The Beginning
The word “jazz” did not become commonplace until around 1920 even though it had spent the preceding decade establishing itself as a musical genre. A mix of European harmony and African rhythm, blended with the current styles of the time such as ragtime and rhythm and blues, Jazz can be seen as an amalgamation of different cultures and has had huge influences on, and evolved concurrently with, American society in the past century. The birthplace of jazz is the subject of much more controversy than its undoubted influence on society. The most commonly reported and, in my view, logical birthplace of jazz is New Orleans. Being a port city (with people migrating from all over the world), it was a melting pot of diverse racial
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The Great Depression that followed was the worst crisis in America since the Civil War. “As the 1930s began, one out of every four wage-earners — more than 15 million men and women — was without work.” (Burns, online). Burns goes on to observe that hard times hit black America hardest. In some northern cities, six out of 10 African-American workers lost their jobs. Like many industries in The Great Depression, the music industry struggled for survival. “American record companies, which were selling more than 100 million records a year throughout the twenties, had now dropped to just six million.” (Burns, online). With this struggle and misery ever so present, people began to look to music as an emotional escape. Musicians needed to play it and the rest of society needed to hear it. The Depression meant that millions of people all over America would now be exposed to the sounds of all kinds of music played by all kinds of people for free. As Burns explains, jazz, which had always thrived in adversity and come to symbolize a certain kind of American freedom, would be called upon to lift the spirits and raise the morale of a frightened country. And in the process, it would begin to break down the barriers that had separated Americans from each other for centuries.
“In the mid-1930s, as the Great Depression stubbornly refused to lift, jazz came as close as it has ever come to being America's popular music.” (Burns, online). Now labeled ‘Swing’ it was a shining
When discussing jazz, the stereotype that comes to mind is red-light district. Although that is prevalent in the jazz era, it is much more than that. Jazz is defined as American interpretive music that evolved from Ragtime. By popular belief, it is also thought to have originated in New Orleans. However, New Orleans is only the source of jazz popularity and famous jazz musicians. It is up to musicians and jazz audiences to interpret their own views on the “birth place” of jazz. With this being said, there are perspectives which prove to be more historically accurate than others. Jelly Roll Morton and Sidney Bechet were and are two famous jazz musicians who hold different insights on the origin of Jazz. On one side, Sidney Bechet thinks jazz
The Jazz Age was a period of radical behavior and care free living. This new music structure started the crazy decade that would change American life. “In the US during the 1920s, jazz was far more than a new musical style or genre”. A Focus on culture, fashion, and mostly freedom became huge. “The Jazz Age became a touchstone for a wide range of social and cultural issues.”1 Also the freedom during the period allowed for many different ethnicities, including African Americans, to gain freedom within society. This new music
The Jazz Age was a cultural movement that took place in America during the 1920 's (also known as "the Roaring Twenties") from which both jazz music and dance emerged. This movement matched with both the equally phenomenal introduction of mainstream radio and the conclusion of World War I. The 1920s was the decade that marked the beginning of the modern music era. Some of the popular music genres were Jazz, Dance Bands, Blues, and Broadway. The decade marked the beginning of independent record companies, smaller operations that weren’t afraid to take a chance on music and artists that the bigger companies shied away from.
A.Attention Getter: The 1930’s is a decade that will always be remembered as one of the worst times in American history, but the genre of music that began to flourish during these difficult times will forever be influential. Many turned to music as a coping mechanism during the Great Depression. Jazz became an outlet of expression for the many artists experiencing hardships and it also let countless people forget about their troubles for at least one night by dancing and having a good time.
