Jazz: The Uniquely American Musical Genre

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Jazz music is one of the only musical genres originally developed in the United States. Almost all other forms of music come from other parts of the world, obviously predating the creation of the jazz. This is perhaps why jazz music is one of the most diverse, original, spontaneous, and wild forms of music. Jazz music draws from a rich history of African, Latin American, and European influences. Jazz was created at time in which women in the United States were making great progress in securing equal rights. However, this progressive form of music still held fast to deep seated discrimination against allowing the involvement of women. The roots of jazz music are quite complex and intertwined. New Orleans is considered by most to be the birthplace …show more content…

“Anthropologists call this process "syncretism"--the blending together of cultural elements that previously existed separately. This dynamic, so essential to the history of jazz, remains powerful even in the present day, when African-American styles of performance blend seamlessly with other musics of other cultures, European, Asian, Latin, and, coming full circle, African.”(Gioai, 1997) The diversity of ethnicities in New Orleans played a crucial role in the development of jazz. Due to there being so many different ethnic groups living in New Orleans, the city was more tolerant in accepting unorthodox practices. This enabled jazz to be able to grow and develop, eventually reaching into new areas of the United …show more content…

She studied music at Chicago College and at the New York College of Music. She was eventually convinced to travel to New Orleans and begin a career as a jazz musician. Upon arriving in New Orleans, Lil was able to become connected with many leading ensembles. Joe “King” Crawford hired her as a pianist in 1921. (Dunbar, 2011, p. 270) This is the group that Louis Armstrong would later join, in which Lil and Louis would fall in love and later marry in 1924. She ended up convincing Louis to break from King Oliver’s group, and she and Louis joined with Johnny Dodds, Kid Ory, and Johnny St. Cyr performing under the name of the “Hot Five”. This would last from 1925 to 1927. They would later go on to rename themselves the “Hot Seven” and due to Lil’s organizational work and her efforts and composition they would become a well-known name in the jazz

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