Jazz

     Jazz originated in black communities in the early 20^th century. It had African and European music roots. During the time that black musicians were developing a style of music that incorporated a lot of improvisation that became known as jazz there was still a lot of discrimination especially in the south.   

     New Orleans was the area where many of the jazz musicians practiced their craft but black musicians had no access to recording studios there so much of the early jazz sounds were not preserved. In big cities in the north discrimination wasn’t quite as blatant and black performers were able to use recording studios so it was only after jazz had become more widespread that it began to get recorded.

     Jazz is a combination of influences from African tribal music with drumbeats and call and response patterns along with the introduction of European instruments like trumpet and violin. Jazz is fluid music that often seems to combine bits of blues and spirituals.

     When Dr. Martin Luther King spoke on jazz in 1964 at the Berlin Jazz Festival he said that jazz is “triumphant music” and that “Much of the power of our Freedom Movement in the United States has come from this music.” 

     I think that Dr. King's address is a really good explanation of the importance of jazz.

To read the rest of his opening address go to:

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/626.html

 Other websites cited:

 http://www.jazzonthetube.com/where-did-jazz-come-from.html

http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/zaire/721/history/intro.htm