Why Jazz Happened is the first comprehensive social history of jazz. It provides an intimate and compelling look at the many forces that shaped this most American of art forms and the many influences that gave rise to jazzrsquo;s post-war styles. Rich with the voices of musicians; producers; promoters; and others on the scene during the decades following World War II; this book views jazzrsquo;s evolution through the prism of technological advances; social transformations; changes in the law; economic trends; and much more. In an absorbing narrative enlivened by the commentary of key personalities; Marc Myers describes the myriad of events and trends that affected the musics evolution; among them; the American Federation of Musicians strike in the early 1940s; changes in radio and concert-promotion; the introduction of the long-playing record; the suburbanization of Los Angeles; the Civil Rights movement; the "British invasion" and the rise of electronic instruments. This groundbreaking book deepens our appreciation of this music by identifying many of the developments outside of jazz itself that contributed most to its texture; complexity; and growth.
#1038787 in eBooks 2012-12-10 2012-11-15File Name: B00A51HK34
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Hula!By kalani akanaLoved Adrias concise and academic description of the commodification of hula. Like especially her weaving of historic person stories into the book. This is a must read for hula aficionados; ethnomusicologists; folklorists; and performers throughout the world.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy roger bellA good read for anyone who spent time in the islands!0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. An Amazing Work of Cultural History!By RDDAdria L. Imadarsquo;s "Aloha America: Hula Circuits Through the U.S. Empire" ldquo;examines U.S. imperial interests in Hawailsquo;i through the circulation of hulardquo; (pg. 5). Imada argues that performers ldquo;deployed kaona [veiled language] as a cultural and political resource in their colonial performances and travels; it served as a productive disguise for subtle and more dramatic political critiques and struggles against colonial incorporationrdquo; (pg. 18-19). Imada uses a large cache of personal records and mementos from traveling hula dancers throughout the twentieth century. Chief among these are the scrapbooks and private collections of Kini KapahukulaokamÄmalu. Additionally; she draws upon the work and theories of Edward Said; James C. Scott; and Michel Foucault.Deploying the tools of cultural history in examining the early colonial period; Imada writes; ldquo;Culture was the terrain on which politics were argued; for Americans sympathetic to the U.S. annexationist cause treated Hawaiian cultural practices as indisputable empirical evidence of the political failures and inherent deficiency of Hawaiiansrdquo; (pg. 30). Of the Hawaiian response; Imada writes; ldquo;Hula kulsquo;i serves as an apt metaphor for the imaginative responses to change by Hawaiian performers. They were not passive recipients of Western ideas and products; but were flexible innovators who appropriated what they desired from the outside and blended it with the familiar to arrive at something novel and unexpectedrdquo; (pg. 45). As a subversive cultural product; ldquo;The hularsquo;s affiliation with sensational dime-museum and vaudeville fare helped to camouflage the inherently political content of the dance: a hidden transcript or kaona (veiled meaning) of the public script. Performing sacred and secular hula in tourist venues may have been a productive outlet for polsquo;e hula that had been under surveillance from missionary sonsrdquo; (pg. 73). Hawaiian performers maintained these anti-colonial themes during the period of annexation; even with non-Hawaiian influences in their work. Imada writes; ldquo;Hybridized forms of Hawaiian popular music after the overthrow were critical to public and hidden transcripts of resistance to U.S. colonizationrdquo; (pg. 124). In this way; ldquo;Hawaiians were incorporated into an expanding U.S. empire; but insisted on crafting paths for themselves as metropolitan pioneersrdquo; (pg. 151). Even after tourism became the dominant industry; ldquo;Hawaiian cultural practices were highly politicized; for whoever brokered the presentation of Hawaiian culture influenced Hawailsquo;is political and economic futurerdquo; (pg. 154). The role of tourism cemented colonial images of Hawailsquo;i as a willing maiden for white tourists and officials; opening up the role of gender in imperialism.With her focus on female performers; Imada spends a great deal of time examining gender roles. She writes; ldquo;Hula was an intercultural strategy and a way for women practitioners to navigate between multiple worlds and positionsrdquo; (pg. 31). In terms of tourism; Imada writes; ldquo;The idea of Hawailsquo;i as a site of hospitality was owed to the already robust cultural imaginary produced during fifty years of hularsquo;s circulation in the United States; but World War II activated this idea fullyrdquo; (pg. 219). The government-organized hula performers represented one part of the sexualized entertainment available to soldiers (the other being legalized brothels staffed primarily by white women from the mainland) (pg. 221). Of these performers; Imada concludes; ldquo;At the same time Hawaiians were interpellated by the state as hosts; they were also working as critics; archivists; and producers of their own extensive collections. Through a reading of these alternative; if not oppositional; archives; hula performers can be seen reappropriated the militouristic [military tourism] gaze through their use and circulation of photographsrdquo; (pg. 250). Looking at modern hula; Imada writes; ldquo;Rather than altogether rejecting tourism; these performers savvily negotiate the seeming contradiction between Native self-determination and their participation in a market-oriented economy that has commodified their land; bodies; and cultural practicesrdquo; (pg. 262).