Jazz and Its Contexts
Jonathan Elmer
English
Title: Jazz and Its Contexts
This course will give students a broad view of what most of the world thought was one of America’s great contributions to society in the twentieth century: jazz.
We will explore the development of the music, both in terms of its social contexts and in terms of its formal devices. We will also spend considerable time looking at how jazz interfaces with other artforms: dance, visual art, and literature. We’ll listen to music and seek to learn how best to appreciate what jazz is doing. We’ll read stories, poems, and a novel, dip into some histories of jazz, and look at artworks and dance developments.
Here are some artists (musicians, writers, painters) we’ll get acquainted with: Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Sarah Vaughan, Bill Evans, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Henry Threadgill, Esmeralda Spalding, and Brad Mehldau. Texts by Nella Larsen, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Mezz Mezzrow, Amiri Baraka, and Nathaniel Mackey.
Requirements include two spot-check midterms, a presentation, and a final project.
Catalog Information: HON-H 233 GREAT AUTHORS, COMPOSERS AND ARTISTS