http://www.historyjazz.

com/

Everyone loves the music, but not everyone knows what “jazz”
means…

Early jazzmen said "to jazz" was to fornicate, while a "jazzbow"

was considered to mean a lover of the ladies. Many literary
scholars argue that the term “jazz” originated in the jargon of
Chaucer and Shakespeare. While musician and songwriter
Clarence Williams takes credit for the term by declaring that he
was the first to ever use the word “jazz” in a song.

Referred to as “America’s classical music,” jazz is one of North

America’s oldest and most celebrated musical genres.

The history of jazz can be traced back to the Unites States in

the early part of the 20th century. From Ragtime and Blues to
Big Band and Bebop, jazz has been a part of a proud African
American tradition for over 100 years.

A strong rhythmic under-structure, blue notes, solos, “call-and

response” patterns, and improvisation of melody all
characterize jazz music. Throughout the history of jazz, these
characteristics have worked together in establishing an
inventive style and musical genius.

Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and Billie Holiday are examples

of some of the most celebrated jazz musicians of America’s
past. These and many other famed musicians throughout the
history of jazz have not only inspired modern musicians, but
have also instilled modern music lovers with an appreciation
for musical history.

The history of jazz has its roots firmly planted in the American
cities of New Orleans, Chicago, and New York City. And the
musical tradition within these cities still lives on today. See a
detailed listing of the most prominent jazz clubs within these
renowned jazz cities.

1700s – Music has always played an important role in African

American culture. The roots of jazz can be traced back to the
times of slavery where slave work songs were created in the form
of “call-and-response.” To tell a story, and pass the time, a song
leader would call out a line and the rest of the workers would
resond to his call.

Soulful songs called “spirituals” were also sung by slaves. These

expressed their strong religious beliefs as well as their desire for
freedom.
Elements of both work songs and spirituals are a part of the
foundation of jazz.

1800s – During this era, America became known as the “land of

opportunity.” Many Europeans immigrated to different American
cities in search of fortune and a better life. With these immigrants
came a variety of musical traditions as well, such as Irish gigs,
German waltzes, and French quadrilles.

The African American composer Scott Joplin combined these

newly introduced European compositional styles with the
rhythmic and melodic music of the black community. This
became known as "ragtime."

1900s – New Orleans played a great role in the evolution of jazz

music in the 20th century. At this time, the people of New
Orleans hailed from many different cultures. As new settlers
arrived in New Orleans, musical traditions from all over the world
began to unite. African American musicians merged European
musical tradition with such music as blues, ragtime, and
marching band to create a new style of music—jazz.

1920s – African Americans began migrating to northern cities

like Chicago and New York in search of better opportunity. With
them, they brought the sounds of jazz and blues. Young
Americans began to embrace this new style of music by listening
and dancing to jazz and blues. This represented a rebellion
against their parent’s old-fashioned views. Young women, known
as "flappers," shocked their parents by cutting their hair and
wearing shorter dresses.

For the first time radios and record players were widely available
in stores. This encouraged the popularity and growth of jazz
music. Jazz went from being played only in New Orleans to
becoming a staple of the American airwaves, dance halls, and
homes.

1930s – A new style of jazz, "big band swing," emerged. This

became the most popular music of the 1930s and 40s. Because
of its highly energetic beat, swing music brought people to the
dance floor every night.

1940s – Many jazz musicians were drafted to fight in World War

II. A million African Americans served in the armed forces all
because of the strict segregation that pervaded throughout the
era. Because of this, bands were experiencing difficulties in
finding musicians to perform in the dance halls.
1950s – Americans began to turn to television as their source of
entertainment, and music began to play a less important role. As
a result, dance halls began to close all across the country.

Rock ‘n roll was introduced through the variety shows on

television, and musicians such as Elvis Presley quickly became
the sensation for American teenagers.

1960s – The civil rights movement also had an impact on jazz

and the jazz music scene. African American jazz artists had long
resented the white owned record companies and clubs that
controlled their income. Some artists wanted to break away from
these establishments and control their own music.

1970s – Present - Throughout the rest of the 20th century, jazz

continued to evolve and take on new forms. The 1970’s saw the
popularity of fusion; the 1980’s are known for acid jazz and its
return to classic blues; the 1990’s introduced smooth jazz and retro
swing.

The Blues – This style also had an important influence on the

development of jazz. Blues songs are a part of a vocal tradition
that expresses the emotions of the African Americans of the early
20th century. Usually blues vocalists sang with the instrumental
accompaniment of guitar, piano, and harmonica.

Important blues musicians of the early twentieth century include Ma

Rainey, Bessie Smith, and W.C. Handy.
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=18724

A Brief History of the Blues

Published: August 16, 2005

When you think of the blues, you think about misfortune, betrayal and
regret. You lose your job, you get the blues. Your mate falls out of love
with you, you get the blues. Your dog dies, you get the blues.

While blues lyrics often deal with personal adversity, the music itself goes
far beyond self-pity. The blues is also about overcoming hard luck, saying
what you feel, ridding yourself of frustration, letting your hair down, and
simply having fun. The best blues is visceral, cathartic, and starkly
emotional. From unbridled joy to deep sadness, no form of music
communicates more genuine emotion.

