The performer, past and present

Louis Armstrong. Perhaps the most well-known and influential jazz musician of all time. He had the whole package: he was both an incredible trumpet player who basically taught jazz how to swing, and he invented scat singing with his noticeably unique raspy voice. In addition, he performed with antics that make it hard not to smile while you watch. And maybe that is what sealed the deal for Louis Armstrong. He was the first iconic American performer. It may seem that Satchmo is just expressing his enthusiastic personality, but really, Armstrong knew exactly what he was doing. Every time he stepped on a stage, Armstrong presented that caricatured version of himself that audiences loved so much. Just look at the first video. Clearly the man playing the saxophone is the bandleader and Armstrong is just a guest, but Louis literally "steals the stage," allowing the bandleader only a short opportunity to be heard. Below is another example of classic Louis, this time in a rare video with future jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie:



Not only is the music enjoyable, but it is just fun to watch. Everyone on stage looks like they are having a great time, and they really project that to the audience.


Okay, so it's not hard to enjoy Louis Armstrong acting silly onstage, but how does that relate to today? That is not very difficult. Look not further than your very own modern "make a fool of yourself just to get attention" performer: Lady Gaga. I mean, people don't just wear things like this just because they feel like it:



Just like Louis, everything Lady Gaga does is a calculated effort to attract attention. And boy, has it worked.

Clearly the way the musician performs has evolved tremendously over time. Louis Armstrong's performance style would not work today just as much as Lady Gaga will not be relevant in fifty years. People will wonder why there was some woman rolling around a stage wearing Saran wrap. All forms of media have undergone this evolution over the past century. We began with silent films and are now watching ultra-high definition 3D movies on IMAX screens. Additionally, the way information is communicated has evolved a tremendous amount. The only way to receive news from beyond a small distance was by newspapers. Now, we have television, radio, and the internet. The internet is an especially interesting new form of media because it allows individuals to have a large influence on many people through the use of Twitter and blogs. And just as the performer has evolved, we can only expect media to improve and innovate.

Does it mean a thing if it does have that swing?

Where is jazz today? Sure it's there, but it exists in the public view only in the form of high school jazz bands and "Jazz at Lincoln Center" specials on PBS. Jazz only accounts for three percent of all music sales today. What's wrong with that? Jazz has just fallen into the same category as classical music: just another genre that old people hang on to to avoid listening to today's music. So what's the big deal? Well, really, it comes down to the fact that jazz is really the only true "American" music. Just like many Americans, its roots originate from many different places; from Southern folk music to African tribal music. And it was almost definitively invented in the heart of New Orleans. (And if you don't believe that argument, you can just ask Congress, who, in 1987, wasted their time just to declare that jazz is American) Shouldn't it be important that we preserve the only music we have to ourselves?

Well, you may be thinking, jazz is not the only form of American music. Rock is certainly considered American, but it really has its origins in the UK. Rap and hip hop can be traced directly to West African music, so technically it didn't originate in the US like jazz did. How about that crazy new genre, dubstep? Nope. Dubstep and most other forms of electronic music are European. How about modern pop music? Well...come to think of it, the music that is so perennially the most bought music on iTunes and in record stores also is a uniquely American thing. So much so that many consider the export of our modern music to the rest of the world as just another example of the Americanization of the world.

So we can talk about jazz and we can talk about pop. There was a time though when jazz was pop: the Swing Era of the 1930s and 40s. Bandleaders like Duke Ellington (seen below), Count Basie, and Benny Goodman ruled the scene just like Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Justin Bieber do today:



Why was jazz so popular then? Actually, for the same reason music is popular today: people liked to dance to it. Just listening to Ellington's big band makes you want to get up and dance, right? Well, maybe not, but for people in the 1930s and 40s, it was the best dance material around. And people needed the pep in jazz for the same reason the entertainment business is flourishing so much today. We are in a recession, and they were in a depression (quite a large one, too). When people are down on their luck financially, they turn to forms of entertainment.

So really, if you think about it, jazz music of the twentieth century, and pop music of the twenty-first century have a lot more in common than you might notice at first glance. The mission of this blog is to explore these similarities, and what we can learn about our modern music by looking to the past. And hopefully, we can also learn to appreciate our American musical roots. I mean, seriously, how can you not enjoy this even a little?: