Jazz à la Creole
Jazz à la Creole
French Creole Music and the Birth of Jazz
Winner of the 2023 Award for Excellence for Best Historical Research in Recorded Jazz from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections
During the formative years of jazz (1890–1917), the Creoles of Color—as they were then called—played a significant role in the development of jazz as teachers, bandleaders, instrumentalists, singers, and composers. Indeed, music penetrated all aspects of the life of this tight-knit community, proud of its French heritage and language. They played and/or sang classical, military, and dance music as well as popular songs and cantiques that incorporated African, European, and Caribbean elements decades before early jazz appeared. In Jazz à la Creole: French Creole Music and the Birth of Jazz, the author describes the music played by the Afro-Creole community since the arrival of enslaved Africans in La Louisiane, then a French colony, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, emphasizing the many cultural exchanges that led to the development of jazz.
Caroline Vézina has compiled and analyzed a broad scope of primary sources found in diverse locations from New Orleans to Quebec City, Washington, DC, New York City, and Chicago. Two previously unpublished interviews add valuable insider knowledge about the music on French plantations and the danses Créoles held in Congo Square after the Civil War. Musical and textual analyses of cantiques provide new information about the process of their appropriation by the Creole Catholics as the French counterpart of the Negro spirituals. Finally, a closer look at their musical practices indicates that the Creoles sang and improvised music and/or lyrics of Creole songs, and that some were part of their professional repertoire. As such, they belong to the Black American and the Franco-American folk music traditions that reflect the rich cultural heritage of Louisiana.
Awards
- , Winner - ARSC Award for Best Historical Research in Recorded Jazz Music
One of the distinct merits of Caroline Vézina’s study of French creole music and the birth of jazz is precisely the nuance, care, and precision she brings, because it is scholarly, but never dull or pedantic. . . . Everything that should be in a model monograph plus photos are to be found in this excellent book.
Jazz à la Creole: French Creole Music and the Birth of Jazz is a worthwhile addition to any jazz bookshelf. . . . Caroline Vézina has done us a service by delving into this topic so thoroughly.
[Jazz à la Creole] closes, to a great extent, the gap that previously existed in the history of jazz.
Jazz à la Creole: French Creole Music and the Birth of Jazz is a captivating and well-researched exploration of the roots and evolution of jazz music. Caroline Vézina’s passion for her subject shines through, providing readers with a fresh perspective on a fascinating chapter in American musical history. This book is a must-read for jazz aficionados and history buffs alike.
In Jazz à la Creole: French Creole Music and the Birth of Jazz, Caroline Vézina pulls together a variety of sources to create a collage of Creole identity, New Orleans racial politics, and the music that emerged from that milieu. The resulting product combines carefully mined research in jazz studies, creolization theory, and folklore.
Jazz à la Creole is an excellent scholarly synthesis of the various attributions to Afro-French Creole culture regarding the formation and early development of New Orleans jazz. The study ties together issues related to race, ethnic identity, gender, class, religious and secular education, transcultural exchange, and canon formation. The depth and breadth of sources used and integrated on this topic surpasses previous efforts. This work is indispensable.
With a rich variety of musical notations, lyrics, and historical quotations, Jazz à la Creole demonstrates how the constantly evolving process of creolization was foundational to the development of New Orleans’s unique musical traditions. Vézina distills a topic as intricate and boundless as jazz itself with purpose and precision.
Music and Creole culture are both central to New Orleans history but only now have these two themes been brought together in a book. And what a wonderful book Caroline Vézina has given us, starting with Louisiana’s French founders and bringing us all the way up to the revival of Creole songs in the 1940s and ’50s. Along the way we encounter familiar jazz musicians alongside forgotten manuscripts and songbooks, all helping to connect the dots of an illustrious Creole musical legacy. Magnifique!
Caroline Vézina is an independent scholar specializing in the study of music and culture. Based in Montréal, she split her time between her hometown and New Orleans for many years to further her research on the music of the French Creoles.
Caroline Vézina is an independent scholar specializing in the study of music and culture. Based in Montréal, she split her time between her hometown and New Orleans for many years to further her research on the music of the French Creoles.
