A Brief History of Jazz Pt. I

by Kay Tu

“When you don’t know what it is, it’s jazz.” - Unknown

The Late 19th Century: Blues and Ragtime

“Respect”

by Aretha Franklin

“U.N.I.T.Y”

by Queen Latifah

“HUMBLE.”

by Kendrick Lamar

Hailing from the illustrious Mississippi River delta, blues music emerged as an early form of Black expression born out of laborers’ passionate call to arms. In 1876, the federal government introduced an act to restrain the emancipated black community, leading to a mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of African-Americans who journeyed in all directions and disseminated resonant blues melodies throughout the United States. As they traversed through various cities, these itinerant musicians established vital hubs that fostered the growth and evolution of blues music. Among these cities, New Orleans, located at the mouth of the Mississippi River, emerged as a critical center due to its vibrant diversity of cultures and influences.

“Don’t Stop the Music”

by Rihanna

“Feeling Good”

by Nina Simone

Because it is a major port city, New Orleans stands out amongst its contemporaries as a meeting place of an abundance of ethnicities, and people. A kaleidoscope of cultures from across the globe, New Orleans is home to people from Africa, France, the Carribean, Italy, Germany, Mexico, India, and England, to name a few.

by Marvin Gaye

“Make Me Feel”

by Janelle Monáe

Drawing people from far and wide, the vibrant city serves as a convergence point for an array of ethnic groups, where cultures intermingle and diverse melodies fill the air. Reveling in a musical spectrum as broad as it is captivating, New Orleans echoes with the rhythmic beats of traditional African percussion, the soaring melodies of symphonic music and opera, the lively cadences of marching bands, funeral and wedding bands, the rustic charm of country folk, the stirring harmonies of gospel music, the fiery rhythms of Latin music, and the heartfelt strains of various forms of church music.

“Fast Car”

by Tracy Chapman

Jazz music is yet another example of Black Excellence, as it was pioneered by Black musicians whose mark on the genre and world of music as a whole is still felt today. Educated from esteemed families, these Black luminaries possessed a refined understanding of European classical music but bore a deep connection to their African musical heritage.

“ALIEN

by Beyoncé

by Janet Jackson

“Superstition”

by Stevie Wonder

by Mavis Staples

Their backgrounds led them to fuse the lofty elements of classical music with the lively spontaneity of ragtime. This crucial combination would form the bedrock of jazz music. By adroitly interweaving African-origin syncopated sections into classical compositions, these musically gifted individuals subverted the conventional confines of their European predecessors. They wove together a tapestry of playful and humorous melodies that defied expectations, replete with buoyant light and heavy rhythms that danced and frolicked with classical music. This era coincided with a large influx of individuals of African descent, who migrated en masse to New Orleans, where their own brand of blues music melded seamlessly with the melting pot of ragtime and various other ethnic sounds, giving rise to the extraordinary and multifaceted genre of jazz music.

1920 - 1933: Echoes of the Jazz Age

by Prince

by Steve Lacy

by Chuck Berry

Nostalgia for the Roaring Twenties remains strong today, as it was a time of excess and extravagance. The 1920s were a time of profound societal change, marked by the rise of jazz music, which quickly became the era’s soundtrack. It was a time of flappers, and bootleggers, where the revelers were young, carefree, and full of life. The Art Deco architecture and fashionable clothing of the time are still celebrated today. The enduring legacy of jazz music is a testament to its incredible impact on society at the time. The music was everywhere, from speakeasies to ballrooms to the radio, and it captured the spirit of the times like no other genre. The power and energy of jazz music became synonymous with the vibrancy and dynamism of the 1920s. The decade will forever be remembered as one of the most exciting and transformative in American history.

by Lizzo

by Frank Ocean

“Pursuit

“Honey”

by Kehlani

by Kid Cudi

“Blessed”

by Daniel Caesar

Nestled within the shimmering and secretive speakeasies that emerged after Prohibition, jazz music thrived as the intoxicating elixir that enlivened the souls of the rebellious youth and the carefree flappers of the era. As saxophones blared, trumpets blazed, and rhythms of drums pulsed with life, the air was filled with electric energy that crackled with passion and excitement. Against the backdrop of a nation struggling to reconcile its newfound modernity with its deep-seated conservatism, jazz music became a lightning rod for controversy, with some condemning its supposed “immorality” while others reveled in its provocative and seductive charms. And yet, amid the turmoil and change, the Jazz Age continued to roar on, captivating the hearts and minds of millions and leaving an indelible mark on the cultural landscape of America. As the famed writer F. Scott Fitzgerald would later write in a 1931 essay, “Echoes of the Jazz Age”: “It was an age of miracles, it was an age of art, it was an age of excess, and it was an age of satire…”