Billie Holiday and her influence on Jazz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Billie Holiday and her influence on Jazz - Essay Example The way she sang was completely new to the genre of Jazz at that time and her contributions are still followed by Jazz musicians in today’s time period. There are several legends and myths regarding the personal as well as her life as a musician. Even though she was surrounded with several scandals and was in trouble for a major portion of her life, he life experiences became the real inspiration of her music. The huge amount of contributions she made to Jazz music can never be forgotten. She can easily be said to have been the one who made major transformations to the way Jazz music was being practiced during her time. If a survey of modern Jazz history is conducted, the survey would prove that the Jazz music that is experienced in current times was her innovation. When she started practicing jazz music, there were hardly any jazz musicians who were personalizing their own tunes. There were only a few singers at her time who were singing different from rest of the singers. These singers were not a part of the Jazz music industry. These singers were representative of the Blues genre of music. One of these singers was Bessie Smith wh o along with another great Jazz singer and trumpeter named Louis Armstrong influenced Billie Holiday’s Jazz music (Henderson 295). During her early life she was singing most of the songs that were quite popular. She found this form of music quite monotonous and she started experimenting with her music. During her experiments she altered both the melody as well as the rhythm of the songs. To create her own music, she started phrasing music in relation to the beat and she even included different harmonies that were played by some of her personal favorite horn players including Louis Armstrong (Henderson 295). This mixture of music and experimentation resulted in the development of music that was regarded as magical. Current Jazz musicians use their own vocals as instruments for songs.

An historical account of an ancient Greek city-state or colony Assignment

An historical account of an ancient Greek city-state or colony - Assignment Example The author draws heavily from the primary sources of information such as the Herodotus, Plutarch, and the Thucydides to explain the nature and structures of various Greek land engagements in the 500 century B.C. In essence, the author presents a formative domain in understanding the history of Western warfare. The map below is a representation of ancient Greece city states that had come into existence in the 500 century B.C. the map clearly shows the settlements in the ancient Greece and the surrounding natural features such as the seas and other natural landscapes. From the map, it can be observed that the Athens City is among the notable City-States that existed in the early 500 century B.C. and was surrounded by rival city states such as Thebes and Corinth. The author gives a critical overview of the birth of the Athens City State and cultural diversity. The author notes that Athens is located at latitude 37 58’ 20† N and longitude 23 43’ 9† on the Attica plains. At the heart of the Attica plain, there exists a range of hills (presently referred to as Tourko Vouni) that spread from the northeast to the south. The hills separate the Kephisos and ILissos valleys that are boards a spur to the south. The spur can be termed as the link to the Athens City states. It is worth noting that the highest point of Athens is known as Acropolis. From the book, it can be identified that Athens has experienced dramatic transformations since its existence. Currently, the city is occupied by people from diverse origins in terms of race, ethnic background and religious affiliations. As a result of the settlement of people from diverse origins, the city is characterized by a rich a dynamic culture. Different people have different cultural construction and, therefore, meeting of residents in a common place leads to cultural