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Pratheek Mangini, Elizabeth Calt, Angela Ning, Goedele Van Landegem, and Ryan Henry

Professor Conklin

AA !"#$ History of %azz

&'tober (, !#)(

Co*nt +asie$ A M*si'ian that Embodies the Prin'iles of -emo'ra'y

-emo'ra'y is a defining feat*re of the .nited tates and has long been one of its

fo*nding rin'iles/ 0t gi1es o2er and a 1oi'e to the Ameri'an eole and the ability to ha1e

fair reresentation in go1ernment/ 3he system ossesses a 'ore rin'ile, 2hi'h allo2s ea'h

 erson the freedom to make his or her o2n de'ision4*ltimately making ea'h 'itizen e5*al in the

eyes of the la2/ 6illiam 7Co*nt8 +asie, an Ameri'an 9azz m*si'ian, follo2ed his assion for

m*si' all o1er the .nited tates and 2as not only rominent in his o2n right, b*t also *nselfishly

assisted in the rise of other m*si'ians/ A 'omoser, m*si'ian, and leader all in one, he shared a

 *re lo1e for demo'rati' nat*re of 9azz m*si' and heled to sread it to all those 2ho 2o*ld

listen/

E1en from the start, Co*nt +asie 2as dra2n to 9azz m*si' be'a*se of the 'ollaborati1e,

almost demo'rati', energy of 9azz bands/ +orn as 6illiam %ames +asie in Ne2 %ersey, he 9oined

a tra1eling 1a*de1ille sho2 *ntil the mid:);!#s/ 6hile tra1elling in &klahoma City, he 2as

'ati1ated by a ne2 style of 9azz from a territory band kno2n as the +l*e -e1ils/ After 2at'hing

a sho2, +asie re'o*nted that, 7E1erybody seemed to be ha1ing so m*'h f*n * there laying

together///3here 2as s*'h a team sirit among those g*ys, and it 'ame o*t in the m*si' and Giddins !)"?/ A band for the eole, by the eole, it is e1ident that the m*si'ians

in the band not only 2orked together to sho2 the a*dien'e a good time, b*t e1en more so, 2ere

en9oying themsel1es 2hile laying/ Ea'h member@s e5*al and a'ti1e arti'iation in the

go1ernment of the band '*lminated in a 'olle'ti1e, engrossing so*nd that insired Co*nt +asie/

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Mangini, Calt, Ning, Van Landegem, and Henry !

0n fa't, the demo'ra'y of the +l*e -e1ils e1en bled into their finan'es as they 2ere a

7'ommon2ealth8 band that e1enly slit all their rofits/ Regardless, it is e1ident that the +l*e

-e1ils layed a large role in shaing Co*nt +asie@s er'etion of 9azz m*si' d*ring his formati1e

years/ Co*nt +asie fo*nd the 'ooerati1e nat*re of the +l*e -e1ils@ band members to be a

'hara'teristi' he not only admired, b*t also a'ti1ely integrated into his o2n m*si' and

thro*gho*t his f*t*re 'areer/

*bse5*ently, +asie assembled se1eral m*si'ians to form his o2n band 2ho 2ere kno2n

for laying their signat*re head arrangements/ Coined as s*'h be'a*se they 2ere *n2ritten, head

arrangements embody many of the same demo'rati' ideals that initially insired +asie from the

+l*e -e1ils/ Prod*'ed sontaneo*sly and 'olle'ti1ely, these t*nes 2ere a 'onglomeration of

solos/ Ho2e1er, other layers 2o*ld 'ontrib*te to the main m*si'al line by harmonizing 2ithin

the riff rod*'ing blo'k:'hords/ +y keenly listening to the 71oi'es8 of ea'h m*si'ian, the

members of +asie@s band 'reated a se*do:so'rati' m*si'al 'on1ersation/ Not only 2ere the

 band members attenti1e to ea'h other, they also 2orked off the energy of the a*dien'e 'reating a

syn'hronisti' m*si'al en1ironment/ 3he dan'ers dan'ed to the m*si', and the m*si'ians layed

for the dan'ers/ 6hile ea'h band member 2as a*tonomo*s in their m*si'al 'hoi'es for their

rese'ti1e solos, they remained mindf*l of the band as a 2hole and the a*dien'e4essentially

forming a demo'rati' system of 'he'ks and balan'es/

+asie@s first hit, 7&ne &@Clo'k %*m8, did not rea'h its final state *ntil it 2as layed for

o1er a de'ade/ in'e all melodi' arrangements 2ere *bli' roerty at the time, it 2as not an

iss*e that this song@s original melody 'ame from another song, 7i> or e1en 3imes8, ,8 by -on

Redman/ 3he 7sharing8 of songs and melodies sho2s another demo'rati' ase't of +asie o*tlook 

on m*si'/ E1eryone had a''ess to all m*si', and e1eryone 'o*ld *se the m*si' ho2e1er they

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Mangini, Calt, Ning, Van Landegem, and Henry

2anted/ +asie felt that m*si' 2as not abo*t 2hat yo* did, b*t ho2 yo* did it/ 3hen, after %ohn

Hammond, a blues singer and guitarist, heard +asie@s band on the radio, he bro*ght the band to

 Ne2 Bork City to bring it into 'ommer'ial mainstream/ +asie finally 2rote do2n his bands@ head

arrangements into ermanent form, e1en tho*gh he belie1ed that, 7the heads that theyD made in

that basement 2ere a lot better than things that 2ere 2ritten o*t8 =-eVea*> and Giddins !!#?/

+asie referred a 'ollaborati1e, imro1ised, and demo'rati' dialog*e 2hen making m*si' more

so than simly laying 2ritten arrangements/

rom the e1ents of Co*nt +asie@s life to the inner 2orkings of his band, +asie@s life and

m*si' embodied the Ameri'an 1al*e of demo'ra'y/ -emo'ra'ies 1al*e the indi1id*al and ens*re

that e1eryone@s 1oi'e is heard/ 0nsired by the +l*e -e1il@s 'ommitment to indi1id*al

 arti'iation, the sontaneo*s and 'ollaborati1e nat*re of head arrangements, and his 1ie2s on

m*si' belonging to all4+asie@s m*si'al 'areer 'entered on many demo'rati' ideals/ +asie@s

o*tlook on 9azz m*si' 2as largely egalitarian in many rese'ts and 'ontin*ed to infl*en'e many

asiring m*si'ians to 1ie2 m*si' as a 'olle'ti1e effort and dynami' dialog*e/

 

 A for awesome. Great job, everyone!

6orks Cited

-eVea*>, 'ott, and Gary Giddins/  Jazz / Ne2 Bork$ 6/6/ Norton F Comany, 0n'/, !##;/ Print/