Traditional New Orleans Jazz

Traditional New Orleans jazz is a musical genre with distinguishing poetic features that within a discrete, social framework, are connected to festival traditions and is very huge in the development of jazz.

By passing strict segregation legislation in 1894 that reclassified the “gens de couleur” as Black, New Orleans followed the movement across the South toward rigid Jim Crow segregation. Downtown Creole musicians, historically accepted in white brass and string bands, now had a greater opportunity for their uptown English-speaking African American musical neighbors to make common cause.

Notable Musicians

Jelly Roll Morton rose to fame in New Orleans’ bordellos as a pianist. An early jazz genre visionary, he rose to fame in the 1920s as the founder of the Red Hot Peppers of Jelly Roll Morton. Even though Morton may not have been the creator of jazz, supporters and critics consider him as one of the great innovators of the art form. In 1998, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005, demonstrating the far-reaching effects of his influence.

Louis Armstrong was a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, nicknamed ‘Satchmo’ and ‘Pops.’ An all-star virtuoso, with both his daring trumpet style and distinctive vocals, he rose to fame in the 1920s, inspiring numerous performers. The powerful stage presence of Armstrong inspired not just the jazz world, but all mainstream music. Throughout his career, he has released many songs, including songs like “Star Dust,” “La Vie En Rose” and What a Wonderful World.”The significance of Armstrong has only continued to increase since his death. Younger African-American jazz musicians such as Wynton Marsalis, Jon Faddis and Nicholas Payton started talking about the significance of Armstrong, as both an artist and a human being in the 1980s and 90s. A series of new biographies on Armstrong made his role as a pioneer of civil rights abundantly clear and, subsequently called for an embrace of the production of his entire career, not just the pioneering 1920s recordings. Armstrong’s contributions as a trumpeter and vocalist are one of the most influential figures in music of the 20th century and are widely known today and will continue to be for decades to come.

In jazz history, Sidney Bechet was a unique figure. The first important jazz solos were recorded by a masterful soprano-saxophonist and clarinetist. Bechet, whose fiery personality was also a detriment, was a dominant player who liked to give a simple melodic lead to the trumpeter in his bands so that he could build virtuoso counter-melodies around him. Sidney Bechet was such a dominant soprano-sax power that hardly anyone else played that instrument in jazz for many years. As the most technically skilled and talented of all New Orleans musicians, he ranks with Louis Armstrong.

New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival

Today, traditional New Orleans Jazz is still appreciated and celebrated. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, often known as Jazz Fest, is an annual celebration of the music and culture of New Orleans and Louisiana.