Racial Divisions in Jazz - How Jazz Split into Pretentious White People Music and Music That Apparently Everybody Thinks Is Too Confusing to Listen To

Jazz music over the years has seemed to separate into two markets defined by the innovation, or lack thereof, in the music itself. While not creating any strict rules, this essay explores the causes of this divide as result of a racialized United States\u27 history and a hegemonic power structure preferring white persons. First, the recording industry of the early 1900s preferred releasing covers of already-recorded songs while cleaning up the lyrics to remove sexual content associated with black Americans. The white female jazz singer largely represents the standards of beauty of the time; the black female jazz singer was used as a contrast to this standard as exemplified through appearance and lyrical material. The Cool Jazz and Hard Bop movements in jazz also furthered the already-existing racial divides in jazz music while also changing ideas of what is considered innovative in music. Finally, the market failure of Christian aTunde Adjuah\u27s Stretch genre is explored as the continuation of the United States\u27 racialized history preventing further innovation of jazz music where black American artists are unable to reclaim their heritage music. The album Cheek to Cheek by Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga will be studied as an example of current trends in white jazz and popular musics. Esperanza Spalding will also be discussed as a success story of jazz music in today\u27s music business culture