MUS 366U : and Culture in the Storyville Era

MUS 366U Dr. Edward Higgins Term: F2017 Email: [email protected] Office: LH 213C

CATALOG DESCRIPTION Examines the music of New Orleans during the Storyville era of early 20th century, and its place in the broader context of American popular music history. Students explore the historical narrative surrounding popular music, culture, and identity, as it emerged in New Orleans.

DETAILS The Storyville Era, for a myriad of reasons, created many opportunities for musical experimentation. While Jazz was not born in Storyville, the era did give rise to many different forms of music with influences as diverse as the musicians who played there; segregation began to dissipate as musicians came together and were influenced by each other. As a result, the music of the Storyville era drove cultural formation in New Orleans, giving the city its identity.

LEARNING OUTCOMES Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: identify specific musical features and compositions unique to New Orleans, discuss the music of New Orleans and its place in American history, discuss how business practices relate to artistic enterprises, analyze the relationship between popular music and culture, and discuss how social and cultural events influence and may be influenced by popular music.

COURSE OBJECTIVES  Students will critically analyze musical compositions of the Storyville Era as significant historical and cultural artifacts that reflect the era’s cultural climate.  Students will develop an understanding of New Orleans’s place in the historical narrative of American popular music and culture.  Students will develop an understanding of Jazz’s effect on cultural identities within various communities in New Orleans and the rest of America.  Students will examine historical events in New Orleans and how they influenced both New Orleans culture and its music.

REQUIRED MATERIALS Charters, S. (2008). The trumpet around the corner: The story of New Orleans Jazz. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi

Krist, G. (2014). Empire of sin: A story of sex, jazz, murder, and the battle for modern New Orleans. New York, NY: Broadway Books

Web Article: Arnold R. Hirsch and Joseph Logsdon, “The People and Culture of New Orleans.” http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/history/people.html

Web Article: A New Orleans Jazz History, 1895 – 1927, Natural Historical Park Louisiana. https://www.nps.gov/jazz/learn/historyculture/jazz_history.htm

CD: “A Companion CD to Samuel Charter’s Fabulous Book” University Press of Mississippi

GRADES You will have 10 quizzes, each due Fridays before 11:59 pm. Late work will not be accepted. No exceptions. Your lowest Quiz score will be dropped and the remaining will be combined to calculate an average score. Each quiz will be 20 questions, except week 10 which will be worth 40 points, and the material will come directly from the texts. Each quiz has a time limit of 20 minutes.

Mus 366U

Quizzes (10) (Total of 200 points)

Discussions: (10) (Total of 100 points)

Essays (3) (Total of 300 points)

Total points = 600

ASSIGNMENT GRADING RUBRIC

Assignment Requirements 1. Does the essay fully address the prompt? 2. Does the essay follow the appropriate style guidelines? 3. Is the assignment the appropriate length? Organization 1. Are the basic sections (introduction, body, conclusion) adequate? 2. Is the material ordered in a way that is logical, clear, and easy to follow? 3. Are paragraphs and sentences cohesive? Grammar 1. Are there any errors in grammar or spelling? Content 1. Does the essay adequately discuss the topic at hand? 2. Does the essay show thought and convey some depth?

Schedule

Week 1 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. (An Introduction) Pg. 3-22

Read Gary Krist, Empire of Sin Pg. (Prologue) Pg. 10-25 Pg. 76-106

Read Article: Arnold R. Hirsch and Joseph Logsdon “The People and Culture of New Orleans.” http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/history/people.html

Discussion: Briefly describe your background and reasons for taking this particular course. Listening (CD) #’s 1&2

Quiz 1

Week 2 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 23-63

Read Gary Krist. Empire of Sin Pg. 75-86

Discussion: It has been said that “Storyville was the most racially integrated populous in the entire south.” How did that environment affect the music that eventually came from New Orleans?

Listening (CD) #’s 3-5

Quiz 2

Week 3 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 64-96

Read Gary Krist, Empire of Sin Pg. 87-106

Discussion: Social injustice was rampant during the Storyville era. Discuss how such injustice effect the era’s music, both in subject matter and temperament of the music.

Listening (CD) #’s 6 & 7

Quiz 3

Week 4 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 97-125

Read Gary Krist. Empire of Sin Pg. 108-139

Discussion: Vice, in the form of prostitution and gambling, has been found in almost every documented culture. Music has seldom not been found where vice is found. Should a society ignore, eliminate, or regulate vice? What effects on cultural development, and especially music, would you anticipate based on your decision?

Listening (CD) #’s 8 & 9

Quiz 4

Essay #1

Week 5 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 126-157

Read Gary Krist. Empire of Sin Pg. 158-175

Discussion: The Louisiana state legislature passed a law mandating a death sentence for anyone convicted of kidnapping a child. Was this penalty too harsh for such a crime?

Listening (CD) #’s 10 & 11

Quiz 5

Week 6 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 158-179

Read Gary Krist, Empire of Sin Pg. 176-209

Discussion: Chapter 13 in “Empire of Sin” states that the economy of New Orleans was strong enough for musicians to give up their “day jobs” in favor of working full-time as musicians. Describe what a typical 24-hour period might have been like for a full-time musician in New Orleans.

