Greetings Zombywolf! With regards to the definition of
existentialism, the author on the web site
http://cosmo.marymount.edu/~drp29655/existentialism.html states "There
is no precise definition of existentialism because the opinions of
existentialists are so diverse. However, there are some basic themes."
The author then goes on to state "Existentialism rejects the idea that
there are universal truths, moral standards, and values" and this
applies directly to jazz music because jazz is a personal
interpretation of music. The "scat" style of singing covers the area
of performance. Scat is a jazz singing style whereby a performer
makes vocal sounds as lyrics, using the voice as an interpretative
instrument of pure sound and emotion. In the performance of jazz as
an interpretative musical meduim, existentialism is practiced because
the performance follows no set standard of notes or sounds. It is
truly an individualistic medium.
The same goes with the playing of a musical instrument. The player
"feels" the music and releases his own interpretation with the notes
played.
Defined on the web site
http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/IPHS/Projects/swing1/music/definition.htm,
scat singing is "a vocal style often used in both jazz and swing in
which singers improvise nonsense syllables instead of lyrics as part
of the melody. Popularized by Louis Armstrong in the late twenties,
scat has its roots in West African vocal percussion. Singers often use
scat to express their individual style as well as the popular musical
styles." The individuality of this type of singing is existentialist
by its nature.
Jazz Magazine has this to say about jazz and existentialism:
"'Jazz and Visual Improvisations' claims to look at the relationship
between jazz and created improvisation as 'quintessential forces in
the development of American art after World War II,' but it fails to
address the really big questions about liberating oneself from the
strange suburban shoes of the great American demi-democracy that
dominated this era. Alienation was basic to the period as was
existentialism and the artist's eye obscenely seeing this surrealistic
landscape."
From http://www.allaboutjazz.com/articles/arti0601_02.htm
They also have another article mentioning it which states "This is
because Murray's view of the world is that it is chaos. 'The blues',
he contends is that world of chaos impinging on the individual. It has
to be fought - and it has to be fought the whole time - otherwise
chaos will take over. This intensely bleak philosophy is a version of
existentialism. It underpins everything in Murray's thought - as it
underpins Crouch and Marsalis's thought also. Thus Marsalis says:
'Chaos is always out there...' American Heritage 1995."
From http://www.allaboutjazz.com/articles/arti1200_16.htm
The author of the site
http://www.princeton.edu/~howarth/304/08dia.html states "Jazz is a
natural outgrowth of spirituals, gospel, work shouts, and other forms
of early black song: in New York it was embraced by white audiences,
who heard it in Harlem, mid-town Manhattan, or Greenwich Village.
Among young intellectuals and artists of this period, Jazz fused with
a popular philosophy known as existentialism, born in an era grown
alienated and cynical about ideologies, as a consequence of the
Nazi-induced genocide against European Jews."
From http://www.princeton.edu/~howarth/304/08dia.html
Regarding psychology and jazz, please see the article "Free Jazz and
the Avant-Garde" by Jeff Pressing, Department of Psychology at the
University of Melbourne. The comprehensive piece is located at
http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:h5GP0Ul8MmYC:www.psych.unimelb.edu.au/staff/jp/free-jazz.pdf+existentialism+jazz&hl=en&ie=UTF-8.
He explores the psychology of jazz and how it relates to
existentialism.
You may want to locates copies of the songs of Boris Vian "(jazz
critic, trumpeter, poet, novelist, and social agitator)" mentioned at
http://www.wfmu.org/~bart/sg.html: "Early song titles reveal his other
concerns: "Alcohol," "12 Gals Under My Skin," "This Mortal Boredom" --
all "Jazzistiques," or heavy-into-jazz tunes of pop existentialism."
You may also want to read Vian of whom it is said on the site
http://www.tamtambooks.com/vian/vian.html "The sex-and-violence pulp
novel to have the biggest impact, however, was I Spit on Your Graves
by a certain Vernon Sullivan, whose existentialism came short of
actually allowing him to exist. He was the pen name of Boris Vian,
jazz musician, song-writer and author, whose best-known novel
(translated as Froth on the Daydream in Britain, and Mood Indigo in
the U.S.) would later be described by Raymond Queneau as "the most
beautiful love story ever written."" Other information on Vian is
available at http://www.toadshow.com.au/rob/vian/spit.htm
In jazz lyrics, the themes are primarily existentialist. In an
article about Billie Holiday located at
http://www.thestranger.com/2001-12-06/guide7.html, it is stated "The
elite French intellectuals (Sartre, Camus, and so on), who introduced
existentialism to a larger, but still confined, educated world after
World War II, were far behind Billie Holiday, who expressed the same
concerns (anxiety, dread, fate, time) through the form of the American
popular song." The article goes on to state that "others listened to
Billie not for aural pleasure...but for philosophical consolation.
Billie Holiday, who is considered to be the first popular jazz singer,
was also the first popular Heideggerian, who, at the start of World
War II, introduced all the themes of Being and Time (in a word,
existentialism) to a mass audience."
To review some of her lyrics, please visit:
God Bless The Child -
http://www.bluesforpeace.com/lyrics/god-bless-the-child.htm
Good Morning Heartache -
http://www.thesonglyrics.com/h_artists/lyrics/billieholiday_lyric1.html
Strange Fruit - http://www.bluesforpeace.com/lyrics/strange-fruit.htm
For All We Know - http://www.lyricsxp.com/lyrics/f/for_all_we_know_billie_holiday.html
The Very Thought of You -
http://www.lyricsxp.com/lyrics/t/the_very_thought_of_you_billie_holiday.html
From the Cliff Notes online of "Understanding Jazz" at
http://www.free-cliffnotes.com/data/ed/mxe265.shtml it reads in part
"If jazz has any purpose, it is a way to discover, to create, and to
define a missing part within human beings of what it means to be
human. In this sense, jazz could be called an existential art. Jazz
musicians create their essence by playing jazz, as Eric Dolphy
claimed: I'll never leave jazz. I've put too much of myself into jazz
already, and I'm still trying to dig in deeper. Besides, in what other
field could I get so complete a scope to self-expression? To me, jazz
is like part of living, like walking down the street and reacting to
what you see and hear. And whatever I do react to, I can say
immediately in my music. The other thing that keeps me in jazz is that
jazz continues to move on. There are so many possibilities for growth
inside jazz because it changes as you change (Dolphy, liner notes, Far
Cry, December 21, 1960"
With regards to the artist Jackson Pollock who is sometimes referred
to as Jack The Dripper, his work was of the abstract expressionist
school. This particular form of art was one of abstract thought hence
it mirrors the existentialist theories as man, the creator. He
brought a new definition to art through wholly personal interpretation
and expression. Please visit
http://arthistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa082800a.htm for more of
the article about Pollock.
Should you need clarification before rating my answer, please utilize
the "Request A Clarification" feature and I will be happy to address
your query with more research.
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