How Jazz is Like a Skyscraper

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How Jazz is Like a Skyscraper

• Jay Mechling
• American Studies

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Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier, the great modern architect, once
called Manhattans skyscrapers hot jazz in stone
and steel. What in the world did he mean by th
is?
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Jazz

• Rhythms from West Africa, featuring a pulsating
  beat, syncopation (accenting the normally
  unstressed beat), and polyrhythm (laying a 1-2-3
  element over a 1-2-3-4 beat)
• European harmony
• American gospel singing, esp. as it led to the
  blues

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A New Orleans Dixieland Jazz Band
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Ragtime
A highly syncopated, improvisational form popula
r from 1890 to 1917 Music Selection Ledbelly,
Eagle Rock Rag
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Blues
The twelve bar blues is the most common struct
ure of this form. I IV I V I 4 2 2 2 2
Tonic Subdominant Tonic Dominant Tonic Mus
ical selection Louis Armstrong, St. Louis Blues
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Improvisation
At the heart of jazz is improvisation, the
spontaneous musical creation that makes jazz a
dynamic art form.

• Vary rhythm
• Embellish a melody by decorating it or by
  subtracting from it
  
• Invent wholly new melodies within an existing
  harmonic outline for the piece

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The Early Skyscraper

• Height
• Stone,masonry, brick
• Elevator
• Example Burnham Roots Monadnock Building
  (1889-91)

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Skyscraper Skeletons

• Iron/steel skeleton
• Example William Le Baron Jenneys Home Life
  Building, Chicago (1884-85)

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Balloon Frame

• The steel frame was merely an improvement on the
  balloon frame, and American idea in lightweight
  wood construction

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Steel Frames-Height

• Buildings could become very tall and accent the
  vertical
  
• Example Adler Sullivans Guaranty Building,
  Buffalo (1894-95)

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Steel Frames - Windows

• Walls are no longer bearing weight, so windows
  can become large and play an important role in
  the decoration and lightness of the building
  
• Example Burnham Roots Reliance Building,
  Chicago (1894-95)

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Steel Frames - Interior Space

• The steel frame opens up interior space
  obstructed only a few columns
  
• The space can meet users needs
• The space is flexible efficient
• Example

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Jazz and Skyscrapers

• Both art forms are eclectic
• Both are urban
• Both feature a rigid frame, which makes possible
  endless variation against the fixed form of the
  frame

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Jazz and Skyscrapers

• The interest in improvisation is connected with
  Expressionism
  
• The idea of the unconscious
• Expressionist interest in primitivism, African,
  African American cultures
  
• Emergence of African American style in American
  culture blues and jazz basic to rock n roll of
  1950s, 1960s rock, etc.