The Evolution of Jazz Course

Program Overview

This revised course explores the evolution of jazz and blues music, tracing its journey from its origins to its modern-day iterations. It covers key figures and styles, including Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, and Dizzy Gillespie, and examines the impact of jazz on American culture and beyond. The program provides a comprehensive overview of the history and development of these influential musical genres.

Program Outline

Outline:

This revised course covers the pillars of both musical forms—jazz with Louis Armstrong and Jellyroll Morton and the blues with Bessie Smith, Robert Johnson, and B.B. King.

• We then follow jazz as it moves upriver to Chicago to hear Eddie Condon and Bix Beiderbecke; then New York, where it burst forth from the big bands of Basie, Ellington, Goodman, and Dorsey with vocalists Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.