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Music
New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz music. Jazz music started when slaves in the 1800s would get together every Sunday to celebrate their origin and cultural background. They would gather at the Congo Square and dance to African, gospel, and Caribbean music. Their dancing and singing made a beautiful entertainment scene for the people of New Orleans, and soon their music style was recognized by other city dwellers. The evolution of jazz music started in 1865 when the war ended, and more people came into or moved away from New Orleans (Gioia, 54). The jazz movement spread far and wide, with many people appreciating the jazz musicians’ style and compositions. Duke Ellington is undoubtedly one of the greatest jazz musicians to have existed. His compositions, how he played the orchestra, and his way of treating his band members, left a great impression in the world of jazz music.
The style and composition of jazz music encompass musical elements from other genres. It has melody, harmony, and rhythm, making all jazz compositions beautiful. Further, jazz music offers artists a chance to improvise on their compositions. Unlike other musical genres, it is possible to compose a great piece of jazz on the spot (Gioia, 105). This freedom of composition allows musicians to express their emotions and to use their imagination in their compositions. Improvising makes a song different each time one listens to it. It is essential to note that jazz music served as more than just entertainment for people in the 19th and 20th centuries (Anderson, 126). It gave them a chance to interact without any form of racial prejudice.
Duke Ellington inherited his love for music from his parents, who taught him how to play the piano from a young age. His birthplace, Washington, had a large population of black people during the 19th century. This provided the perfect grounds for learning jazz music from a tender age. Ellington began playing music professionally at the age of 17. He moved to New Orleans, where he formed his band, the Washingtonians, and began playing at Cotton Club in 1927 (Brockman, 89). Ellington stood out in jazz music because of his style of playing and composing his songs. From 1926 to the point of his death, many people reveled at his orchestra and innovative ways of writing music. It is believed that Ellington composed more than one thousand songs in his lifetime (Brockman, 256). His creativity enabled him to play the same song differently every time he would perform it. Notably, he was able to maintain high-quality music and performance throughout his career.
A unique contribution of Ellington to jazz music was his band. His band consisted of three trombones, four trumpets, a piano, a bass, drums, and five reeds. Most composers would simply be satisfied by describing their bands with the instruments they used. Ellington was different in that he looked at the people forming up his band and valued their input in his music (Brockman, 180). Many composers believed in creating harmony among the voices of their band members and the instruments they play. Ellington allowed his band members’ unharmonious voices to play against each other (Anderson, 167). His compositions were created on this concept and with the knowledge of each band member’s skills. He also accorded his band members the respect they deserved, allowing them to stay in the band longer. One of his band members, Billy Strayhorn worked alongside Ellington to compose popular tunes such as Take the A Train, Jack the Bear, Ko-KO, and Cotton Tail. The strong bonds created in the group and the consistency in their work allowed Ellington to compose his songs without worrying about always working with different sets of people.
In conclusion, jazz music emerged from New Orleans in the early 19th century. It is a mixture of different elements from other music genres. Jazz music calls for innovation, creativity, and improvisation while composing music. Musicians are at liberty to create an old song into a new one by playing it differently. Duke Ellington brought forth the idea of embracing all band members’ musical skills to enhance the musical composition. Ellington’s music still plays and pays to this date because of his creative ways to compose music. Ellington allowed himself to recreate different songs in different styles, giving his listeners a whole new feeling anytime they listened to his songs.
References
Anderson, I. (2012). This is our music: free jazz, the sixties, and American culture. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Brockman, M. S. (2011). Orchestration techniques of Duke Ellington. University of Washington.
Gioia, Ted. The history of jazz. Oxford University Press, 2011.