All that jazz:
Where did it come from?
The origins of jazz are attributed to New Orleans, in Louisiana,
United States. After all, the NBA did
have a basketball team called the New Orleans Jazz. But jazz
occurred in many cities at the same time - in St. Louis, Chicago
and Kansas City.
The slave
trade and the origins of jazz
In America, the slave trade had brought almost half a million
Africans to the country - and of course, the slaves brought their
culture with them. Festivals with African dances to drums were
organized on Sundays at Place Congo in New Orleans.
African music was very functional, used for work or for rituals.
Work songs and field hollers were common back then. They
usually had a single-line melody, and a call and response pattern.
There was no European concept of harmony.
In the early 19th century, many black musicians learned to play
European instruments, like the violin. They would make fun of their
European-American slave owners and their ballroom dancing with
their own cakewalk dances. In retaliation, the
European-Americans made fun of the slaves making fun of themselves
- and imitated them as minstrel performers in
blackface.
Below is an example of a comedy cakewalk, as performed by five
African-Americans.
Jazz
combines…
African drum folk rhythms, especially West Africa
Rhythms reflected African speech patterns
Use of pentatonic scales in African music
Light classical music of 18th and 19th century Europe
Syncopation (unexpected emphasis on particular beats) of
ragtime
Improvisation (making up notes as you play)
Cakewalk music
Piano salon/ragtime music
African slave songs called negro spirituals
The role of
New Orleans
Marching bands played at funerals arranged by the African-American
community. These brass and reed instruments became basic
instruments of jazz.
Many early jazz performers played in the brothels and bars of
red-light district around Basin Street called "Storyville."
Many small bands travelled and performed in the Deep South for
funerals. After 1914, Afro-Creole and African American musicians
playing in vaudeville shows took jazz to western and northern US
cities. One prominent Afro-Creole musician is Jelly Roll
Morton. He published the "Jelly Roll Blues", the first
jazz piece in print.
Prohibition in the
United States (from 1920 to 1933) banned the sale of alcohol, but
there were many illegal places, called speakeasies, where one could
toss back a drink or two. These speakeasies were popular venues for
jazz. Jazz started to get a reputation for being immoral because of
this and many members of the older generations saw it as
threatening the old values in culture and promoting the decadence
of the "Roaring 20s".
Jazz is
embraced
From WWI to WWII, Europe, especially Paris, embraced Jazz. Jazz
music represented cultural freedom, musical freedom and creative
freedom. It also helped in breaking down racial and social tensions
for African-Americans. Big bands became very popular during this
time.
The television
arrives…and jazz fades
In the 1950s, jazz faced a lot of competition from new forms of
entertainment such as the television. Its popularity also faded
when Rock and Roll music started to become the new trend. Many jazz
artists started to cross over into other genres.
Still confused about what jazz is? Me too. In the words of jazz
great Duke Ellington: "It's all music."
References:
A Passion for Jazz
Wikipedia
