The Blues and Jazz Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Blues and Jazz - Research Paper Example The epilogue and the first chapter of the book ‘invisible man’ serve as the basis for this research. Foundation of Jazz Music Jazz music emerged from African Americans in New Orleans As most music scholars would put it, jazz music was among the first American genres that influenced global music. In essence, many share the ideas that this form of music developed after the civil war especially in America (Clark 56). On the other hand, jazz musicians also used this music genre as a platform for advocating for civil rights and equality for the African American minority group. It was a subtle way of dealing with social injustices for which others considered as stereotyping since it mainly targeted those of white color. In essence, music serves as an avenue for communicating across one’s ignorance’s and hatreds hence connecting people for the betterment of the society. With this attribute in mind, many jazz musicians played their music for a purpose that was grea ter than entertainment but as a way of bringing unity for the oppressed. Ellison’s use of Jazz and Blues in the book ‘Invisible Man’ serves as a way of self-expression. ... This explains why the narrator chooses to listen to such music in his underground hole as he strived to peer deeper into the invisible man that he received little attention from the whites. Although many jazz artists were from New Orleans, this does not limit the themes to this location only. On the contrary, many African Americans formed the audience of those jazz artists because the themes expressed reflected the feelings and experience of all of them. Famous jazz artists included Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, John Carter, Wyntons Marsalis, and Wadada Leo Smith. All these artists expressed the feelings of African Americans. They made use of a variety of symphonies that defined their style of the mainstream African music (Clark 80). Jazz emerged at a time when the civil rights movement in America was operating under a compelling impetus. The popularity of jazz music was to contribute greatly to anti-racial themes. This is evident because the song ‘What did I do to be soâ₠¬â„¢ that the narrator in ‘Invisible man’ listened to in the underground hole is a reflection of the sentiments harbored by many of the Black people against racism. Louis Armstrong had remixed the song to address the racism theme that was affecting the Africans Americans. It is worth noting that the emergence of jazz was a motivation of black people to extend their outcry against the institutionalization that slavery had caused. Jazz music formed one of the avenues through which African American could convey their quest for equal treatment. In addition, this was the period shortly after the world war and Africans demanded inclusion in all systems as