Disability and Jazz: A musical and socio-cultural analysis.

Disability and Jazz: A musical and socio-cultural analysis.

Though it takes many forms, what comes to mind at the mention of the word disability is a constellation of medical thoughts. Loss of a limb, inability to walk, and loss of bodily function are obvious assumptions. Jazz, on the other hand, triggers thoughts of saxophones and trumpets played together to create a slow and soothing sound. How then is jazz music related to disability? Beliefs exist in a relationship between good health and music. Many therapy strategies use music as a healing tool to soothe maladies. Jazz musicians and lovers of jazz believed in its contribution to the healing power of music. However, during its years of conception, jazz was bombarded with discrediting descriptions. Jazz compared to undesirables like; epidemic, cancer, and disease. Jazz and disability historians track jazz music through claims of its inability to inspire good health because it is in itself disabled and is capable of causing disability.

Jazz was born out of an invention of a rhythm that was different from the norm. Jazz drew inspirations from earlier forms of music such as blues. Conflict surrounded its position and contribution to society. Jazz was an expression of the existing social conditions at the time of its inception. With a simple change in the rhythm, musicians created a sound that no one had heard before. Appreciation and preference for traditional classical music faced a threat from jazz music. It was ironic, however, to compare jazz to a disability when most of its musicians had impairments and disabilities. Jazz music created a space for people with disabilities to explore talent in unimaginable ways. Jazz music was an expression of both the talent and cultural orientations of the artists. African Americans played their jazz, Americans played their jazz, and people from far and wide joined them with their twist to the jazz rhythm. The cultural expression in the different forms exhibited the social versatility of the music.

The association of jazz to disability dates back to its beginning days. Jazz failed to follow the normal classical music rhythm. Instead, a jazz jingle broke all the norms of traditional music and became something more than just noise. With the twist that it came with, jazz was inappropriately associated with limping. The dancing styles and moves to the music were considered epileptic. The epileptic dancing styles spooked the locals who associated these movements with health problems. They could not understand a voluntary epileptic movement in the name of dancing. In addition to the artists’ and dancers’ association with disability, they believed that jazz music caused disability. The local people believed that unhealthy patterns in an individual’s life were as a result of a disruption of the rhythmic waves in a person’s life. This belief was the root of jazz music, a shift in the rhythmic waves. They believed in the ability of this music to cause disability to those who listened and danced to it. Musicians of jazz were frustrated by the constant ridicule and comparison of jazz music to an illness or disability. They advocated for the goodness of their music and its complete ability to promote good health as any other genre would.

Alex Lubet centers his argument about the relationship between jazz music and disability on a comparison between classical and jazz music. He came up with a theory, social confluence, to explain social constructs that determine how different people perceive things. In this theory, he explains that people’s perceptions dont rely on a political or cultural foundation. The encounter of the moment instead drives them. Counter to classical music, jazz music played in live performances that captured raw moments of feeling and reaction. Artists with disabilities momentarily forgot about their disabilities while playing the instruments on stage. “During the actual musical act, the impairment may remain, but there is little or no disability” (Lubet, 2010). The unique ability of jazz music to capture emotions and momentarily freeze time is what the musicians lobbied for as a foster for good health. Jazz music accommodated people with disabilities in ways that classical music could not. Physical impairments did not stop them from playing instruments and making music. The social confluence theory plays a part in explaining the contextual perception of impairments.

Classical music considered physical impairments as disabilities. Therefore, physically impaired artists could not play instruments like pianos and guitars. In jazz, however, musicians such as Django Reinhardt and Parlan were able to make historical marks in music by creating music even with their impairments. Lubet argues against jazz’s perceived causality of disability. Instead, he presents jazz as an open field for people with disabilities to create music and explore extraordinary talent that otherwise would have gone to waste. Jazz musicians with physical impairments found space in jazz to explore new ways to use their bodies even with their disabilities. He recognizes the influence of the physical impairments on the creation and performance styles of the artists. Parlan is particularly influential in Lubet’s analysis. Parlan changed his style of playing the piano and used one hand, which would have been impossible for the classical musicians to accept.

Many people knew that jazz music caused disability and illness. Traditionally, people believe that life is rhythmic and that music resonates with the waves that different people have. The result of a disruption of these rhythms is diseases and disability. Jazz musicians, however, continue to disapprove of these beliefs. They present information showing the ability of jazz music to heal and comfort troubled hearts. They argued that rather than disabling, jazz music and dance could restore the mental and physical health of people (Johnson, 2011). Jazz musicians presented modern life as a cause of the health problems experienced by the people and presented jazz music as a healing agent. The theory of jazz causing illnesses was never plausible. The chances that change in lifestyle of people contributed to the increase in illnesses made for sensible reasoning.

The musicians interpreted the discrimination and constant slander of jazz music as racially motivated. The majority of the musicians were also disabled. This makeup created more ground for discrimination against jazz and its musicians. At the time, there was no value in being African American. It is important to note the possibility of masking racism in the concern for health. Americans were particularly not happy with the mix of rhythms by African Americans and Americans. Critics described jazz music and dance as primitive because of its association with African Americans (Johnson, 2011). In later times, proponents of jazz fought for their place in society. They promoted the health benefits of jazz music and managed to pull in some of its critics.

