The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1919-12-13
JAZZ, RAeTiME, NEGROES.
From the London Telegraph.

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During the recent craze in London
for jazz, no one who was anyone ever
listened to it. if he could possibly help
it, from band that was not composed
of men of color White bands, of
course, there were in plenty, and very
good white bands, too but somehow
the music made by them did not seem
quite the same thing. 1t was high
spirited enough, but it lacked the snap,
the sparkle, the irresistible abandon
which carried you away and set you
jazzing as if there were nothing else
doing. Now what is the irresistible
fascination that syncopaled rythms
undoubtedly possess for the negro
mind? Why is it that it seems to
have made jazz peculiarly its own, and
to throw itself into it with such extra
ordinary gusto? y friend who has
studied the matter in odd intervals ex-
plains it thus: Our modern ragtime
originally came from South America,
and worked its way upwards through
the Southern states. In its original
form it was brought there by the
Spaniards. They, of course, had been
| influenced by the Moors, and these
| Moorish rhythms struck a sympathetic
chord in the unconscious memory of
/ the Negro, and carried him back TO
/ his native Africa. 1t was something
akin to the music of his forefathers
the very music fer which his being
yearned So he took it to his heart
worked it up, developed it, played it.
and sang it wit a zest which white
folk may be able to initiate or as.
sume but which never somehow seems
! to fit them naturally.
In order to play jazz really well
you must also be prepared to play the
| fool Now, white man, on the whole
is far too self-conscious to play the
fool really well, especially as he gets
/ you cannot play the fool selEconscious-
| ly without making a fool Of yourself.
Do it naturally, with a sense of whole
hearted enjoyment, and all is well. A
note of artificiality kills the fun of
the whole thing. There is no note of
artificiality in the fooling of a Negro
band. Nm English men could do it half
so successfully, for the reason that
it would not come naturally to them
to throw themselves into all sorts OF
quaint and grotesque attitudes the
while they dashed off the furious mu
sic at lightning speed. The heroes
are real musicians, but this is the sort
of music that appeals to them. 1t is
like Lindy's singing, sweater than the
music of an educated band" and the!
are far more successful with it THAI
they are with the educated" piece!
of European composers.
And so it is, too, with their songs
Those which they obviously like The
best, and, consequently, sing the best
are their own Spirituals, in which the
element of the childlike is so strongly
marked Songs such as "Couldn
Hear Nobody Pray" Joshua Fit the
Battle of Jericho" and IT'S Me, {
Lord" have really very much in com
mon with the songs of our own child
hood, save, of course, that these are
sacred, while ours are always secular
They have the same simplicity anC
the same almost meaningless incon
sequence, but while we grow out o.
them the Negro does not. And they
sing these artless songs with as mucf
sincerity and delight as they displa!
for the widest rags, though, of course
with a strong appreciation of theii
mood.