Putting Jazz on the Page : "The Weary Blues" and "Jazztet Muted" by Langston Hughes

Abstract: The goal of this essay is to look at the poems “The Weary Blues” and “JAZZTETMUTED” (hereafter to be referred to as “JAZZTET”) by Langston Hughes andexamine their relationships to both the blues and jazz structurally, lyrically, andthematically. I examine the relationship of blues and jazz to the African-Americancommunity of Harlem, New York in the 1920’s and the 1950’s when the poems wererespectively published. Integral to any understanding of what Hughes sought toaccomplish by associating his poetry so closely with these music styles are the contexts,socially and politically, in which they are produced, particularly with respect to theAfrican-American experience.I will examine Hughes’ understanding of not only the sound of the two stylesof music but of what the music represents in the context of African-American historyand how he combines these to effectively communicate blues and jazz to the page.