The course will provide a historical, theoretical and practical background in performing blues and jazz. We will begin by discussing the encounter between African, Amerindian and Christian religious music in North America as a result of the colonial slave trade. We will consider the assimilation of black music and dance styles into European forms such as the contradanza in the Caribbean and examine the harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic basis of these styles as they developed in the United States. We will practice analysis and writing in conventional structures (12 Bar Blues, Rhythm Changes) and practice improvisation on the same structures. We will conclude the semester with the performance of a standard or an original work by each student accompanied by a theoretical discussion of the writing process and its stylistic historic contexts.