Jazz Music In The 19th Century

Trumpeter and band leader Maynard Ferguson once said that “change is always happening. That’s one of the wonderful things about jazz music.” Ferguson’s view of America’s most beloved and celebrated genre of music can refer to the main element in jazz, improvisation or the developing styles that emerged in different locations and eras in the United States. Jazz itself has no set time period or location where it was born and because of this many scholars, as well as, the public have various opinions in regards to the beginning of jazz. A popular lore is that Jazz was created in Storyville, a red-light district in New Orleans. However, research has shown that it developed from both African and European influences of the past. Since the combination

of the two has been conducted, several forms of jazz emerged and jazz itself became a historical art form of the twentieth century. I will be analyzing two of the more well-known jazz forms, Dixieland and Swing, in my paper in terms of instrumentation, primary features, cultural implications, and influences.
Dixieland was one of the earliest styles of jazz music. In the early 20th century, roughly around 1900-1928, Dixieland developed in the rich culture of New Orleans; where jazz is most associated with in the present day. Dixieland is a mixture of various celebrated forms of jazz: ragtime, military brass bands, the blues, and gospel music. The mixing of these musical styles created an unforgettable sound that resonated through the streets of New Orleans. Additionally, Dixieland performers originally were in small marching bands that did not consist of the piano and where a tuba was used instead of string bass. Eventually, the instrumentation shifted to what the common band set up: trombone, trumpet (cornet), clarinet, piano, string bass (or tuba), drums and banjo (or guitar). Each of these instruments play a particular role in the performances. The trumpet, or in other instances the cornet, plays the melody of the song, while the clarinet adds to the melody that the trumpet or cornet is projecting. The trombone usually adorns the bass line but in some performances it can be used to play the melody as well. Thus, it adds the rhythm and sound effects. The piano and banjo or usually in most shows today, the guitar, play the chords and the drums keeps the beat steady or in other words utilizes syncopation.
To further go into detail regarding the foundation of Dixieland, one must look at what was happening politically and socially in the 19th century.

There were immigrants who were coming to the city and brought their own traditional instruments and music with them. In the early 1900s; brass bands generally would play for funerals, march in parades, or perform at places such as community events. Most of the performers at this point in time were white with the exception of a select few of ethnic minorities such as the Irish, Germans, Coarations, etc. It was due to these very limited options for black musicians to perform at that lead them to performing in the streets so to speak. Here the musicians experimented with different sounds and techniques of the brass bands that gradually came to the point where they began to improvise songs. This technique was a result of one of the perks of not being constrained to only the European form of music. Then the infamous Storyville came along in desperate need of performers. There were hardly any rules and the levels of expression appeared to be unbounded. As Dixieland grew in immense popularity it brought legends of jazz to the forefront of the movement as their image of one of the best musicians in jazz began. The most notable of the performers are “King” Oliver, Buddy Bolden, and the legend trumpeter Louis

Armstrong.