Camron Gooden

Professor Mills

ENG 102-18

19 April 2020

Jazz: Truly Timeless

Everyone has their own sense of what jazz is. It’s usually categorized as the music that

doesn’t have words but isn’t like an entire orchestra. Most people just see a saxophone and think

jazz, which is totally fine. But jazz is rarely thought of as a considerable factor in development of

the music and media we enjoy today. Although it’s believed that the development of the modern

arts simply took place due to the times, the awareness and acknowledgement of jazz and its

continuity proves that jazz had significant cultural and societal impacts on the world.

Jazz music is a combination of African rhythms and European harmonic structures that

claims its distinction through the use of improvisation, in which players spontaneously come up

with melodies and solos based on the chord progressions of a song with minimal use of written

sheet music. There are many eras of jazz, just as there are with pop, R&B, and other popular

genres of music. These eras include Swing, Dixieland, Fusion, Bebop, and many more.

Jazz was first used as entertainment in the 1920s in jazz clubs in the form of “big bands”,

which consisted of five saxophones, four trumpets, three to four trombones, and a “rhythm

section”, which included a piano, double bass, and drums. It quickly became the mainstream

form of entertainment. As stated in Zola Philipp’s The Social Effects of Jazz, jazz was also

spread through the radio, which allowed for broadcasting opportunities for black jazzmen.

However, it is because of this new medium that black jazz players were often exploited by the

white music industry workers, since blacks were then only allowed to play music that appealed
to white Americans (Philipp). And on top of that, the musicians didn’t receive equal

compensation or credit for the popular jazz music. It is believed that this was because whites

simply “refused to equate anything valuable with African Americans” (Philipp). This led to a lot

of white people in the music industry to “reap the benefits” of black players.

But as many people saw jazz as another way to discriminate, many saw it as a way to

integrate blacks and white alike. While those who recorded jazz in the studio were mere

employees, those who played publicly considered serious composers (Philipp). The black

musicians just had a musical identity that couldn’t be copied or otherwise quantified. It was

mentioned by Philipp that “whites could jam when they had sheet music”, but the blacks’ ability

to spontaneously create was what was impressive. This led to blacks and whites making music

together in a safe and equal environment, which was the real essence of jazz; making music

regardless of race or background.

Jazz’s societal effects started in the earlier eras of jazz. As stated by Philipp, the purpose

of jazz was “to force the audience to confront often disturbing realities and hidden truths about

themselves, their society, and the world”. This was demonstrated through historical work songs

and spiritual music. Throughout jazz’s evolution, musicians made music that spoke about

troubling time to society. An example of this is John Coltrane's Alabama, which commemorated

victims of the 1963 bombings in Birmingham, Alabama (The). Now although Coltrane wasn't

very present in regard to political views, it is great example of how jazz served a greater cause in

society.