Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Political Science Police Corruption Police Corruption Analyzing American Music Jaco, Imaginary Day, and Strange Fruit, all are wonderful musical pieces in their own distinctive way. Jaco sounds like it derived from the traditional percussion music; yet, this particular piece created its own unique style of percussion. In fact, all of these musical pieces modified traditional music, and left a lasting impression on the music industry and on society, in general. Each piece makes one want to explore its origins and analyze the true meaning of its poignant message. These exuberant pieces defined what jazz really is, and should be attributed to helping develop the diverse historical perspective of American Jazz. Jaco was played by, The Turtle Island String Quartet, in 1989. This particular version of Jaco lasted for about 4 and ½ minutes. The instruments played consisted of, cello, which was used for the bass, two violins and the viola, which were used to establish the brilliant harmony. Jaco, “employed irregular phrase lengths and sophisticated formal schemes, including the use of a succession of different rhythmic speeds” (p401). This is interesting because the classical Jaco is composed much differently. In comparing the two distinctive versions of Jaco, the classical Jaco lacks soloist, whereas, The Turtle String Quartet’s recording of Jaco is overwhelmed with creative soloist. Even though this piece created the pseudo effect that a bass instrument was being utilized, percussion came from plucking the cello and by banging against the hollow instruments, which add various sounds. Further, this piece is a type of acoustic jazz because each instrument played is acoustic; however, the piece can’t be solely classified as acoustic. In fact, there isn’t any specific category to label this piece under. A common question that should be explored is, how was Jaco organized in form and variation? The piece starts off with a solo violinist playing more than one cord, which was used as a rhythmic gesture to set up the pulse of the music. Then, the vibrant cello inters the piece by utilizing a method known as, plucking. This created the sassy tone of the baseline. Once the rhythmic texture was set up and the baseline established, the piece dynamically got louder. This intensified the whole mode of the song. Then, the captivating quartet interred the piece, and the beautiful melody was established. After the artistic melody was established, the sound of a cello immediately surmounted the entire piece. Then, the piece reverted back to its original melody with the violinist taking the lead soloist. However, the plucking of the cello could be heard in the background. Through the use of repetition, “cross-rhythms were superimposed which stabilized the prevailing meter for measures at a time” (p402). In fact, the intriguing violinist took up two verses of the melody, which gave a temporary adrenaline rush through my body. Hearing the violinist play in the second verse intensified and shifted the mode to an even higher feeling of ecstasy. The piece reaches its dramatic conclusion with the violin and cello interchangeably trading harmonic verses. Another marvelous musical piece is, Imaginary Day, which was composed by Pat Methane. The musicians consisted of, Paul Wartime, who played the drums, Steve Robby, who played the bass, Pat Methane, who played the guitar, and Lyle Mays, who played the keyboard. “Imaginary Day marked the complete adoption of jazz fusion rock, which utilizes the electric versions of piano, bass, and guitar, and the use of devices such as echo effects, born in the recording studio” (p396). “What is heard is an intricate collage of sounds, synthesized or electronically manipulated, mingled with the occasional sound of acoustic instruments” (p396). I acknowledge the fact that the origins of Imaginary Day stem from 1970’s fusion music; however, this piece is a much more complex 1990’s version of fusion music. Yet, the composition of the 1990’s version of Imaginary Day can be compared to the 1970’s version that was composed by the group, Weather Report. For example, “both groups have highly inventive textures; the ostinatos associated with rock undergo change in the course of each piece, appearing in metamorphosed forms or in alternating sequence, and are not confined to the bass, appearing sometimes in upper voices” (p396). Another common question that one might ask him-self, how does this particular piece develop? The initial stages of this piece did not begin with a melody. In fact, the pulse was too complicated to define with a single term. However, the mysterious pulse was setting up a grid that could have led anywhere. Then, the pulse suddenly intensified with the sounds of bass, soft drumming, an electric keyboard, and a guitar, which brought in the full melody. As a result, the timbre was dramatically changed. And the once mysterious and confusing intro, developed into a rock n’ roll sound commonly known as, thrash music. The melody started with the rhythmic sound of a keyboard, and with slight bass created from the drums. The unique combination of these two instruments caused the melody to extrapolate in different keys. Hence, this piece is far more complicated than traditional rock n’ roll music. Interestingly, the wild sound of drumming gave the piece its full composition. As a result, the pulse was thrashed. When this event occurred, it gave me the feeling that time was at a standstill. These changes are masterful; primarily, the different changes within the piece really stimulated my thoughts. Further, the different changes within