, yet extremely
15:29personalized and intimate performances,
15:32it is the American black artist of the
15:33early 20th century that would ultimately
15:35shape the sounds of American popular
15:37music in the years to come.

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