Jazz In The 1900's

The Jazz Age changed the 1900’s and brought forth a new type of music for all to enjoy. Jazz was influenced by older African and European music, but was modernized to fit in the new age. New Orleans is the city where this music got on its feet, but why was this music so popular compared to other music of that era? The era of Jazz changed the course of music forever. Jazz and other music alike was born around the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The Blues of the time was mixed with old-timey marching band music and thus jazz was created. New Orleans, a town of African American’s and French immigrants, took this music and make it their own. Played on “…old U.S Army instruments like the cornet or marching drums” (Evans). Unlike the other composed

Mostly starting with Polyrhythms. Polyrhythms, two or more different rhythms occurring at the same time, may be found in both European folk music and concert music, but the African polyrhythmic tradition is thought to be much stronger than that of the European as an influence in jazz. The African influence is partly due to slaves’ adjustment to “…the white man’s music” (Evans). Finding notable notes in the song that create points of emphasis in the music helped translate the music. Since even some white men who played jazz could not read or write, this was the only way to play, which again, helped structure the improvised sound of jazz. Repetition is a prominent characteristic of African songs and dances. This corresponds to the repetition of riffs and short musical phrases. The popularity of this music stuck for a while in America, making it unarguably the most popular music during this time period. This still begs the question… why exactly was this music sticking like

The 1920’s were all about breaking the old rules. Instead of following traditional music structure, the jazz musicians threw it all out the window. Since the critics of this music thought of only the old European classical music as good music, jazz artists had trouble finding places to perform. Racism took a very drastic role in this. Most establishments would never allow an African-American to perform, let alone be in the building. The prohibition was in full swing so speakeasies and other venues slowly became their only option. From then on out, Jazz was a music that was associated with alcohol, drugs, gambling, and organized crime. The artists were persistent in their goal. Play what they want to play. Their persistence paid off in the 1930’s, when the grungy jazz we knew turned into a more mature and acceptable version that was integrated into other music. This happened because of the migration of this music to big cities like Chicago and New York, where the mixing pot was filled to the brim. Even though that jazz was still associated with the wild parties and crazy lifestyles, the popularity of it kept rising due to the younger crowd of college and high school students. Jazz slowly expanded to other music and other subgenres of jazz. Slowly but surely, the music industry introduced the seductive music of jazz to older generations and to the white