MUS 230 -
History of Jazz
Spring 2006
INTRODUCTION
Jazz is probably America’s most important contribution to world music. In this
class, you will learn about the history of jazz and how the music developed and
changed over time. We will listen closely to recordings by the most significant
jazz musicians, getting to know the characteristic features of their styles, the
traits that give each musician a distinctive and recognizable voice. We will
consider the place of jazz in American culture, and the ways that political,
economic, and social forces affected its development. We will give attention
to the issues of racism and sexism, and the different roles and attitudes of
musicians, critics, producers, and audiences, both black and white, male and
female.
Shipton, Alyn. A
New History of Jazz. London: Continuum, 2001.
(available at the UMF Bookstore)
Jazz: The
Definitive Performances, a
2-CD set of recordings, SONY J2K 65807.
(available at Everyday Music on Broadway in downtown Farmingon)
Shipton’s New History of Jazz is a huge, wonderful book, but I won’t expect you to read every one of its nearly nine hundred pages. Instead, you’ll be getting very specific reading assignments averaging around fifty or sixty pages a week. You’ll pull together and summarize the material in your jazz journal entries (see below), and also should be prepared to answer questions about it on the tests.
The recordings in Jazz: The Definitive Performances are taken from the archives of record labels that Sony owns: Columbia, Epic, Legacy, and Okeh. That covers many of the most historically significant performances—Louis Armstrong’s “West End Blues,” Frankie Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke’s “Singin’ the Blues,” Count Basie’s “Lester Leaps In,” Miles Davis’s “So What,” and more. Unfortunately, some very important musicians get left out because their recordings were on other labels such as Victor, Impulse, or Dial. That means no Jelly Roll Morton or Charlie Parker or John Coltrane. In addition, this collection, like many other jazz anthologies, neglects great women instrumentalists such as Mary Lou Williams. Well, you can’t have a complete jazz history without these people, so we’ll listen to quite a bit of their music in class, and I will also urge you to check out their recordings in the library—or even buy some more CDs to add to your own collection.
TESTS
There will be three
tests, given approximately every four weeks, and a final exam. The questions
are taken from the reading assignments and the material we’ve covered in class.
I will also play excerpts of recordings and ask you questions about them. For
the assigned selections from the CD anthology, that will include identifying the
title, players, and recording date. The dates of the tests are
February 7,
March 14,
and April 13.
There will also be an open-book final exam about which I’ll give you more
specific details as we approach the end of the semester.
JAZZ JOURNAL
Approximately once a week you will write a journal entry about the assigned
reading from Shipton and what’s been covered in class. Here are the guidelines:
Use the journal to summarize the main topics that were covered in class and in the assigned reading. You should demonstrate that you’ve been paying attention, taking notes, and reflecting thoughtfully on the material.
The journals should be well-written, with complete sentences, clear organization, and minimal misspellings.
They should be at least 400 words long.
They should be handed in on time.
If you adhere to these guidelines, you are guaranteed a hundred points. There will be eight journal entries altogether. The due dates are Jan. 26, Feb. 2, Feb. 16, Mar. 7, Mar. 23, Mar. 30, Apr. 6, and May 2.
ATTENDANCE
In order to get the most out of this
class, you need to show up regularly. One of the main reasons is to hear the
recordings and see the videos that are not readily available to you outside of
class. Besides that, of course, when you miss a class, you also miss out on the
lecture material and discussion, and the give and take of questions and
answers. I will keep track of attendance. Missing more than three classes will
lower your grade.
POLICY ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Plagiarism, cheating, and other
forms of academic dishonesty are not tolerated in any community of scholars—and
that includes my classroom. UMF’s Code of Academic Integrity affirms our
commitment to a climate of trust and respect in which “one’s work is the product
of one’s own effort, and one neither receives nor gives unauthorized assistance
in any assignment. Because advanced academic work depends on the sharing of
information and ideas, academic integrity at the college level includes rigorous
adherence to the conventions for acknowledging one’s use of the words and ideas
of other people.” The Code has clear explanations of the kinds of work that are
considered improper, and it lays out specific sanctions for violations of the
code: for the first offense, a reduction of one full letter grade; for the
second, an F for the course; and for the third, expulsion from the university.
If you have any questions, please ask.
GRADES
Tests - 45%
Jazz journal - 35%
Final exam - 20%
CONTACTING ME
My regular office hours will
be 1:00-2:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but we can also make
appointments at other times. My phone number on campus is 778-7290; my email is
carlsen@maine.edu.
The university provides reasonable
accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
Please contact me if you need an accommodation.