History of "Jazz": Issues in African American Music
Music 80E, Winter Quarter 2002 (University of California, Santa Cruz)
By Karlton
E. Hester, Ph.D.
Karlton Hester, Ph.D.
284 Music Center
Office hours: Thursday, 5 - 6pm
Focus: Exploring the relationship between the evolution of "jazz" and African American music with the sociopolitical milieu in which it developed in America. The class will circumscribe the historical context that contains African American music innovations and the sociocultural world of the progenitors of "jazz" and African American music. A balanced process involving listening (to recordings), critical viewing of film footage, reading, discussion, music sections, and writing weekly entries into student journals.
Evaluation of Student Progress: THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO MAKE-UP EXAMS. Each student will be evaluated upon LISTENING, READING and CRITICAL THINKING criteria as follows:
CRITICAL THINKING
Team Oral paper (=5%): Each student will be a member of one of ten "critical thinking" teams. Each of the twelve teams will present one oral presentation where one representative of the team will share a summary of their teams comments (from the weekly critical responses that forms your evolving "Jazz" Journal) with the class. The team report is a brief outline based upon the team members' weekly critical responses to the assigned week’s film(s), lecture, supplementary handouts, recordings, and reading assignment. Papers should reflect a balance between personal analysis and scholarly support from your reading material. In other words, your ideas and criticism should be supported with concrete musical and historical evidence while your personal voice should be clear and direct. Team oral papers must be limited to 10-15 minute summaries.
In addition to the weekly articles given to you to offer both supporting and opposing views to the text, the following books are also on reserve for the class in the McHenry Library:
Davis, Angela., Blues Legacies and Black Feminism. 1999, Vintage.
Sudhalter, Richard M., Lost Chords : White Musicians and Their Contribution to Jazz, 1915-1945
All members of the team receive the same group grade, so only those members who contribute equitably should sign the summary outline submitted at the end of the oral presentation.
Final (Individual) Essay (=20%): Begin by writing weekly critical responses to lecture content, textbook reading assignments, films, recordings, class handouts (articles), and "Questions of the Week" from the textbook Appendices. Such information is entered regularly into your "Jazz" Journal. To summarize your ideas, 12-page final paper, due on the final day of class, serves as a refined version of your journal notes. This paper is actually a collection of the twelve 1-page response summaries, written one per week throughout the course.
READING
Midterm (=20%) and Final (=25%) Exams: These two multiple-choice exams will demonstrate students’ knowledge of historical and musical detail derived from 12 chapter reading assignments and weekly lecture presentations.
LISTENING
Listening and Musicianship Exams (=20%): Your music sections (with teaching assistants) are designed to help you prepare for exams. Each lecture will also advance your listening skills as well. No prior musical background is needed to master the musical listening aspect of the course.
You are expected to listen to selected musical examples from the CD Set of musical examples on reserve that accompanies your text. The CDs are on reserve in the media center of the McHenry Library. You will have 3 listening exams (one at the end of each of the first three textbooks) based on this set of material. Your TA (Ms. Roedig) will arrange the exam schedule for quizzes covering the musical examples. These exams will also cover musical terms and concepts from Volume 4 of your text. The musical examples on the exams will be derived from music played and discussed in class.
Concert Report - attend one of the following concerts and write a 2-page report ( Due the class following the Midterm Exam=10%):
Jan 14th is a co-presentation between Kuumbwa Jazz Center and UCSC Arts & Lectures at the Civic Auditorium "Buena Vista Social Club presnts: Orquesta Ibrahim Ferrer". Discounted price for Jazz History students is $23 with student ID.
Friday, January 18th "Larry Ochs Saxophone & Drumming Core with Scott Amendola & Donald Robinson" at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center. Discounted price for Jazz History students is $8 with student ID.
Duel Faculty Concert: (1)NEO-BALKAN JAZZ & (2)HESTERIAN MUSICISM - in the 8pm in the UCSC Recital Hall on January 30, 2002. Discounted price for students is $5 with student ID.
Required Text: From Africa to Afrocentric Innovations Some Call Jazz, by Karlton E, Hester
NOTE: The first 3 weeks of the term are more reading intensive than the rest of the term. Don’t let the new music vocabulary deter you. We will gradually acquire terms and musical concepts that will be better understood as the term progresses.
Week 1
Week 2
A. What is this article about?
B. Discuss the types of evidence the author presents to support his argument.
C. What general conclusions do you draw from your evaluation? For example:
D. What are the proportions in terms of "technical form: (to): meaningful content"
{Always feel free to pose your own questions as well.}
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Films shown and discussed in class are selected from those below:
On reserve in Library
Selected Films shown in class only (not on reserve)
NOTES:
(c) Dr. Karlton E. Hester 2001
Living Encyclopedia
of Global African Music
Received: Winter 2002
Posted: 08/19/2002