Black Literary Discourse and the Blues-Jazz Aesthetic: Analysis and Critique

Jazz is relatively complex; there are many musical, technical, intellectual, and emotional elements occurring simultaneously. Jazz makes more demands on the listener than most popular styles, which are fundamentally simpler than jazz, requiring less from the listener. The more one knows about jazz (i.e., how to listen, its history, evolution of its styles, key players, forms, relationship to American history and culture, etc.), the more one can appreciate and enjoy it, even possibly gaining insight into his/her humanity.

Baltimore’s African-American community has a long and rich musical history. Despite the terrible constraints imposed by segregation, gospel music, blues, ragtime and jazz all flourished in Baltimore during the first half of the 20th century. With the Civil Rights Movement and increasing racial integration in the 50s and 60s, new musical opportunities opened up to Baltimore’s Black community, but at the same time, many of the institutions that had been created in a segregated environment withered and died. Visit the Sounds & Stories website and listen to interviews of participants in the music of Baltimore's Black community.