Jazz Music

f_11311026081_new-york-city-record-store-by-c-mon.jpgJazz music is believed to have originated from America, and reflected individualism and cultural diversity of the country. In its history, it straddled the universe of pop music and other music, and has expanded to variety of styles which sounded unrelated. The jazz music was first performed in bars but today the music is being performed in the large festivals, universities, concerts and clubs all over the world. The New Orleans is frequently credited for being the birth place and the origin of jazz music, the city at the port in later 19th century had incredible diversity of cultures thus people coming along with their musical cultures and traditions. From the origin of this music African American musicians remained the prime and core innovators of jazz music, as they began to combine and fuse the blues music, popular marching of tunes, traditions and the spirit of collective creativity brought the early era of the famous jazz music to the limelight of music fanatics. Louis Armstrong emerged from the New Orleans style of jazz music, and became one of the most influential innovators in the modern jazz and therefore acquiring the name of ; the father of modern jazz (Cambridge University Press, 2002)
Biography on a Jazz Innovator
One of the jazz innovator was Wynton Marsalis, was described as the outstanding jazz artist of his generation, one of the world’s top classical trumpeter, a leader of a big band in tradition of Duke Ellington, a sparkling composer, and a devoted supporter of Arts and inspirer of the educators. Therefore his life portrayed dedication, sacrifice, discipline and creativity. Wynton was born to Dolores and Ellis Marsalis on October 18th, 1961 in New Orleans-Louisiana; he was second born son in a family of six sons. At early age he showed a lot of seriousness in his study, desired to contribute to American diverse culture and had high aptitude and attitude for jazz music.
Wynton performed the traditional New Orleans music in the Fairview Baptist Church band at the age of eight years, legendary banjoist; Mr. Danny Barker was the leader of the band at that time and at 14 years, Wynton got an invitation to perform together with New Orleans Philharmonic. In high school he became a member and part of the New Orleans Community Concert band, New Orleans Symphony, New Orleans Youth Orchestra and performed in popular local and jazz bands on weekends. Wynton became the youngest musician ever in the history of Tangle wood’s Berkshire Music center at the age of seventeen (17) years; he was awarded the Harvey Shapiro Award for his commendable and outstanding performance as a brass student. In 1979 he moved to New York City for the reason of attending Juilliard, in 1980 which was  a year later he was given an opportunity to join Jazz Messengers to study music  under the leadership and close supervision of drummer and bandleader; Art Blakey (Giddins, 1998).
In this Art Blakey band, Wynton learnt the relationship existing between democracy and jazz music, where Mr. Blakey used to say, ‘no America, no jazz music!’ It was then from Mr. Art Blakey that Wynton acquired and got the concept and information on band leading, thus intensifying his good musical performance. One year later he was invited to share stage with Sarah Vaughan, Sweets Edison, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie and other jazz legends. With this core and solid foundation Wynton was able to assemble his personal band, and performed over 120 concerts every year for more that ten successive years. His objective and aim was to learn how to play and to understand how best he can deliver to his fans and the audience.
Due to his  effort in supporting the sustainability of jazz music, Wynton has won a whopping nine Grammy Awards, and remains the only artist to have won Grammy Awards in five successive years, that is ; between 1983 to 1987. He has been conferred with honorary degrees with over twenty nine American leading institutions of academics, such as; Yale, Brown, Columbia and Princeton Universities. Therefore, Wynton has made new steps towards achieving a mystical radiance in the performance and writing of jazz music, from his adventurous composition and skills to his undulating intelligence jazz music will never remain the same, the melodious and harmonious landscape will be fundamentally enriched (Gioa, 1997).
How jazz music and musician connected to the society
Over the time jazz has ceased from being pop music and instead became a symbolic link and connection to movements for civil rights. It appealed to blacks and white to be alike, and provided diversify culture from which individuals were inextricable, where one was to be judged by his ability and content of their character alone, and not by race or even other inappropriate factors. And Stanley Crouch said and predicted that movements for civil rights are more than any art in America. Jazz, as musicians were not only linked to the civil rights movements but also used music and their celebrity to promote and agitate for social justice and racial equality.
Few of the jazz musicians who spoke and ‘preached’ about include, Louis Armstrong, who had a way of dealing with the racial discrimination. For example in 1929 he produced a song with the title,’ (What Did I Do to Be So) Blacks and Blues?’ The title of the song for a black performer at this period of time in America showed the kind of courage Louis Armstrong had in agitating and demanding for equity in the American society regardless of the color of the individual’s skin. Later Armstrong became the ambassador of culture for United States at a time of cold war, where he performed jazz all over the world. He cancelled the touring of Soviet Union the present Republic of Russia when nine blacks in 1957 were prevented from entering a high school by the National Guard, by saying in public how his (black) people were being treated, putting pressure on the government to do more to overcome such acts of racial discrimination.
Jazz musician Duke Ellington fueled black pride in his music, and referred to his music as, African-American classical music, which strove to express the black experience in the United States. In 1943 he composed a song by the title, ‘Jump to the Joy’ which questioned and challenged the traditional black representation in the entertainment industry. Benny Goodman and Billie Holiday were amongst the jazz musicians who fought to end racism in the United States, as Goodman used his celebrity in spreading the appreciation of black music, on the other hand Billie Holiday contributions to end racism was by singing about the inhuman lynching of two blacks, Abram Smith and Thomas Shipp in 1930, with their body images hanging from trees. Billie delivered this song night after night, overwhelmed with emotions and sadness, later her song become civil rights movement anthem(Baraka,1989)
The identity of American Negroes was championed by the jazz music, as musicians returned to their originality and roots to affirm and stir their souls, mind and body. This came at a time when life offered no meaning and order to struggling African Americans, jazz therefore created that meaning and order from sounds flow through the instrument throughout the world. Jazz spoke about difficulties in life, and thinking of the hardest realities like racial equity, putting this into music came out with some hope and sense of success for most African-Americans who were being discriminated against. Jazz was exported all over the world,  it passed a massage of everybody longing for meaning for life and order, the need to clap hands and remain happy, and the need to love and be loved in return, thus became the stepping stone for the hope and success of  struggle fighters ( King, 1964)
Conclusion
Jazz was among the achievements of the America’s greatest culture and an export to the world society giving America a powerful voice. Born in a mixture and multi hued of society, remained a solitary uniting factor across the race, national boundaries and regions and  made powerful and adorable statements regarding creativity, freedom and the identity of Americans both in abroad and at home. Jazz was an idea that was created and nurtured first in the mind, stirred by one’s obsession, and will in playing music. It drew from real life experience and emotions to inspire creativity, and by this discourse was chronicle the past deeds of the people. Jazz music was an essential and important segment of human life, and understanding and appreciating music can served to broaden and expand individual’s character and deepened the relationship with those who surrounded them.

