2 The Jazz Age and The Swing Era - Student Reproducible Activity 1

ACTIVITY ONE: JAZZ AND THE MODERN AGE

Read the following quotes. On a separate piece of paper describe how the jazz music of the 1920s reflected the cultural, political, and social events of the Jazz Age. Refer to your class notes, the music, and the background essay where possible.

“Jazz is the folk music of the machine age.”

—Paul Whiteman, bandleader

“The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician. Things like old folks singing in the moonlight in the back yard on a hot night or something said long ago.”

—Louis Armstrong, trumpeter and vocalist

“I, of course, wanted to play real jazz. When we played pop tunes, and naturally we had to, I wanted those pops to kick! Not loud and fast, understand, but smoothly and with a definite punch.”

—Count Basie, pianist and bandleader

“I have discovered three things which have no geographical borders—classical music, American jazz, and applause as the sign of the public’s favor.”

—Jascha Heifetz, violinist

“What he does is real, and true, and honest, and simple, and even noble. Every time this man puts his trumpet to his lips, even if only to practice three notes, he does it with his whole soul.”

—Leonard Bernstein, conductor and composer, on Louis Armstrong