Jazz is rooted in west African culture and is considered to be the first genre of music that is representative of world culture. Jazz quickly developed in New Orleans ,a gateway for slave trade from Caribbean and what is now known as the birthplace of jazz. Slaves planted the seeds of jazz-making music using household objects-and because of its economic prosperity, cultural assimilation between africans, europeans, and Caribbean culture allowed for the development of jazz.
The Sound of Jazz
" Jazz musicians must be virtuous in the instrument but then give music logic and structure "
The jazz sound and a large portion of jazz musicians were largely influenced by the ragtime genre. remnant of the ragtime sounds can often be heard in some jazz music.
Syncopation, jazz solos, and “stride” are all unique aspects of the jazz sound distiguishing it from other genres.
Despite jazz being an established genre in the south, black musicians were initially unable to record their music and as a result white artist made jazz mainstream in the north. an example of this being the dixieland jazz band who claimed to have invented jazz.
Musicians such as Buddy Bolden and Louis Armstrong are some of the most notable jazz artists -Armstrong being considered the father of the jazz trumpet successfully consolidating all aspects of jazz music.
where Armstrong was the “father of improvisation”, Duke Ellington was the “father of orchestration”. Jazz also gave way to artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, the first leading lady of modern jazz.
