IM_jazz

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__Jazz References in Invisible Man__


=__**History of Jazz:**__=

The popularity of jazz music existed mostly during the late 19th-mid 20th century, although jazz was invented in the 1800's. Although jazz was highly listened to and greatly appreciated during the late 1800's and early 1900's, the first recordings of this music were not made until 1917 [5]. Not much information is known about the music that existed before jazz, however, it is known that jazz music is influenced from a variety of different places. The most important and major influence to jazz, however, was the African American culture. Jazz was spread through these people to the dominant white culture during the times of slavery in the late 19th century [2].

One of the first kinds of jazz to exist is known as "early jazz", and it evolved during the time period of 1910-1920. This type of jazz music was influenced by dance bands, and was highly improvisational. Another early form of jazz is known as ragtime, which was developed in the 1890's. This type of music is highly based on African American influence and involves extensive piano playing. Ragtime started gaining its popularity during the early 1900's, when it was not only played by solo artists, but by bands and orchestras, as well. A third popular form of jazz is known as dixieland. Dixieland represents jazz performed by artists from New Orleans and Chicago between 1917 and 1923. This type of jazz involved a small band and a revival of it sparked in the early 1930's [2].

It took the United States and the world a while to catch on to jazz music. Because of the music's cultural origin, being an African American dominated form of music, and suggestion of loose morals, people were not easily willing to give jazz acceptance. It was not until jazz was adopted by bands and orchestras, that the world finally gave it a chance. Other popular forms of jazz include the blues and swing [5].

=**__Louis Armstrong:__**=

The jazz music of Louis Armstrong was a continuous reference in the Prologue __Invisible Man__. Armstrong grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, coming from a poor family. After attending reform school, Armstrong developed a passion for music, particularly jazz, and his career began in 1917 when he played in an aspiring jazz group in New Orleans. After this period of his life, he moved to St. Louis to farther his jazz career in 1919. Armstrong then moved back to New Orleans to participate in other performances of jazz music, and continued his career by playing in places like Chicago [4].

In 1925, Armstrong released Hot Five and Hot Seven records, which went on to become jazz classics. Because of all of this success, Armstrong was able to form his own orchestra called, appropriately, "Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra". During their ten year tour experience, Armstrong was one of the most famous men in America. This group was later on changed to the Louis Armstrong Allstars in order to adapt to the change from jazz to swing in music during the 1940's. Louis Armstrong became known as "America's Ambassador". Even though Armstrong was extremely sick, weak, and with failing health during the last three years of his life, he still continued to record jazz music for the world to hear and enjoy. Armstrong died on July 6th, 1971 [4].

=**__The Structure of Invisible Man in Relation to Jazz:__**=

Ralph Ellison works jazz, specifically that of Louis Armstrong who he speaks of in the Prologue, into the novel. The structure and flow of the Invisible Man’s thoughts and actions correlate to the structure of a jazz song. Jazz depends on improvisation, in which a musician may change melodies or harmonies at any time. It often depends on the mood of the performer. Ralph Ellison wrote this novel like a jazz song, making the Invisible Man’s thoughts like improvisation and also having him go through many ups and downs. The IM is on a quest to find himself. [3]
 * "Invisibility, let me explain, gives one a slightly different sense of time, you're never quite on the beat. Sometimes you're ahead and sometimes behind. Instead of the swift and imperceptible flowing of time, you are aware of its nodes, those points where time stands still or from which it leaps ahead. And you slip into the breaks and look around. That's what you hear vaguely in Louis' music." (8) [1]**


 * "Invisibility...you're never quite on the beat." (8) [1]** The inivisble man is always somewhat off the beat. He is trying to find his identity, and find a way to be "on the same beat" as society. But to be on the beat of society, he would need to sacrifice his individuality and devotion to his race and live like Trueblood or Bledsoe. Jazz music is almost never on the beat. The syncopation creates tension because the listener feels unstable and wants to be on the beat. But most of jazz music is off, which gives the style its flavor and uniqueness. The random/syncopated rhythms that exist in jazz music represent the instablity of the Invisible Man in the novel as well as most black individuals in this time period.

