MUS 118 - Jazz History: Origins to the Present

Credits: 3
Instructional Contact Hours: 3

Assists students in developing an interest in and respect for Jazz as an original American art form. Traces Jazz history from its theoretical origins to the present. Focuses on the evolutionary development of the music and the artists who brought about Jazz.

Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Lecture Hours: 45 Lab Hours: 0
Meets MTA Requirement: Humanities
Pass/NoCredit: Yes

Outcomes and Objectives

Identify different styles of jazz and the era they came from.
1. Identify different song structures and instrumentations through an understanding of the origins of Jazz including New Orleans, African and non-African influences.
2. Investigate Caribbean brass bands, New Orleans brass marching bands as well as African music.
3. Analyze ensemble playing, collected improvising, the birth of Dixieland Jazz, the role of Jazz on society, and development of swing.
4. Review the impact of records, popular music of the time, big bands, origins of Be-bop, development of small bands, and the radical departure of Be-bop.
5. Identify some of the important figures of Jazz and their contributions to the Jazz movement. These would include King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Sun Ra and Charles Mingus.
6. Develop a respect and appreciation for the Jazz movement from its origins through the Swing era, Be-Bop, Hard bop and Cool Jazz, the Free Jazz Avant-Garde, and Fusion Jazz.