American Jazz
‘What jazz brings to the table is collective improvisation and tolerance, respect and freedom, and when you mix that up with every world musical style, you are creating a cultural passport,’ once said Danilo Pérez, a celebrated pianist.
Having its birth and evolution in the United States, Jazz is considered to be America’s indigenous art form. It manages to knit people all around the globe together being a unifying force of music. Jazz is a versatile music style where musicians are free to improvise and express their unique skills changing the overall mood of the melody and getting rid of formal arrangements. Likewise, America itself conveys the spirit of informality and freedom of expression shaping that ‘melting pot’ consisting of different cultures. Being American national art form, no wonder jazz stems from the national values which is the basis of American culture.
Firstly, as an ingrained element of American style and attitude, jazz represents directness and assertiveness. Americans generally consider themselves to be frank, open, and direct in their dealings with other people. They tend to assume that conflicts or disagreements are best settled by means of forthright discussions among the people involved. Similarly, jazz is an art form that is frank and out of platitudes as its sound is usually brash and uninhibited.
Secondly, jazz reflects individualism as one more American value. Americans have been trained from early in their lives to consider themselves separate individuals who are responsible for their own situations in life and their own destinies. They have not been trained to see themselves as members of a close-knit, tightly interdependent family, religious group, tribe, nation, or other group. As a feature of American mentality, in jazz individualism is always praised. During the performance of any jazz band, they tend to play or sing solos taking turns which is a peculiar characteristic of this art form which represents the value in question.
Thirdly, jazz represents informality. People from societies where general behavior is more formal than it is in the United States are struck by the informality of American speech, dress and postures. Idiomatic speech is heavily used on most occasions, with formal speech reserved for public events and fairly formal situations. As well as it is accepted in American society, in jazz there are traditions that conveys the idea of informality and breaking the moulds. For example, jazz players tend to go to jams to play with their fellow musicians without any preparations and sheet music. These events are informal and free of official arrangements where everyone can feel comfortable.