Everytime a jazz piece is performed, it is played differently. This can be related to a dream sort of state, where each night, we have different dreams. Just as an individual will never have the exact same dream as another night, the same jazz piece is never performed the same way. The invisible man's experiences are like a jazz piece. Even though he enounters many setbacks, and each time it seems that he might have a true epiphany and is going to change his life, he doesn't realize the reality and consequences of the reality, until the end. Each setback is like a different performance of the same jazz piece. The conflict is based on the same thing: the black man is at a disadvantage and the invisible man places too much trust and faith in other people. He thinks he can be an honest man, work hard, and live a successful life. The reality is that his method of living wont work to achieve success as a single black man. This conflict between the invisible man and society is reshaped and rewritten many times like a performance of a jazz work: In Emerson's office, in the hospital when he can't remember his name, and after his realization of the Brotherhood's purpose.

=**__Beat vs. Melody:__**=

There are two parts of Jazz music. There is the bass which usually indicates the beat and then there is the melody on top. The beat is often very similar when comparing different works of jazz and probably represents the consistent oppression blacks faced. This is sort of like the beat of a black man's heart. The melody is different for every song and this is because each jazz work is unique because of the words. The melody, which is sort of an emotional release for the performer is put on top of the steady beat to create the Jazz. The flexibility of all of Jazz music, and the encouragement of improvisation, allows the performer and the audience to truly relate and participate in the music. These characteristics of Jazz are represented in the invisible man's experiences. His life is all an improvisation after he is kicked out of school. Everything is spur of the moment. He has to make decisions quickly so he isn't homeless and starving. This is like the melody of a Jazz piece. It has ups and downs and can be changed almost at any moment because it is not stable. But, the invisible man's life contains a constant beat too. It is the beat of his will: his desire to reach success. He wishes he could be influential in society, maybe a speaker or someone who could make a difference. He has dreams to cause change. This is the beat that drives him forward through his life. Even after failing, the beat pushes him to get up and try again each and every time, until the end. We see that this amazing beat never dies. Even after the invisbible man is in the basement, and has finally accepted his invisibility, he still plans to at some point find a way to come out and make a difference.

=**__"Black and Blue" within Invisible Man:__**=

//Cold empty bed, springs hurt my head// //Feels like ole ned, wished I was dead What did I do, to be so black and blue

Even the mouse, ran from my house They laugh at you, and all that you do What did I do, to be so black and blue

I'm white, inside, but that don't help my case That's life, can't hide, what is in my face// //How would it end, ain't got a friend My only sin, is in my skin What did I do, to be so black and blue//

//How would it end, I ain't got a friend My only sin, is in my skin What did I do, to be so black and blue//
 * //-Louis Armstrong "Black and Blue"// [0]**

In the prologue of the novel, the Invisible Man refers to Louis Armstrong's song "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue", which is very significant. This is one of the Invisible Man's first references to racism. Because he is black, he is looked down upon. From the beginning of the novel, he expresses his grief on being "invisible" because of the color of his skin. The song describes the hardships that black people must go through within a white society. He is trapped within this black exterior. This reference to the song in the prologue sets up the inner conflict for the Invisible Man throughout the rest of the novel. He has to live in this white man's world and learn to accept that he is being groomed to fit into this world. He feels like he can be a white man on the inside, but no one can see past his skin. There is a white/black tension throughout the entire novel. This song is the basis for these tensions.

