How did jazz emerge as a genre?

African-American musical traditions mixed with others and gradually jazz emerged from a blend of ragtime, marches, blues, and other kinds of music. At first jazz was mostly for dancing. (In later years, people would sit and listen to it.) After the first recordings of jazz were made in 1917, the music spread widely and developed rapidly.

How did New Orleans contribute to the development of jazz?

Each ethnic group in New Orleans contributed to the very active musical environment in the city, and in this way to the development of early jazz. A well-known example of early ethnic influences significant to the origins of jazz is the African dance and drumming tradition, which was documented in New Orleans.

How did jazz emerge from ragtime?

African-American musical traditions mixed with others and gradually jazz emerged from a blend of ragtime, marches, blues, and other kinds of music. At first jazz was mostly for dancing.

What instruments are used in New Orleans jazz music?

What ultimately became the standard front line of a New Orleans jazz band was cornet, clarinet, and trombone. These horns collectively improvising or “faking” ragtime yielded the characteristic polyphonic sound of New Orleans jazz. Most New Orleans events were accompanied by music, and there were many opportunities for musicians to work.

How did African American music become popular in the 1920s?

Leading up to the 1920s, African American music came to the attention of the white music industry and white music audiences. In 1912 W. C. Handy became the “Father of the Blues” with his composition, Memphis Blues.

Why can’t we talk about jazz?

The challenge of talking about music is compounded when the subject is jazz, a word of clouded origins whose meaning reflects an evolution of astounding rapidity and imposing diversity unlikely to change as we enter jazz’s second century. Louis Armstrong, 1960. Photograph by Herman Leonard.