Jazz:

Catalog description

Over the course of the past hundred years, jazz has been framed variously as an erotic display, a symbol of modernity, an essential expression of the African American soul, the sound of the Black avant garde, "America's classical music," a form of musical cosmopolitanism, a decadent type of bourgeois entertainment, a virtuosic art form, a revolting noise, a radical performance of democracy and freedom, and elevator music. Jazz is, in other words, complicated—its densely textured sound world is entwined with a complex social history. This course immerses you in the sounds of jazz, focusing largely on music made in New York City, the undisputed global capital of the genre. During our regular class and recitation sessions, as well as at a number of evening gatherings, we will listen to recordings, compare notes on the music, work with archival sources, meet musicians, attend concerts, and read a broad array of jazz scholarship and journalism. We will dig into the history of jazz in and beyond the city, and also explore the strange and delightful new shapes jazz is taking in the 21st century. By the end of the term, your understanding of jazz and your understanding of New York will be forever changed.