Klarinet Archive - Posting 001175.txt from 1998/07

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] Benny Goodman/Jazz Clarinet
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 11:02:56 -0400

On Mon, 27 Jul 1998, Steven J Goldman, MD wrote:

> Originaly, wasn't a rag an actual musical form

There was not a single form which was used by ragtime composers, but
several. The forms are similar to the forms of Sousa marches or Strauss
waltzes. But, form was not the singular identifying characteristic of
ragtime. Rather it was the style of the music. It generally consisted of
a regular repeated rhythmic pattern in the left hand ("boom-chick" style,
later to develop into stride piano), against which would be set a right
hand part which was syncopated to some degree. Other features: a ragtime
piece might have started as an improvisation, but it was written down.
Composers and players tried to play these works essentially the same,
note-for-note, every time it was played.

> jazz was a way of playing marches and dance tunes by "unschooled" New
> Orleans musicians.?

>From the beginning, there were some musicians who played jazz who were
"unschooled" and others who were highly trained. In New Orleans society
in particular, there were three primary racial/ethnic groups: 1) whites,
of various European extractions, 2) those of African extraction, and 3)
Creoles, of mixed racial heritage, mostly French/African but sometimes
Spanish/African and others. The Creoles tended to be the most highly
educated and cultured group, and many of them were multi-lingual. The
Creole population was responsible for founding the New Orleans Opera
House, the first in America. They were also the most successful from an
ecomomic point of view. Many of them sent their children to Europe to be
educated, and those musically inclined might be sent to some of the most
famous of the European conservatories, as witness, Louis Moreau
Gottschalk, who studied at the Paris Conservatory. The Dixieland bands
made up primarily of Creole musicians were obviously well trained in the
classical techniques of playing their instruments, reading music, etc. On
the other hand, the bands made up primarily of musicians of African
heritage often contained a high percentage of self-taught or intuitive
musicians. In various periods of the history of jazz, there were times
when white, African and other musicians played together in the same bands,
and other periods when the races were segregated. It was the
cross-pollinization of musical ideas and styles among all these groups
which ultimately enabled jazz to grow and progress as it did.

I have to be careful here - I'm about to give away some of the secrets of
my Jazz History class! ;-) The main danger is that when one tries to
type this kind of information in an e-mail message, that in trying to make
it as concise and brief as possible, it may be misleading in some way.f
Much essential background information is necessarily omitted here.

Ed Lacy
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Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
Evansville, IN 47722
el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
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