Instruments were made to
imitate the human voice, and they deliberately used a
"dirty"sound. Both the trumpet playing and singing of Louis
Armstrong illustrate this jazz sound particularly well. When
Armstrong appeared in Chicago with King Oliver as the band's
second trumpeter, he was immediately recognized as a jazz trumpet
vituoso, and his playing sent an electric shock through the jazz
world.
The most famous jazz musician and composer to appear in
New York City during and after the Negro Renaissance was Duke
Ellington. His well-known theme song "Take the A Train" made
reference to the subway line which went to Harlem. By the time
jazz had reached Harlem the Negro Renaissance was in full
swing. This renaissance, unlike previous art produced by
Negroes, consciously built on the Afro-American folk tradition.
Langston Hughes, the most prolific writer of the renaissance,
wrote a kind of manifesto for the movement. He said that he was
proud to be a black artist. Further, he said that he was not
writing to win the approval of white audiences. At the same time
he claimed that he and the other young Negro artists were not
attempting to gain the approval of black audiences.
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