The blues has deep roots in American history, particularly African-

American history. The blues originated on Southern plantations in the
19th Century. Its inventors were slaves, ex-slaves and the descendants of
slaves - African-American sharecroppers who sang as they toiled in the
cotton and vegetable fields. It's generally accepted that the music evolved
from African spirituals, African chants, work songs, field hollers, rural fife
and drum music, revivalist hymns, and country dance music.

The blues grew up in the Mississippi Delta just upriver from New Orleans,
the birthplace of jazz. Blues and jazz have always influenced each other,
and they still interact in countless ways today.

Unlike jazz, the blues didn't spread out significantly from the South to the
Midwest until the 1930s and '40s. Once the Delta blues made their way up
the Mississippi to urban areas, the music evolved into electrified Chicago
blues, other regional blues styles, and various jazz-blues hybrids. A
decade or so later the blues gave birth to rhythm 'n blues and rock 'n roll.
No single person invented the blues, but many people claimed to have
discovered the genre. For instance, minstrel show bandleader W.C. Handy
insisted that the blues were revealed to him in 1903 by an itinerant street
guitarist at a train station in Tutwiler, Mississippi.

During the middle to late 1800s, the Deep South was home to hundreds
of seminal bluesmen who helped to shape the music. Unfortunately, much
of this original music followed these sharecroppers to their graves. But the
legacy of these earliest blues pioneers can still be heard in 1920s and '30s
recordings from Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia and other Southern
states. This music is not very far removed from the field hollers and work
songs of the slaves and sharecroppers. Many of the earliest blues
musicians incorporated the blues into a wider repertoire that included
traditional folk songs, vaudeville music, and minstrel tunes.

Without getting too technical, most blues music is comprised of 12 bars

(or measures). A specific series of notes is also utilized in the blues. The
individual parts of this scale are known as the blue notes.
Well-known blues pioneers from the 1920s such as Son House, Blind
Lemon Jefferson, Leadbelly, Charlie Patton and Robert Johnson
usually performed solo with just a guitar. Occasionally they teamed up
with one or more fellow bluesmen to perform in the plantation camps,
rural juke joints, and rambling shacks of the Deep South. Blues bands
may have evolved from early jazz bands, gospel choirs and jug bands. Jug
band music was popular in the South until the 1930s. Early jug bands
variously featured jugs, guitars, mandolins, banjos, kazoos, stringed
basses, harmonicas, fiddles, washboards and other everyday appliances
converted into crude instruments.

When the country blues moved to the cities and other locales, it took on
various regional characteristics. Hence the St. Louis blues, the Memphis
blues, the Louisiana blues, etc. Chicago bluesmen such as John Lee
Hooker and Muddy Waters were the first to electrify the blues and add
drums and piano in the late 1940s.
Today there are many different shades of the blues. Forms include:
• Traditional county blues - A general term that describes the rural
blues of the Mississippi Delta, the Piedmont and other rural locales;
• Jump blues - A danceable amalgam of swing and blues and a
precursor to R&B. Jump blues was pioneered by Louis Jordan;
• Boogie-woogie - A piano-based blues popularized by Meade Lux
Lewis, Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson, and derived from
barrelhouse and ragtime;
• Chicago blues - Delta blues electrified;
• Cool blues- A sophisticated piano-based form that owes much to
jazz;
• West Coast blues - Popularized mainly by Texas musicians who
moved to California. West Coast blues is heavily influenced by the
swing beat.
• The Texas blues, Memphis blues, and St. Louis blues consist of
a wide variety of subgenres. Louisiana blues is characterized by a
swampy guitar or harmonica sound with lots of echo, while Kansas
City blues is jazz oriented - think Count Basie. There is also the
British blues, a rock-blues hybrid pioneered by John Mayall, Peter
Green and Eric Clapton. New Orleans blues is largely piano-
based, with the exception of some talented guitarists such as Guitar
Slim and Snooks Eaglin. And most people are familiar with blues
rock.
http://www.hypermusic.ca/jazz/blues.html

The Blues
(1900s-1920s)

Like ragtime, the blues was an important influence on the

development of jazz. A highly expressive, predominantly
vocal tradition, blues songs expressed the stories and
emotions of African-Americans at the beginning of the
20th century. The blues were not only a type of music, but
a state of mind and way of life for many African-Americans
during this time.

A blues songs usually includes words which form a three-

line stanze. The first line is sung twice, the third rhymes
with the first two (aab form). The melody is performed over
a 12-bar chord progression consisting of three chords built
on the 1st, 4th, and 5th notes of the major scale. These
three chords are referred to by the Roman numerals I, IV,
and V. The distinct sound of the blues melody is in large
part due to the use of notes outside the major scale, called
"blue notes."

Usually blues vocalists accompanied themselves on the

guitar or sang with instrumental accompaniment of guitar,
piano, harmonica, or sometimes homemade instruments.
Blues performed on the trumpet or saxophone, for
example, often imitate the vocal effects of blues singers by
bending pitches, rasping, and recreating the growl of the
voice.

Important blues musicians of the early twentieth century

include Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and W.C. Handy.