Influence of Jazz on American Culture Now a days, many believe that jazz is not that important of music genre, but with our history, jazz plays a big role. “Jazz does not belong to one race or culture, but it is a gift that America has given to the world.”, quoted by Ahmad Alaadeen. Jazz in the 1920’s opened the eyes of whites and invited them into African American culture; it evolved Americans to where we are today since it brought a change to the music scene, an acceptance of African Americans, and a change of lifestyles. Jazz began affecting American culture from the beginning of its conception. Ironically, it is nearly impossible to find the pinpoint of where jazz got started.
The popularity of jazz all of a sudden diminished, but it continues to define and give shape to American culture. Many people do not realize its significance. Jazz has developed from the mix of African and European music. The rhythm patterns, articulation, staggered entry, and percussion enrichment are some of the contributions that African music made to jazz. This is why African-Americans have been called the pioneers of jazz.
“While whites in the jazz music industry got rich, black musicians did not reap equal benefits. The industry caused a great deal of exploitation and discrimination by whites against blacks”(Phillips). Ellington was so successful as a African American musician because he catered to the white style of Jazz music. Ellington combined “smooth dance music with impulsive improvisation, creating a polished, yet popular sound”(American Jazz Culture in the 1920s) that would appeal to the large white
When it comes to music, most people don't say they like it. People say they like heavy metal, pop, rhythm and blues, or any other type of music, since they have their own preference to what type of music they like, not just enjoying the broad area of music. One of those types of music which many enjoy is jazz. Actually right now jazz is really popular in Europe, and is rising in its popularity in the USA through its many forms. Jazz does have many forms, so many that some people wouldn't consider just saying they like jazz, they would say they enjoyed bebop, ragtime, blues, or other types of jazz.
However, the first band to create a jazz recording was an all white band who called themselves The Original Dixieland Jass Band, so although Whites accepted this new form of music, they didn’t give credit to the Blacks at first. Eventually, jazz became America’s popular music which was exported internationally, and of all the Black musical forms, jazz is the most highly developed and successful.
(Schuller, 1968) The 1920s saw the first few major figures in jazz such as Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton make their appearance and impact on the jazz scene. Jelly Roll Morton had claimed that he invented jazz because he developed the notation for it and Louis Armstrong has made his mark as being one of the most influential jazz performers. (Biography.com) Jazz in 1920s America came to be known as Dixieland Jazz (name characteristics) and, by now, was. By the 1930s, jazz had become more widespread and more popular and saw the emergence of big bands (larger groups or jazz musicians). Jazz in this decade was easier to listen to and the majority of well-known jazz songs such as Sing, Sing, Sing, In a Sentimental Mood and Take the A Train were composed.
So the jazz genre is inherited from the folk music from Europe and also some African music. At the time only the “Negroes” were listening to their music and the white man let the “Negroes” play the black music to calm down the slaves. Later on, when the black people started to have some civil rights, jazz bands were starting to merge and the first bands were created around in New Orleans at the early 20th century. The bands included instruments as trumpets, clarinets, trombones, tubas, banjos and drums. Jazz started to grow popular and a string bass or a piano was also found in the new bands.
New Orleans flourished with Creole traditions; creole is a person who is French and African American descent. Nonetheless, New Orleans revolutionized jazz music and its lifestyle. During the time period, New Orleans was a melting pot of races and religions; however, it united many European immigrants and blacks to create untraditional music. The society was chaotic, due to great change after the civil war, but the birth of jazz played a big role in shaping up America. New Orleans was different, it was not New York City.
The Roaring Twenties were a time of prosperity, happiness, liveliness, and new ways. One of the many new ideas that were introduced was jazz music. Jazz fit the atmosphere perfectly, with it's upbeat and exciting sounds. Although jazz seemed to be a new world-wide obsession, there were people who saw it in a different light, one that was a lot darker, perhaps even evil. These people had negative opinions about the music, and saw it as a, "cause of loosening morals and frightening dislocation".
Many other musicians lost opportunities when Storyville got shut down, and many of them made the move to Chicago in hopes of finding better opportunities. New Orleans and Chicago jazz had much in common; they both had high energy styles and they featured clarinet, trombone, or trumpet solos during the music pieces. Groups would perform using head arrangements, meaning that they practiced during rehearsal then played from memory during the performance. Also, while a soloist was performing the group played improv in the background. Even though Storyville closed, that was not the end of jazz.