Jazz

This performance was a student guitar recital by Edras Regisme. This recital is given in partial fulfillment of the
Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies degree from
the studio of Professor Mack Okubo. The audio files for 'Strivin' For A Riff', 'Stella By Starlight', and 'This Is It' are missing.

This thesis examines jazz music first as a language developed by African-Americans to communicate their desire for personal freedom and community, then as a commodity exploited by the commercial music industry dominated by European-Americans. Ownership and the ideology of critics are specific problems of cultural politics which hinder African-American innovators from attaining the commercial success enjoyed by white imitators, producers, and critics. Because real jazz is the creation of African-American musicians struggling to have a voice in society, it is critically denounced and underexposed, lauded and rewarded far less than commercial jazz, its diluted counterpart designed for mass consumption rather than for nationalistic expression. European-Americans largely determine the commercial fortunes of jazz because they control the entertainment industry which consists of publishing, recording, literature, radio, television and film.