This class would look at how the genre emerged out of African American musical tradition and its growth and change geographically and stylistically. The class will be organized chronologically by visiting prominent cities, meeting influential people, and visiting important record companies and performance venues. …show more content…
Students would be split into three groups, one group for each destination. It would be their responsibility to prepare an informational packet to be shared with the entire class. The packet would contain all the important logistical information in addition to background and history of the artists and the locations. The students will develop questions for formal interviews of these historical figures. Potential sources of information for the packets could include interviews of various current jazz musicians like George Benson, David Sanborn and Herbbie Hancock.
In the first full week we will discover the birth of jazz and blues in the great city of New Orleans. During this first week, we will cover period 1900 through 1940. Here we will meet important people like Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong. During our stay in New Orleans we will visit Victor Records and hear the recordings of the “The Original Dixie Jazz