The Evolution of Jazz

GENINT 711.254

Osher (50+). This course follows the evolution of jazz from the turn of the last century into the 21st century.

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About this course:

Jazz came out of a mixture of blues, ragtime, brass-bands and syncopated dance music in New Orleans at the turn of the last century. 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. In California, we explore bebop with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie "Bird" Parker and cool jazz with Chet Baker and Dave Brubeck. Finally, we look at how jazz is evolving in the twenty-first century with a new breed of musicians who are creating an innovative sound that challenges convention and defies categorization. 

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