Friends, being a lover of Jazz I humbly submit Part-I of my researched verses , which brings you its true story and how "Jazz" got its name - explained in the Foot Notes below . I dedicate this poem to John London who called me 'Jazz Man' , pray to God he recovers soon ; and also dedicated to all lovers of Music !
STORY OF JAZZ MUSIC : PART-I : INTRODUCTION
THE STORY OF JAZZ MUSIC : PART - I
INTRODUCTION
Before writing about this Jazz Story ,
I had delved into its checkered history !
I had ploughed through many articles and
books ,
Making personal notes , to make Jazz better
understood !
My love for this music flows in my veins ,
And from writing its story myself I could
hardly restrain !
THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE :
The story begins some four hundred years
ago in History ,
Drenched in the blood and sweat of the black
slaves which is no mystery ;
Painting a sorrowful background to our Jazz
Story !
It was a time when the English , Spanish , French ,
Portuguese , and the Dutch became frantic , -
To gain control of the slave trade across the vast
Atlantic !
Slave trade those days was a profitable business
proposition ;
The funds generated had also financed Britain’s
Industrial Revolution !
In 1619 , a Dutch sailing ship had carried the first
lot of fifty slaves from West Africa , -
To work in the cotton , tobacco and sugarcane
plantations of English colony of Virginia !
Only twenty slaves had survived that hazardous
Atlantic journey ;
And here my friends lies the roots of my Jazz
Story !
While it is true that in New Orleans - Jazz got
cradled and nourished ;
But it had taken birth in the regions of Western
Africa , -
Where slave trade had once flourished !
Later , many more slaves were transported across , -
Who toiled in the plantations of the Southern States
of America ,*
And in their hearts one could hear the tom–tom
and drum beats of native Africa !**
HOLLERS and WORK SONGS :
The slaves brought no musical instruments with
them ,
And worked under the whip lash of their white
Overseers - in chains !
But they had clung to their music which fed their
hope and the will to survive !
And from the depth of their sorrow and suffering , -
Sprung the rhythm and beat of their life !
While at work they were forbidden to talk to each
other ,
So they sang in a rich sing-song voice and called
out to one another !
This was not understood by their whip-wielding
Overseers !
They also called out and communicated to other
work gangs in the distant fields ,
Who also replied back in a similar fashion , -
To make their communication network complete !
The ‘hollers’ and ‘work songs’ also did help ,
To lighten the burden of their treacherous fate !
This ‘call and response’ later formed one of Jazz
music’s basic elements ;
As ‘improvised music’ got composed with jazz
providing a proper vent !
From their tormented soul they sang to wipe away
their blues ,
Giving birth to ‘blue notes’ later , for WC Handy
to pay his handsome tribute ! +
The slaves longed for freedom and emancipation ,
And sang their ‘spirituals’ with faith and devotion !
While singing they often got into a trance ,
And felt like the Israelites in bondage in Egypt , -
ordained by fate and chance !
The Mississippi was like the River Jordan across
which they hoped to see , -
A band of Angels coming in their chariots to set
them free , @
From their suffering , drudgery and captivity !
Thus ‘improvisation’ becomes a vital ingredient of
Jazz music ; $
For ‘freedom of expression’ is its distinguishing feature , -
which Jazz forever seeks !
CONCLUDING PART ONE :
Thus friends , ‘Jazz’ had come in chains buried deep
inside the black man’s soul !
With a longing for freedom from torture and pain , -
Which was totally beyond their control !
The tom-tom beats , work songs , spirituals and the
blues , -
Were all precursor to Jazz , - and here let me pause , -
to pay my homage and dues ;
To those valiant predecessors who had come in
chains ,
Giving a painful birth to ‘jass’, - from which Jazz
gets its name ! #
-Raj Nandy
New Delhi
Foot Notes :-
*Slaves sold at 15 dollars per head! Early 1700s saw 75,000 slaves auctioned! By1800s there were one million slaves in US alone ! Slaves came from Senegal, Ashantis, Gold Coast, Niger Delta, Dahomey & the Congo; with a variety of beats and music – buried in their hearts !
**The Drums were an essential form of communication in Africa ! They
believed their Gods communicated through their beats ! Those drums provided the basic beats of Jazz Music !
+Blue music= a part of cultural landscape of Southern US by early 1900s ;
remained unnoticed till W.C.Handy published his song –‘Memphis Blues’ in1914 !
@Reference famous Negro spiritual song -‘Swing low sweet chariot’ ! I use
to sing in my Missionary School in Calcutta ! Slaves had sung them in plantation ‘Praise Houses’ !
# "Jass’' – originally an Africa-American slang meaning sex ! Born in the brothels of Storyville(New Orleans), & Jasmine perfumes used by the girls ; one visiting them , were said to be 'jassed-up' ! Mischievous boys
rubbed out letter ‘J’ from posters announcing -"Live Jass Shows'' , making
it look like ‘'Live Ass Show'’ ! So finally ‘ss’ of ‘jass’ got replaced by 'zz' of Jazz !
