Subversive Sounds

November 1, 2007
Hersch (political science, Cleveland State Univ.; "Democratic Artworks") explores turn-of-the-century New Orleans, when Jim Crow segregation laws were forcing America into a binary of races. At the same time, a wide spectrum of musicians, audiences, and venues juxtaposed African, European, American, and Latin music and through modification and reinterpretation (or signifying), they created a unique patchwork of music called jazz. Jazz used aspects of marching music, popular at the time for its decisive rhythm in an increasingly industrial society, but also incorporated elements like syncopation and improvisationaltering time and giving the music flight. Opponents saw this new musical force as a threat to racial purity and some notions of what behavior and rhythm should be like. Hersch contends that "jazz did in fact subvert racial segregation." This well-documented history contributes to the dialog on the role of race in the origins of jazz. Recommended for academic and public libraries.Lani Smith, Boston

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