Analytical Blog
Essential Question: How does pop culture impact ones music?
This essential question was extremely prominent throughout reading both biographies so far. With both musicians being black and building their careers in the 50s and 60s, in New York, pop culture had a huge influence on their music. The influence of pop culture is extremely important to a musician as a musician must follow the norms of the pop culture of the time in order to be successful. When it came to the 50s and 60s, being sharply dressed and playing straight ahead jazz was pop culture. So, this is what they did. The two of them grew up listening to this music, later learning it. This formed their styles and made them who they became. Being black at the time, it was expected that one would play swing and straight ahead jazz. As pop culture changed over time, Miles decided to follow it and Mingus stayed with what was "hip" in the 50s and 60s.
The biggest significance of Miles' career to me is how he followed the guidelines of pop culture. I believe this is why he lever lost fame at any point from the beginning of his career to the end. What fascinated me the most about Miles was how he also incorporated the large leaps in the civil rights movement into his music. In his autobiography, Miles talks a lot about racism and how it effected him. With his father being a large civil rights activist in St. Louis, Miles was in the pocket at all times with what was happening involving the civil rights movement. When listening to Miles' music throughout his career, you can make a huge connection to how the music relates to the civil rights movement. Miles' first few albums were very restricted and were in the same style and groove as those put out by other black musicians at the time. A good example of this is Miles' album "The Birth Of Cool". As the civil rights movement progressed and black people were able to get the freedoms they deserved, Miles' style changed to be more free. A great example of this is a tune titled "So What" which was released in 1959. As the 60s progressed and more freedoms were granted, Miles' music got freer. My favorite example of this is an album by Miles titled "ESP". Miles reflected pop culture in other ways in the 70s with the release of Bitches Brew. After hearing Jimi Hendrix for the first time, Miles was determined to push his music in that direction as it was rapidly growing with popularity. To further his connection with pop culture, Miles stated that he used fresh musicians on the scene that were living the current pop culture vibes. Mingus on the other hand lost fame after his era of pop culture and continued as a well passed around bassist.
Today, I can see how this applies to modern musicians all over. Playing old styles of music like jazz and blues in a society where rap and pop are the main genres that people listen too forces me to play a certain way. With the audience reasonably unexposed to listening to jazz, I have to try to link their music with mine. I had a gig today where the five of us did just that. We took popular jazz songs and fused them with the groove and feel of todays music. This was important because it allowed people to connect with the music better, yet allow for us to retain the jazz that we play. Another thing that we did today that followed pop culture in music was the use of musical quotations. The each of us, in our improvisations, would quote something from modern jazz or pop music. One of the most popular quotations we used is something called the lick. Right now in music pop culture, this musical phrase is used in everything! Because of this, the five of us would use this in our music. Here is a video of the lick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSXxEdaOqgU
This essential question was extremely prominent throughout reading both biographies so far. With both musicians being black and building their careers in the 50s and 60s, in New York, pop culture had a huge influence on their music. The influence of pop culture is extremely important to a musician as a musician must follow the norms of the pop culture of the time in order to be successful. When it came to the 50s and 60s, being sharply dressed and playing straight ahead jazz was pop culture. So, this is what they did. The two of them grew up listening to this music, later learning it. This formed their styles and made them who they became. Being black at the time, it was expected that one would play swing and straight ahead jazz. As pop culture changed over time, Miles decided to follow it and Mingus stayed with what was "hip" in the 50s and 60s.
The biggest significance of Miles' career to me is how he followed the guidelines of pop culture. I believe this is why he lever lost fame at any point from the beginning of his career to the end. What fascinated me the most about Miles was how he also incorporated the large leaps in the civil rights movement into his music. In his autobiography, Miles talks a lot about racism and how it effected him. With his father being a large civil rights activist in St. Louis, Miles was in the pocket at all times with what was happening involving the civil rights movement. When listening to Miles' music throughout his career, you can make a huge connection to how the music relates to the civil rights movement. Miles' first few albums were very restricted and were in the same style and groove as those put out by other black musicians at the time. A good example of this is Miles' album "The Birth Of Cool". As the civil rights movement progressed and black people were able to get the freedoms they deserved, Miles' style changed to be more free. A great example of this is a tune titled "So What" which was released in 1959. As the 60s progressed and more freedoms were granted, Miles' music got freer. My favorite example of this is an album by Miles titled "ESP". Miles reflected pop culture in other ways in the 70s with the release of Bitches Brew. After hearing Jimi Hendrix for the first time, Miles was determined to push his music in that direction as it was rapidly growing with popularity. To further his connection with pop culture, Miles stated that he used fresh musicians on the scene that were living the current pop culture vibes. Mingus on the other hand lost fame after his era of pop culture and continued as a well passed around bassist.
Today, I can see how this applies to modern musicians all over. Playing old styles of music like jazz and blues in a society where rap and pop are the main genres that people listen too forces me to play a certain way. With the audience reasonably unexposed to listening to jazz, I have to try to link their music with mine. I had a gig today where the five of us did just that. We took popular jazz songs and fused them with the groove and feel of todays music. This was important because it allowed people to connect with the music better, yet allow for us to retain the jazz that we play. Another thing that we did today that followed pop culture in music was the use of musical quotations. The each of us, in our improvisations, would quote something from modern jazz or pop music. One of the most popular quotations we used is something called the lick. Right now in music pop culture, this musical phrase is used in everything! Because of this, the five of us would use this in our music. Here is a video of the lick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSXxEdaOqgU
hmmmmmm very interesting question makes me think
ReplyDelete