History Of Jazz

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. During the early 19th century an increasing number of black musicians began learning European instruments and European musicians began to incorporate

These songs would utilize a musical pattern known as the tresillo which is a three stroke pattern that is the most basic rhythmic pattern found in the habanera, and is a major musical component of Ragtime. These musical interactions would live on and be an important factor in New Orleans rich and unique culture. Congo Square remained an active musical setting up until the beginning of the Civil War where things settled down for a time and the musical spirit of New Orleans remained silent but came back greater than it ever was