IEB Matric Music - The Origins of Jazz

At about the time Schoenberg and Stravinsky were changing the language of music in Europe, a new musical style called jazz was being developed in the United States. It was created by musicians – predominantly African Americans – performing in the streets, bars, brothels and dance halls of New Orleans and other southern cities.

Jazz can be described generally as a music rooted in improvisation and characterized by syncopated rhythm, a steady beat, and distinctive tone colours and performance techniques.

Although the term ‘jazz’ became current in 1917, the music itself was probably heard as early as 1900. We do not know exactly when it started or how it sounded, because this new music existed only in performance, not in musical notation. Moreover, very little jazz was captured on recordings before 1923, and none at all before the Original Dixieland Jazz Band recorded in 1917.

Since its beginnings, jazz has developed a rich variety of substyles such as New Orleans Style (or Dixieland), swing, bebop, cool jazz, free jazz, and jazz rock. It has produced such outstanding figures as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. Its impact has been enormous and worldwide, affecting not only many kinds of popular music but the music of such composers as Maurice Ravel, George Gershwin and Aaron Copland.

The world of jazz has witnessed many changes since its beginnings at the turn of the twentieth century. Geographically, its centre has shifted from New Orleans to Chicago, Kansas City and New York. Today, it is hard to speak of a ‘jazz centre’, since good jazz is heard worldwide, from Paris to Tokyo.

Jazz has changed in function too. For a long time, it was basically music for dancing; but since the 1940s, many newer jazz styles have been intended for listening. Now we are as likely to hear jazz in a concert hall or college classroom as in a bar or nightclub.

The image of jazz has also change. It was originally condemned for its emphasis on sexuality, but it has long since become respected as a major American art form.

Early jazz blended elements from many musical cultures, including West African, American and European. Most American slaves originally came from West Africa, an area that today includes Ghana, Nigeria and several other countries. West African elements that influenced jazz include its emphasis on improvisation, drumming, percussive sounds and complex rhythms. Another feature of jazz that was probably derived from West Africa is known as call and response. In much West African vocal music, a soloist’s phrases are repeatedly answered by a chorus. In jazz, call and response occurs when a voice is answered by an instrument, or when one instrument (or group of instruments) is answered by another instrument (or group). The call and response pattern of jazz was derived more directly from African American church services in which the congregation responded vocally to the preacher’s call. African Americans developed a rich body of music that became a vital source for jazz. This music included work songs, spirituals, gospel hymns, and such dances as the cakewalk. Much of this music was never written down and is now lost to us.

African American music influenced and was influenced by the music of white America, which included hymns, popular songs, folk tunes, dances, marches and piano pieces. In origin, this repertoire was partly American and partly written or influenced by European composers. Nineteenth-century American and European musical traditions provided melodies, harmonies and forms that became elements in the background of jazz.

One major source of jazz was the American band tradition. Bands – both black and white – played an important role in American life during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Virtually every village had its band and bandstand; bands performed at picnics, parades, political rallies, dances and carnivals. Many of the instruments used in marching bands – trumpet, cornet, trombone, tuba, clarinet and drums – were also used in early jazz bands. Band music also influenced the forms and rhythms of early jazz.