Jazz In The 1920's

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The birth of Jazz was a significant musical and cultural event that took place in America in the early 1900’s. A perfect time and place in history to create a new style of music that would impact the entire world. To understand Jazz we must understand the hardships people were facing during this time. African-Americans were facing tremendous suppression in society and used their music as a way to cope with the reality they were facing. By using work songs, hymns, and chants they were able to keep faith and hope for a better life. This was the early forms of “blues” music and this would later evolve into Jazz. New Orleans was the birthplace where Jazz started to come alive and find its identity. At the time it was the perfect meeting ground…show more content…
It was a place where the blues, military bands, gospel, ragtime, and African music came together to create Jazz music. Music was a way for people to put cultural differences aside and share the love of Music. Later in the 1920’s Jazz began to grow and spread to other areas of the county. Places like New York, Chicago embraced the new Music and it gained popularity in dance clubs. Jazz became a way for people to go out to clubs, enjoy music and dance. This would lead to a style of Jazz known as the “Swing Era”. Swing was perfect for dancing because of its upbeat tempo and pulsing beat. It was also a time of hardship for the country dealing with wars and economic depression. Music was a way to keep the culture strong and unite us under the common bond of music. With the decline of the record industry due to financial hardships people looked to live entertainment to ease the reality of daily hardships. Certain artists were responsible for carrying Jazz to a new level of popularity and the one that emerged from the swing era was Louis Armstrong. His personality and musical style crossed the boundaries of Music and into culture and…show more content…
This became the most popular Music in the country. With the invention of the radio people had new ways of hearing music and could be exposed to music they never heard before. The advancement of technology allowed for instruments to be amplified in a band and be heard in a new way. Microphones gave the ability for singers to be heard over a band and record with horn players. The radio also gave Jazz the ability to be heard all over the country and become a way for young musicians to learn the art form of Jazz. During this time Jazz was the most popular music In the country and was having and impact on the culture. Once again war would threaten the future of Jazz and had an impact on the music. World War ll Big Band was struggling to stay relevant. A new form of soloist was emerging from the streets and Jazz was starting to expand harmonically. Improvisation became the foundation for Jazz and bebop began to come into view. Musicians like Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie became prominent musicians who evolved Jazz into a new harmonic state with fast chord changes and blistering solos. Musicians were now free to improvise freely for long periods of time instead of sticking to a traditional
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