$ “Improvisation”= is the process of spontaneously creation of fresh melodies over the continuously repeating cycle of chord changes of a tune, which distinguishes Jazz from all other musical forms - raising it to its own great Individualistic Heights !
….ALL COPY RIGHTS ARE RESERVED BY RAJ NANDY---
E-Mail : rajnandy21@yahoo.in
The story is really enchanting, Sir; This brilliant piece not only illuminates your creative skill in telling a wonderful story of a soulful form of music in excellent rhymes and verse, but establishes the fact that the birthplace of true music is the heart and the mind and music is not just a form of art but its a lifestyle, which is this case is a dark life of slavery but which spawned something as bright as Jazz music which in turn is the fount of all modern music that we know of today; Thank u for introducing me to your art and also that of Jazz.
tere is depth in narration, besides interest.
I love Jazz music, too but I have never given a thought to the history behind this lovely form of music. Through this wonderful verse with great rhyme, you have creatively presented a splendid treatise on the origins of Jazz music in your own remarkable style. This makes such an interesting read over a cup of tea on a rainy morning here in Bangalore. I can't wait to read Part II.
A very interesting and informative write thanks
Wow. Impressive retelling! La, the roots of Jazz are steeped in suffering and heathenism, mingled apparently with the "christian" religion. Very fascinating! I begin to make a bit more sense of the music though, thanks to this. Excellent!
Top marks for the time and effort you have put into this work history in a well written piece thanks for this ...regards
Fine penning indeed! enjoyed!
very informative and superb write
Raj, an outstanding work you have rendered here...I love jazz and love writing about jazz musicians...The make my mind and pen fly. Thank you for the truth of your verse and wait anxiously for the next session of your jazz message. Dorothy A Poet Who Loves To Sing (pls read my "Third Set at The Cat's Eye" a jazz club in Baltimore, Maryland
I have loved this in PH, Raj, and happy to be able to read it again here in PF..and you dearly know that we both love and music, and jazz is always a favourite of mine.
i admire you for the efforts you have taken in penning this nice poem. shan
you never cease to amaze me with the searching of the topics that you decide to write. my hat is off to you, now correct me if i'm wrong, but they was taken to many carribean islands first before coming to the u.s such as cuba, haitti, santo domingoe,etc. and that is where spiritualism started, and the afro cuban music.
you have a lot more to include here Raj. Don't leave out the spiritual and the gospel singing. And the effect of the civil war due to the brass band instruments flooding the pawnshops in New Orleans. This gave rise to a lot of little jazz bands. A poet friend// RH Peat
A large capsules of knowledge are your poems Sir. I wonder at the pains you take to compile such information and put them beautifully in a nutshell in the form of a poem...
Raj, thanks for this wonderful write up, which I had read earlier. I remember mentioning to you I have a coffee table book on ' Story of Zazz'. you have captured in verse its origin with so much compassion and lucidity. It comes out alive with the beats, rhythm and underlying pain of slaves. Music really heals the tormented spirit. As Nimal says now we have become masters at using and coining politically correct terminology.
this is very interesting and also quite educational. I have never listened to jazz so I really didn't know much about it. I have enjoyed reading your account of it.
Truly a great introduction to jazz..Though the history is part of popular culture, you've given it a fresh angle and you've brought in gems of new information here and there that makes this series highly interesting....look forward to the next one in this series...
My salutation for your great knowledge Raj! Nowadays they omit the ugly word Exploitation from their vocabularies and use soft words as manpower,mutual understanding,flexibilty and some kind? Many thanks indeed Raj brother!
yes for educated me ,by the way I love jazz too ,specially smooth jazz ,tfs
Nice poem based on materials collected through devoted study and research work...the beauty in its composing is really impressive
thank you Raj very informative and captive poem here "Jazz" the word didn't know its origin
Yes, the slaves, Black, brought the world most of the old gospel songs, and jazz! Through their misery and pain, out of it came the best music the world's ears will ever hear, other than that of Angels' harps one day. I too love Jazz, maybe not to the debth you do, but love it! God bless
a meticulous writing
Thank you Raj, for this informative and interesting history of the music we both love to listen to. You show from suffering and pain great works of art evolve. From those dark days of slavery came a beautiful and thought provoking style of music, much loved by many today. For me the haunting notes of a soprano sax playing "Summertime" has remained with me for more than fifty years....it reminds that life always changes. Bookmarked so others can read too!
This is a wonderful study! The way you put it in rhyme a master piece! The info is very informingyet captivated the reader..Thanks for Sharing, Cat
I do love Jazz music. Thanks for your contribution on Jazz here. Well penned. Enjoyed it. tfs
Being a lover of Jazz myself I find this posting intriguingly informative Raj - - so many items of interest to whet readers appetites on the formation of this so special music. Feeding the hope of thousands of slaves the birth of such soul-note must not be forgotten. The call and response is still one of the attractions of improvisation and will continue to thrill music lovers. Your pen has once again made a first rate contribution to further the history of this well chosen subject of Jazz and thank you dear Raj.
Nice and informative , well composed . thanks