Jazz is a form of musical art with origins in European and African musical cultures. It appeared in the late 19th – early 20th centuries as a result of a mixture of the culture of black slaves, drumming, and ritual rhythms of Africa, an admixture of solo and choral singing of churches and European culture. Thus, in jazz, improvisation, rhythm, and harmonious sound in minor and major are intertwined.
What makes jazz different from other musical genres? This genre has such characteristic features as swing, polyrhythms, and colorful timbre range.
Until now, the disputes of historians about the place of jazz origin have not found the final agreement. But most of them believe that New Orleans was the center of jazz music, so there is no doubt that jazz originated in the United States. Here, on February 26, 1917, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band recorded in the Victor studios their first record with jazz music.
At the beginning of the 20th century in the United States, namely in its southern states, musical ensembles called “jazz bands” gained popularity. They played various instruments such as trumpet, clarinet, trombone, banjo, tuba, double bass, drums, and piano and created original blues and ragtime improvisations, often inspired by European songs. In the 1920s, a harmonious system called “swing” emerged in jazz. As a result, a new type of orchestra, the big band, appeared, which led to a departure from collective improvisation and the emergence of recorded arrangements.
Not much time has passed since jazz has firmly established itself and found support from people, and so its various directions began to appear. One of the most common is unhurried blues music. The blues became the basis for the work of such outstanding artists as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.
Ragtime is another very popular trend in jazz music that emerged at the end of the 19th century. Romantic piano works by European composers acquired new shades and greater acceptance in the United States as interpreted by African-American performers. Their repertoire took on a more complex rhythm and intensity. Ragtime was a particularly popular music destination in St. Louis, Kansas City, and Texas. The most famous performer and composer of this genre, Scott Joplin, was born in this state. Among his hits is the ragtime Maple Leaf Rag, with which he often performed at the Maple Leaf club. Other ragtime songwriters and performers included Joseph Lamb and James Scott.
In the 1940s, a new style of bebop emerged that differed from other forms of jazz music with its fast melody, complex rhythms, and improvisation. The arrival of bebop marked the next revolution in jazz, as it was music intended to be listened to by a narrower circle of jazz lovers. Musicians began to use jazz as a form of self-expression. Famous performers in the bebop genre were Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, and musicians were Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Miles Davis, and others.
Beginning in 1950, jazz began to develop in two directions: on the one hand, adherents of classical jazz decided to return to traditional music and, pushing aside bebop, created their own jazz, characterized by emotional restraint; on the other hand, bebop continued to evolve. On this basis, hard bop arose, bringing back traditional folk intonations, clear rhythmic patterns, and improvisation. Together with it, styles such as soul-jazz and modal jazz became popular, which brought music as close to the blues as possible.
In the 1960s, Ornette Coleman, Wayne Shorter, Pat Metheny made their contributions to the development of new forms of jazz through various experiments. The result was jazz-rock and jazz-pop, combining two different styles, as well as free jazz. In subsequent years, jazz continued to develop intensively. New styles have emerged, including smooth jazz, acid jazz, jazz-funk, nu-jazz, dark jazz.
Jazz has become an integral part of the music industry, spreading across the globe. The popularity of jazz melodies has led to the creation of a huge number of ensembles performing them, as well as to the emergence of new directions of this genre of music. Today, lots of directions were established, among which the most popular are blues, soul, ragtime, swing, jazz-rock, symphonic jazz, as well as cool jazz, soft jazz, bossa nova, lounge jazz, and so on.
