What A Wonderful World Essay

Jazz music emerged in the united States around the turn of the century before arriving in Europe in 1917. It was during this year that America declared war on Germany and among the troops sent across the Atlantic were several thousand black soldiers. Many of these soldiers took with them experimental jazz ideas which spread across Europe resulting in a cross-pollination of jazz, folk and various other styles of European music (Perry, 1996). During the early twentieth Century white Americans became fascinated with plantation songs and black sub-culture and began to create bowdlerized versions of their own.

It was the first time that black music had entered into mainstream American popular culture and would be the foundations on which jazz music would be built (Perry, 1996). It was not just a style of music but a cultural movement which gave the 1 ass’s the name ‘the roaring twenties’. America’s home of African culture was mostly in the southern states such as Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana.

New Orleans, Louisiana was the home of Louis Armstrong and it was a melting pot of race, culture, music and histories. Louis Armstrong, commonly known as Catches or Pops, and the city of New

Wonderful World Voice Of Germany

Orleans had a unique relationship and their impact on American popular culture is almost incalculable. He was born on August 4th 1901 and grew up in a small house in the area around Liberty and Period streets which was a run-down prostitution district (Brothers, 2007). Louis’ contributions to music span over more than five decades from before the 1 ass’s to the late sass’s.

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Throughout his career he played the cornet and later introduced his singing voice which was a vessel that carried his messages just as clearly as the cornet did.

His music helped to break down the racial barriers in America at he time and bring people both young and old, black and white together. The birth of jazz is often accredited to African Americans however, the true development of jazz came from a meshing of their ideals with white middle class society (Boundless, 2014). New York and Chicago were the new central hubs of this post-traditional jazz which stemmed from New Orleans. Jazz was responsible for many cultural and technological advances such as commercial radio stations. This went hand in hand with rebellious youth movements in fashion, music and radio concerts.

Jazz encouraged them to rebel against their previous generation’s ultra. Americans and African Americans danced side by side in clubs for the first time (Boundless, 2014). It was the interaction between jazz and middle class Americans which brought it into mainstream music much to the dissatisfaction of the elite upper class. One of the many appealing sides to Louis’ work was his sympathy for lower class society and how he engaged with popular culture. In his 1931 song titled “Just a Gigolo” he sings about the dirge of a prostitute who confronts mortality; “Paid for every dance, selling each romance, Every night some heart betraying”.

The lyrics don’t sound as lugubrious as they look in writing because he expresses his natural affinity and sympathy for night people, predicated on the harsh circumstances of his upbringing (Appeal, 2002). Louis gave definition and purpose to jazz, particularly in the areas of swing and big band through the use of his groundbreaking improvised solos. He brought about a shift in music from melodic, collective, tightly arranged playing to that of a solo player rising above the rest (Browser, 2009). By the late sass’s he was one of America’s most significant artists.

In his later career he was described as a pioneer of modernism along with writers like James Joyce and artists such as Henry Matisse. Throughout Armstrong’s career there were many social and political developments. At the end Of the first world war, women began to have more opportunities in their social lives and especially in the entertainment industry. The emergence of women such as Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday paved the way for future female artists, drawing attention to themselves not only because of their sex but because they were black (Boundless 2014).

Louis was ever much of a political speaker but in 1957 he spoke out against president Eisenhower and the governor of Arkansas over their position on the attempted desegregation of a major Southern high school being carried out by nine black students. His words shook the nation and media and in one bold stroke he had pulled almost 15 million African Americans to his bosom (Marginalia 2007). The 1 968 release of ‘What A Wonderful World’ served as an antidote to the current struggles of poverty, race and war. During this year America was under threat of a Nuclear attack while their war in Vietnam was at it’s peak.

Martin Luther King Jar. And Senator Robert Kennedy were both assassinated. Hundreds of cities across America were subjected to curfews as race riots broke out in places such as Newark and Detroit. Many feared a second civil war was about to emerge. Many of the attacks were aimed at Jewish shops. Louis was very open-minded when it Came to religion. He was baptized as a catholic however he always wore a star of David on his shoulder. This dates back to his childhood when a local Jewish family in New Orleans regularly gave him food and lent him the money to buy his first cornet (BBC, 201 1).

The writers of Wonderful World’ Bob Thiele and George Weiss, both who were Jewish, understood that Armstrong appeal transcended race and by having him sing this song he would bestow virtues of good will upon the populous. However, not everyone was convinced. Initial sales were not very successful due to the current political climate in America and some of its people’s hatred towards Armstrong after his remarks towards the president. I believe that the passion and sincerity of Armstrong voice was what eventually brought it into popularity.