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The Politics Of Jazz
The Politics Of Jazz
Date Posted: March 16 2009
Written By: marsha noble
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The historic moments surrounding and leading up to the announcement of America’s election of the first African-American President was and will always be like music (jazz music!) to my ears. And as wonderful as this music sounds to me, it pales in comparison to knowing that the United States and its world allies have come together to celebrate the election of a black man to the highest office in the U.S., who will govern our country from the Oval Office of the White House.
On the morning of Martin Luther King’s birthday, January 19, with a celebratory spirit emanating from every news medium, I began to reflect on the progress of blacks in America and their struggle for acceptance. Always proud of my culture, I was more than proud that America had reached a defining point, the 2008 election moving us toward bridging the racial gap that divides us. While there were moments during the campaign when racial overtones could be heard or felt, in the end race took a backseat to what was right and good.
I compare this triumph with the struggle of jazz music––the struggle to be accepted and appreciated, and to receive the high regard it so richly deserved. The election of the first black president has a connection with jazz music, as both are milestones within the black community, each giving that community a voice, each legitimizing that voice.
The early beginnings of jazz occurred during a time when the racial divide was great and America was laced with racism, prejudice and cultural tension, especially among blacks and whites. There existed even greater tension in the music industry.
Jazz music was considered the sinful music of blacks, or nigger music. It was deemed evil and devilish, causing those who listened to it to perform lewd and sinful acts of lust after hearing the sultry sounds of instruments like the saxophone. If a man or woman had a sultry tone or heavy voice, that voice was considered lewd. Whites who liked this music were sometimes labeled nigger lovers, so many would listen to it in secret, or travel outside of their normal environs to enjoy live jazz and avoid such ridicule.
As the music was more widely accepted, especially among aristocrats, even the original spelling of the word was changed from jas to jazz, as if the name change would disassociate jazz from its negative label of evil music.
Nothing changed about the music except that it became more widely spread, making its way from the south to the north. It is usually assumed that jazz originated in New Orleans, but it actually came from the western parts of African and Europe. It only appeared to begin in the trading port of New Orleans because the slaves transported there from West Africa and Europe brought their culture with them, which included the sound of jazz.
A great migration in the U.S. began its surge, and blacks began to move north. Jazz artists were often requested to come north to entertain, and were paid handsomely to do so.
More accepted in the north than down south, in the north jazz was usually not legally relegated to brothels, speakeasies and certain parts of town, though it was still labeled the devil’s music by whites and black Christians. The laws and social mores, as they applied to jazz music and black musicians––the politics of jazz––were different for blacks than for whites.
Black jazz artists continued to fight to be respected both socially and by law. They wanted the right to play, compose and market their music. They wanted to own the rights to their compositions and to the ensuing royalties. Often, as we shall see next issue in my column, the politics of jazz became more degrading the more prominent an artist became.
These gifted, talented, artistic progenitors of jazz; these intelligent, educated men and women understood what was right and that they were being exploited. Black artists were manipulated––legally and otherwise––time and time again by white managers and producers. Though the musicians ultimately prevailed, they were powerless to own and record their music until the late 1920s, and many lost the rights to their music, and even their lives.
Back in the day, the politics of jazz discriminated against women more than men. Women received less work than men, and when they did get work they received less pay for it. Considered eye candy or draws, women were not as well regarded as their male counterparts.
But soon that would change. When the men were drafted to serve their country during times of war, it was the female jazz artists who replaced them and entertained in their absence. Sadly, these women were fired once the men returned home.
Eventually it became apparent that jazz music was here to stay. But while black musicians were making music that was hard to forget, white America was all-too-often making it difficult to be heard. The politics of jazz would soon meet with the civil rights of these artists, who took a stand for their race and their music.
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to write about the African-American legacy of jazz. I want to reiterate that there are many who feel that jazz is an American music. But when it was evil and the music of the devil, it was considered black music. It is and will always be the creation of the African-American culture, and we must recognize and write about history as fact and not fiction.
This is not to divide us, but to remind and inform people of the truth in our history. History can be altered. Some of its most important facts are omitted because they depict inhumanity and ugliness, but the truth is the light and history must be told for what it is.
Jazz is an African-American legacy that is enjoyed and cultivated by all ethnic groups. Music, and especially jazz music, has a wonderful way of bringing us together––all races, ages and cultures, politics or not.
Next issue we will look at some of the artist heroes, discussing how they were able to overcome their trials and tribulations, as we continue to review the politics of jazz. Until then, we’ll see you around, jazzically speaking.
By the way, for those of you who surf the web for great jazz, check in from time to time to Roosevelt University’s college station––roosevelt.edu/wrbc––and listen to the JAZNU Show on-line on a weekly basis. We are in the final stages of testing and formatting, and I promise you the best in jazz music is coming your way, live and in real Internet color!
Tune in every Saturday morning for the JAZNU Show on WSSD 88.1 FM with Marsha Noble, the Jazz Pacemaker. Your Saturday mornings will never be the same. To email the Pacemaker, jazzpacemaker@aol.com or write to M. Noble Productions at P.O. Box 53-519, Chicago, IL 60653-0519 and send your jazz events for airing on the JAZNU Calendar.
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Comments
Comment: Interesting article, but the the Jim Crow laws that kept the Black Jazz players from freely performing also kept the early white players (like Bix Beiderbecke, for example) from playing with their idols, in his case, Louis Armstrong. As a result, their craft suffered as could not freely learn from the masters. Don't get me wrong, the plight of the Black man in this country is a disgrace, whether or not they played Jazz. The thing is, however, those of us who love, study and listen to this music know where it came from and we know who its founders were. This is something we will never, ever forget. The debt for inventing America's only true original art form is one this country will never be able to repay.
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