The Roaring Twenties was a decade absorbed with the growth of the music industry thanks to the radio being born in 1920 (Tyle). The excitement of the war being over brought the Roaring Twenties forth. The American people hungered for change, and the new music of the era, jazz, satisfied their great hunger (100 Favourite Songs). Jazz was a brand new type of music drastically different from anything the American people had heard before. Unfortunately, the Great Depression, which occurred in the thirties, brought forth an aroma of sadness and despair in the lives of the American people. Would jazz also cave into the Depression? Or fight back? Although the mood of the American people changed from the Roaring
The birth of jazz music is often credited to African Americans, though it didn’t take long to expanded to America's white middle class. Jazz, therefore, was characterised by a meshing of African American traditions and ideals with white middle class societies. Big cities like New York and Chicago were
Not all whom listened to the music, will agree. The statement whereas jazz was a “moral disaster” to young girls is inaccurate because teenagers will choose to do whatever they want if it is morally wrong as a result of growing up and experiencing life. Regardless of what kind of music is playing, young teens will go as they please. As for the origins issue, people need to stop believing everything they hear. That issue was developed by a music critic of the New York Herald Tribune. How can everyone be so sure what that critic is saying is entirely true? III. Conclusion d. Both arguments of this catastrophic impact that jazz has had on all American people are very strong. Unfortunately, one side being stronger than the other. Opponents that opposed this argument had some valid points. Their strongest being- a moral disaster on young women. When they say young girls and guys have been spiraling out of their bodie’s sexual or emotional control, they are correct. The love of the genre might be pulling all types of different people together, that including of boys and girls. A girl and a boy find that they both have the same interest in jazz music, so they might get to know each other and so on. But, is that argument really an entire convincing explanation as to jazz being an annoyance or threat to the American people? This time period being the Great Depression, people struggle
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
Initially, the first jazz is said to have been played by funeral bands that wailed music full of soul and sadness as the followed horse drawn hearses down the streets of New Orleans. It was blues music though (Winfield 157). Many historians mark the start of the “Jazz Age” on November 12, 1917- the day the Department of the Navy closed a thirty-eight square-block neighborhood known as storyville in the city of New Orleans. Fearing the health of its sailors, the navy shut the doors of Storyville’s brothels and nightclubs, forcing
Jazz music is a blend of white middle class thoughts and African American traditions. Jazz originated in New Orleans in the beginning of the 1920’s. The Jazz Age was from 1920 through 1929. During the 1920’s, the First World War had just ended in 1918 and the Great Depression was affecting the citizens of the United States. Jazz music and dancing helped people forget about the terrible Great Depression. It gave the citizens a reason to be happy and love life during the 1920’s. The new form of music allowed people to express themselves in new ways. Jazz music was influenced by African American musicians, changed the music industry all over the world, and affected the society.
During the early 1900’s, a new style of music began to take shape in the colorful city of New Orleans. People from all over the world came to exchange stories, conversation, and music. Although it is a very hard genre of music to define, it is said that Jazz is the combination of European and African music that was brought in via the ports. With mostly an African American population, the musicians shared their music in Storyville - a cultural melting pot, and began to spread the “New Orleans Sound”. They contributed to what would soon be known as Jazz in 1917. The spontaneous nature of Jazz’s syncopation and sound makes it a very humanistic style of music and makes every performance original. Every day we improvise, whether it is in conversation or spur of the moment decisions. These truly unique elements caused Jazz to become a symbol of America, and changed music forever.
The Jazz Age was a national undertaking that took place in America during the 1920’s, also known as “the Roaring Twenties” from which both jazz music and dance emerged. Despite the era ending with the beginning of The Great Depression in the 1930’s, jazz has lived on in American pop culture. The birth of jazz music is often credited to African-Americans, but it soon expanded to America’s white middle class. This resulted in jazz being combined by both African-American traditions and ideals with white middle class society.
Meltingpot.fortuecity.com states the in the 1930’s and 1940’s jazz was at it all time highest. Although it is unclear when jazz first started some believe jazz started in New Orleans. Work it way up toward other major cities throughout in Midwest, such cities as Memphis, St. Louis, and Chicago have their own unique style of jazz. While the city of New Orleans was founded in 1719 by French men and for
Even though Jazz music was predominantly of African-American audiences, it grew to all listeners of music regardless of their race. But, if we look at the audience of today, the listeners of Jazz music are white. Jazz was also able to grow during its height because of the fact that music was able to be recorded. This gave everyone the ability to hear this genre of music, even if they were not able to go out and enjoy it live. Also during this time and through the mid-century Jazz was the dance music of Americans. Jazz in fact influenced the younger crowds in how they dressed, their language, as well as a certain attitude. Most of all, Jazz, more than most other music, has been firmly related with the societal, political, and financial impacts of American urban communities and in addition the changing status of American workmanship and music all through the
The 1920’s in American history seem to be very exciting. It was the height of the Harlem Renaissance, where African American literature, poetry, art and music emerged. You had all this African American talent growing and blasting into the mainstream. Historians refer to this time period as “The Jazz Age”. When jazz music was introduced to the public at clubs and dance halls it took off! People were either captivated by it, or appalled by it. Jazz was all about movement; it was driven by syncopation and improvisation, and for some it was considered “the devil’s music.” The novel Jazz by Toni Morrison allows you to wonder down the seductive streets of Harlem where it all began. The book gives a sense of both the scandal of Jazz music and the