Music


 * MUSIC
 * The dominant musical style in Harlem during the 20s and 30s was jazz. The reason that jazz was so popular at the time was because it had strong roots in black culture. The genesis of the music was in the songs of the plantations and work fields of the South, dating from slavery times. The early jazz musicians took the rhythms of these songs, fused them with ragtime, marching band music, and lots of improvisation, thus creating a new musical style free of the white tradition of European classical music. During the Harlem Renaissance, African-Americans were embracing the heritage of their own culture in order to separate themselves as a race and achieve individual identity as African-Americans. A major part of this was the acceptance of the new music, and strong black personalities such as Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and Duke Ellington soon became heroes of the black community.

Music also plays a large role in //Their Eyes Were Watching God//. The black community on the muck comes together through music, and the skills of Tea Cake on the guitar are admired by the entire community. Zora Neale Hurston also used strong rhythms, much like the ones of jazz music, in the dialogue of her novel. She was a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance, and was a huge supporter of independent black culture and folk tradition. Due to her position, she was doubtlessly influenced by the blossoming jazz scene in Harlem and the figures described below.

[|Strange Fruit] [|Autumn In New York]
 * [[image:http://scd.mm-c1.yimg.com/image/1405169431]]**Billie Holiday -

Billie Holiday - She was a one of the most influential singers of her time. She was well known for her unique vocals. Most would have said that she had a “worldly voice”. Billie Holiday was a unique woman in her time, a black woman with celebrity status in both the black community and the white community.She is representative of the strong women discovering their individualism during this time, much like Janie in //Their Eyes Were Watching God.//

http://www.cmgww.com/music/holiday/bio.html

Duke Ellington - [|Caravan] [|Hiawatha]

He was one of those few who produced great hits and became known as one of the most innovatice composers in Jazz History. He was a pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer for his band for nearly fifty years. One of his hits are “It Don’t Mean a Thing(If It Ain’t Got That Swing)”

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/ellingtonMusic of the 20s and the 30s