Imaginary Day were a unique display of originality. After the melody developed into small measures of musical information, the bar was dramatically changed by what sounds like a machine. Then, the piece immediately reverted to choppy mechanical moments of how it initially begun, which gave the delusion that the rigorous storm was reaching an end. After the thrash section, the first verse was repeated, which gave the melody a soft and relaxing sound. This particular piece is very cohesive, even though at times it sounds very jarring. In fact, this piece symbolized the diverse significances of new age music. The last and final artist and musical piece to be analyzed is, Billy Holliday’s song, Strange Fruit. By 1933, Holiday had produced the first of two fabulous records. Despite the success that Holiday received, she was often disturbed by social influences. Holiday’s somewhat radical attitude left her rebelling against white Americans, and left her hanging around prostitutes on urban street corners. The flamboyant Holiday not only played a significant role in developing the distinctive sound of jazz, but starred in classical movies, too. The distinction between jazz and blues is often misunderstood, which was made noticeable in many of Holiday’s works. Holiday was often coupled with great jazz musicians like Lester Young, and Buck Clayton, when she was on stage. Her type of singing of the jazz “had evolved structurally in such a way as to demand the complementing role of an answering voice (or instrument) at the end of each sung line. This manifestation of call-and-response is, in fact, a distinguishing feature of genuine blues, but can be clearly identified with early jazz” (202). “While the blues as a harmonic and formal design can be heard in all ages of jazz, the blues references, as we advance through the so-called modern period, become increasingly attenuated” (203). Interestingly, Billie Holiday never learned how to read or compose her own music. In fact, Holiday never knew what key or pitch to sing in. Yet, she is nicked named by many as, “The Genius of Jazz Singing”. Holiday’s eloquence was exemplified when she was portrayed as an extraordinary musician and actress who did not have to rehearse before her stage performances. Holiday acquired the familiar stage name “Lady”, from Lesture Young, who was a jazz musician. Holiday exploited the racial correlation between black jazz musicians and white Americans by intriguing white audiences around the world. How could a woman with so much fame and success let drugs and alcohol plague her life? Ironically explained, the same extrinsic and intrinsic factors that contributed to her success ended up causing her dismal death. Undoubtedly, her most memorable song, Strange Fruit, made you feel her pain. Her voice had an intimacy and charismatic illumination that made a cold-hearted devil feel special. Strange Fruit was so dramatic and atypical that Columbia Record Publishing Company would not even record the song. The intense harmonic tone described the harsh reality of lynching in America. Unlike any other song, Strange Fruit really invoked the spiritual nature of Lady’s powerful voice and projected a real life image of the how African American men were brutally hung. The actual lyrics of Strange Fruit were condemned by mainstream America; yet, Billie Holiday sung the song at, Catfish Society. Only accompanied by the beautiful sound of the piano, Holiday sung Strange Fruit solo. She started the song in a low deep pitch voice uttering the words, “Black body hanging from the tree”. Then, the tone got higher when she said, “bludgeoning eyes”. Throughout the entire piece, her voice got loud when she really wanted to emphasize a word or phrase, and lower when she wanted to make her audience feel the dismal pain of experiencing a hanging. Each line had beautiful images that were overshadowed by the horror of killing. For example, lets explore the verse, “magnolia sweet and fresh/ then the sudden smell of burning flesh/ here is a fruit for the crows to pluck”. Holiday depicted the body of the black man who was being hung as pure and clean before his heartless hanging. However, after the hanging, she describes this unpleasant smell of burning flesh. Anyone who has smelt burning flesh knows that it probably is the most inhumane scent in the world. This scent is so brutal that only the crows would dare to go the swinging black body. This is just one of many examples of how Billie Holiday utilized poignant metaphors to deliver her powerful message to millions of American all across the world. The significance of this song is that it acknowledged the harsh reality of unjustly hanging African American men in America. Billie Holiday took a step towards establishing a healthier society by acknowledging the fact that America has severe cultural issues that need to be addressed before we can come together as a trusting, morally dignified, and righteous nation. In conclusion, music is influenced and modified by many artists. The history of music is unique and diverse. Music is a way for millions of musicians and singers to openly express them selves even if it is not socially acceptable by the dominant paradigm. One distinctive characteristic of music is that each musical piece could be perceived differently by the listening audience. Lastly, the diverse quality of music allows for exploration of the true meaning of its poignant messages. These exuberant pieces defined what jazz really is, and should be attributed to helping develop the diverse historical perspective of American Jazz. Bibliography: Word Count: 1813
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