Buying Music

f_01311025853_guitar-1.jpgHave you ever watched a music video or listened to a song playing on radio and felt sad that you might never see or listen to it again? Buying your own music in this case is not such a bad idea. There are many places you can get your own music today. From your local departmental store, music shops or online, you are spoiled for choice. You only need to identify the artist of your favorite songs and you are good to go.
Other than identifying a place to buy, you need to make sure that the store only sells authentic music. This is important as it guarantees you value for money. The quality of original music is way above that of pirated copies. The best aspect about this is that you get to enjoy the music as it was originally produced with all its beautiful effects and sound. Pirated or copied music lack this quality. You might end up buying music videos or CDs that are scratched which can be quite annoying to listen to.
The beauty of owning your own copies of blues, indie or emo music is that you can play it at will.
Related Coverage
Music Price Comparison – Smart Consumer Guide to Buying Music Cheaply and Legally

Take a minute to consider whether you would buy clothes without first checking the price and deciding whether you can find the same item cheaper elsewhere. You wouldn’t; neither should you buy music without comparing prices and selecting the best deal available. Renting Digital Music May Be a Better Alternative Then Buying Music

The question is should you purchase your music or rent your digital music. Studies have indicated that the average digital music player has about 1,770 songs. The same survey from a University in England also discovered that half of the songs consisted of illegal downloads. So lets assume that you are a law abiding citizen, setting the average number of legal songs on a digital music player at 850 songs. How To Buy a Guitar in a Music Store

