Semester at Sea, Course Syllabus Colorado State University, Academic Partner Semester: Fall 2016 Discipline: Ethnomusicology Course Number and Title: MU 332 History of Jazz (Section 2) Course Level: Upper Faculty Name: David Borgo, Ph.D. Semester Credit Hours: 3 Prerequisites: none COURSE DESCRIPTION Explores the history of jazz from its roots to the present day. The course begins with an investigation into African and African American musical precursors, including spirituals, work and play songs, minstrel traditions, ragtime and the blues. It continues by exploring the emergence of jazz in New Orleans, Chicago, Kansas City, and New York City, as well as the exportation of jazz to locales around the world. Special attention will be paid to jazz artists and practices in Africa, Cuba, Brazil, Panama, and Peru. In addition to a survey of the most important performers and their associated styles and techniques (e.g., swing, bebop, cool, modal, avant-garde, jazz-rock fusion, etc.), this course explores the often provocative role jazz music has played in American and global society, and the diverse perceptions and arguments that have surrounded its production and reception. The course is designed to increase our abilities to hear differences among performances and styles of jazz, and to interpret the meanings of such differences. We will learn to use historical perspective, social context, and technological mediation as prisms through which we can understand why a piece of music sounds the way it does, what the music signifies about a particular time and place, and how its meanings may change for musicians and audiences over time. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this course, students should have: • An awareness of jazz with regards to cultural and historical significance • An ability to discuss instrumentation, form, function, and style in jazz • A chronological understanding of the development of jazz up to the present day • An ability to differentiate between pre-composed melody and improvisation in jazz • An ability to identify by style previously unheard performances or recordings • A vocabulary to describe a jazz performance in both spoken and written formats • A knowledge of how a jazz performance is created, from composition to rehearsal to concert • Deep enough understanding of jazz to formulate opinions on the quality of a given performance based on accepted stylistic norms and personal opinion REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS AUTHOR: John Edward Hasse and Ted Lathrop TITLE: Discover Jazz PUBLISHER: Pearson ISBN-13: 978-0136026372 ISBN-10: 0136026370 DATE/EDITION: 1st ed., 2011 [NOTE: All required listening examples will be made available through the ship’s Intranet] TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE [NOTE: all reading, listening, and viewing assignments should be done prior to the class session for which they are listed. Reading Quizzes are comprised of both objective and short answer questions related to the reading and listening assignments that will be handed out at least one class session in advance of their due date.] Depart Hamburg—September 10 B1—September 13: Course Introduction and Overview What is jazz? What are its defining elements? What different approaches can we take to studying jazz? What is its musical, historical, and cultural significance? READ: Chapter 1 B2—September 15: Listening to Jazz What are some strategies for focused and critical listening specific to jazz? How do jazz musicians approach melody, harmony, rhythm, sound color, and musical interaction? Did jazz retain any aspects of African musical practices? What are typical jazz forms and structures? What role does improvisation play in jazz and how should we listen for it? What factors help us to determine the quality of a jazz performance? READ: Chapter 2 No Classes —September 16 B3—September 18: The Birth of Jazz What roles did African, European, and Caribbean music play in the early development of jazz? Why was New Orleans important to jazz’s formation? How was early jazz related to other musical practices of the time, such as ragtime and the blues? READ: Chapter 3 to page 45 and Chapter 10 pages 265-267 (“Early Latin Influences on Jazz”) LISTEN: tracks 1-6 ASSIGNMENT: bring your Reading Quiz #1 responses to class Piraeus—September 19-23 B4—September 25: New Orleans Notables Who were some of the early jazz innovators in New Orleans? How did their music sound and why? How did issues of race play out in jazz’s first decades? Who made the first jazz records? How was early jazz music received, and for what reasons? What impact did jazz have on Europe in these early years and what controversies often surrounded it? READ: Chapter 3 from page 46 and Chapter 11 pages 288-298 LISTEN: tracks 7-9 and 35 Civitavecchia - September 26-28 