MUS 118 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Al Jolson
Document Summary
Born in russia in 1886 and grew up in a jewish immigrant enclave in nyc. The only form of recording from the 1890s to 1925. Recorded in 1921 by al jolson and reveals the sound and style of the pre microphone period. A slow, sentimental ballad with a verse-refrain structure. Jolson"s dominating, bigger-than-life approach turns this gentle song into a grand statement. Demonstrates the dominating character of his voice and interpretive style. This refrain can be divided into four sections, showing a pattern of repetition abac. Emerged after the introduction of the electric microphone in the mid 1920s. Reflected the efforts of professional composers to tap into the aspirations of an expanding and ethnically mixed but predominantly white middle class. Exerted an appeal that crossed boundaries of race, religion and class. Gene austin"s interpretation of the george whiting-walter donaldson song my blue heaven, released by the victor company in 1927, was the best-selling record of its era.
