Why is it called blues music?

jazzaspensnowmass.org - Why the Blues? | JAZZ at Aspen Snowmass

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Deva Mahal was born with the blues in her blood. The daughter of blues icon Taj Mahal will be performing at the JAS Cafe on March 29-30. In advance of that we explore, why is blues music called “the blues”?

The name of this great American music probably originated with the 17th-century English expression “the blue devils,” for the intense visual hallucinations that can accompany severe alcohol withdrawal. Shortened over time to “the blues,” it came to mean a state of agitation or depression. “Blue” was slang for “drunk” by the 1800s. The link between “blue” and drinking is also indicated by “blue laws” that still prohibit Sunday alcohol sales in some states. By the turn of the century, a couple’s dance that involved slowly grinding the hips together called “the blues” or “the slow drag” was popular in Southern juke joints. A rural juke would be jammed on weekends with couples getting their drink on, doing the pre-coital shuffle to the accompaniment of a “bluesman” on guitar. Today, musicians play “the blues” in the twelve-bar format introduced by William C. Handy in his 1912 sheet music “Memphis Blues.” Although Handy imposed a somewhat-artificial structure on blues music, the typical three-line blues verse did emerge from call-and-response songs made up by slaves in the fields. West Africans working American fields did what they would have done at home: they improvised songs to the rhythm of the task at hand. The lead singer repeated a line twice to give another singer time to improvise a response. Plantation work songs were primarily sung a cappella, but after Emancipation traveling country-blues singers used the guitar and harmonica to earn money playing picnics and dances. Over time, the blues became music that expressed the singer’s struggles and passions, both carnal and spiritual. The blues invigorated American popular music with African musical techniques and values — and rock and roll and jazz were born. Country blues evolved into the classic blues of the 1920s and 1930s, sung by stars like Bessie Smith in front of a big band or piano-led combo. The blues gave options to women like Smith and Memphis Minnie, who might have spent their lives scrubbing white peoples’ floors. It made legends of plantation workers like Son House and Charlie Patton. As Africans became African Americans, they maintained their ethics and aesthetics — even as they were stripped of their languages and religions. What a great cultural achievement that they transferred these values to an alien world and created a new music that transcends racial and cultural boundaries, such that today blues artists can fly to Japan or Poland and be met by hordes of screaming fans who may not speak their language — yet feel their music. As guitarist Robben Ford likes to say, “The blues is a big house.” Fine music continues to be birthed under its roof, supported by what is proving to be one of the strongest, most flexible, inspiring musical frameworks ever created. *excerpts taken from “Why is the Blues Called the “Blues”? by Debra Devi, Huffington Post, Dec. 6, 2017

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“We spent hours feeding Jazz records into pattern-detecting supercomputers,” said Dr. Ramona Kasky, a noted musicologist. “The results were unanimous: scientifically, jazz is actually just a meaningless arrangement of notes played at high speed.”

everythreeweekly.com - Study Shows Jazz Actually Just A Bunch Of Random Notes Played ...

Study Shows Jazz Actually Just A Bunch Of Random Notes Played Super Fast According to a recent study conducted by the National Institute of Modern Music, it was determined that jazz is simply a bunch of random notes played quickly. A popular genre since it emerged in the late 19th century, new groundbreaking analytics have determined that, despite some prior belief to the contrary, jazz is really just a series of varying notes playing in rapid succession. “We spent hours feeding Jazz records into pattern-detecting supercomputers,” said Dr. Ramona Kasky, a noted musicologist. “The results were unanimous: scientifically, jazz is actually just a meaningless arrangement of notes played at high speed.” During the study, the National Institute of Modern Music also consulted numerous other musicologists, all of whom ultimately concluded that the genre, and all music encompassed within it, was really nothing more than cacophonies of notes played quickly. “My coworkers and I listened to those standards for days, hoping to find a meaning, a pattern – anything,” added Jasper Hainsworth, professor of musicology at Berklee College of Music. “Instead, we found nothing. It was quite disappointing to say the least.” This study is projected to have a major impact on the careers of many aspiring musicians. Several universities have already announced plans to shut down their programs relating to the study of jazz. “I spent years studying Coltrane, Armstrong, and Ellington and learning how to emulate their technique.” said Mary Styles, a senior studying Jazz Arts at Juilliard. “Now I know they were all just talentless fakes. Talk about a useless degree.” The results of the study are predicted to have an impact on the nation’s cafes.

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