This course will explore the cultural and societal influences on the development of jazz music. There always was a divide between white music and black music. By focusing and delving into the lives of its major figures, such as Jelly Roll Morton, Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and many others, the spirit and cultural roots of that music will be better understood. The influence of these great artists on jazz will be outlined as well as some of the cultural aspects of the ”anatomy” of jazz music, such as what a blues form is, and how characteristics of the blues are the “DNA” of jazz. The importance of stride pianists to the pioneers of modern jazz like Monk and Ellington will also be looked at, as well as pianists who were a bridge between classical and jazz, like Hazel Scott. The spirit of jazz, its cultural roots and cultural legacy will be part of understanding jazz without forgetting its encompassing and joyous influence in the history of music.
Instructor: Mboya Nicholson
Jazz pianist Mboya Nicholson has performed worldwide, from Japan to Guadeloupe, bringing jazz to manner of varied places and spaces. In the 1990s, Mboya was a familiar face at the Edmonton jazz festival. In 1994, he completed studies at Grant MacEwan Community College (now MacEwan University). In 1999, he moved to New Orleans and obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of New Orleans, studying under jazz legends Ellis Marsalis and Harold Battiste. In 2005, Mboya moved to Toronto where he taught piano and wrote string quartet arrangements for opera singers Mark S. Doss and Ernesto Ramirez. Back in his hometown, Edmonton, Mboya leads a trio and a small jazz orchestra and teaches at MacEwan. He has accompanied jazz greats like Ellington orchestra trumpeter James Zollar, and often plays in the big band of former Ellington trombonist, Brad Shigeta. In 2023 Mboya released the album Melodic Faces, and is presently working on a trio album.
