Evonda Hollis Aas 337 Professor Barretta July 21, 2013

Jazz as an Extension of Blues One of the most influential forms of music to date has to be the blues. Its expressive style has been the building foundation on genres such as jazz and rock n roll. In this paper I will discuss the influence it had on jazz, particularly jazz in the Kansas City area which is known for having a heavier blues influence. Also, I will discuss early artists in this area who are known for music that mixes the blues and jazz. Before being able to understand the influence the blues has had on jazz, one must first discern what the blues is and its history. The blues can be defined as many things ranging from a type of song to a feeling to a particular attitude. Although all these definitions are correct, together they still do not accurately express its meaning. The blues is a lifestyle. This genre is deeply rooted in African American history. In the 19th century, the foundation on which it would be created emerged on Southern plantations through slaves, sharecroppers, etc. who worked in the fields. As time went on, the blues developed and emerged to become a way for African Americans to freely express their thoughts and feelings. The blues has since become a vital part of the African American heritage that has helped the musical world progress to what it is today.

As stated earlier, the blues has influenced many of the popular musical genres of today, but this paper will focus on its influence on jazz. The blues is without question one of jazzs most prominent influences. I believe that an article written by Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz accurately explains the relationship between blues and jazz accurately. It states: From the perspective of musical structure, jazz as we know it would not exist without the blues. The twelve-bar blues chorus, with its familiar harmonic structure and narrative form, was the single most popular template for early jazz improvisation, as compact yet profound in its way as the sonnet proved to be in the realm of poetry. (TMIJ 2013) Another possible aspect behind the blues and jazz relationship is that jazz is just an extension of the blues. After the Civil War ended, many soldiers returned home with instruments like trumpets or trombones in tow from their march music. With an influx in the number of these kinds of instruments everywhere, it was only a matter of time before someone tried playing the blues (which originally was only guitar and singing) on them. The music they created with these instruments came to be known as Ragtime jazz. It was just an imitation of the vocal styles of blues. Now that you know how the two musical forms are related and how jazz in general was created, Ill explain how Kansas City Jazz emerged. This form of jazz is known for having an evener heavier blues sound than other forms. While jazz originated in New Orleans around 1895, Kansas City jazz was born in the 1920s. When New

Orleans shut down Storyville, many of the musicians from that area moved to Kansas City since it had become the vice capital of the United States thanks to Tom Pendergast. At one time, Kansas City was the only Midwestern city that was able to keep up with the larger cities in the area of jazz development. In fact the jazz musicians of Kansas City were the few that were able to prosper during the Great Depression. During this time, the world of jazz prospered. The official debut of the Kansas City style of jazz happened in 1923 when Bennie Motens band cut their first record. This started a trend that would only spread from there. One distinguishing characteristic of Kansas City jazz was its heavy blues influence. Songs in this style were often based on the a 12-bar blues structure, rather than the 8-bar jazz standard. This only served to further blur the lines between jazz and blues. As Wald states in The Blue, much of the greatest jazz of the 1920s was unquestionably made by musicians who played a lot of blues and worked with a lot of blues singers. If asked, many artists in this time period would not have been able to decide whether they were primarily jazz or blues artists. Artist like Cotton Candy and Charlie Parker were knowing for playing blues and jazz.