The Story of Jazz

The Beginning If someone wishes to understand the history of American music, they must start in a famous city on the gulf coast of Louisiana.  The city is New Orleans.  It is one of the oldest cities in the United States and is known for having a very diverse, multicultural heritage.  It is also, and most importantly for our purposes, the birthplace of jazz. 

Jazz Jazz, a form of music that is exclusively American, is an interesting art form.  It is both the result of many ingredients coming together, and the starting point for a century of musical exploration.  Jazz can be traced back to slave songs and marching band music.  It’s story can be followed to the beginning of rock and roll music, as well as R&B (rhythm and blues). 

The Sources of the Music No one invented Jazz.  It happened the same way that foods, languages, stories, and clothing styles come to be.  Groups of people came together under many different circumstances, for many different reasons, and they brought their culture with them.  Like everything else in culture, music blends, taking on some of the characteristics of all of the separate parts. 

A Metaphor Gumbo The pot is what gumbo is made in.  The Pot is New Orleans. Gumbo is a Creole dish, kind of like soup, which is popular in the southern United States.  It has many ingredients and can be made many different ways. Gumbo is like jazz music.  We will be using gumbo as a metaphor (or a comparison of two seemingly different things) to help understand how ingredients came together to form Jazz.    

Part 1 The Mixing of Ingredients Jazz all started as a result of the great mix of people coming to live in New Orleans in the 1700s and 1800s. Those people brought with them the ingredients that were to become Jazz. They came from all over the world.

European Culture and The Military March Europeans came, bringing their European culture. Their culture included folk music and classical music. One important example of European music that was to influence jazz was the Military march. These marches were intended to keep soldiers marching in step with each other. This music had been around in Europe for centuries.

African Culture and Syncopation The Europeans also brought Africans to New Orleans as slaves. The slaves introduced African culture to New Orleans. Their culture included music that was full of complex rhythms. These rhythms contained something called Syncopation, or louder notes played off of the beat of the music. It was not found as often in European music.

Part 1 - Terms European Culture – The languages, music, food, and ideas that the Europeans brought with them when they settled in America. Military Marches – Steady music used by military bands to keep soldiers marching together. African Culture – The languages, music, food, and ideas that the Africans brought with them when they were brought to America. Syncopation – When accented or loud notes are played off the beat of the music instead of on the beat.

Part 2 The Minstrel Song The blend of the European and African cultures resulted in tension, injustice, and later on, a bit of an understanding of each other. New forms of art that would not have existed otherwise were born as both peoples found ways to make living together possible. One example is the Minstrel song, a type of humorous song in which people of European and African heritage can laugh at each other and begin to define who they are in relation to each other.

Video – Minstrel Songs (3 min.) Click on video to play.

Camptown Races Steven Foster (1850) De Camptown ladies sing dis song Doo-dah! doo-dah! De Camp-town race-track five miles long Oh! doo-dah day! I come down dah wid my hat caved in I go back home wid a pocket full of tin Gwine to run all night! Gwine to run all day! I'll bet my money on de bob-tail nag Somebody bet on de bay.

Ragtime Their different musical styles blended as well. European military marches, if combined with a bit of syncopation from African rhythms, can easily become Ragtime. Listen: “Maple Leaf Rag”, written by Scott Joplin 

“Cotton Needs Plowing” Worksongs Over many years in America, slaves created their own styles of music to help them cope with injustice they had to face. One style came from the rhythm of their work, simply called Worksongs. This music was a rhythmic chanting type of music used to help pass the time and keep slaves working at the same speed. “Cotton Needs Plowing” Listen 

Spirituals The second kind of music came from the Christian religion that many slaves adopted in America. These types of songs are called Spirituals. They were meant to be sung only in church. “Battle Ax” Listen 

The Blues The last and maybe the most important style for the creation of jazz is a type of music that the descendants of slaves used to express and release their frustration with their hardships in life. This music is called the Blues. Blues music consists of repeating sections that are 12-measures long, having lyrics in which the first line repeats twice while the second line rhymes with it. Listen to Bessie Smith sing “Backwater blues” about a time when it rained so much there was a flood in her town.

Backwater Blues (Bessie Smith) When it rains five days and the skies turn dark as night Then trouble's takin' place in the lowlands at night I woke up this mornin', can't even get out of my door There's been enough trouble to make a poor girl wonder where she want to go Then they rowed a little boat about five miles 'cross the pond I packed all my clothes, throwed them in and they rowed me along When it thunders and lightnin' and the wind begins to blow There's thousands of people ain't got no place to go Then I went and stood upon some high old lonesome hill Then looked down on the house where I used to live Backwater blues done call me to pack my things and go 'Cause my house fell down and I can't live there no more Mmm, I can't move no more There ain't no place for a poor old girl to go Listen 

Part 2 Terms Minstrel Songs – Early American songs from the 1800s that represented and blended both African and European culture. Ragtime – type of music created by making marches syncopated. Work songs – Music sung by slaves while working to keep the rhythm and pass the time. Spirituals – Religious music sung by African Americans in the southern churches. The Blues – A style of music sung by slaves and descendants of slaves to express their feelings of sadness and frustration.

Jazz Gumbo Ingredients Chart From Europe From Africa From America _____________ ___________ ____________ ____________ Jazz Gumbo

Jazz Gumbo Ingredients Chart From Europe From Africa From America European culture Military Marches African Culture Syncopation Spirituals The Blues Work songs Minstrel Songs Ragtime Jazz Gumbo