Jazz In New Orleans Essay

New Orleans can be described as the most multicultural and musical city in America. In New Orleans, nothing seemed to be able to stop the music from flourishing, not legalizing prostitution nor prohibition. The multi-ethnic population had an energetic/lively attitude that accompanied the music produced in the city. In New Orleans music was omnipresent; there were always bands traveling around the city performing in concerts, clubs, parties, dances and even funerals. Bands in New Orleans were not strictly black, but a number of races.

1) Because of people like Louis Armstrong, Ceril Mack, or Eva Jessye Jazz and blues were able to blossom with several instruments and subgenres. The following information will be about how jazz started, those people's contributions, and the instruments/subgenres. Jazz is a music that is still around today, and it was started over 100 years ago around New Orleans. Because New Orleans is a port city, Jazz and blues could be heard by many.

Camille Burton Dr. Greene English 1010-3 22 November 2014 Jazz Artists in New Orleans The early development of jazz is closely tied with the community and is a very important part of the history of New Orleans. New Orleans is seen to be the home of new jazz during the 1900's.

Rough Beginnings It was 1915 and the music scene was just getting hot. New Orleans was busting at the seam with young cats prowling the streets, lurking in seedy after-hours clubs looking to get a wild jam session in before the night was through. An insanely talented and equally arrogant ragtime pianist by the name of Jelly Roll Morton began to play with a different kind of flavor that drove audiences crazy, and with that the invention of Jazz was born. The heavy syncopated beats making your pulse jump, the bluesy lilt of a melody lapping lazily at your senses; this was the time to be alive.

Pre-World War I (1890s-1910s) is considered the ragtime era when discussing music and dance history; and according to Peter Gerler, a jazz historian, in the U.S. in 1916, the economy was preparing for war and there was a drop in foreign migration so the industrial cities of the North of the U.S. called upon the South for labor, and because of poverty and the racism of the South it was mostly back people who migrated, bringing New Orleans jazz prominently to Chicago and New York. In the UK, the arrival of jazz occurred when the Original Dixieland Jazz Band was touring in 1919, introducing Europe to a new refreshing blend of music, dance and fashion. In 1915 the ragtime dance declined due to many men fighting overseas and women having to work,

Jazz is most often thought to have been started in the 1920s as this explosive movement, but that is in fact not the case. Starting in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century many African American musicians have started to explore their taste in improvising, and where better to do that than New Orleans (Anderson). Before the 1920s these jazz musicians have already been going around sharing the unique sound, but up until then, jazz had remained majorly in New Orleans. Interestingly during this period, a common jazz band would consist of a cornet, a clarinet, a trombone, and a rhythm section when at this period of time the clarinet is not commonly associated with being a jazz instrument, it moved into being the saxophone rather. A big

By 1920, the Jazz age was well underway as a direct challenge to the prohibition of alcohol. Famous Jazz players of the 1920s where: Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, Fats Waller, Ella Fitzgerald, and Joe Venuti. This was one of the first times in American history that the majority of non-African Americans accepted parts of African American culture. It was the moment that many African Americans were able to enter into the mainstream. Though African Americans lived under constant fear of death and pain in the Gilded Age, all was not pain and sorrow.

The increasing rate of racism of African Americans in New Orleans led to a many jazz musicians to escape to other states. The mass exodus of the jazz musicians of New Orleans led to the spread of jazz music throughout the United States. Some of the important places that these jazz musicians moved to are New York, Chicago and Kansas City. During the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, New York became the home of the jazz musicians. There was a lot of respect and popularity for Jazz music.

“I'm always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up every morning. Every day I find something creative to do with my life.” Miles Davis’ passionate statement describes the distinctive innate ability to formulate music that transcended all musical genres, generations and nationalities. According to Bernal, Davis moved Jazz forward through his constant search for brand-new musical expressions.

Jazz music has spread around the world. It has drawn on national and regional musical cultures. Jazz has been the most important social factor that black musicians were able to record the blues, gospel and more. These musicians lived through inequality and many discovered their freedom in jazz. It became African Americans freedom because jazz

Jazz ended up becoming more of a commodity, and the most well-known artists were white. African-Americans were facing racism and random acts of violence against them, they took solace in their music as it was an essential part of their culture.

If you listen to jazz today, you will hear expanded musical harmonies, musicians playing more complex chords, and musical harmonies borrowed from many different genres of music, including pop. Many new, mainstream jazz as artists use the same techniques that artists from the early 1900’s used. Joseph “King” Oliver was the father to many of these techniques, which changed jazz and the way we hear it today. During the 1920’s, Joe “King” Oliver was the most progressive and influential artist in jazz because of his musical innovations that influenced other jazz artists to incorporate his methods,which sparked a new type of jazz. Jazz was first born in New Orleans and eventually moved to Chicago.

Jazz has shaped the world we know today. Jazz would have never been as popular without the help of the famous musicians: Jelly Roll Morton, Joe King Oliver, Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington. These people helped spread the new genre through radio, railroads, and the records that they played. Where did this all start? The jazz age began in New Orleans where a certain King was born.

In life, there are few things as organic as jazz music. With its raw sound and scrappy roots, one cannot help but feel life head-on whilst witnessing players produce such a sound right before their eyes. Its origins and arch are a product of the United States’ national culture and identity. Jazz exists not only as a deeply rooted form of art but as a cultural marker, particularly during its commercial peak in the first half of the 20th century. Its impact transcends borders, and it is one of the most beloved musical genres worldwide.

1. Disclaimer Although the Montreux jazz festival is a world renowned event it is still located in Switzerland, in the French speaking part. Thus some of the information of this report are just translated version of different sources 2. Introduction “Jazz does not belong to one race or culture, but it’s a gift that America has given to the world- Ahmad Alaadeen”