The beginnings of Jazz are thought to be born at a specific time, but there is more to the birth of jazz. Jazz music was born more or less simultaneously in different parts of the United States and had many sources for its creation. Africans have contributed a lot to the style of making music, free rhythm, and the emotion with which they interpret their folk music that was later transformed into jazz. In the new world they absorbed the harmony and the concept of the Western form and condensed the African and European musical ideas, giving a musical style that can be called African American. Jazz became a type of urban expression that began to take hold in the cafes of New Orleans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
Jazz is a music of improvisation and expression of true feelings. It's style has two very different origins: African and European. Once brought to America, jazz has been every changing reflecting what was happening in society at the time. Jazz is something that has been in America for many years and effected society in a way no other music of African and European roots ever has.
What is Jazz? According to the dictionary, jazz is defined as, "A kind of syncopated, highly rhythmic music originated by Southern blacks in the late 19th century" ("Jazz" 232). But, everyone should at least agree that jazz is the mother of all music, and is referred to as the only art form originating in the United States ("History 101" 2). America was home to immigrants from all over Europe and beyond who wished to build a new life, or just needed to escape from the old. These people, often thought of as second-class, brought their culture with them to America, expressed it musically, and changed the music world as we know it today.
To understand the genesis of Jazz one must also understand the setting of its origin, New Orleans. The city was founded by the French in 1718, then in 1763 the city ceded to Spain and remained under Spanish control until later being returned to the French in 1803, and then was immediately sold to the United States under the Louisiana Purchase. New Orleans was also heavily populated by African slaves making up 30% of the total population of the city at this time; so New Orleans was experiencing a lot of cultural diversity and was being shaped and molded by the many different fashions of people who lived in the city. These different social groups along with their culture also brought with them their deep rooted musical traditions, the fusion and combination of these traditions would give rise to what we know today as modern day Jazz. Jazz is a genre of music that could only have formed in America; it draws from many different cultures and art forms creating a cocktail of traditional European and African music, mixed with a blend of Spanish tinge, with a strong base of blues filtered through the American experience.
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.
The Beginning
The word “jazz” did not become commonplace until around 1920 even though it had spent the preceding decade establishing itself as a musical genre. A mix of European harmony and African rhythm, blended with the current styles of the time such as ragtime and rhythm and blues, Jazz can be seen as an amalgamation of different cultures and has had huge influences on, and evolved concurrently with, American society in the past century. The birthplace of jazz is the subject of much more controversy than its undoubted influence on society. The most commonly reported and, in my view, logical birthplace of jazz is New Orleans.
There is a connection between many genres in American music, such as New Orleans Jazz, swing and ragtime. Jazz is a musical form that was developed by African Americans. It is often characterized by its use of blues and lyrics. It is not known when jazz was created. Composed piano rags by Scott Joplin and others achieved wide popularity at the close of the nineteenth century. Styles of some pianists soon followed as an East Coast development of ragtime. The jazz style developed in the city of New Orleans. Ragtime music started at the end of the 19th century, and this was one of the music styles that were popular in this time period. That Diversity resulted from African and European musical ideas being put together in the Southern States.
The twenties were years of prodigious changes and prosperity in many areas of society; for example, revolutionary changes in music and attitude of the people. In fact, this era was so centered on music that author; F. Scott Fitzgerald titled it, “The Jazz Age”. Jazz is a style of music different from any other because of where it came from. Jazz unified musical methods from both Africa and Europe, clearly two very different parts of the world. This distinctive fusion between cultures gave jazz a singular “feel” and rhythm. Jazz originated in New Orleans simply because of the type of city it was. New Orleans being a port city was the most ideal place for people of different ethnicities to mend together the elements of their music and create jazz. With jazz beginning to sweep over the country, it started to change people’s attitude as well, for it created a happy and good-natured environment. (What Is Jazz?" Jazz in America. The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz) ("Overview of the 1920s." Digital History.)
One of America’s musical styles has become one of the major music genres worldwide and it is jazz music. The genre was developed around the late 1800s to the early 1900s, and originated from African Americans in New Orleans and Louisiana (Issitt 1). Within Jazz there are many different categories such as Dixieland, swing, cool jazz, hard bop, jazz-rock, fusion, and many more (Philipp 3). In addition, “Jazz as a whole is frequently regarded as one of the United States’ greatest cultural achievements” (Issitt 2). However, Jazz was not only a source of entertainment, or a great accomplishment, but also a reliever of pain; and it encouraged people to explore deep into their minds and the world around them.
Jazz is referred as “America’s classical music,” and is one of North America’s and most celebrated genres. The history of Jazz can be traced back to the early era of the 20th century of the U.S. “A History of Jazz” presents From Ragtime and Blues to Big Band and Bebop, jazz has been a part of a proud African American tradition for over 100 years. A strong rhythmic under-structure, blue notes, solos, “call-and response” patterns, and