JAZZQUEST LECTURES

Joan Cartwright, M.A.
President & CEO
FYI COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

divajc47@yahoo.com

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AFRICAN AMERICAN BLUES AND JAZZ LECTURES

OBJECTIVE

To introduce students to the history of African American Blues and Jazz music and to the musicians who were innovative in creating and maintaining the tradition. Emphasis is on the emotional content and rhythmic elements of blues and jazz as well as the instrumentation

Voice
Guitar
Harmonica
Piano
Bass
Drums
Trumpet
Saxophone
Trombone
Flute
Vibraphone
Harp
The lecture series is based on six essays by Joan Cartwright, M.A.:

(Click here to read abstracts)

1. The Sign of the Blues
2. Jazz: The Unmasked Rhetoric
3. The Cultural Politics of Commercial Jazz
4. Women in Jazz
5. Jazzmen
6. So, You Want To Be A Singer: Music Business

METHOD

  • Discussion of the history of the Blues as a product of the West African culture of the slaves brought to America in the 17th Century including their:
Socialization into European culture and the ban placed on the use of drums resulting in the use of hands and feet for rhythm.
Religious conversion to Christianity and the practice of using spirituals for revolutionary purposes, e.g., the Underground Railroad, and for social comment about oppression, dislocation, poverty, despair and hope.
  • Exposure to the musicians who created and performed Blues and Jazz music through audio cassettes, CDs, videotapes and photographs. The acceptance of Blues and Jazz abroad is also discussed.
  • Introduction to the art of scatting derived from "Dixieland", "Swing" and "Bebop".
  • Discussion of the Business of Music, including discipline, promotion, publicity, performance and recording. Also includes a discussion of the responsibility of musicians as messengers.
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