The Influence of Jazz Around the World

2089 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: the influence of jazz

Jazz music originated in the late 1800s in the southern area of the United States. Its’

specific birthplace is New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the first genre of music to adopt

other genres of music and blend them together. When the topic of music is brought up, many artists often refer to New Orleans as being the Melting Pot of Sound. Genres that were adopted by jazz are opera, folk music, blues, a variety of church music, ragtime, and African drumming. All of those sounds merged together and became the face of jazz. “There is a tremendous variety in jazz; the music is rhythmic, has a forward momentum called "swing," and employs "bent" or "blue" notes” (Armstrong). My main argument is that jazz music has influenced other genres as well as cultures and artists around the world.

Jazz music is formed within improvisation and other aspects of black music such as blues and ragtime to make a particular form of music (scholastic.com). In jazz, musicians often play whatever comes to mind on the spot, or they playback a specific melody or chord sequence. Before there was jazz, there was blues. It is an African American derived genre of music that displayed the pain of the lost and injustice and gave expression of relieving a broken heart and facing down adversity. The blues included hymns, work songs, and field hollers. Although this may not sound like it could be jazz, it very well is. Blues is actually the foundation of jazz as well as the prime source of rhythm and blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and country music. Even today it is still evolving and widely played.

Jazz music started placing long melodic sounds between the established beat quite regularly. This technique, called syncopation, gives the music...

... middle of paper ...

...Interwar Paris”

(1940). Print.

“Social Movements, Music, and Race” Princeton Press.

http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s9210.pdf

Peretti, Burton. “Creation of Jazz: Music, Race, and Culture in Urban America.” Board Trustee

of the University of Illinois 1992.

. "About Louis Armstrong." PBS. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr 2012. .

Armstrong, Louis. Swing That Music. 1995. Print.

Mackin, Laurence. "'Jazz is the great grandfather of hip hop'." (2011): n. page. Web. 21 Apr. 2012..

"Hip Hop's Jazz Roots." n. page. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. .

"Jazz- Music Of Puerto Rico." n. page. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. .

Show More
Related

  • The Bebop and Cool Jazz Eras of the 40’s and 50’s

    1828 Words  | 4 Pages

    Jazz music of the 1940’s and 1950’s was defined by a history of change since its beginning at the dawn of the 20th century. Almost every decade brought a new flavor to the movement, and by the 1940’s jazz had developed into a mature, complex form of music, with many nuances and avenues for continued change. It is important to trace the early movements in jazz to better understand the innovations of the Bebop and Cool jazz eras of the 40’s and 50’s.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Ragtime And Blues

    1365 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although jazz first appeared in New Orleans in the twentieth century, the music it was derived from has been around for much longer. The roots of jazz can be found in both African and European influences that blend together to create a distinctive musical quality and swing character. It encompasses a wide range of music, including that of ragtime and blues, which are two of the most prominent genres that influenced jazz in its early stages. Although there are many differences between the musical styles and instrumentation of ragtime and blues, there are also some similarities in terms of common origin that helped drive the birth of modern-day jazz.

    Read More

  • Fusion Jazz Essay

    1523 Words  | 4 Pages

    Since the first emergence of Jazz in the late 19th century, new styles and versions of the genre have been popping up in various locations across the world. Jazz first appeared in New Orleans. This is because New Orleans was one of the only places in the world that allowed the slaves there to play musical instruments, most importantly the drums. People in New Orleans of all social groups attended VooDoo rituals, which was where European horns met African drums. The two sounds joining together was “like lightning meeting thunder”. The locals then put the two styles together and used music they heard in churches or in barrooms for inspiration, thus creating an entirely new style of music; Jazz.

    Read More

  • John Coltrane Influence

    978 Words  | 2 Pages

    New Orleans, the birthplace of the jazz genre started out as a city of music. Music was

    Read More

  • Jazz and The Charleston in The 1920's

    1664 Words  | 4 Pages

    Jazz was introduced directly after World War I by African-Americans (Boundless.com par. 1). Although jazz was composed by many different African-Americans the main founder of jazz was Ethel Waters (McCorkle par. 8). Jazz was first played in New Orleans, but as the African-Americans moved north, white citizens caught on and tuned jazz into a new craze (Lindop 107). Even though jazz was created in New Orleans, Chicago became the home of jazz music (Bingham 8). The first jazz players derived the tune from a mixture of Latin American, African, and European rhythms, making it very popular among many different types of people (“Latin Jazz” par. 1). Jazz was so well-liked because it gave the artists the opportunity to make the predetermined tune their own (“What is jazz par. 1). When listening to jazz the same song is never heard twice because the band members each put their own spin on the way they play their instrumen...