**"There is a certain acoustical deadness in my hole, and when I have music I want to feel its vibration, not only with my ear but with my whole body. I’d like to hear five recordings of Louis Armstrong playing and singing “What Did I do to Be so Black and Blue”- all the same time. "(8) [1]** The Invisible Man makes several references to jazz music, particularly Louis Armstrong's previously mentioned piece, in the prologue of the novel. In the Prologue, the narrator is introduced as a person who is invisible to the rest of the world. As the novel progresses, we learn that the narrator feels this way because throughout several instances in his life he was seen not for how he truly was, but by the dark coloring of his skin. Because of this, the narrator concludes that since people cannot see the real him, he is invisible. After coming to this realization, the Invisible Man shuns himself from the world, living in a 'hole', mentioned in the previous quote. He leads a lonely life, and uses music as a way to cure his boredem and feel a sense of belonging that he never could. Besides the fact that jazz music clearly gives the narrator a feeling of belonging, the quote also represents the narrator's personality. Throughout the whole novel it becomes abundantly clear that the narrator is extremely picky. This is illustrated through his continuous questioning of every situation, showing that if he was not completely sure of what was going on, he was not happy. In the previous quote from the Prologue, the narrator's true character is introduced becuase he is simply not happy with just hearing the music, he wants to feel the music as well. Therefore, this one reference to jazz in the Prologue does not only show how heavily the book relies on jazz music, but foreshadows the narrator's personality characteristics that are seen later in the novel, as well.

**"Perhaps I like Louis Armstrong because he’s made poetry out of being invisible. I think it must be because he’s unaware that he is invisible. And my own grasp of invisibility aids me to understand his music." (8) [1]** This quote is extremely important in representing a major theme and idea in this novel, that being: invisibility. In the Prologue it is abundantly clear that the narrator has depicted a clear image of himself, and he has convinced himself he is invisible, being completely confident with that realization. This quote relates the narrator's invisibilty to his love for jazz music. The Invisible Man feels that because he is so confident and accepted of his invisibility, he is able to understand and feel the music of Louis Armstrong more than a regular person would.

The previous passage is also important because it connects the Invisible Man to Louis Armstrong, in the fact that because they are both African American, they are both invisible in the eyes of the narrator. The narrator is a huge fan of Armstrong because he has done so many great things in his life although he has the same skin color as the narrator does. The Invisible Man can relate because throughout his whole life he tried to accomplish great feats as well, but was not as successful as Louis Armstrong was. However, this quote illustrates the narrator's respect for Armstrong and the fact that he has constructed his life in a way that made him not feel invisible, something that the narrator was not able to do. IN summary, Louis Armstrong was able to accomplish an amazing music career in his lifetime, not being invisible, and the narrator, being invisible, was able to take what Armstrong created and analyze it in a way that gave him a better sense of his own life and identity. This quote from the narrator at the end of the Prologue basically sets up the rest of the novel, with a specific reference to Louis Armstrong's jazz work again. The narrator references "Black and Blue" several times in the Prologue, a piece where Armstrong questions what he did to deserve the life he's been given. At this point in the novel, the narrator shifts the idea to make us wonder what happened in his own life that made him come to the conclusion that he is, in fact, invisible. The fact that the narrator specifically references Armstrong's work to his own life, once again shows the connection he feels with Armstrong as well as the effect this artist has had on his life, especially once he realized and accepted his invisibility.
 * "But what did I do to be so blue? Bear with me." (14) [1]**

The fact that the narrator adds "bear with me" to the end of this sentence must also be noted. This foreshadows the fact that the narrator's story is long, and that the search for his identity was not an easy quest. These three words outline the basic idea of the story, illustrating that the narrator is to face many problems and obstacles along his journey to find himself and his true identity.

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 * __References:__**

[0] Armstrong, Louis. "Black and Blue." . IMEEM. 3 Mar 2008 <[|http://toughnelliegirl.imeem.com/music/XLxXJE7k/louis_armstrong_black_and_blue/>.] [1] Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. New York, New York: Random House Inc., 1947. [2] "Improvisation." Origins of Jazz. 3 Mar 2008 <[|http://www.jazzstyles.com/origins.html>.] [3] "Jazz History." __The History of Jazz__. Melting Pot. 3 Mar 2008 __<__[|http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/zaire/721/historyframe.htm>.] [4] "Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong." __Red Hot Jazz__. 3 Mar 2008 __<__[|http://www.redhotjazz.com/louie.html__>.__] [5] Weinstock, Len. "The Origins of Jazz." __Red Hot Jazz__. 3 Mar 2008 <[|http://www.redhotjazz.com/originsarticle.html>.]