An Outsider’s Perspective is not what it seems.
Looking at the evolution of Jazz starting from the African culture and the Ring Shout during slavery to its peak during 20th Century, this paper aims to discuss and discover why outsiders such as the white society are unable to comprehend the meaning behind Jazz. The rhetorical nature of “Signifyin” and Baraka’s lambasting of white critics presents a clear portrayal for the failure of white people to comprehend the meaning of Jazz. Furthermore, the growing popularity of Jazz and the difference between recordings and live sessions also play a role in the ability to comprehend Jazz by outsiders. However, outsiders such as Souchon and Ansermet have been able to break the cultural barrier by focusing on the meaning instead of the sound of Jazz.
The disparity between African and American musical cultures led to the inaccessibility to African music by outsiders. Jazz has roots in The Ring Shout through “Signifyin(g)”, which also utilised syncopation, repetition with a difference, swing and dynamic relationship. (Freedman) The main difference is the Ring Shout was verbal and vocal but Jazz relies on instrumental elements, yet the rhythm and melody is the same. The Ring Shout introduces us to the notion of “Signifyin(g)” which “is figurative, implicative speech: it is a complex rhetorical device that requires the possession and application of appropriate mode of interpretation and understanding on part of listeners.” (Floyd, P.54) This description of “Signifyin(g)” shows that it has a complicated nature and requires the listeners to be familiar with the nuances which gave the music meaning. The mainstream white society would have not understood Signifyin(g) as it derived from African culture, which the white society looked down upon as inferior during the era of slavery.
The indirect and figurative use of language through “Signifyin(g)” from the African diaspora (which was used in many forms such as teaching lessons about life) was specifically deployed as a secret form of communication between slaves as they were left powerless in the face of the white masters who forced them to sing in the first place to know their whereabouts at all times., “slave community using their texts to Signify on other ideas, through indirection, in the surreptitious communication so necessary in slave culture. “(Floyd, P.55) The notion of a secret language shows that the white society was unable to understand the meaning of the “Signifyin(g)” as it was hidden in the “rhetorical” devices used by the slaves at the time. The idea of secret communication is further reinforced by Bessie Jones: “ these games were for talking to them white folks direct, because slaves didn’t like the way they were being treated”.(Jones P.45) This clearly shows that the social practices and other actions such as dancing and games culminated into a message which was used as a form of insult towards the slave owners who did not get its meaning. It is by coincidence that these social practices resemble the application of music and dance from the African culture, called the Signifyin(g) Monkey, who is a mythical character known to be a trickster. “These insults proceed through a series of events, with the Monkey emerging triumphant, escaping the Lion’s revenge.” (Floyd. P.53) The role of the trickster fits the circumstance of the slaves who are unable to face their white owners directly and therefore apply the trickey of Signifyin(g) Monkey to their lives in order to regain power and feel control over the situation. The intentions of trickster, rhetorical language and “surreptitious communication” derived from the African culture and directly utilised by slaves lead to the white society unable to comprehend its true meaning as it was purposefully hidden from them. (Floyd, P.55)
Baraka Davis believes that the majority of white critics fail to accurately write about jazz because they miscomprehend it. They put significant value on the “strict musicological analysis of jazz,” (Baraka Pg. 258) and thus fail to capture the “attitude” behind jazz. However, Baraka doesn’t make it clear what “musicological analysis” means and therefore it could be inferred as that white critics can comprehend sheet music and nothing more. This outlook presents a distinct divide in how music is valued and consumed by the majority of critics compared to Baraka. Baraka clearly believes that many critics are incompetent, as they lack the “understanding of the underlying philosophies and local cultural references that produced jazz.” (Baraka Pg. 261) If critics have a shaky understanding of Jazz, then the consumers who subscribe to their views may share in a poor understanding of the music. This type of miscomprehension of Jazz links back to the role of “Signifyin(g)” which was used to express deep meaning in the African culture but was heard as simply entertainment by outsiders who were oblivious.
Both Floyd and Baraka provide compelling evidence to show why outsiders have miscomprehended Jazz, but there are exceptions. For instance, Ernst Ansermet, a European conductor, meets Baraka’s expectations in comprehending the meaning of jazz and African American music: “Thus, all, or nearly all, the music… in origin, foreign to these Negroes. How is this possible? Because it is not the material that makes Negro music, it is the spirit.” (Ansermet, P. 744) The idea of spirit in music links back to the myths such as Signifyin(g) Monkey whose attributes were expressed in musical forms. The idea expressed was much more important than the noises made. Baraka also comprehends the link to past African culture and identifies the importance of the “why” behind the music.Therefore, both Baraka and Ernst Ansermet understand that African-American music is not simply about the notes played but the meaning behind them. The reasoning why others fail to see this, is due to their perspective of jazz and, “its solid cultural grounding that prove the impropriety and futility of applying to black music, as aesthetic determinant, the European notion of transcendent, abstract beauty, (which leads to formalist analysis … take precedence over the content … expressed and communicated. “ (Floyd, P. 57-58) Similar to Baraka’s view, this implies that those with a European background in music will find it difficult to comprehend African-American music, which does not set “aesthetic” elements in such a high regard compared to European notion. This shows that the white critics were bound by the cultural frame which was convenient to them as they simply tried to analyse the sound produced and didn’t even try to interpret it.
