Blog #5

Call & Response

Upon my arrival to The History of Jazz I expected distinct definitions for the terms we learned during the course. Through out the course my understanding of vocabulary expanded as I learned about the interrelated factors of jazz music. Call and response stood out in particular because I was able to relate it to my perspective of the course material as a whole. Jazz is the manifestation of call-and-response; jazz is a communication between life and art. "Genius emerges when it finds its proper context, its proper environment, its proper audience. Genius in art is always best in "collision with a proper" community, in dialogue with a particular community, a specific time and space" (Stewart, 2013, January 29). The forms of this communication appear in various ways including, the relationship between audience and artist, the impact of socio-cultural conditions, and the prevalence of successful big bands that were lead by a breakout soloist.

  In the beginning of the course my concept of call-and-response was constricted to the definition from one of our earliest readings. "Examples of call-and-response music in which the solo, for one reason or another, drops out for a time, indicate clearly that the chorus part, rhythmical and repetitive, is the mainstay of the song…Thus the chorus forms a kind of melodic handclap testing and supporting and his ingenuity" (Thompson, 26).  Call-and-response is described here as an element of West-African music, which heavily influences Blues and Jazz, as a communication strictly between the leader of a band and his counterparts.  As I learned about the influence of environment on the development of jazz my definition expanded.

The effects of America’s melting pot influenced the creation and innovations of jazz music. Differing populations and collisions of cultures left definite impressions on the styles of music, individual artists, and the uprising of an “American” pop-culture, which comprised of blacks and whites. "In America, music was the first sphere of social interaction in which racial barriers were challenged and over turned" (Gioia, 125).  Each city, New Orleans, Chicago, New York, and Kansas City, represented a simulation of call-and-response through the way cultures transpired through the music; cultures would call and the music acted as the response. For example, the diverse population of New Orleans brought about the creation of blues and in New York European influences were embedded in the stride piano. These were also the conditions, which lead to some of the most popular jazz musicians who were successful in leading their own bands.

Bands were the epitome of jazz music. The leaders and soloists acted as the breakout stars that lead the band through acts, which relied heavily on call-and-response. These musicians include King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman. " Call and response goes to the very heat of the notion good-government, of popular response to the ideal leader" (Thompson, 27). King Oliver lead the way with his Creole Jazz Band, Louis Armstrong marked the age of the soloist with his ability to stand out of the band, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman also stood out as the best musicians of the group. Each of these artists mastered call-and-response at the top of their game, and lead to them being marked as legendary jazz musicians.