Aidan Ford Jazz Music Jazz music first began in the late 1880’s and is a mix of African music and modern day European music of that time. Jazz music was originally started by the African Americans of New Orleans, which is why New Orleans is infamous for its jazz artists. As time went on new jazz artists formed rose up out of New Orleans. As the news of jazz spread throughout America, the people began to love it and it became one of the most famous genres of music in the 1920’s and 30’s. Jazz became so popular during these times, because life in America back than was rough for a lot of people.
Jazz is America’s classical music that evolved from the blending of African and European cultures. The artists are in an improvised jazz ensemble, and they are equal partners in the developing musical selections. Jazz music originated in New Orleans. In the late 1700s-1840 there was a common meeting place for most slaves called, Congo Square. Slaves were permitted to dance, sing, and play drums on Sundays.
In the early twentieth century, it is commonly believed jazz evolved into a popular music style in New Orleans. Small bands would play gigs and perform ragtime music with a blues twist, relying heavily on improvisation. Jazz during this time began combining marching band instruments added with the ragtime blues mix, and eventually became what we see jazz as today. In 1917, The Original Dixieland Jass Band made the first jazz recording with Lively Stable Blues. In that same year, jazz recordings became a lot more popular, and in the following year, jazz was taken to Europe by James Reese Europe and his “Hellfighters” band.
With many Africans settling into the beautiful landscape of Jamaica, new musical dawns were on the horizon. While enslaved, Africans developed a new form of music and dance which was known as Mento. Mento remained popular until the 1940s, however, during the early 50s, popular music in Jamaica was usually of US origin. In the late 1950s “Ska” another Jamaican musical innovation emerged. In the mid 60s”Rock Steady”-a slower tempo with emphasis on syncopation-grew out of “Ska”.
Some musicians which he has influenced are: Eric Clapton, Robert Plant, and ZZ Top (Kirkpatrick 50). Clapton had previously said, “Muddy took the music of the Delta plantation, transplanted it in a Chicago nightclub, surrounded it in a electric band, and changed the course of popular music forever” (qtd. in Kirkpatrick 50-51). The styles of both the Blues and the nearly synonymous Gospels are practically interchangeable; Blues songs can be transformed into Gospel songs and vice versa. With that being said, both styles have their own sounds and meanings (Mississippi Blues Commission).
Other famous musicians at this time period were Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lead belly, and Memphis Minnie. Furthermore, the birth of Rhythm and Blues, which included genres such as Gospel music, Doo Wop, Spirituals, Chicago Blues, and Urban Blues. African Americans migrated to cities and collaborated music and formed groups. The rhythm section included: bass, drums, electric guitar and piano. Some great Urban Blues musicians were T-Bone Walker and B.B.
The danceable swing style of big bands and bandleaders such as Benny Goodman was the dominant form of American popular music from 1935 to 1946, a period known as the Swing Era. The verb "to swing" is also used as a term of praise for playing that has a strong rhythmic "groove" or drive. History: 1920s: Origins The styles of jazz that were popular from the late teens through the late 1920s were usually played with rhythms with a two beat feel, and often attempted to reproduce the style of contrapuntal improvisation developed by the first generation of jazz musicians in New Orleans. In the late 1920s, however, larger ensembles using written arrangements became the norm, and a subtle stylistic shift took place in the rhythm, which developed a four beat feel with a smoothly syncopated style of playing the melody, while the rhythm section supported it with a steady four to the bar. Like jazz, swing was created by African Americans, and its impact on the overall American culture was such that it marked and named an entire era of the USA, the swing era – as the 1920s had been termed "The Jazz Age".
The emergence of jazz formed as social state of affairs between the black and white populations in late 19th century. The white wanted to keep the black slavery under control while the African-Americans propelled to develop and maintain their own culture and traditions. Jazz, as a unique genre of music, represented their traditions and experiences and passed down through generations. These included ragtime, an upbeat primarily piano-based style, and the blues, rooted in the work songs of the Southern plantation and sharecropping tradition. The difference between these two styles involves artists, major composition and influence.
History of Classical Music The music called classical, found in stores and performed regularly by symphonies around the world, spans a length of time from 1600 up to the present. This time frame includes the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Contemporary periods. The classical period of music actually spans a time from of 1750 to 1800; thus, the term Classical is a misnomer and could more correctly be changed to Western Art Music or European Art Music. The instruments used in most classical music were largely invented before the mid-19th century (often much earlier), and codified in the 18th and 19th centuries. History of Jazz Music Jazz is a distinctively American form of music, and its history occupies a much smaller span of time.
Son was exported to the rest of the world during the 1930s and 1940s and became particularly popular in the United States, also providing the grounds for the creation of salsa music in the 1970s. The music however began to decline in popularity before the 1997 album, “The Buena Vista Social Club” named after the famous Havana nightclub, was released. The album inspired resurgence in son music outside of the country and an opportunity for the world to revisit