History of Jazz Music
History of Jazz Music
Jazz music was developed about 1900 by black Americans. It possesses an identifiable history and describable stylistic evolution. Jazz has borrowed from black folk music, and popular music has borrowed from jazz. These three kinds of music remain distinct and should not be confused with each other.
Jazz is rooted in mingled traditions of American blacks. These include traits from West African music, European popular and light classical music of the 18th and 19th centuries, and later popular music forms influenced by black music or produced by black composers. Because it occurred before the phonograph could provide valuable documentation, the merging of these multiple influences into jazz is difficult to reconstruct.
Jazz is the art of expression set to music. Jazz is said to be the fundamental rhythms of human life and a man’s contemporary reassessment of his traditional values. The development of gospel, blues and field hollers based on the early influence of tribal drums seem to elude that jazz has to do with human survival and the expression of life.
Whether under composition guidelines or improvisation, the meaning of jazz became a musical art form that reflected spontaneous melodic phrasing. According to legend, jazz was conceived in New Orleans and moved up the Mississippi River to Memphis, St. Louis and finally Chicago.
One can not overlook the evaluation over the decades and the fact that jazz spanned many musical forms. When reviewing the background, spirituals, cakewalks, ragtime and the blues are among these forms. In the 1940’s, America’s great contribution to music, jazz, crossed over the gateway of universities and became seriously and even religiously considered. Starting in the 20’s and ongoing well into the 30’s, the word "jazz" was commonly and rather indiscriminately applied to being melodic or tonal. In the "jazz" age of the 20’s, the swing era of the late 30’s and the peak popularity of modern jazz in the 50’s, jazz functioned as public art and has enjoyed periods of fairly widespread response.
The influence and development of the blues can also not be overlooked when discussing the early years of jazz. An ability to play the blues has been a prerequisite of all jazz musicians. They will often use the blues framework for improving. Many of the early jazz performers relied on the blues for more than the...