    Read More

  • The Counter Culture of the 1920's

    1488 Words  | 3 Pages

    Out of the streets of New Orleans, a new form of music arose. This new type of music was not known as African or European, but simply American. It was jazz. In 1900 jazz first developed, but it wasn’t until the 1920’s when jazz began to spread across the Nation and eventually across the World. (Hakim, 57) The word jazz itself did not originate in New Orleans along with the music. The term first showed up in sports columns in San Francisco. Most people from New Orleans never even heard the word until they left their homes. Eventually, like the music, the word jazz and this new phenomenon had stretched out across the nation. Jazz was and is known to be the most predominant form of music of the 1920’s. The television had not yet been invented, but rhythm and drum beat of Africa, but also contained the instruments and heritage of Europe. People everywhere had their radios to listen and dance to the music. Some listened to the newly found jazz music everyday. (Schoenberg, 10) Some people went to jazz clubs. At the jazz clubs the musicians were primarily black and the audience was mostly white. There were many clubs that were located in Harlem, which was on the north end of Manhattan. Almost all of...

    Read More

  • Jazz Influence On Jazz

    876 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine you are walking the streets of New Orleans. You are standing right where jazz was established in the United States of America. Jazz wasn’t just about music, it also affected the culture involving social, economic, artistic and jazz leaders.

    Read More

  • History Of Jazz

    1811 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Blues And Ragtime: A Comparison Of Jazz And Ragtime

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    The evolvement of jazz throughout the years has been an interesting one. Blues and Ragtime are just two simple innovations that has allowed for many variations in the jazz genre. Both of these genres have their similarities and differences in how they influenced jazz music through: improvisation, syncopation, and experimentation.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Jazz On American Culture

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jazz is a treasure to American culture, which originally came from New Orleans of South part of America in 19th century. It’s a special music because it contains changeable rhythm and improvisational performance. But what makes jazz so special in 1920s is that Jazz could not only be performed by an individual but also could be performed by a group of people. This music performance style shows important things about American society and culture itself.

    Read More

  • The Origin Of Jazz Music: The Origins Of Jazz Music

    1242 Words  | 3 Pages

    This essay, as the title suggests, will be about the origins of jazz music. Starting from the roots when African slaves arrived in North America, they helped the development and the emergence of early jazz a great deal. It is also important to not forget the significance of the Congo Square which kept the music alive in New Orleans, never letting it die out. Then, continuing on with the slavery theme, the essay will talk about why and how jazz music appeared in its widely considered birth place, New Orleans. Also, as early jazz developed into different styles, the text will mainly be focusing on its two most prominent ancestors: ragtime and blues. Additionally, jazz would not exist as it is known today without the assistance of some of the

    Read More

  • Jazz Concert Report

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Music Evolution and Jazz

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jazz comprises of a wide range of music from the ragtime to the present music listened to by many people. The music evolution has taken roughly 100 years and jazz has been put in this particular evolution as one of the music styles today. In the definition of jazz, there is no actual definition of jazz because it a composition of very many music styles hence making it hard to get the required definition that would describe it fully. Attempts being made to define jazz have a basis of traditional music that have similar characteristics as jazz but not real jazz. Using the American or African music examples, the researchers argue that the definition is very broad and wide. Ernest Berendt one of the researchers says that jazz originated from America in the process of confronting Negros with Europeans in terms of music. This can then be termed as a tool of identity between the two groups of people due to the racist and discrimination aspects that faced America. This was now a tool that could identify the two groups to bring about national integration and understanding among the members of America. In America jazz has incorporated time as a special factor and is now referred to as swing. Swing means spontaneity and vitality of the production of music which has an improvisation role to play to the listeners. This particular jazz music contains a particular manner of phrasing which acts as a mirror to an individual and the personality of the musician performing that particular jazz music on stage. The early jazz musicians include Double Bassist Reggie Workman, saxophone player Pharaoh Sanders, and drummer Idris Muhammad who were performing in 1978 hence dating back to early jazz performance and presentation.

    Read More

  • Influence of Jazz on American Culture

    1953 Words  | 4 Pages

    Not only is it nearly impossible to pinpoint jazz’s conception in time, many locations are accredited with its origin, the United States allowed for jazz to start gaining popularity and leading into the change it had to the music scene. When jazz is brought up, many first think of its birth place being New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans has always been a big musi...

    Read More

  • Origins of Jazz

    1614 Words  | 4 Pages

    Emerging in the late eighteenth through early twentieth century, the earliest point of origin of what is now modern jazz can be traced back to New Orleans, Louisiana.

    Read More

More about The Influence of Jazz Around the World

Open Document