Jazz

By 1908 almost half a million Africans were brought to the United States as slaves from West Africa. They brought with them strong tribal musical traditions, and they were seen in gatherings in New Orleans, New England and New York where they were able to demonstrate their dancing to the rhythm of drums. Their music was mostly functional and included field hollers and work songs. In their tradition, they had a single line melody and a call and response pattern, without harmony. African speech patterns were reflected by their rhythms and the use of pentatonic scales which led to blue notes in blues and jazz.

Jazz music originated in New Orleans in the 1880s. Black musicians started playing western instruments, making a blend of European dance music in their own cakewalk dances. Thus the blackface ministrel shows combining syncopation with European harmonic accompaniment, became popularized internationally. Caribbean, South American and other slave melodies became popular as salon music. It was a combination of energy and rhythms of African music by African Americans created with instruments from the western world. Initially this style of music was condemned as the devil's music, but before long it became popular and spread across the United States and the rest of the world. Due to strict segregation, there was limited employment opportunities for the African Americans and music became their form of employment, providing entertainment at dances, minstrel shows and in vaudeville. Black pianists were popular at bars and clubs. Marching bands provided music in the African American funerals. This adaptation was inculcated to hymns bringing out their own style of spirituals.

Jazz music was made even more popular by great artists such Louis Armstrong, pianist Duke Ellington, Billie Holliday, Bessie Smith and many other great singers. Later Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller were some of the dance band leaders that brought a new style of jazz called `swing'. Louis Armstrong took the jazz world by storm in 1920s with his amazing trumpet sounds. He was the first jazz musician to become famous in the United States and other parts of the world.

Ernst Hogan, the African American entertainer's hit songs in 1895 was recorded as `Rag Time Medley' as banjo solo by Vess Ossman and white composer William H. Krell produced his `Mississipi Rag' as a piano instrumental written for the first time. Revival of `Dixieland' music took place in 1930s, going back to the original New Orleans style mostly driven by record companies of early jazz classics by the Oliver, Morton and Armstrong bands. The revival was started by two groups, one of which consisting of Bob Crosby's Bobcats, Max Kaminisky, Eddie Condon and Wild Bill Davidson had begun their careers playing the traditional way and either wanted to continue or return to it. Most of them were originally from the mid west with small numbers of New Orleans musicians. The second group were young musicians like Lu Watters bank. By 1940s Louis Armstrong's Allstars band had gained popularity and in 1950s and 1960s, Dixieland became commercially popular in jazz styles not only in the United States but across Europe and Japan. Even to date, Jazz is still very popular and has not seen as much change in their variations compared to other styles of music.