Music 227 - Jazz History After 1945

Spring
2020
01
4.00
Darryl Harper
MF 02:00PM-03:20PM
Amherst College
MUSI-227-01-1920S
ARMU 212
dharper@amherst.edu
MUSI-227-01,BLST-344-01

(Offered as MUSI 227 and BLST 344 [US]) One of two courses that trace the development of jazz from its emergence in early 20th-century New Orleans to its profound impact on American culture. This course explores the emergence of bebop in the 1940s, the shift of jazz's relationship with American popular culture after World War II, and the dramatic pluralization of jazz practice after the 1950s. We will also look at the emergence of fusion and the jazz avant-garde of the 1960s and 1970s, and theorize the reformulation of "tradition" during the 1980s. Central to our examination will be the phenomenon of "neoclassicism" common in jazz discourse today, measuring that against the radical diversity of jazz practice around the world. Many figures central to the development of the varied post-bebop directions in jazz will be discussed: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Ornette Coleman, the New York Downtown scene, and many others. Two class meetings per week.

Spring Semester. Professor Harper.

https://www.amherst.edu/course_scheduler
Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.