Rapp on Jazz

Langston Hughes, one of the leading voices of the Harlem Renaissance, often described his poetry as “jazz written on the page.” He was deeply inspired by the rhythms, improvisation, and spirit of African American music. 

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Though set in the American South and often associated with stream-of-consciousness narrative, William Faulkner’s "The Sound and the Fury" also resonates with jazz's rhythms and improvisational spirit. 

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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s "The Great Gatsby" is as much a story of jazz as it is of love and ambition. Set in the Roaring Twenties, the novel captures an era when jazz was the soundtrack of a generation—lively, improvisational, and a little rebellious. 

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In jazz, the bassline is the heartbeat of the music. The bassist provides the harmonic foundation, outlining the chord changes while keeping the rhythm moving. 

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One of the defining sounds of jazz is the blue note—a pitch slightly lowered from the standard scale. These notes give jazz its characteristic tension, color, and emotional depth. 

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When we talk about jazz standards, we’re really talking about a shared songbook—a common language that musicians use to connect. Most standards follow a structure borrowed from popular songs of the 1920s through the 1950s.

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Jazz fusion emerged in the late 1960s and ’70s as musicians began blending jazz improvisation with the rhythms, textures, and energy of rock, funk, and world music. 

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From the Great Depression through World War II and into the postwar era, jazz has been a story of resilience and innovation. 

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By the 1950s and ’60s, jazz had become a global art form. American musicians toured widely, sometimes as part of U.S. State Department “jazz ambassador” programs. 

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In the late 1950s, a new approach to improvisation began to take shape—modal jazz.

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