Listening (CD) #’s 12 & 13

Quiz 6

Week 7 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 180-219

Read Gary Krist, Empire of Sin Pg. 212-238

Discussion: None

Listening (CD) #’s 14 & 15

Quiz 7

Essay #2

Week 8 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 220-257

Read Gary Krist, Empire of Sin Pg. 242-284

Read Article: A New Orleans Jazz History, 1895 – 1927, Natural Historical Park Louisiana https://www.nps.gov/jazz/learn/historyculture/jazz_history.htm

Discussion: None

Listening (CD) #’s 16 & 17

Quiz 8

Week 9 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 260-298

Read Gary Kris,. Empire of Sin Pg. 300-312

Discussion: Much of Chapter 20, “The End of an Empire,” focuses on efforts in Louisiana to legislate against prostitution. However, prostitution is still rampant, regulated or not. Do you think legalizing prostitution would contribute to higher employment rates for musicians? Explain your answer.

Listening (CD) #’s 18 & 19

Quiz 9

Week 10 Read Samuel Charters, The Trumpet Around the Corner Pg. 298-331

Read Gary Krist, Empire of Sin Pg. 312-332

Discussion: The New Orleans economy had fallen behind other southern cities, such as Dallas, Houston, and Atlanta, due to lack of industry. However, the city was able to experience a revival by exploiting its “checkered past” through tourism. Of the great cities of the US, where does New Orleans rank on your list to visit and why?

Listening (CD) #’s 20 & 21

Quiz 10

Final Essay

ESSAY #1 Write a 500-word essay discussing how racial struggle in the rest of the country was reflected in New Orleans.

ESSAY #2 Write a 500-word essay exploring the relationship between vice and culture in New Orleans.

FINAL ESSAY Write a 1000-word essay discussing the relationships between New Orleans, cultural identity, and American popular music.

Course Format

This course will feature activities that include:  Reading from the text  Listening  Screening video  Participating in a discussion  Taking a quiz

Forms, surveys, and other miscellaneous activities may also be included. It is important to complete each week's activities on time. Late work will not be accepted.

Discussions: Every individual discussion is worth 10 possible points. Each time a discussion opens, students must post at least once by Sunday of the week it appears, unless otherwise stated by the instructor. The purpose of these discussions is to create a dialog among students. Therefore, once you have created a thread, please post at least two responses to other posts.

As the discussions potentially involve a fair amount of opinion, and with the understanding that students come to this class with different levels of experience with the subject, students have a lot of leeway as to the content of their discussion posts. However, work hard to make your comments substantive—meaning containing real substance. It is generally okay to duplicate others' subject matter in a large class, but here, do try to find a unique perspective to discuss. In your comments, please avoid a "me too" kind of post. Give it some thought and respond with something to add to the thread. It's recommended that you try to post mid-week or earlier to give others the opportunity to respond. It goes without saying that ALL posts in the discussion group need to be polite. Please avoid any statements that might be interpreted as being judgmental of others' tastes in music, politics, religion and so forth. As you may know, printed text can be easily misinterpreted.

Quizzes: You will have 20 minutes to complete each quiz. The quizzes consist of multiple choice and true/false questions, and may include listening questions. Quizzes are due for completion at the end of each week.

How to Contact Your Instructor: The best way to reach me during the term is through D2L mail, the message service contained in the D2L site. To do this, an easy way is to click the People menu from the menu strip above, then select Class list. Scroll down the list until you find my name (Dr. Edward Higgins). When you click it, a new e-mail message will open with my D2L address already filled in. Type your message and click on Send. You can check your D2L mail by clicking on the envelope icon at the top of the window.

How to Submit Assignments: The main deliverables for this class are quizzes and discussions. Both are graded online, and nothing further is needed. Do not email them to me. Other assignments/projects should be submitted to the proper Dropbox. Quizzes, discussions and Dropbox can be found under the Activities menu.

DRC Accommodation: Accommodations are collaborative efforts between students, faculty, and the Disability Resource Center. Students with accommodations approved through the DRC are responsible for contacting the faculty member in charge of the course prior to or during the first week of the term to discuss accommodations. Students who believe they are eligible for accommodations but who have not yet obtained approval through the DRC should contact the DRC immediately.

REQUIRED Listening

Students are individually responsible for accessing all musical examples that will be studied in this course. The songs are listed in the order they appear in the course outline and may be downloaded on such commercial sites as iTunes and Amazon, or they may be accessed on You Tube. It is not necessary to purchase these songs, but it is imperative that students listen repeatedly to each musical selection.

MUSIC OF STORYVILLE LISTENING LIST All selections are available on Youtube – URL links can be found in D2L

1. Paul Barbarini, “Panama” 2. Johnny Bayersdorfer, “Tailgate Ramble” 3. Percy Humphrey. “Bye and Bye” 4. Brunies Bros, “Thanks a Plenty” 5. Papa Celestin and Alphonse Picou “Johnson Rag” 6. George Girard, “I’m Goin Home" 7. Don Albert, “Breeze” 8. Harry Shields, “Chimes ” 9. Punch Miller and Kid Howard “Tuck me to Sleep” 10. Monk Hazel, “When your Smilin” 11. Bunk Johnson, “Blues in F” 12. Johnny Wiggs, “Linger Awhile” 13. Johnny St. Cyr, “Bye and Bye” 14. Tony Parenti, “Baby won’t you Please Come Home 15. George Lewis, “St. Louis Blues” 16. Jack Papa Laine, “Papa Laine Talks” 17. Tom Brown “Sweetheart of Sigma Chi” 18. Lee Collins, “Fidgety Feet” 19. Charlie Cordilla, “Sidewalks of New York” 20. Sharkey Bonano, “Sin to Tell a Lie” 21. Santo Pecora, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”