The Influence of Jazz in America

Jazz music originated from the Black Americans in the beginning of the 20th century. It is characterised by improvisation, syncopation, and usually a regular or forceful rhythm. Instruments like the harmonica, trumpets and other percussion instruments are associated with jazz. Some jazz sub genres are swing, Dixieland, Blues, Free jazz, Acid/Fusion jazz and Bebop. Chicago and New Orleans are the two types of Jazz that are very popular and an instrumental and historical pathway to the introduction of the creation and entirety of Jazz music.

Throughout several years, numerous genres of music have been created and evolved, such as contemporary, country, pop, and more. One genre, in particular, has greatly influenced the world and still remains popular today. This renowned genre is jazz. Although jazz originated in the late 19th and early 20th century, the genre has continued to develop and influence other aspects of music. With its beginnings in African American communities, jazz features several distinguishing components and defining qualities. Along with jazz’s many influences and unique features, the genre also includes a variety of leading musicians.

     The music called Jazz was born sometime around 1895 in New Orleans. It combined elements of Ragtime, marching band music and Blues. What made Jazz such a different perspective of traditional music was its act of improvising. There was a widespread use of improvisation often by more than one player at a time. Songwriters would write the music down on a piece of paper, and then the Jazz musicians would try their best to play the music. Usually in a Jazz piece, musicians would use the song as a starting point to improvise around. Jazz musicians would play a familiar song to the audience, and by the time they were done with the piece they would stir up a totally different feeling away from the

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.

Jazz music is another thing that had a big hit on the 1920s. “Jazz influenced all aspects of

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.

Subject Area: Music and American CultureTopic: Jazz: Urban and Rural Reactions in the 1920sIn parallel with the uproar of jazz during the 1920s came the commotion of different critics from various geographical settings. Many of the white people living in rural areas disliked and rejected jazz as a musical genre. However, the urban city-dwellers were more fond of it; therefore, it was more generally accepted and frequently found in city nightclubs and radio stations. Several characteristics of cities also allowed jazz to survive in urban areas over the rural ones, such as: diversity, tolerance, a more progressive attitude, technology (media, radio), more entertainment locations, and a more educated populace. Cities were known for the more

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.

What is Jazz type of music? It is a kind of music category that cherishes its origin in the New Orleans, and basically from the African American people. Its styles include a traditional type of autonomous music. It often uses polyrhythms, swing note, and syncopation improvisations. Blues music on the hand is known to have its roots also in the Deep South, with a high dominance of the African American musicians. It is a type of music that incorporates chants, shouts, spirituals and relatively field hollers (Kay, 2007). The above information as mentioned above assists the reader to know an in-depth analysis of the type of music of Bessie Smith.

When listening to jazz, people hear it different ways. Some people like the physical level and others use more intellect. Many keep score, make lists of names, and guess the outcomes of the music. People listen to recordings or attend live performances. Listening to recordings is not even close to being at a performance. Recordings are usually only a few minutes long, but performances can last an hour or longer. There has to be an interaction between the performers and the audience to get the full effect of jazz. Jazz was performed wherever there was space and demand. The music first came about and still is popular in nightclubs. Small clubs were the places where jazz musicians came to maturity. Clubs in New York City were the center of jazz activity. Although New York City was a main location of jazz, New Orleans has more recognition

Jazz is a music genre that has complex characteristics and history of development and thus many musicians and scholars face troubles in defining what jazz is. In general, jazz is believed to have born in New Orleans. Jazz developed for the pleasure of the social dancers. According to the “Understanding Jazz: What Is Jazz?” of John F. Kennedy center for the Performing Arts, Jazz was created mainly by Afro-Americans, and had elements of European and Afro-American culture. Also, it emphasizes few elements of Jazz, which are swing-feel, syncopation, and improvisation. These different culture and elements of jazz may be explained by how jazz

Jazz was an important part of we can see in the brass band funerals as well as the music for the picnics in the ball games or parks where jazz is played most. New Orleans has a great tradition of celebration due to the Jazz music that united the people as well as the music used to accompany the spiritual work and the social functions of the citizens in New Orleans (Tanner & David p41). Louis Armstrong played a significant role in the development of jazz music in New Orleans as he was one of the most influential artists in the history of musicians born in New Orleans. He perfected as well as improvised the jazz solo as we all know it today. Swing is the basic rhythm of jazz and swing means being in sync and loving

The mystery of Jazz and its powerful impact on the music community can be explained largely by the context of it’s creation. Jazz was born in the United States, and because of this, many have referred to Jazz as “America’s music.” Like America, Jazz has a balance between structure and spontaneity. It capitalizes on the fluidity of the musicians, having several different instruments with independent spirits, coming together as one to form a great piece of music. Unlike other styles of music, Jazz has a certain way about it that makes it stand-alone in the world of genres. It improvises, moves, and transforms itself in a moment’s notice based on the musician’s intuition. Just as America harbors democracy, so too does a jazz ensemble, showing both the responsibility to a larger group, yet still allowing room for individual freedom. It all comes down to how well others can respect the overall framework and structure of the jingle.

Jazz does not have one set style, but rather many styles which leaves the definition of jazz hard to define. A jazz player can play any style they want and there aren’t really set rules they have to follow to be considered jazz, just a few guidelines that are taken into consideration. It can sometimes be difficult to determine if a musical recording or a performance qualifies as jazz because its styles can be heard in other kinds of music. Jazz can also be played with a variety of instruments so it can be confusing as to whether or not the

There are many factors that contribute to an ensembles’ sound. Most of which we spend our musical lives practicing; things like tone, vowels, diction, ect. As we begin to make the transition from ensemble member to leader we are thrown yet another contributing factor to sound: conducting. The art of conducting is a continuously growing set of skills for an individual. Many of the greatest conductors have spent decades perfecting their craft and creating their style, while building their musicality. One element that sets apart the greatest of conductors is expressivity. Proper expressive gesture can influence not only audience perception of an ensemble, but also the ensemble sound. The notion that expression can influence ensemble