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More branches on the oldest tree

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Date Issued:
2010
Summary:
On Monday August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Southeast Louisiana bringing with it destruction to much of the Gulf Coast. While New Orleans, one of America's most culturally and artistically significant cities, was spared a direct hit, the subsequent flood devastated much of the city, home to many musicians. The devastation and stress from the storm established a situation and a motivator for creative response, and this dissertation illustrates that the music these musicians produce is a manifestation and continuation of New Orleans' cultural atmosphere. The city's historical allowance and celebration of freedom of expression permits New Orleans' current musicians to be innovative and responsive to the events surrounding the disaster. This project, designed as a qualitative research study, identifies four professional musicians who are established in the musical environment of New Orleans. To illustrate the depth of tradition and experimentation that their music evokes, the music of post- Katrina New Orleans is given historical contextualization and set in comparison to music that was inspired by a past catastrophe, the 1927 flood. Through the holistic exploration of the present circumstances of these four musicians, it becomes clear that New Orleans remains a place that is extremely open to change and that experimental music flourishes at the same time that traditional jazz lives on through new performers, who walk in the footsteps of legends. From interviews conducted with these four individuals, as well as other on-site observations, the emotional, physical, and financial effects of Hurricane Katrina are identified and recorded.
Title: More branches on the oldest tree: tradition and experimentation through improvisation in the music of post-Katrina New Orleans.
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Name(s): Bethea, David.
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Department of Visual Arts and Art History
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2010
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Physical Form: electronic
Extent: vii, 233 p. : ill. (some col.)
Language(s): English
Summary: On Monday August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Southeast Louisiana bringing with it destruction to much of the Gulf Coast. While New Orleans, one of America's most culturally and artistically significant cities, was spared a direct hit, the subsequent flood devastated much of the city, home to many musicians. The devastation and stress from the storm established a situation and a motivator for creative response, and this dissertation illustrates that the music these musicians produce is a manifestation and continuation of New Orleans' cultural atmosphere. The city's historical allowance and celebration of freedom of expression permits New Orleans' current musicians to be innovative and responsive to the events surrounding the disaster. This project, designed as a qualitative research study, identifies four professional musicians who are established in the musical environment of New Orleans. To illustrate the depth of tradition and experimentation that their music evokes, the music of post- Katrina New Orleans is given historical contextualization and set in comparison to music that was inspired by a past catastrophe, the 1927 flood. Through the holistic exploration of the present circumstances of these four musicians, it becomes clear that New Orleans remains a place that is extremely open to change and that experimental music flourishes at the same time that traditional jazz lives on through new performers, who walk in the footsteps of legends. From interviews conducted with these four individuals, as well as other on-site observations, the emotional, physical, and financial effects of Hurricane Katrina are identified and recorded.
Summary: Central to this study is the author's own knowledge of music and experience in musical dialogue - it is through the interaction of the author and the subjects that important events and characteristics, which could be documented, actually emerged.This project reveals the influence that the storm has had on the individual musician and it demonstrates that while all four musicians are caught up in the whirlwind of recovery in New Orleans, their music remains rooted in the fundamental characteristic that is associated historically with New Orleans' music, improvisation. By the same token, it also shows that while each person may have had to suffer the same conditions, the musical response from each musician was unique.
Identifier: 700212250 (oclc), 2953204 (digitool), FADT2953204 (IID), fau:3559 (fedora)
Note(s): by David Bethea.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010.
Includes bibliography.
Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subject(s): Improvisation (Music) -- New Orleans -- 21st century
Hurricane Katrina, 2005 -- Psychological aspects
Composition (Music) -- Psychological aspects
Arts and society -- New Orleans -- 21st century
New Orleans (La.) -- Social conditions -- 21st century
Held by: FBoU FAUER
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2953204
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU