A History of Jazz

Born through oppression, jazz has transformed from the music of slaves to the
figurehead of 1940s music and finally to the broad, somewhat strange and
ambiguous, genre it is today. Throughout its lifetime jazz has evolved and
manifested itself into many incarnations, this essay hopes to shed light on its inner
workings, countless lives, and to truly show the history of jazz.

Origins
By 1808 the Atlantic slave trade had brought almost half a million Sub-Saharan
Africans to the United States. The slaves largely came from West Africa and the
greater Congo River basin. And with them, they brought their music. The rhythms
had a counter-metric structure, and almost mimicked African speech patterns.
African music was very functional, being used in rituals and ceremonies. Because of
this its music is synonymous with having one line melodies and call and response
patterns, elements still used in some jazz today.
Another influence came from black slaves who had learned the harmonic style of
hymns of the church, and incorporated it into their own music.
Festivals featuring African-based dances and accompanying drums were organized
on Sundays at Place Congo, or Congo Square, in New Orleans until 1843. There are
historical accounts of other music and dance gatherings elsewhere in the southern
United States.

Blues
Born in the South, the blues is an African American-derived music form that
Recognized the pain of lost love and injustice and gave expression to the victory
of outlasting a broken heart and facing down adversity
The blues evolved from hymns, work songs, and field hollers. Blues is the foundation
of jazz as well as the prime source of rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll, and country
music. The blues is still evolving and is still widely played today.

Louis Armstrong
"Through his clear, warm sound, unbelievable sense of swing, perfect grasp of
harmony, and supremely intelligent and melodic improvisations, he taught us all to
play jazz." - Wynton Marsalis

Louis Armstrong was one of the most influential artists in the history of jazz music.
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 4, 1901, he began playing the cornet at
the age of 13. Armstrong just about created the improvised jazz solo as we know it.
Before Armstrong, the only style of jazz being played way Dixieland . This was a
style that featured collective improvisation where everyone soloed at once.
Armstrong developed the idea of musicians playing during breaks. This eventually
led to the creation of musicians playing their own solos. Known as "Pops" and
"Satchmo," Louis was loved and admired throughout the world. He died in New York
City on July 6, 1971.

Swing
Swing as a jazz style first appeared during the Great Depression (1930s). The
optimistic feeling of swing lifted the spirits of everyone in America.
Swing creates strong rhythm with the use of, double bass and drums, brass
instruments such as trumpets and trombones, woodwinds including saxophones and
clarinets, and sometimes stringed instruments such as violin and guitar, medium to
fast tempos, and a "lilting" swing time rhythm.
In the late-1980s (into the early 1990s) a trendier, more urban-styled swing style
emerged called the New Jack Swing spearheaded by Teddy Riley and Bernard
Belle. The fusion genre became popular by using the hip-hop "swing" beats created
by the drum machine, and hardware samples. This new yet old style was the
definitive sound of the Black New York club scene during the golden age of hip hop

Ragtime
Ragtime is a sub-group of jazz music genre that enjoyed its peak popularity between
1895 and 1918.Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It
began as dance music in the red-light districts of African American communities in
St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published as popular sheet music for
piano. Ernest Hogan was an innovator and key pioneer who helped develop the
musical genre, and is credited with coining the term ragtime.