Week 4

Dissertation

The deadline for our dissertation proposal was on Friday of this week – time to attempt to nail down exactly what I intend to research and write about. As I mentioned last week, the idea of music as a universal language is very subjective and in connecting this to musical perception seems to cover a myriad of specialities not limited to specific musical research, metaphysics, neuroscience, linguistics to name but a few. This said I have been down quite a few dreels (how colloquial!) in trying to locate material that deals with this area of discussion. I have also still to hit upon a reliable method of testing responses to musical stimuli in young children. This is going to require more research as well. Regardless, I have managed to write what I feel is an alright title for the dissertation: “The Age Of Innocence and Music As A Universal Language: An Study Of Musical Perception in Young Children.” Snappy isn’t it? The super-condensed version of the proposal goes a little like this...
Philip Tagg presents the argument that music cannot be considered a universal language as musical perception is formed through outside factors such as cultural conditioning. The 1999 paper delivered by Smith and Williams entitled “Children’s Artistic Responses To Music” presents their findings which seem to indicate that children display many similar perceptions to musical stimulus regardless of culture or background. If Tagg’s proposition holds true, then we could extrapolate that very young children, with relatively little exposure to cultural conditioning, would be less likely to display group responses to musical stimuli. However, if Smith and William’s results could be replicated in young children yet to become immersed in societal norms, then it may form the basis for the notion of music as a universal language.
Discuss ...
Literature review due in December - had best get reading.

Ensemble
Brain thoroughly wracked, I thought that perhaps if we could tie the majority of songs that we originally intended to do to either a record label or famous Jazz Club, then we may have the basis for a reasonable justification and avenue of research for our ensemble project. I looked into Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London but found that there is relatively little literature written about it, although many seminal jazz artists of the modern era such as Nina Simone and Johnny Dankworth recorded albums there. It didn’t really help me to justify the wide range of material we wanted to include. Still, it was a start. This led me to looking at other focal points for the Jazz scene which led to The Cotton Club in Harlem during the 20’s and 30’s. This period offers a wealth of things to write about. Musically this was a rich time in the development of Jazz, seeing, amongst other things, the form move from two-step and ragtime to swung rhythms. This period is now known as ‘The Harlem Renaissance’, and saw an explosion of culture across many artistic fields, literature, poetry, visual arts and music included. This time period also offers the opportunity to discuss sociological and historical issues such as racial inequality and the great depression and how these influenced the musical output of this time.
Although this route provides a rich source of material for research and discussion and allows us to look at the routes of Jazz it also means taking a U-turn on the material we wanted to included in our set. We can retain tunes by Ellington and the like but later tunes would have to be scrapped. However, at this point in time, this was the most plausible avenue to go down; any other credible suggestions were noticeably thin on the ground.
So I floated the idea on the Take Five Facebook page and was pleasantly surprised to find that mostly everyone was quite up for the idea. On Monday morning we got together to discuss whether it would be a viable idea and to talk to Marlisa about it. She was very encouraging and is going to arrange some dancers for the night of the show. We then went about writing the proposal. We had an idea of some of the songs but it was necessary to further research. Luckily there is quite a wide range of resources available on the internet. We started to work on tracks later that afternoon. However, our ensemble supervisor came in and spoke lengthily about the period and stylistic features of the genre. We were again slightly disheartened. We certainly haven’t chosen the easiest thing to cover. I feel though, this only stands to strengthen our resolve to prove ourselves and our ability to tackle more challenging material. It did make me realise that our quickly put together proposal didn’t really cut the mustard and therefore I went home tweaked it and added to some of the original points made. I feel now that it justifies our song choice and allows us to draw many different songs from a fertile and exciting period of modern musical development that not only changed the course of Jazz but greatly influenced popular music as a whole. I breathed a sigh of relief when it was handed in. It’s a great feeling to meet deadlines.
I’m going to include a copy of it here for anyone who’s interested.....


‘THE TAKE 5’PRESENT.....‘An Evening at The Cotton Club.’


Affectionately known as the “Aristocrat of Harlem”, The Cotton Club was the musical focal point of the Harlem Renaissance and “the most famous night club, not only in Harlem, but all of New York City” during the 1920’s (the golden era of Jazz) and well into the 1930’s, playing host to the most notable African-American musicians and performers of the time, including monumental legends such as, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. In fact, before the club’s relocation to Broadway and 48th in 1936, “virtually every major black musician and orchestra had already played at the club.”
The name was a by-word for glamour and exclusivity and frequented by some of the biggest stars of the day such as George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Bing Crosby. The Cotton Club’s connection with New York gangster and mafia operations, allowed patrons access to moonshine, brewed in illicit stills across the city during the years of prohibition. However, these same mafia connections insisted that the venue operate a strict “whites only” door policy and the glamour of the club was tainted by issues of race and segregation. Although this rule was somewhat relaxed in later years in deference to a request by Duke Ellington the club was eventually forced to temporarily close due to the Harlem race riots of 1936.
The Cotton Club’s original selling point was to give a white audience a taste of ‘jungle music’ and ‘the exotic’ during a time when segregation meant that there was little exposure to African-American culture. However, many of the venues reviews were directed or written by “white folks” such as Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh and Ted Koehler and Harold Arlen. Also, 1927 brought the advent of the first movie soundtrack with Warner Bros release of “The Jazz Singer”; the first motion picture in which spoken dialogue and music were used in synchronisation with action on the screen. Coupled with the huge popularity of composers (and club patrons) such as Gershwin and Berlin, this meeting of ‘black’ and ‘white’ culture, made The Cotton Club a melting pot of musical styles and a crucible for the development of jazz.

Performance

Popular songs of this period could be heard in any of the 100+ clubs, venues, speak-easys and supper clubs operating in Harlem during this time. However, much emphasis was put on skilful arranging of music which would set bands apart in levels of originality and style. As a band we are more than aware of the instrumental limitations of our line-up for this project: There will be no brass or reed sections and we will be playing electrified instruments. However, in the spirit of the era, we hope to be able to employ inventive arranging techniques whilst still displaying some of the defining musical features of the time, much as Steely Dan successfully attempted with their 1974 rendition of Ellington’s “East St Louis Toodle-oo”. These characteristics include, in the rhythm section, a heavy emphasis on the use of toms in drum parts representing the ‘jungle feel’ of The Cotton Club’s earlier days and later, the all important swing rhythms developed by Ellington. Walking bass lines will be an important feature as well as use of pizzicato and modified slap techniques in an attempt to emulate the double bass sound. The piano will incorporate elements of the Harlem-Stride style whilst taking responsibility for some of the lower brass parts. Guitars will take the place of trumpets, saxophones and clarinets.

We also hope to set the stage for the performance by re-creating some of the atmosphere and ambience of The Cotton Club. ‘Guests’ will be seated at tables and offered table service. We hope to arrange an alcohol licence for the event and patrons will be able to relax, drink and not only listen to the music but become truly involved with the whole experience. We shall be incorporating elements of ‘the musical revue’ side of the venue with dancers performing alongside the band, emulating the cabaret-style of The Cotton Club.

These endeavours to re- produce an authentic environment in which the audience can experience the performance together with a millennial-reimagining of the music and arrangements of the time will hopefully create a thought-provoking, yet entertaining juxtaposition and demonstrate that musicians of today should embrace the opportunity to perform and celebrate the popular music of bygone eras, regardless of the instruments they have available to them.