LOLOLOL! (she was born in the late 1800's)
With an All white Cast and (what seemed to be) an All White England, Downton Abbey has proven to be a part of Black American History!
The 1920's have Roared into Downton Abbey and has brought Jazz & a Black Musician with it! Being a Great LOver of History and Downton Abbey, I have awaited this Moment since the show began. Well just about a year ago I read; for a storyline about race relations in the 1920s, casting agents were reportedly looking for someone with a "certain wow factor." As reported by the British tabloid the SUN, Casting notes sent out to actors agents earlier this month describe "Ross" as "Male, 25-30. A musician (singer) at an exclusive club in the 20s," adding that the character will be "black and very handsome. A real man (not a boy) with charm and charisma." He also has to "sing brilliantly" and have a "certain wow factor."
Then in May of last year 'Downton Abbey': Gary Carr Joins Cast As Jack Ross, A Jazz Singer And First Black Character, a London-born actor who has appeared on the television series "Bluestone 42" and "Death in Paradise." Well, Mr Carr, Ross or which ever name you choose to go by has finally arrived... and he is All that they were looking for!
Despite the fact that the show focuses on white aristocrats and their servants in the early 20th century, "Downton Abbey" has been criticized for its lack of diversity, though creator, Julian Fellowes, has said he has wanted to introduce more black and Asian characters if he could do it in a way that was "historically believable."
The period from the end of the First World War until the start of the Depression in 1929 is known as the "Jazz Age". Jazz had become popular music in America, although older generations considered the music immoral and threatening to old cultural values. Dances such as the Charleston and the Black Bottom were very popular during the period, and jazz bands typically consisted of seven to twelve musicians. Important orchestras in New York were led by Fletcher Henderson, Paul Whiteman and Duke Ellington. Many New Orleans jazzmen had moved to Chicago during the late 1910s in search of employment; among others, the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band and Jelly Roll Morton recorded in the city. However, Chicago's importance as a center of jazz music started to diminish toward the end of the 1920s in favor of New York.
Though jazz music burst into mainstream Britain in 1919, with the arrival of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, the popularity of ragtime music in the Edwardian era laid the foundations for the acceptance of this syncopated music and its black (and sometimes white) musicians. During most of the First World War, Dan Kildare and his orchestra made Ciro’s nightclub the place to be for a spot of after hours fun–and drinking after curfew. Kildare, an American of Jamaican heritage, first earned his stripes in James Reese Europe’s venerable Clef Club Orchestra (the first black orchestra and first jazz musicians to play at Carnegie Hall in 1912) before taking the group–after Europe resigned to form the Tempo Club–to Joan Sawyer’s Persian Garden.
Well, for the Residents of Downton Abbey, their Kissin'-Cousin Lady Rose seems to Not be able to Keep her hands or anything else off the Handsome Jazz Singer... and I can't blame her!!
ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920s_in_jazz
ref: http://www.edwardianpromenade.com/music/jazz-in-1920s-1930s-britain/
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment