Jazz i blues – afroamerykańska mozaika czy odrębne gatunki? Refleksja nad polską recepcją

Abstract

Jazz and blues are part of the complex mosaic of African American culture, having emerged alongside (or from) such styles as work songs, field hollers, spirituals, sermon songs, rag-time, gospel, soul, R’n’B. African American music has influenced global popular culture. This phenomenon has not escaped Poland either. African American ethnomusicologist Mellonee Burnim argues that “jazz cannot be completely separated from gospel, blues cannot be completely separated from spiritual” (Burnim and Campbell 1995). In the present article, I will show the common points of blues and jazz in Polish reception and explain how genres so close in their origin function in Poland within one musical environment. I will also outline the presence of blues in Polish culture and the functioning of blues and jazz as related genres through an analysis of reception sources.