Patrick Peters

MUS_CLAS 211
Musicology II: Western Music in the
Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries
The Troubling Career of Al Jolson
Dr. Marta Robertson

A look at the spectrum of appropriation through one of America’s most

popular and problematic entertainers
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Thesis: While the grotesque nature of Jolson’s use of blackface cannot be

ignored, the manner in which he performs in works such as “The Jazz
Singer” was instrumental to introducing white audiences to black musical
stylings.

“The Jazz Singer”

Background of Al Jolson
● Born Asa Yoelson on May 26, 1886
● Father was qualified as a rabbi and cantor
● 1911-1928: 80 hit records. 16 national and
international tours
● By 1930s he was America’s most famous
and highest paid entertainer
Why is he relatively obscure today?
● Reliance on blackface
● Placement of music outside of jazz lineage
● Generational influence in pop music
● Plot mirrors Jolson’s life
Key Arguments about Jolson’s Impact
very closely
● Different use of
Negative Impact
blackface “Although Jolson’s blackface mask intended sympathy for
● Intersectionality of
African Americans, it confined them to emotional
Judaism/African primitivism.” - Michael Rogin
American life in America
Positive Impact
Conclusion “...Jolson himself - a man who had already challenged the
Ultimately, my purpose is not to tell you what side to color line on stage and off in ways that African Americans
believe. Rather, I am here to present some background appreciated. The Jazz Singer thus spoke to their circumstances
on Al Jolson’s career. His story is a long and and their aspirations - not against them.” - Charles Musser
complicated one, and the reverberations of his career
are still being felt within music and culture today.