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Jazz was born in New Orleans around the 1920s, and involved a cultural movement that

saw the emergence of new styles of music and dance. Much of the development of jazz music is

credited largely to African Americans that employed diverse music techniques that contained

African traditions. Later, jazz expanded to the native population of America and beyond. Large

numbers of jazz musicians migrated to the northern cities from New Orleans following the World

War I. the migration led to dispersal of jazz as different styles emerged in different cities. With

the dispersal and development of jazz, there arose a cultural shift as it penetrated into nightclubs

and places that operated in prohibition. The availability of these spaces, together with

advancement in recording technology, jazz gained popularity in a short period.

The course has extensively covered the history and development of jazz along with the

stylistic features of the music. The history is paired with notable musicians who helped in the

evolution of jazz music. It is important to note the challenges that jazz music encountered in its

journey, such as discrimination in the media as African American jazz artists were prejudiced.

For example, the music of Louis Armstrong and Jelly Morton did not get notable airtime as

compared to their Native American jazz artists (Early). The prominence of African American

jazz artists continued to propel the style further outside the boarders of America. Today, jazz is in

every country, there are budding musicians experimenting, and creating new music out of what

the original virtuosos like Miles Davis created.

Miles Davis was an American jazz trumpeter who is an acclaimed figure in the historical

development of jazz and twentieth century music. He was in the forefront of many stylistic
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modifications of jazz music. One of the most creative hits was Boblicity. Miles Davis and Gil

Evans composed the piece for the first “Birth of the Cool” recording session, in April 1949

(Kahn). The popularity of this piece and the attraction is purely in the extraordinary orchestration

of Gil Evans and the musical camaraderie that existed between the two artists. At the time of

composing Boblicity, the group was called the Miles Davis Nonet. Gil Evans, Gerry Mulligan,

and John Lewis wanted a small group that would still produce full orchestral sound. The group

decided to use Miles Davis’ name because he was the best in negotiating with club owners and

getting gigs for the group (Kahn).

Boblicity is a cool jazz composition that is characterized by relaxed tempos and a lighter

tone. The cool jazz era came at a time when Miles Davis and his group took a similar direction in

modifying jazz music to a more relaxed genre. In Boblicity Miles Davis was experimenting tonal

colour with varying rhythms that revealed an aggressive style of playing. The changes in tonal

colour are unique and do not provide an obvious tonal centre. In the recording, Miles Davis

sounds similar to Charlie Parker especially in the heavy use of chromaticism and many ascending

triplets (Davis). The piece contains the fundamentals of jazz such as the use of the blue scale,

syncopation and immense improvisation. The understanding of these jazz features is based on the

course material that has helped in music appreciation and in the description and classification of

jazz music.
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Cited

Davis, Miles. "Boplicity." All that Jazz. By Gil Evans and Miles Davis. New York City, 1949.

Sound.

Early, Gerald. Miles Davis and American Culture. Missouri History Museum, 2001. Web.

Kahn, Ashley. Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece. Da Capo Press Inc.,

2001. Web.