African Rhythms and the Saxophone: Connecting to the Source of Jazz
This course examines jazz with a focus on understanding the provenance of the music itself; in this case, the African continent, and in particular West African countries such as (modern day names) Benin, Togo, Senegal, and others. This class will focus on exploring the music of some of these cultures and in particular students will discuss and learn the rhythms that connect the music from these countries to their musical culture here in the United States and in the Americas. They will learn rhythms such as bembé and Abakuá and others, and how these are connected to jazz music.