Cultural Event #4: Music of the Jazz Age-Midnight in Paris with Zelda, Scott, and Ernest

As my fourth Cultural Event for Capstone, I attended a Jazz concert titled Music of the Jazz Age-Midnight in Paris with Zelda, Scott, and Ernest. The music was set to allow the audience to explore the two most significant writers in the Age of Jazz, both American expatriates of the early Modernist period: Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway.The audience was also asked to consider Fitzgerald's wife, Zelda Fitzgerald as prototype for the Flapper and inspiration for Scott's best written fiction. As many do not know, the legacy and origin of the Jazz Age is defined by the sound of its music of the 1920's. In that time, there was an idea of letting go of the old ora and rising to a newer, different style of music. Jazz played a significant part in wider cultural changes during the period, and its influence on pop culture continued after.

With the women's suffrage at its peak in the 1920s and the entrance of the flapper women, it began to make a statement within society and the Jazz Age-also known as The Roaring Twenties was not blind to these new ideals. With women now taking part of the work force after the end of the First World War, there were many more possibilities for women in the terms of entertainment and social way of living. The ideas of Free sexuality and equality were thriving and women capitalized in this time. Fitzgerald's writings often portrayed people who became successful in the social and financial worlds, but did not share the same prosperity in their morals. 

My view of the quartet performing

In listening to this fine quartet, I noticed how the idea of syncopation defines the personality of jazz. Syncopation is, of course known as the displacement of the usual rhythmic accent away from a strong beat onto a weak beat. The presence of improvisation in jazz affects the entire performance. The subtle wilt of it makes jazz what it is. In between songs, the pianist explained the roots of jazz and how the blues notes are related to many used within the genre.

In this time, music was a big part of the film industry. The Importance of The Jazz Singer film marks the affects of just how significant the music was to the video. The Harlem Rennaissance affected the music as well as other art forms of poetry, literature, and art. I recall the quartet playing a tune from the Harlem Renaissance titled "Caravan"by Duke Ellington. The song is meant to sound like you are on a camel in the desert and defines the ragtime feel of the jazz age.




The quartet ended with a piece titled "Don't get around much anymore" which is easily recognized not only by fans of the jazz age, but also those today. The piece is originally performed by Duke Ellington as well, but commonly known as being performed by Nat King Cole. The quartet did not perform it with lyrics, but the instrumental was easily recognizable with its smooth yet creative feel. I found myself very relaxed after listening to a few pieces such as this.



I am very glad that I attended this event as I learned a decent amount about The Jazz Age and how it influenced American culture and society. The legacy of women during that time was very interesting to discover as I listened to great music that reminded me of that time. It was great to be able to experience something like this completely free of charge and gain so much knowledge and insight.