Friday's class

Today we explored ragtime and blues, listening to and discussing Maple Leaf Rag (Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton, and Rev. Gary Davis versions), Dallas Rag, La Gallina (Louis Moreau Gottschalk) versus Scott Joplin's Peacherine Rag, St. Louis Rag (Tom Turpin), Mississippi Rag (Wm. Krell), Hellhound on My Trail (Rbt. Johnson), Dippermouth Blues (Joe "King" Oliver), and Dead Man Blues (Jelly Roll Morton).  We also viewed and discussed part 2 of KTWU's Kansas City Jazz.  An interesting side note, Brian said that he has recorded with Myra Taylor--tres cool, eh?

Thursday's class

Today we viewed part one of Kansas City Jazz, done by KTWU.  After a discussion of that material, we listened to various selections from the New World Anthology of Recorded Music--Louisiana/Field Songs from Senegal, No More My Lord, Lining Hymn and Prayer, Carve That Possum, Molly Put the Kettle On, and Why Do You Wander?  and had a good discussion--interesting material from the early, early days.  These selections help us to understand the sources that came together to create jazz.

Wednesday's recap

Today we returned to a Diana Krall tune, It Could Happen to You, discussing its binary form, and we also listened to another tune of hers, Exactly Like You, which has an aaba form.  Alison Krauss's Sawing on the Strings revealed an aaba format but with interesting twists.  We also viewed and discussed the important points from Ken Burns' Gumbo (episode 1) from the PBS series Jazz.

Wednesday's 1st

I've looked at your individual blogs and I've been very impressed with what I've seen.  Make sure that you take a look at what your classmates are doing.  I like the inclusion of the images, as well as the audio and video links.  Those are very helpful to the reader/listener/viewer.  I'm pleased with your start.  Keep up the great work!

Tuesday's recap

Today was the first session and we covered several things: an introduction to basic music elements--harmony, melody, rhythm, consonance, dissonance, and form.  We discussed 32-bar popular song form (aaba) and listened to several examples of it, including Eric Clapton's Running on Faith, and Dexter Gordon's Dexter's Riff and Dexter Rides Again.  We also discussed 12-bar blues, including Clapton's Before You Accuse Me and Mose Allison's Your Mind is on Vacation.  Additional listening included Chet Baker's My Funny Valentine and Look for the Silver Lining; Mose Allison's Your Molecular Structure; and Diana Krall's It Could Happen to You.  We'll recap some of these tomorrow.  In addition to aaba and 12-bar blues, we also talked about music that has a binary formal structure.

We talked about social and societal forces that give rise to things artistic, and I asked you to take a look at Pablo Picasso's artwork that has come to be called Chicago.  Write in your personal blogs what you see in this amazing work by one of the 20th-century's foremost artists.  You may conclude with whether you like it, or not, but I want you to address the more fundamental question of what it is that you're seeing and what the experience says to you.  In short, what does viewing this art work do to you; what do you think about when you look at it?  What impact does it have upon you?

We talked about prohibition and how that impacted American society, especially in cities like KC, NYC, and Chicago.  If you have time, investigate Ken Burns' recent three-part documentary entitled Prohibition.  It may still be available to you on the PSB website.  In KC, the effects of Prohibition (see 18th Amendment to the US Constitution,  the Volstead Act of 1919, and the 21st Amendment to the US Constitution) were evident in the political regime of Thomas Pendergast.  That, in turn, had a direct effect upon the music of the day, and that, of course, included a good dose of jazz.  The important thing to remember is that during Prohibition, alcohol flowed freely in many clubs that operated with the OK of the Pendergast political machine, led first by Big Jim Pendergast and later by his brother Tom.

Welcome to Music 424, Jazz in Kansas City and the Southwest

We'll be using this blog space a great deal, so get to know it as soon as possible.  Best wishes for a most enjoyable course.  Alfred Cochran, Professor