it's the end of the world as we know it

At times lately it's hard to believe this isn't a social studies class, but we've done a lot of writing over the past two years, and well, all right, all ready, you've proved your abilities as writers. Good Job. Now it's down to the stretch, putting it all together, and I believe we're acomplishing that feat as well. You've got your allusions down; you know, at least on a surface level, your history. If you've got your terms ready you're just about set. Do your threesomes and your timeline since birth for April 18th's Journal, then one more essay and it's a wrap.


But I like this timeline kick, so from me, here's one last:

The Roots of Jazz
(From African Traditional Music to Hip Hop)
Jazz is the only truly American art form and it's roots lie in the great musical traditions of African American Slaves.

Before 1850: Folk music based on African forms. White dance and band music.

Circa 1850: Plantation songs sung by slaves. Minstrelsy was white music meant to mimic plantation songs.

During the Civil War: Slave Songs of the United States published by William Francis Allen, Charles Pickford Ware and Lucy McKim Garrison. Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands published by Lydia Parrish.

After the Civil War: Prison songs of black inmates.

Late 1800's: Blues develops.

1890's: Ragtime develops and is the most popular music in America between 1900 and 1911.

Early 1900's: Marching band music, Ragtime and the Blues begin to be fused into early Jazz roots.

1910 - 1920: Jazz is born in New Orleans through a combination of black and creole music.



1920's: New Orleans Jazz is the thing. The Jazz Age is born.

May 26, 1926: Coolest man ever, Miles Davis, born in Alton Illinois.


1930's: Swing is king. This is the only time that Jazz and popular music are the same thing.

1940's: Bebop is born.

1950's: Hard Bop or Funk and Cool Jazz take over.

1960's: Modal and Free Jazz find followers.

1970's: Jazz fuses with one of its derivatives (Rock) to form Jazz-Rock or Fusion.

1980's: Contemporary Jazz age begins.

1990's: Hip-Hop and other forms emerge. Hard Bop revival.

2005: Jazz, alive and kickin'. From Slave dirges to Miles to Outkast is a long road. On a sleepless night one night, sit yourself down, put on a little Coltrane or Monk or Miles and listen to ART.