Birth Of Jazz Essay

A brief History of the Birth of Jazz

In the early 1900’s African American musicians from various European cultures created a new style of music, known as Jazz. New Orleans is known as the birth place of Jazz with the French and Spanish migrants shaping early New Orleans’ culture. Settlers from other European countries including Italy, England and Germany combined Blues, Ragtime and Big Band Music to create what we now call Jazz.

A Comparison between the different styles of jazz and the performers who started/created these styles (if appropriate).

There are many different styles of Jazz. The following is a list of the most common Jazz styles.

• Acid Jazz (with thx to Hunter Nelson)

• Avant-Garde Jazz

• Big Band

• Blue Note (with thx to Jillian Edwards)

• Contemporary Jazz

• Cool

• Crossover Jazz

• Dixieland

• Ethio-jazz (with thx to Jillian Edwards)

• Free Jazz

• Fusion

• Hard Bop

• Latin Jazz

• Mainstream Jazz

• Ragtime

• Smooth Jazz

• Trad Jazz

I am going to focus on Swing, Behop and Free Jazz

Swing Jazz (1920’s)

Artists include the famous Paul Whiteman (1890-1967) Fletcher Henderson (1897-1952)

Beginning in the mid-1920s, big bands, then typically consisting of 10–25 pieces, came to dominate popular music. At that time they usually played a form of jazz that involved very little improvisation, which included a string section with violins, which was dropped after the introduction of swing in 1935. A few bands also had violas and cellos, usually one or two along with them. The dance form of jazz was characterized by a sweet and romantic melody. Orchestras tended to stick to the melody as it was written and vocals would be sung (often in a tenor voice) and in tune with the