Interestingly, European composers have been influenced by African-American music: “Stravinsky has used it as material for several works, Debussy has already written a cake-walk, and I well believe that Ravel will lose no time in giving us a fox-trot.” (Ansermet, P.742) Did the European composers simply try to imitate and copy the work of African Americans as they saw it as the next big thing or were they able to gain essence and become inspired by its meaning. It is most likely the aforementioned view of imitating the music because they were unable to come up with something new and popular themselves. Therefore, the value of African-American music shifted from its meaning to its sound, with this convergence it would be very difficult to comprehend the meaning of music. This further confuses the outsider’s perspective of Jazz as it could be possible that there is no deeper meaning for an individual to find.
Baraka has made intriguing statements in terms of the requirements to attain a solid comprehension of Jazz. It seems that Baraka, through the criticism of white critics, is advocating for the insiders to judge Jazz as it would be more legitimate and could help outsiders better comprehend the meaning behind Jazz. However in pleading for critical authority he becomes the authority who dictates the “why” behind Jazz. However he is not the spokesperson for African-American music, and therefore this limitation does not provide enough evidence to judge the true comprehension of Jazz.
Edmond Souchon is an excellent example of an outsider gaining comprehension of jazz. He was a white “pampered and sheltered child” (Souchon P.339) However, Edmond took the opportunity of going to the rough part of the neighborhood to listen to King Oliver, an upcoming jazz musician who later became quite famous. Edmond also heard Oliver live during his college years and was able to hear him one more time at the peak of his career. Souchon says, “I still have my honest complete and honest belief that this first Oliver I heard was the most thrilling. It was rough, rugged and contained many bad chords” (Souchon, p.346) Souchon’s account is useful in showing that sometimes jazz musicians lose themselves in fame and their roots of jazz disappear. In Oliver’s instance it could be attributed to a shift in playing for a white audience and therefore the authentic noise that Souchon heard was no longer there and instead a new sound was morphed to appease the white audience who did not seek to comprehend music. Therefore the loss in the distinct “drive” and “rhythm” of Oliver’s music also makes it lose its meaning for Souchon as he can no longer comprehend the new image of jazz Oliver has made. (Souchon, p.346) Perhaps comprehension of jazz is completely different for each individual, one could even say that outsiders can only comprehend jazz in their own right as they are unable to attain the musical perspective demanded by the likes of Baraka.
Another key point Souchon makes is the difference between live music and recordings. The majority of white Americans heard jazz from recordings instead of live performances, which may explain their inability to comprehend jazz at a visceral level. Souchon writes: “But the drive, the rhythm, the wonderfully joyous New Orleans sound was there in all its beauty. This is what the recordings in Chicago missed.” (Souchon, P346) The recordings and rising fame of jazz led to a style of jazz which had a different meaning. The sounds may have been the same but the message could not be translated to the audience.
The notion of outsider comprehension can no longer apply as it did before as it is possible that Jazz was appropriated to be more accessible. As Mr. Morton says: “What the big money boys needed were efficient music machines who would turn it out every day-quantity, instead of quality.” (Lomax and Martin, P.221) Morton rightly predicted that the rising popularity of jazz would change its meaning within music. The meaning behind jazz is no longer the motivating factor behind the music, but rather money. Therefore this reinvention of Jazz could make it more comprehensible to outsiders as it is similar to other mainstream music.
There is a distinct divide between subverting the meaning of jazz for outsiders or directly urging outsiders to comprehend the meaning of Jazz. To some extent this creates a dilemma as by urging outsiders to try to comprehend the meaning of Jazz, they must deal with the rhetorical and “Signifyin(g)” language used to prevent such comprehension taking place in the first place. However, the examples of Souchon and Ansermet show that it is possible to comprehend the meaning of Jazz by an outsider and that the majority of outsiders have not taken the time and effort to gain a deeper understanding of Jazz. The outsiders’ disregard for the meaning of Jazz is most likely due to the mainstream culture’s portrayal of music as an aesthetic element instead of the meaning behind it. It is important to acknowledge the presence of racial boundaries, with the white population viewing African Americans in an inferior way and therefore not taking their music seriously. Furthermore, aspects such as recordings and rising popularity of Jazz have had a big impact on what it means to comprehend jazz and will need a separate investigation.
Bibliography
- Amiri Baraka, [LeRoi Jones], “Jazz and the White Critic,” Keeping Time: Readings in Jazz History, ed. Robert Walser (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), pp. 255-61. [Originally published in DownBeat 1963]
- Samuel A. Floyd, Jr., “Ring Shout! Literary Studies, Historical Studies, and Black Music Inquiry,” Black Music Research Journal, 2002, (22), pp. 49-70. PDF and https://www.jstor.org/stable/1519943
- King Oliver: A Very Personal Memoir, by Edmond Souchon, Reading Jazz A Gathering of Autobiography, Reportage, and Criticism from 1919 to Now, 1989, pp. 339-46
- Bechet and Jazz Visit Europe, 1919, by Ernst Ansermet, Reading Jazz A Gathering of Autobiography, Reportage, and Criticism from 1919 to Now, 1989, pp. 741-46
- Bessie Jones, “More Than Games,” in For the Ancestors: Autobiographical Memories (University of Illinois Press, 1982), 44-83. PDF
- Alan Lomax and David Stone Martin. “Red Hot Pepper” [account of Mabel Bertrand, Morton’s wife] in Mister Jelly Roll; the Fortunes of Jelly Roll Morton, New Orleans Creole and “Inventor of Jazz,” (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1950), 207-222. PDF
