Scarica The age of jazz and the tales of the age of jazz e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! The Jazz Age Introduction The jazz age was an American period during the 1920s characterized by Jazz music, swing, prohibition, gangsters, flappers, speakeasies, bathtub gin and sexual freedom. A speakeasy is an establishment that illegally sells alcoholic beverages. Flappers were a "new breed" of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behaviour. This period was full of excitement and contradictions due to the radical changes in the way people behaved and thought. The new manners were a reaction against the strict Puritan morality of the previous century. Jazz Music The Jazz music began in New Orleans (Louisiana) as a fusion of African and European music. Two important aspects of jazz are swing and improvisation. The birth of this music is credited to African- Americans but expanded and was modified to become socially acceptable to middle-class white Americans. Two famous black artists were Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. Chicago and New York were the cultural centres for Jazz and for African American Artists. The spread of jazz was encouraged by the introduction of large-scale radio broadcasts in 1932. Radio made it possible for Americans to experience different styles of music without physically visiting a jazz club. Cotton Club The area of Harlem in Manhattan (NYC) became the largest and most influential African American community in the nation and one of the most important centres of innovation in jazz. Harlem soon became known as the ‘Black Mecca’ and the capital of black America because jazz singers and composers performed in clubs of this part of city. The most famous clubs was the Cotton Club, that was opened in 1923 and run by a gangster who used it as an outlet to sell his beer to the public during Prohibition. Young people and women 1920s youth used the influence of jazz to rebel against the traditional culture of previous generations. This youth rebellion went together with temporary fashion like flappers, women smoking cigarettes, free talk about sex and new radio concerts. Traditionalists were shocked of what they considered the breakdown of morality. Women played an important role throughout jazz’s history. With women’s suffrage – the right for women to vote- women began to take on a larger role in society and culture. Ideas like equality and free sexuality were very popular during the time and by the end of 1920s many women jazz singers were recognized as successful artists in the music world.
