“Sonny’s Blues” and the music of the Harlem Renaissance Essay Example

get past the traditional ways of music to the contemporary conventions. This was the same idea that was in the minds of most of the postwar who expressed new radical ideas of artistic liberty and freedom. Some of the artists whose work achieved recognition include Claude McKay and Langston Hughes. The Harlem Renaissance was more than an artistic movement since it involved racial pride and was fueled by the demand of political and civil rights of the Blacks.

It is at this period of Harlem Renaissance that many African American soldiers were coming back home since the War had ended. They didn’t go the south but rather headed towards north in places like Harlem. In these communities they found large urban slums and housing projects that had just been constructed rather than equal rights and jobs. This is the same fate for Sonny the young musician and his brother who had also served in the War after their return home, where they found a totally different life in America. In the south, civil rights movements had begun over a decade ago and their influence was quickly spreading thorough out the country to millions of African Americans. This led to the agitation of for equal rights by the African Americans (Jones, 34). After the return of the African American soldiers, very many homes had been demolished in Harlem to give way for the construction of housing projects.

As Sonny puts it, Harlem was at the critical point of exploding. Sonny’s Blues story is an illustration of the frustration of American life in the Renaissance as well as the ultimate transformation of the frustration into an artistic and political

movement.
Sonny’s Blues main topic is music in the Harlem Renaissance. It shows how music in the Harlem Renaissance began broadening up giving rise to expression through music. This expression music was characterized one singer responding to what the other singer said. This type of “Blues” was the new jazz that was known as Bepop. On a general look, Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance was filled with beautiful art works which depicted the history and culture of the period (Bloom, 60). Songs were fueled by the enthusiasm and passion that musicians had for music and the songs were filled with both sadness and happiness and love. Composers of jazz and blues such as Duke Ellington and Jelly Roll created beats and lyrics depicted the excitement of the period. This led to some people even saying that Harlem had been reborn.

Despite the excitement and beauty that was visible to everyone, Harlem was filled with underlying hard times and grief. This was due to the rising rate of crime drug use sale, however, jazz and blues allowed people to have a few hours of enjoyment and excitement each week when they could just let loose of the hard times. The trumpet was so loud that it would literally awake the dead and hence it was irresistible to stand up and dance. The piano was so smooth that it aroused one to stand up and want to their hearts out. The heavy beat of the drums lured the people of Harlem to dance the night away (Harris-Lopez, 71). These perfect combinations made it easy for the people of Harlem to fall in love with this genre of music (jazz

and blues).
During the Harlem Renaissance period, jazz was a controversial music in a way since at this period it was new and its expression of ideas was completely new. Jazz set itself apart from other types of music that one sings to a rhythm.

For jazz one had to have a good mastery of their musical instrument, be it a piano or a trumpet. This was to ensure that one was able to create an efficient rhythm to what they wanted to say. Jazz also had a twist since one had to know what to say and be confident so as to say it like it is suppose to be said without messing it. People were attracted to the new form of jazz (bepop) since it was new and it was a creative way of expression. On the part of the artist, it let loose the reins hence no restrictions on how they wanted to sing(Jones, 66). Charlie Parker was one of the famous artists during the Harlem Renaissance who first used bepop to express himself. His expression through this genre of music influenced many more people to become bepop artists such as Sonny.

After Sonny is arrested for use and sale of heroine, his mother dies while he is in prison. Arrangements are made for him to attend the funeral. After the return of Sonny for the funeral, his brother who also happens to be the narrator remembers the promise he made to his mother that he would always take care and look out for Sonny. It is during this funeral that Sonny announces that he has intention of becoming a jazz pianist. After his release

from prison, Sonny is forced by his brother to move in with Isabel his brother’s fiancée and her family despite his pleas. He lives with the family as he teaches himself to play the piano while his brother is away at war (Bloom, 102). Sonny does not stay with Isabel and her family for long since after he is confronted by Isabel’s mother for missing school, he runs away and goes to join the military in the war.
Getting into the music industry during this period of Harlem Renaissance was not something that people looked positively at. People who decided to get into the music industry were seen as bums who were too lazy to do a normal job or work to earn a living. This show why Sonny’ brother had a difficulties accepting the decision of his brother to do jazz music. Despite these setbacks, Sonny was determined to get into the music industry. Sonny compares and contrasts his music role models with those of the past generations or period whose form of musical expression was rigid and hence I not valid in the Harlem Renaissance (Harris-Lopez, 78).

According to him the world keeps on changing, that is, the world he I living in is totally different from the one his older brother grew up in and hence it demands new artistic forms such as new genre of music to convey its reality.
At one time Sonny invites his brother, the narrator in a Greenwich Village club where he is scheduled to play, so that his brother can hear him play piano. After his brother accepts his invitation, Sonny explains to him why he abused heroin. He

tells him that heroin is a way of alleviating suffering, a way of taking control of inner chaos and crisis and a way to find shelter away from the external sheltering. Though he basically knows that heroin can’t work, he also knows that he is likely to try it again. He asserts that with someone close to listen to him he is likely to succeed in dealing with the inner chaos through his music (Jones, 97). He says that whenever he walks the streets and can’t find someone to talk to, the success of dealing with the inner storm dwindles. He says that he can’t talk it nor can he make love with it and when he attempts to play it nobody listens. This is a way of persuading his brother to listen to him. He finally tells his brother that he has to listen and have to find a way to listen.

Everyone at this club knows and respects Sonny due to his music. During the first set of his play he struggles but on the second he is able to find his stride and plays the piano flawlessly. This depicts how one at time encounters rocky paths and then finally things go smoothly. When Sonny’s brother hears him play, he understands what Sonny meant (Bloom, 117). He views Sonny’s music as an original response to life and also understands that his brother’s music is an effort to rebrand the old human story. The old human story is the tale about how people suffer and they are delighted when they triumph. As a witness of Sonny’s struggles to perfectly play his blues, Sonny’s brother recognizes

that blues are humankind and Sonny’s music gives him and other people an opportunity to find the meaning of their joys and pains. This understanding enables Sonny’s brother to accept the life Sonny has chosen as well as the risks that he must take.

Works Cited

1. Bloom, Harold. The Harlem Renaissance. Philadelphia, Pa: Chelsea House Publishers, 2004. Print.
2. Harris-Lopez, Trudier, and Janet Witalec. Topics. Detroit u.a.: Gale u.a., 2003. Print.
3. Jones, Meta D. E. The Muse Is Music: Jazz Poetry from the Harlem Renaissance to Spoken Word. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2011. Print.