Livorno – September 29-30 B5—October 2: The Jazz Age How did jazz develop in the 1920s in Chicago, Kansas City, and New York City (especially in Harlem)? Who were some of the leading figures of jazz at the time? What controversies did jazz music provoke? What role did arrangers, singers, and the record industry play in popularizing the style? What impact did jazz have on both popular and classical music of the period? Who were some important artists in this regard? READ: Chapter 4 LISTEN: tracks 10 and 11 ASSIGNMENT: bring your Reading Quiz #2 responses to class Barcelona—October 3-7 B6—October 9: The Swing Era How did jazz become America’s popular music during the swing era? What contributed to the sound of the big bands, and who were the “royalty” of swing? What impact did the racial climate of the time have on how big bands formed and operated? Why did all-female bands arise during this period? What role did smaller ensembles and soloists play? What contributed to the decline of the big bands?How did jazz develop in the Middle East and what are some Middle Eastern and Andalucian influences on jazz? READ: Chapter 5 and Chapter 11 pages 306-308 (“Jazz in the Middle East”) LISTEN: tracks 12-15 Casablanca—October 10-14 B7—October 17: Bebop and Modern Jazz What musical and social movements during and after WWII were pivotal to the development of bebop? Who were some of the pioneering bebop musicians, and where did they hone their craft? How were bebop musicians portrayed in the media at the time? READ: Chapter 6 to page 146 LISTEN: tracks 16-18 ASSIGNMENT: bring your Reading Quiz #3 responses to class B8—October 18: Piano Modernists, Cool Jazz and the West Coast Scene How do the piano styles of Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Lennie Tristano, and Dave Brubeck differ? Why was Monk often considered too “far out” for his time, even by his fellow modernists? How did cool jazz differ from bebop, and who were its key proponents? How did this style of jazz relate to the lifestyle and environs of California? Why did artists look to make inroads with college and concert audiences at this time? What is “third stream” music? How did it develop and what has been its lasting impact? READ: Chapter 6 from page 146 and pages 176-177 (“Two Takes on the Piano”) LISTEN: tracks 19-21 B9—October 20: Jazz in Africa Where is jazz performed in Africa, what styles tend to be popular, and who are/were some prominent musicians? Why has jazz played such an important role in South Africa, in particular, and what styles and celebrated performers have emerged from there? Why did the US State Department “export” jazz during the 1950s and 60s, and, in particular, why did they view the African continent as an especially important destination for sponsoring bands led by African American musicians? READ: Chapter 11 pages 311-317 (“Jazz in Africa”) and Ingrid Monson, “Africa, The Cold War, and the Diaspora at Home” LISTEN: track 36 ASSIGNMENT: bring your Reading Quiz #4 responses to class Dakar—October 21-24 B10—October 26: MIDTERM EXAM No Classes—October 28 B11—October 29: Latin Jazz: Common Sources, Different Sounds How did Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian jazz draw on similar musical roots to create different musical styles? What native Cuban and Brazilian rhythms and musical instruments have influenced the development of Latin jazz? READ: Chapter 10 to page 265 B12—October 31: Brazilian Music and Jazz READ: Chapter 10 pages 277-281 (“Brazilian Music and Jazz”) READ: “Orkestra Rumpilezz: Reinventing the Bahian Percussion Universe” by Juan Diego Díaz Meneses RECOMMENDED: “Brazilian instrumental music and jazz” (Chp. 8) from The Brazilian sound : samba, bossa nova, and the popular music of Brazil / Chris McGowan and Ricardo Pessanha. (revised ed. 2009, Temple University) LISTEN: track 34 Salvador—November 1-6 B13—November 8: Cuban Music and Jazz How and why did musical exchanges between the United States and Cuba change over the years? Who were the key Puerto Rican and Cuban musicians in jazz history? READ: Chapter 10 pages 268-277 and “Swing Shift: The 1940s” (Chp. 4) in Latin Jazz by John Storm Roberts (Shirmer Books, 1999) LISTEN: tracks 32 and 33 B14—November 10: Calle 54 FILM: Calle 54 also recommended: Cachao…Como Su Ritmo No Hay Dos ASSIGNMENT: bring your Reading Quiz #5 responses to class B15—November 12: More Sounds from the Caribbean READ: Chapter 10 pages 281-284 Port of Spain —November 13-14 B16—November 16: Mainstream Jazz What currents in American society influenced the development of jazz in the 1950s? Why was Miles Davis among the most important musicians of this period? How did hard bop develop in response both to bebop and cool jazz? What is soul jazz? What vocalists were important during the mainstream era? How was jazz presented on television at this