Impact Of Music On African American Music

Jazz is a musical form, often improvisational, developed by African Americans and influenced by both European harmonic structure and African rhythmic intricacy. Jazz is often characterized by its use of blues and improvisation. Although it is not known exactly when Jazz emerged, there were plantation brass bands dating back to 1835 and Minstrel groups touring in the 1840s. But as far as we know Jazz originated in New Orleans towards the end of the nineteenth century. The first Jazz band was called The Original Dixieland Jazz Band. This band was a predominantly white group that was the first band to record in 1917. Leading early 1920s groups, including the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, The Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver’s band, and many more bands,

To begin, music is essential to the African American experience in the United States of America. The reason music is so important in the Black society of America is because it leaves behind a legacy. In the African American society, music is used to encourage passing down history, teach lessons, ease suffering, and relay messages. It’s a way for Black Americans to recall past struggles and express ethnic solidarity, faith, and hope for the future. In the nineteenth century, as a result of minstrel shows due to social issues such as slavery, segregation, race, and riots, blacks find comfort and peace in their music. With that being said, Jazz’s influence on the world music scene would be nothing short of transformational. Jazz saw its early development in the African American communities all throughout the South- with rhythms reflecting the diversity of cultural influences from West Africa to the West Indies, from ragtime to the blues. Desire for change is transformed into positive energy for African Americans. Somewhere in the fight for social, political, and economic awareness, aesthetic awareness has seemed to take a back seat; however, for black people music continues to be the vehicle in

Simply because as a classical form of music, jazz has served as a model for other kinds of music and form of entertainment; it has an influence that is internationally recognized throughout every continent. Jazz is America’s classical music because it’s both a way of spontaneously composing music and a repertoire, which has resulted from the musical language developed by improvising artists. Although it is fun to play, jazz is a very serious art. It expresses American ideals and attitudes to Americans and to people from other cultures all around the world, hence why it is studied, analyzed, documented, and imitated. Important jazz musicians that have helped influence jazz include: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and many more to name a few. Louis Armstrong is debatably one of the most important figures in jazz history. He was an incredibly influential trumpet player and singer from New Orleans, who is recognized as one of the greatest musicians of all time for creating a major role in modern jazz. He is also remembered for creating solo events with instruments in jazz music. He also popularized scat singing. His singing has influenced other big artists such as Frank Sinatra, Miles Gillespie and much more. His influence on music is immeasurable. Another artist that is a huge icon in jazz music is Duke