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GE-014-089, MU 110, Jazz and Beyond (GE Area C1)

CALIFORNIASTATEPOLYTECHNICUNIVERSITY, POMONA

ACADEMIC SENATE

GENERAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE

REPORT TO

THE ACADEMIC SENATE

GE-014-089

MU 110, Jazz and Beyond

(GE Area C1)

General Education CommitteeDate:

Executive Committee

Received and ForwardedDate:3/4/09

Academic SenateDate:3/11/09

First Reading

BACKGROUND:

(Provide background on the need for this referral and how it will benefit the University. Clearly state the expected outcome(s) or action(s) requested)

The department is proposing to add this course to GE Area C1.

Rationale for Proposed Change: The course is offered as GE at other CSU campuses and allows students the opportunity to learn about one of the most significant American art forms. It satisfies the requirements for a GE Area C1 course.

RESOURCES CONSULTED:

CLASS Curriculum Committee, Peter Yates, Mark Chubb, Janine Riveire, Iris Levine, Arthur Winer, Dale Turner, Sharon Hilles.

RECOMMENDATION:

The committee voted unanimously to support GE-014-089, MU 110, Jazz and Beyond, 8-0-0.

CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC Course Title: MU 110 Jazz and Beyond

UNIVERSITY, POMONADate of Preparation: August 23, 1998

Originally prepared by: Stan Gibb, edited and revised

by Donald Ambroson.

Revised Feb 2008 by Dave Kopplin.

COURSE OUTLINE

I.Catalogue Description

MU 110 Jazz and Beyond (4 units)

A broadly multicultural survey of jazz and jazz-related music from America and around the world. CDs, videos. 4 lecture.

II.Prerequisites

None

III.Expected Outcomes

1. Students will be able to express an understanding of the myriad cultural, political, and economic forces that gave rise to jazz music.

2. Students will be able to evaluate jazz as an art form and as a mirror of American culture.

3. Students will be able to participate in informed debate about the future of jazz music and its place in the musical pantheon.

4. Students will be able to use basic musical terminology and
terminology specific to jazz.

5. Students will be familiar with a broad range of jazz styles, major stylistic periods, and major artists who contributed in each period.

IV.Text and Readings

Mark Gridley. Jazz Styles , 9th ed., ,
New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 2006

Robert Walser. Keeping Time: Readings in Jazz History. New York/Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1999.

Supplemental Readings will also be drawn from:

David Ake, Jazz Cultures. Berkeley : University of California Press, 2002

Paul F. Berliner, Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation.
Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1994

Scott DeVeaux, The Birth of Bebop: A Social and Musical History

Berkeley, Calif. : University of California Press, 1997

Krin Gabbard, ed., Jazz Among the Discourses. Durham:
Duke University Press, 1995

LeRoi Jones, Blues People. New York : William Morrow, 1999

Lawrence W. Levine, Highbrow/Lowbrow: The Emergence of Cultural

Hierarchy in America. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1990

Russell Sanjek and David Sanjek, Pennies From Heaven: The American Popular

Music Business in the 20th Century. New York: Da Capo Press, 1996.

Gunther Schuller, Early Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986

Ben Sidran, Black Talk. New York : De Capo Press, 1981

Sherrie Tucker, Swing Shift: "All-Girl" Bands of the 1940s

Durham [N.C.] : Duke University Press, 2000

V.Minimum Student Materials

Course textbooks, internet access

VI.Minimum College Materials

Classroom with audiovisual equipment; library with periodicals and audio source materials of a variety of jazz music styles and periods; Blackboard site.

VII.Course Outline

  1. Listening to jazz. Melody, harmony, rhythm, and form. Instrumentation, improvisation and syncopation.
  2. Africanism in music. African-American folk music. Blues and ragtime. Improvisation, inflection, call and response.
  3. New Orleans. Marching band instrumentation, collective improvisation. Buddy Bolden, Bunk Johnson, Kid Ory, King Joe Oliver, and Jelly Roll Morton.
  4. Chicago. Reasons for geographic changes. New instrumental sound. Rhythmic emphasis on “2 and 4,” solos, introductions and endings, arrangements. Depression and the stock market crash effect on the recording industry. Louis Armstrong and Bix Biderbecke.
  5. Swing. Big band jazz instrumentation. Stylized solos, riff, arrangements. Economic impact of the depression and use of radio from 1929 to 1935. Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and Fletcher Henderson
  6. Bebop. Rebellion towards the popular style, swing. Musical and technical performance. Expanded harmonic approach. Charlie Parker, Dizzie Gillespie and Thelonious Monk.
  7. Cool. Rebellion against bebop. Tone color importance. Classical European elements. Miles Davis, MJQ, Dave Brubeck and Stan Getz.
  8. Funky. Return to the roots of jazz. Horace Silver and Cannonball Adderley.
  9. Free. Stream of consciousness improvisation. Melodic, rhythmic, formal and harmonic innovations. John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman.
  10. Fusion. Jazz mingled with rock and ethnic musics. Latin Jazz. Other recent developments.

VIII.Instructional Methods

  1. Lecture and guided listening
  2. Online and in-class discussion
  3. Live performance as available.

IX.Evaluation of Outcomes

Outcomes Assessment:

A. Student evaluation will be based on the following:

  1. Multiple short writing assignments (one to two pages).
  2. A significant writing assignment on an approved topic. Each student must turn in a rough draft of the paper for faculty feedback followed by student revision into a final draft.
  3. Class Attendance and Discussion Participation including postings to assigned Blackboard discussion threads
  4. Exams, including multiple choice, short answer, and essay segments covering assigned readings, class lectures, and music examples
  5. A journal documenting observations and critiques of assigned music works. Journal will be reviewed periodically through quarter to assess progress.

B. General Education Outcomes Assessment

GE assessment will be carried out by examination of the level and quality of student oral and written communication work collected throughout the quarter; examination of the level and quality of student portfolios; and students’ responses to an end-of-quarter questionnaire vs, beginning of quarter questionnaire. The data collected from these assessment tools will be used to determine the extent to which the course has helped students to develop critical thinking skills (journal writing), abilities to communicate verbally (discussion), and in development and mastery of writing (discussion postings, final written projects, exam essays).

Students will be required to complete both an objective and written assessment that specifically identifies how they have attained the course’s educational objectives. The student will be asked to rate the importance of the educational objectives and how these objectives and the course might be improved. Embedded questions will be used on exams to assess effectiveness of instruction and learning. Faculty will assess the efficacy of the course and the extent that it achieves the goals of its C-1 classification.