Black Music in Toni Morrisons Jazz Essay - 1728 Words

â€Å"With the writing of Jazz, Morrison takes on new tasks and new risks. Jazz, for example, doesn’t fit the classic novel format in terms of design, sentence structure, or narration. Just like the music this novel is named after, the work is improvisational.† -www.enotes.com/jazz/ â€Å"As rich in themes and poetic images as her Pulitzer Prize- winning Beloved†¦. Morrison conjures up hand of slavery on Harlem’s jazz generation. The more you listen, the more you crave to hear.†-Glamour Toni Morrison’s Jazz is an eclectic reading based on elements of African American culture that produce, surround, and are an integral part of literary text. As we know, African American culture is distinguishable from other American cultures by its†¦show more content†¦Jazz musicians appropriated the musical structure of such blues. (Hitchcock, 222) Jazz retains several blues qualities, such as †call and response, repetition, and most importantly, signifying: thoughtful revision and repetition of another’s work† (Andrews, a review). In addition, jazz relies on syncopation and improvisation. Syncopation, which the combination of weak and strong beats, or short and long durations that produces uneven percussive sounds, affects the rhythm of a musical piece by moving the strong beat off the even counts of the â€Å"time.† In improvising, musicians use a set melody or recognized tune but vary it, responding to the makeup of their combo during their performance, or to their audience. No two performances of a jazz piece, even by the same musicians, will be identical. (Breckenridge) Looking at Jazz we can assume that Morrison sees the novel as another form that can mirror what happens with black music and perhaps takes that work further. In creating her work, she attends to the participatory nature of music – the way it makes listeners respond through singing or dancing. Morrison aims for her fiction to touch those same nerves, to make readers not only speak back to the text, but also recognize their responses as part of the text. (Obadike) The author herself says that while writing Jazz she â€Å"was very deliberately trying to rest on what could be called generally agreed uponShow MoreRelatedJazz Influence On Jazz1469 Words   |  6 PagesThe Influence of Jazz in Toni Morrison’s Novel Jazz â€Å"It is only in his music [ ... ] that the Negro in America has been able to tell his story.† James Baldwin. â€Å"Jazz has been a part of a proud African American tradition for over 100 years. A robust, rhythmic under-structure, blue notes, solos, â€Å"call-and response† patterns, and improvisation of melody all characterize jazz music.† In Jà ¼rgen Grandt’s analysis, he states that in order to use jazz to look at African American literature, the criticalRead MoreJazz Music : A Black Art2297 Words   |  10 PagesAP English 12 Jazz Music: A Black Art in American Literature In America, the 1920s was an extremely critical time, especially for the African-Americans of the time. The Harlem Renaissance was booming. Citizens were bringing all poetry, art, and music to the next level in the roaring 20s. They call this the â€Å"Jazz Age† for a reason. Jazz music started to appear in dance venues and clubs. One such club was the famous Cotton Club. People were either enamored by it, or appalled by it. 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