Listening Journal Week 3

The listening's from these chapters still seem to break things down both by race, and social status. This has been one of the most interesting things for me to discover through reading these chapters. It furthers the thoughts that social status and racial segregation proved apparent even in the vernacular music. The St. Louis Blues performed by Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong epitomizes the blues music of this time. I find this recording most interesting, because it blends the forms of the typical Tin Pan Alley and 12 Bar Blues. I loved how the instrument and the voice played off of each other. It was almost as if the cornet was feeling the same pain and desperation as the singer. This song feels as though this is the upper crust of blues music once you compare it to the more "front porch" style blues as recorded by Blind Lemon Jackson and Charley Patton. Those two songs, seem to have more of a lower class feeling of down home music rather than the upscale version of the St. Louis Blues. The vocal styles are less clear, and the instrumentation is more simple. However, "That Black Swann" did use the call and response type instrumentation between the singer and the guitar. Very few genres during this time period blended styles particular by one race, however, the music of Jimmie Rodgers does seem to have some of the styles from the African American centered pieces we have heard to this point. He was able to blend styles from blues and hillbilly music that would allow his music to cross over to the popular style and connect to the mainstream audience as well. Producing million dollar sellers and appearances on the pop charts. These music selections by Jimmie Rodgers bring me back to my grandfather's couch. I can remember listening to this style of music quite often. The distinct nasal "country" twang is distinct for this style of music. Like the blues, most of these early country/hillbilly songs display emotions of despair and sadness. Most likely a reflection of the hard times during the depression. With church music, we also see a separation between race. We have gospel music that is essential white, such as the Carter family which mirrors the secular country music as well as African American gospel music of the Golden Gate Quartet. Being encouraged not to participate in music the black gospel music was more ornate. It reminds me of a barber shop quartet or a minimal version of the popular "A Capella" genre of today. Using the bass voices for instrumentation this music was much more ornate. As we move to the Swing Era, we get music of what I would perhaps call the upper crust music. The music of the swing era was not created on someones back porch or in the valley of Tennessee. Most of the dance music from this era was performed in clubs and sophisticated venues. Although still segregated, it was not uncommon for the Cotton Club to be full of a white audience although a black band was playing there. Although Benny Goodman integrated parts of his band, segregation through this genre within the cities, was still apparent. I have always enjoyed this era of music. In fact, one of my favorite musicals is Swing. I enjoy the vocal style such as presented in "Taking a Chance on Love" The instrumentation and the simple form. With all of these recordings, I could see the dancing in the clubs. The primary purpose for this music was for dances. "In the Mood" has always been one of my favorites. From the very beginning opening fanfare, your attention is hooked and you immediately start to move. Also during this time we get a reoccurrence of Latin influenced Dance music with Caravan, and Brazil. These two pieces made me immediately think of the I Love Lucy show, another one of my favorites. The dark textures of the Latin inspired music with it's rhythmic syncopation just bring the samba and salsa to my mind and I can just see Ricky Ricardo singing "Babaloo" and conducting his big band. The fiddle techniques to incorporate different timbres in Caravan just give it the lasting piece of Latin Flavor. The percussion effects also give you the tropical feeling. The instrumental introduction puts you in the mood to dance and takes you back in time.

Listening Journal Week 2

The Songs from these two chapters represent two very distinct styles of American Music. The first being Jazz music which was popular during the 1920's and 1930's as well as what American's classify as the "standards" also popular during this time. Each of these styles differs from the other in many ways, however, both include some of the same instrumentation and form. For example, the Jazz style that we saw in the recordings by The Original Dixieland Band and Jesse Europe's Orchestra followed a much more free style of form. Most of the Jazz songs had room for improvisation and "scat singing" which was not something that was popular in the style of the classic Tin Pan Alley Songs. The Jazz pieces did not seem to follow such as strict identifiable form as the Tin Pan Alley Pieces. My favorite piece from this section was East St. Louis Toodle-OO performed by the Duke Ellington Band. This piece seemed to have a melody, performed by a muted trumpet, as well as the typical improvisational style of the Jazz. Although not one of my favorite singers, Ethel Merman's performance of I've Got Rhythm perhaps is one of the most famous songs from the Tin Pan Alley Selections. I have performed this piece myself several times and thoroughly enjoy the rhythm, lyrics and form of the piece. I can see why it was recorded by so many artists after it's original release in 1930. Bing Crosby's voice is a much better representation of vocal technique during this time period than Ethel Merman's. His performance sounds genuine and thoughtful. Again following a verse refrain format, the song is accessible to many different voice types and talent levels. It's poetry is meaningful and the use of questions in almost every line makes the song more intimate and intense. I also listened to the Frank Sinatra version of this song, which was recorded about 10 years later. Using a slightly different orchestration, it still presents the same intimate meaning.

Listening Journal Week 1

Not having my text yet, I was unable to listen and find to all of the pieces on the music list. However, the ones that I was able to listen to, offered some great insight to American Music. The first one I listened to was Barbary Allen performed by Jean Ritchie. I enjoyed that this piece was a cappella with just a simple vocal line. Her voice was clear and had a celtic tonal influence. The next piece I listened to was Soldier's Joy performed first by Old tanner and the Skillet Lickers and second by Tommy Jarnell. Although the same song, the second piece was a variation of the piece. Both pieces had Appalachian influences an fiddle techniques. This piece, as well as the next two pieces reminded me of the movie, "O Brother Where Art Thou". The Coo coo and Long John were pieces that reflected African American Culture and offered some insight into early African American Pieces. I was unable to find a recording of Enrique Nigue, however was able to find Son De La Negra. Son De La Negra had a great Hispanic influence and used upbeat rhythms. Finally, Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair, culminated the American Art Song. Thomas Hampson's version was more classically sung than the other popular from different cultures. These pieces show how different cultures have effected American Popular Music. America is often called "the melting pot" and these pieces definitely represented many different cultures of America.