How Did Jazz Change America

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“Jazz is not just music, it’s a way of life, it's a way of being, a way of thinking.” This quote by Nina Simone talks about how jazz became a way of life in the 20s, and how it influenced modern America. The Roaring Twenties was a time of change for America. Not only did the fashion change and the ability to bootleg change, but the music and how people listened to it changed as well. The Jazz Age of the 1920s helped change and impact America into what it is today.
The Jazz Age has a rich history that influenced and changed America into modern America. Jazz began in New Orleans, and spread to other parts of America, including Chicago, after World War I (Lee 27, 31). Some of the popular jazz standards of the 20s included “Everybody Loves my Baby” …show more content…

Prohibition, bootlegging, a new sense of fashion, dancing, and flapper girls, just to name a few of the changes that rocked the world as people knew it. Jazz also brought a change to America. Jazz was desirable to the young (The Jazz Age The 20s 35). As well as celebrating improvisation, jazz celebrated a persons individuality (Straus). Jazz allowed people to express themselves freely and fully. Not only did jazz help change America, jazz legend Louis Armstrong helped change it as well. Louis Armstrong lived in a segregated society, and symbolized the civil rights movement (“Satchmo: The Life of Louis Armstrong About Louis Armstrong”). Jazz, along with the help of Louis Armstrong helped change America into what it is …show more content…

Jazz was only the beginning of the change that America went through that brought us to America as we know it. Jazz changed the entertainment industry into something that made things easier America. Before, people would have to go out to nightclubs and venues to hear jazz, but jazz and the 20s changed all that. Jazz brought the invention of the phonograph, a device that let musicians record their compositions for music-lovers to buy for listening in the comfort of their own home. People could now as well as listen to music on the radio (Kutz Elliot). As well as being able to listen to listen to music on the radio, and the development of the phonograph, jazz acted as a stepping stone to modern America. Listening to music at home and on the radio was a culture shock to them. They were used to having to attend nightclubs and go to venues to listen to music, but with the phonograph and the radio, people could easily enjoy music whenever and wherever people desired. To them, listening to music at home was something so new and shocking. People as well as started purchasing electrical appliances and cars, and other readily available products, which added to the prosperity and economic growth America went through during the 20s (Kutz

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