Music and Downtown New York, 1950-1970
MUSC 125
Fall 2015
| Section:
01
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This course will explore the history, interconnections, and simultaneous flourishing of four distinct music communities that inhabited and shaped downtown New York during two particularly rich decades in American culture: Euro-American experimentalists; African American jazz-based avant-garde; blues and folk revivalists; and Lower East Side rock groups. Much of the course will be devoted to understanding their points of convergence and divergence, especially in conversation with broader currents of the time (e.g., the Civil Rights Movement and related notions of freedom, shifting youth subcultures, and avant-garde aesthetics). We will read about and listen to recordings of a wide variety of musicians, identify aesthetic and cultural trends, and study the local industry that supported them. Student research, interpretation, and writing will be stressed throughout the semester. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA MUSC |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (MUSC) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 50% - 74% |
| SECTION 01 | | Special Attributes: FYS |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
:
Van Ronk, Dave and Elijah Wald, THE MAYOR OF MACDOUGAL STREET: A MEMOIR, 2005, Cambridge, MA: Da Capo
Articles and chapters, available on moodle:
Banes, Sally, GREENWICH VILLAGE 1963: AVANT-GARDE PERFORMANCE AND THE EFFERVESCENT BODY, 1993, Durham: Duke University Press
Baraka, Amiri, BLACK MUSIC, 1968, New York: William Morrow.
Beard, Rick and Cohen Berlowitz, Leslie, (eds.) GREENWICH VILLAGE: CULTURE AND COUNTERCULTURE, 1993, New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press
Dylan, Bob, CHRONICLES, VOL. 1, 2004, New York: Simon and Schuster.
Heylin, Clinton, FROM THE VELVETS TO THE VOIDOIDS: A PRE-PUNK HISTORY FOR A POST-PUNK WORLD, 1993, New York: Penguin
Johnson, Steven (ed.), THE NEW YORK SCHOOLS OF MUSIC AND VISUAL ARTS, 2002, New York: Routledge.
Kelley, Robin D. G., THELONIOUS MONK: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AN AMERICAN ORIGINAL, 2009, New York: Free Press.
Szwed, John, SPACE IS THE PLACE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SUN RA, 1998, New York: Da Capo.
Warner, Simon, TEXT AND DRUGS AND ROCK 'N' ROLL: THE BEATS AND ROCK CULTURE, 2013, New York: Bloomsbury.
With additional selected readings
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Examinations and Assignments:
One paper (5-7 pages) on each of the four musical genres covered, for a total of four papers. Weekly responses to the readings. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
THIS SECTION IS A FIRST-YEAR SEMINAR (FYS) CLASS. |
| Instructor(s): Charry,Eric Times: ..T.R.. 10:30AM-11:50AM; Location: MST301; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: X | JR major: X | | |
| Seats Available: 0 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: X | JR non-major: X | SO: X | FR: 15 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 3 | 1st Ranked: 2 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 1 |
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