The History Of Jazz

2 Pages 560 Words

The History Of Jazz


The first jazz was played in the early 20th century. The work chants and folk
music of black Americans are among the sources of jazz, which reflects the
rhythms and expressions of West African song. Ragtime, an Afro-American music
that first appeared in the 1890s, was composed for the piano, and each rag is a
composition with several themes. The leading ragtime composer was Scott Joplin.

The first improvising jazz musician was the cornetist Buddy Bolden, leader of a band in New Orleans. The first jazz bands were usually made up of one or two
cornet players who played the principal melodies, a clarinetist and trombonist
who improvised countermelodies, and a rhythm section (piano, banjo, string bass
or tuba, and drums) to accompany the horns. These bands played for dancers or
marched in parades in the South.

Some of the first New Orleans musicians were among the most stirring of all jazz artists. They include clarinetist Johnny Dodds, clarinetist-soprano saxophonist
Sidney Bechet, pianist Jelly Roll Morton, and cornetist King Oliver. The first
jazz record was made in 1917 by a New Orleans band the Original Dixieland Jazz
Band, made up of white musicians who copied black styles.

The New Orleans musicians discovered that audiences were eager for their musician the cities of the North and the Midwest. In the 1920s Chicago became the
second major jazz center. White Chicago youths, such as tenor saxophonist Bud
Freeman and clarinetist Benny Goodman, were excited by the New Orleans masters
including the thrilling Louis Armstrong, who played in King Oliver's band.

The third major jazz center was New York City, and it became the most important. In New York, pianists such as James P. Johnson created the piano style by transforming rags and Southern black folk dances into jazz. Jazz was first
played in the ballrooms and theaters of New York.

Louis Armstrong was among the jazz musicians wh...