Many guitars these days are purchased online. But even with all the technology, price slashing and convenience of buying online, it’s important to remember the advantages of shopping for a guitar in a good old fashioned music store. Listen to the Music

If you are going to spend between five to ten or fifteen dollars on a CD or Vinyl make sure that you remember to listen to it first before making your purchase. Even if people you know or the person working at the store tells you that it is the best record out at that moment.You do not have to tune in to a particular show on radio or television to listen to it. You can watch your music video whenever you want. Consequently it is possible for you to make a copy in your iPod or mobile phone so that you can listen and see it wherever you are. If you own a vehicle, you can make a copy of the CD and play it in your car as you go to work. With an original copy of your favorite folk or alternative songs, you do not have to be afraid of making duplicate copies as long it is for personal use and not for sale.
So how do you go about buying music? If you can not find your best music video or blues CD in your neighborhood music shop, the internet is awash with places where you can easily get what you are looking for. All you need to know is the name of the artist and song. Knowing the title of the particular album can be quite helpful as well. You can use these three attributes to help in your search. After successfully locating the music you are looking for, following instructions to complete the transaction guarantees you a copy of your favorite alternative or emo songs.
Obviously buying a copy of your music videos, folk or indie songs will cost you quite a bit of money. However, there is some pride and joy associated with owning original copies. It makes for a beautiful collection over time. Consequently, buying only authentic music goes along way in supporting your favorite artists. If you are not in a position to buy music videos that you enjoy, there are some sites in the internet that legally allow downloading songs you like at a smaller fee or free of charge.

Unlimited Music Downloads – Where to Download Quality Music

f_21311073673_laptop-music-studio.jpgUnlimited music downloads are now made readily available on the internet from different online music stores and services. Some go on a pay-per-download basis, while others go on a subscription service, either on monthly or one-time basis. They reportedly carry millions of sound tracks and MP3 files from all the known music genres you can ever find. The question of where to download music is therefore answered by going to these music services which provide unlimited music downloads. But it is equally important to know which are the best deals in town when locating where to download music online. We take a look at what is downloading online music from these music download sites all about.

Major online music stores like HMV, Amazon and so on carry many labels and their selection is fantastic with loads of music pieces, movie soundtracks, songs, music videos and practically unlimited music downloads are available for you to download. Never worry about where to download music again. However, music lovers after getting the thrill of downloading lots of music files start to feel the pinch. This is where the latest new generation of music download sites would make them scream with excitement again.

You see, the new music download sites offer unlimited music downloads. And by that, it means that you not only can find any title or album you want but also download them without any quantity restriction. Be it 1000 songs or 10,000 songs that you intend to download, it does not matter. These music download sites would charge you only once for unlimited music downloads at an affordable rate that even teens have the ability to get their memberships. That is the whole intention of the music download sites, to reach the mass musical audience.

But there are almost a dozen of unlimited music downloads sites that solve your problem of where to download music quickly. So it can be quite a challenge to decide which to go for. Do not worry as here are some useful tips to help you along to decide where to download music from which music download sites for unlimited music downloads. These would find you the suitable music download site.

Be sure to first check out the music selection of these music download sites. There is really no point in using them even if they have millions of music pieces and songs, ie unlimited music downloads in their collection but none are what you want. Most should carry the general range of music that are more common like pop, rock and so on. But if you are looking for specific niche genres which are a little bit uncommon, you need to check if the music collection at these music download sites carries your desired label or brand of music.

Secondly, you need to confirm the file format of the music files you are downloading from the music download sites. This is easy as many have unlimited music downloads in MP3 format. This is the most commonly readable format used by most MP3 players or digital portable players. So as long as the music download site has it, you know this is where to download music so that you can enjoy unlimited music downloads on your player.

Another thing to take note of is some music download sites for unlimited music downloads require you to download special client application in order to download music online. If you are a frequent traveller, you may not like the idea that you need to install software on your computer in order to download music. This means that you can only do so from home. As such, you may want to go for those that do not require any client applications to do so. That said, the client application does not need a lot of computer resources and can be easily installed and removed. It is really your choice when getting the unlimited music downloads from the music download sites.

Anyone who wishes to learn more about where to download music at amazingly low one-off prices can visit my music blog and begin your journey of putting unlimited music downloads on your computer or MP3 player.