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Early History of Jazz
Jazz is a style of music that began and has been revolutionized within the United States. Jazz music first appeared in the city of New Orleans and eventually moved onto Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, and New York City. Jazz unites different elements of African, African- American, religious, brass brand, and blues style of music. The music of Jazz, and its changes through the years, is now a form of music that is known and respected throughout this nation and the world.
Jazz music is a blending of both black and white tradition and heritages. New Orleans was the center of many different ethnicities, such as French, Spanish, American, and African American, which resulted in a city with a unique blend of individuals. New Orleans became a significant center of culture in the mid to late 1800’s. It is believed that jazz was largely influenced from African slaves who were brought over in the 1800’s, who did not have their native instruments, had to make due with what they could find in their new home of the southern United States. On arrival in America, they were exposed to western musical styles that include harmonies, tonal sounds, along with unique beats and rhythms. This resulted in a raw version of what we know as Jazz. Some components of early jazz are still found in the many modern forms of music such as soul and reggae.
Ragtime, considered to be the earliest type of jazz, was introduced in the very late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Also, ragtime was considered one of the most decorative and popular styles of music. Ragtime can best be described as a solo instrument style, usually consisting of a piano. As a means of income, many early Ragtime musicians would produce and sell their own music and have them published onto piano rolls in which they could be played in perosonally owned pianos. These piano rolls allow a new and large group of individuals to be exposed to the sounds of ragtime. Multiple moderns forms of music have derived form original ragtime including rhythm and blues.
One of the most influential ragtime musician and entertainer was Scott Joplin. Scott Joplin was born in Texarkana, Texas on November 24, 1868. Through his talent on the piano and as a composer, he is generally known as the “King...
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...to turn the corner with bop. Bop groups were much smaller than swing bands and included improvised solos, rhythmic complexity, and unpredictable forms. It was a bit of a revolution for jazz.
There were several individuals who played key roles in the bebop and progressive jazz era. Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie are just a few of the top jazz artist of the decade. Dizzy Gillespie, who was born in South Carolina in 1917, had an amazing talent, and by the age of 20 he was already touring with major bands. He helped bebop really emerge. Bebop was a type a jazz that was more robust and difficult to play. Overall, bebop still remains the stepping stone into multiple new forms of jazz.
In conclusion, I believe that the early history of jazz is vital in really understanding the complexity and beauty of jazz as a whole. Jazz, being a native form of music within the United States along with it many changes in the 1900’s, has significantly influenced American culture and its development through the years. Jazz remains an influential facet in the world of music and it is enjoyable to know where it came from.
Scott Joplin, commonly known as the "King of Ragtime" music, was born on November 24, 1868, in Bowie County, Texas near Linden. Joplin came from a large musical family. His father, Giles Joplin was a musician who had fiddled dance music while serving as a slave at his master's parties. His mother, Florence Givens Joplin, born free and out of slavery, sang and played the banjo, and four of his brothers and sisters either sang or played strings.
The first appearance of jazz was at the turn of the century in New Orleans and is called “Dixieland Jazz,” or “Classic Jazz.” It developed out of music for street parades in the black community. It also had deeper roots in a style of music called “Blues,” which was used to express the daily experiences of the community (History). Other influences include the combination of West African folk music with the popular classical music of Europe, developing into syncopated rhythms and chord variations on classical pieces (Passion).
Ragtime started its wide spread after the abolition of slavery in 1865 and during the times of segregation. During those times African Americans did not have access to most employment opportunities and were mostly able to find work in entertainment. “Black musicians were able to provide entertainment in dances, minstrel shows, and in vaudeville, during which time many marching bands were formed. Black pianists played in bars, clubs and brothels, as ragtime
Jazz also produced noted trumpeter, Louis Armstrong. Talented black artists were looking for an identity and something that was different from the pop culture of Rock and Roll and Jazz was the answer. Jazz became prominent during a period of comprehensive artistic and political uproar among African Americans. The by-product of Jazz was Bebop. Bebop is a style of jazz characterized by a fast tempo, instrumental virtuosity and improvisation based on the combination of harmonic structure and sometimes references to the melody. Bebop music was a form of jazz that for African Americans was art. Bebop was a conscious attempt to provide new channels of creativeness for African Americans. Famous artists such as Dizzy Gillespie became the icons of Bebop and are still celebrated to this day. Jazz truly shaped the African American life.
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.
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
Goodman was perhaps the most recorded artist during the swing era, which helped make him a symbol of the swing era.
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...
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.
its abilities to bring people together and sometimes even make people happy. Although the jazz era ended almost a century ago, this time influenced by Louis Armstrong was a huge cultural shift that still remains in our society in which African-Americans are a vast part of our music industry amongst pop, rap, reggae, and more.
Why was New Orleans the hotspot for Jazz? It was located on a seaport. Being on a seaport is beneficial because it provides tourists and is also where goods go through. Also, it provided the party-like atmosphere and still does so today. People in the 1920’s didn’t have the technological advances such as iPhones and television so the performance took place in a social setting such as local bars and red light district establishments. The music evolution of jazz provided not only the music itself but a reason to get up and dance. According to Gridley, “The evolution of new dances and the overall popularity of dancing were big factors” (40). This was a big factor in jazz because it provided a brass band feel.Brass bands influence from Europeans brought a model for jazz music such as the trumpet, trombone, tuba, saxophone, and clarinet. These factors wouldn’t have been possible without culture and also individuals.
All types of music require musicians. In the H.R (Harlem Renaissance), there were many who contributed to this new style of music known as jazz. These musicians all have their own style and form. Each of these styles has in some way influenced the evolution of jazz. Louis “Sachmo” Armstrong is recognized as the most famous trumpet player of this time. His “hot bop” style was heard in places like the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theatre. Everyone from all over the country would come to see him. Armstrong recorded such works as I’m in the Mood for Love, and You Rascal you (http://library.thinkquest.org/26656/english/music.html). Another famous person during this era was Coleman Hawkins, a saxophone player. Hawkins is recognized as the first great saxophonists of Jazz. His most famous work was a piece named Body and Soul (http://library.thinkquest.org…). Hawkins has also recorded with artists such as Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington. Other people such as Bessie Smith, Josephine Baker, Duke Ellington, and “Dizzie” Gillespie have also made many contributions to the development of Jazz.
Jazz became popular during the 1920s and was developed from Blues and Ragtime. The 1920s was nicknamed The Roaring Twenties or the Jazz age because it was a time where many traditonal moral standards were not followed and people indulged in new danicng and dressing styles. Jazz is still important to us today but according to Nielsen‘s 2014 Year-End Report, jazz is continuing to fall out of favor with American listeners and has tied with classical music as the least-consumed music in the U.S., after children’s
Jazz music prospered in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Jazz was created by African Americans to represent pain and suffering and also represented the adversity that racial tension brought. (Scholastic) African American performers like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie “Bird” Parker came to be recognized for their ability to overcome “race relati...
Ironically, it is nearly impossible to find the pinpoint of where jazz got started. Many early types of music, such as: Blues, Afro-Latin Caribbean rhythms, work songs, Protestant church hymns, Jewish songs, silly contemporary tunes, English and Irish dance music, gospel and spiritual, and ragtime, all went into the creation of jazz. A lot of credit goes to the African Americans for the creation of jazz. (Taborelli, Giorgio). “Jazz was born out of the cultural experience of African Americans and can be traced in a direct line to the slave songs of the plantations through the Negro Spirituals, Ragtime, and the Blues”("Jazz Musicians as