<bgsound src="jazz.wav"> <bgsound src="duke.mid"> The Great Gatsby


The History of


Blended with various musical traditions of American blacks, jazz contains a mixture of West African music, black folk music developed in America, and European popular and light classical music from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Some of jazz's vocal style includes an immense freedom of vocal color, rhythmic complexity, and a tradition of improvisation that was expressed in African music. Elements from the field hollers, rowing chants, lullabies, and spiritual blues that made up black folk also contributed to the diverse music form known as jazz. Furthermore, jazz contains specific styles and forms such as hymns, marches, waltzes, and quadrilles that was used in European music. In addition, black-influenced popular Nineteenth Century music such as banjo music and ragtime that included syncopated rhythms contributed to the wealth of styles assembled to form jazz.





Originating in New Orleans at the turn of the twentieth century, the first noted style of jazz appeared. As the trumpet sounded the melody, the clarinet played the countermelody, the trombone carried rhythmic slides, and the bass and drum holding the beat, ebullience and volume had more emphasis than artistic value. Creating the white New Orleans band known as The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Buddy Bolden is said to have pioneered some of the earliest jazz bands. Adding spice to the already hot format of jazz, the first soloist of jazz, Louis Armstrong improvised this new form of music by giving the soloist the spotlight. He formed different melodies based on the chords of the initial tune.





A popular form of jazz called the stride piano was greatly developed in the Harlem district of New York City. A true expert in this form was James P. Johnson. Another piano style that contained abrupt, sharply accented bass pattern played continuously by the left hand while the right hand conducts a variety of rhythms was known as the boogie-woogie.





The 1920s gave way to the creation of many big jazz bands. One prominent band was Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra named after the leading songwriter Fletcher Henderson. With the help of his arranger Don Redman, Henderson introduced written scores and helped to improve the condition of improvisation that is featured in jazz. Another magnificent musician named Duke Ellington also uplifted the quality of jazz making his orchestra a cohesive ensemble. He wrote solos specifically for certain instruments.





The Great Gatsby takes place during the 1920s when the era of jazz starts to emerge. Quite new at the time, jazz in the 1920s instantly became popular in the big industrial cities such as New York City and Chicago. Although most of the jazz bands in these cities were black, the music appealed to all races. For example, in the The Great Gatsby "Sheik of Araby" performed by Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra is played during the party at Myrtle's apartment in New York, and Tom has no rejection to this song. One would assume that Tom, who is worried about immigrants taking over America, would dislike this song because blacks perform it.



The song being played is called "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" by Duke Ellington.

Lyrics to "Sheik of Araby"



Page last updated April 28, 1999.
Curator: Aliza George


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