History of Jazz

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Jazz is a popular musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in the Southern United States. “It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. Its black African pedigree is evident in its use of blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation and the swung note (Alyn 2007). From the time it was created it has evolved incorporating the old with new music that was starting to become poplar. From its start in the early 20th century jazz has become distinct to many different regions. “Jazz it restless. It won’t stay put forever, it is forever seeking and reaching out and exploring (J J Johnson).” Around the 19th century while the world was engaged in its first global war, and European music was being thoroughly revitalized by the innovations of Arnold Schoenberg and experiments of musical groups going by the “futurists” and “Dadaists”, America was off developing a distinct music language known today as jazz. It is tempting to categorize some aspects of jazz as coming from either the African or European traditions. Jazz writing suggests from the over simplified rhythm that it is from Africa, while the harmonies are considered European. “Jazz represents a transplanted continuation of indigenous African musical tradition. But these African traditions survive in an array of musical detail, covering all elements and aspects of music; including to some extent even harmony, which has generally been associated with the European branch of jazz.” (Schuller 1-6) The American variation and reinvention of African tradition in the earth 19th century was not monolithic. Depending on the demands of the musical audience, the music varied from place to place. Rhythm is one of the elements that distinguish jazz from the rest of western music during that time. When the jazz rhythm is examined we can see it from 2 primary sources: 1. The

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