The History of American Jazz to 1945
4-weeks (last 4) | Registration closed 9/1/2024
This course will examine the precursors of jazz, its emergence in 1917 as a cultural phenomenon, and its explosive energy in the ensuing decades. Among the topics considered: ragtime; the blues; jazz in New Orleans; jazz’s migration to Chicago and New York City; the “stride piano” of James P. Johnson and others; the emergence of big bands (those of Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie); and the arrival (in 1945) of bebop, a startling new style.
Brian Mann
Brian Mann taught courses in music history and theory for many years in the Vassar College Music Department. He is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh (B. Mus) and the University of California, Berkeley (M. A., Ph.D.)