The social confluence theory provides for the perception of disability by society. The classification of impairments as people with disabilities and non-disabled people depended entirely on the social construct of the environment. Different cultural orientations lead to different social constructs. An impairment to one observer is a total disability to another. This conclusion resulted from Lubet’s comparison of jazz and classical music cultures. While common social standard impairments are a barrier to achievements, in music, it is equivalent to extraordinary ability. Abilities such as one-handed pianism and guitarists have become sensational in mentions of music and disability and placed in several social confluences that construct and categorize their impairments (Lubet, 2011). These considerations have led to the incorporation of disability themes in musical films to extrapolate the exceptional characteristics of musicality.

Corroborating with Lubet is Estelle Jorgensen, a professor of music at Indiana University. Jorgensen recognizes music as an agent. Music has instrumental value. It shapes communities and advances social justice (Jorgensen, 2020). The role played by music in society is undeniable. Artists in their ability to play around with words and rhythms use music to attain social virtues that they intend to instill in the people. Music ensures the attainment of political and health virtues. The instrumental value of music is particularly important in the social and cultural context. With its big influence on people, it becomes an easy way to enforce individual and societal norms and qualities. How people use the information in the music and what they understand is important. Music is not judged by the artists but by the efficacy in the realization of set agendas and successful attainment of virtues (Jorgensen, 2020). The success of music is not by its artists or the making of the music. How effective it is in creating an impression in the people is the true measure of success.

The idea of music and feelings is plausible for many philosophers. The experience of the body in music is what mattered the most. The origin of music was in the body expressions through dance. Forgetting to dance is likened to forgetting music. Connections between musical sounds and the body strengthen the ability of music to change individuals and, after that, society. The most powerful means of education and strengthening communication between mind and body is music. People in society have created communally enjoyable situations where they interact as individuals and with the ethical sets of the community. Situations like these create space for artistic expression through music that passes information to the people (Westerlund and Juntunen, 2003). The recognition of the instrumentality of music and evidence of its ability to be used in different ways by society affirms the idea of music being an agent or instrument of communication.

Philosophers agree on several major points. That music is an instrument that is used in the social context to propagate agendas that are deemed positive and beneficial to society. Common ground is in the belief that jazz promotes good physical and mental health and even contributes to the beauty by rejuvenating and revitalizing the body. Theorists portray jazz music as a promoter of good health rather than the initial perception of its disabling capability. Their ideas on the health benefits of jazz music and the space provided by jazz for people with disabilities, overlap. They agree on the potential of jazz to do good for society and to permanently change social confluences across societies.

Django Reinhardt is a renowned gypsy jazz guitarist. Growing up in the caravans of French gypsies, Django developed a taste for music. He often played with local instruments such as the banjo and traditional guitars. He ventured into the jazz scene and created new music by mixing the traditional manouche sound with the new jazz music. This new sound is the last ever original jazz creation in the history of jazz music. His life is startled by a fire accident that left one of his legs paralyzed, and his third and fourth fingers on his left hand paralyzed. Without these two fingers, doctors assured him that he would never play the guitar again. Django, against all the odds, underwent rehabilitation and began to walk using a cane. He vowed to teach himself how to plat the guitar even with his three remaining fingers and practiced as often as he could. This motivation prompted him to create an entirely new technique that allowed him to play comfortably without the two fingers. He proceeded to create music later known as the gypsy swing. His influence on jazz music lives on to date, and subsequent jazz music depends heavily on his style.

Social expectations surrounding Django’s life may have created a construct that did not believe in his ability. The slightest form of impairment could render one disabled and, therefore, of no use to music. The providence of jazz enabled Reinhardt’s discovery of a new path. He was able to discover his niche and to fit into it even with his impairments. Society is unpredictable, and the ability of a person with a disability to rise above expectations and to perform exemplary musical acts shakes up the existing confluence. It stirs up debates within society about their view of people with disabilities and their downplayed capabilities. His historical contribution to music led to the elevation of his small gypsy community. The attitude towards disability during his times was not favorable. The need to find one’s cultural identity to fit in society is vital. The need to find himself may have motivated Django to push himself to get back to playing the guitar. The constant correlation of jazz music to disability did not help either. They referred to it as music grounded on disability. Society’s belief in the capability of jazz music to cause disability bred a tradition of constant opposition to jazz music and dance.

The inception of jazz music was messy and conflicted. It brought about previously ignored discussions of disability in jazz. Philosophers agree on the initial comparison of jazz music to disease and disability and the belief that listening to jazz music and dancing to it could cause disability. They also validate benefits to the mental and physical health of people. Hot jazz, sweet jazz, and the gypsy swing are jazz genres that give a holistic positive effect on people hence their continuous sway through history and present effect as well.

References

Yob, Iris M., and Estelle R. Jorgensen, eds. Humane Music Education for the Common Good. Indiana University Press, 2020.

Jorgensen, Estelle Ruth. Transforming music education. Indiana University Press, 2003.

Lubet, Alex. Music, disability, and society. Temple University Press, 2011.

Johnson, Russell L. “‘Disease Is Unrhythmical’: Jazz, Health, and Disability in 1920s America.” Health and history, 13, no. 2 (2011): 13-42.

Lubet, Alex. “(Paralyzed on One) Sideman: Disability Studies Meets Jazz, through the Hands of Horace Parlan.” Critical Studies in Improvisation/Études critiques en improvisation 6, no. 2 (2010).