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Born at the turn of the 20th century in New Orleans, Louisiana, Jazz has its prenatal origins in a number of different forms of music and performance, arising from the experience of Diaspora blacks in the United States. Today we see jazz a number of ways: as something that is played in large concert halls, an element in a fusion band, or as it started, something that is buried deep within the big cities of America being played in a small venue. Jazz, though hard to define, seems to incorporate the fundamental aspect of change, whether that change be in the form of improvisation or a new type of jazz.
Before jazz, there was the Atlantic slave trade, bringing African slaves from West Africa, and eventually putting them in the port cities of America for sale. The slaves brought with them music, from the rhythmic patterns in West African drums, or call-and-response vocals to the plantation fields, creating work songs, “field hollers” and spirituals . These forms of music were there to get them through repetitive work, and to pass the time, and because of their nature, were born out of struggle. The music of ragtime is the first form reminiscent of jazz, with Scott Joplin combining the elements of European music brought over by the immigrants of the time, with the previously mentioned African elements. The blue note from the blues, and similarity to the spirituals would play a role in the creation of jazz. New Orleans famous funeral marches also had an influence, with the sounds from the West Indies and other Creole influences of the marching band would add to the beginning of the sound of jazz in the city.
Hot jazz developed in the 1910s and brought with it the fast paced, improvisational music that we recognize as jazz today. It formed in New Orleans and fine tuned the mix of music from different origins that made ragtime. In the 1920s and 30s, jazz music flourished. With the urbanization of America, blacks began to move to big cities in the North, such as Chicago and New York. The era of prohibition and the depression was at hand, and cities started to see the rise of speakeasies.These were underground clubs that served alcohol during a time when it was prohibited, and jazz music could be found in these clubs. Louis Armstrong is born out of this tradition, but came from the home of jazz, New Orleans, rather than New York, San Francisco, L.A. or Chicago like many others of this genre at this time.
Swing music is another form of jazz which involved a bigger band than previous incarnations. It found its popularity in African American audience at first, but radio would give swing a wider audience, and soon there were both black and white swing bands, with the swing dance gaining much popularity in the 30s and 40s. When World War II came around, the lack of large audiences, and a decrease in the number of band members saw the decline in popularity of swing.
After the war, in the late 40s and 50s, a more abstracted form of jazz was created, known as bebop. The band size was significantly diminished from the big band era, almost halved. This smaller band size allowed for more solos, which would become a prominent feature of jazz. Also, the musicians sought to challenge themselves, and started to introduce many innovations into jazz music, such as more advanced chord progressions, less emphasis on the bass drum keeping the beat, and no desire to make the music danceable. Famous names from this time include Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. Following bebop was cool jazz, which was seen as a “college educated” jazz, and added further complexities to the music. Miles Davis’ ‘Birth of the Cool’ is seen as a perfect example of this music. The name ‘cool’ within the genre refers to a less emotional approach, and more of a cerebral attitude to the music. Other famous names in this style include Dave Brubeck and Chet Baker.
More styles developed, such as hard bop, modal jazz and free jazz, which made the music more complex, requiring an understanding of music theory and modes, scales, etc. Landmark albums in this era, which are also some of the most popular jazz albums, include ‘A Love Supreme’ by John Coltrane, and ‘Kind of Blue” by Miles Davis. From this point forward, jazz would expand into so many genres that the line between what is considered jazz and what isn’t is blurred beyond the point of recognition, with the only constant being a sort of improvisation/personal expression of the artist.
Now there are genres such as fusion jazz, which incorporate as many styles as one can think of, utilizing electronic and analog instruments. Popular names include Chick Corea and Al Di Meola. The integration of jazz into hip-hop has created a unique genre too. The innovators of this genre include artists such as EPMD, Gang Starr, A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. They would take samples from jazz records and loop them, adding in drums and bass lines to form this style. From here, live jazz instrumentation from groups such as Digable Planets and The Roots fully brought the jazz influence directly into hip-hop.
Written by FatPocketsGuru
