A Brief History of Jazz

1. A Brief History of Jazz Matthew Streit April 27, 2008

2. The Origins of Jazz in America • African slaves in the American South began using European musical instruments in the early 19th century • They incorporated their tribal musical traditions with European minstrel performances

3. Ragtime and “Dixie” Music • Scott Joplin and others popularized Ragtime music in the late 19th century and early 20th century • Along with Ragtime, southern “Dixie” music created many of the foundations for what would later be called Jazz

4. Swing and the Big Bands • Jazz music became more popular in the 1920s and 1930s with the rise of Swing music and the big band orchestras • Many of Jazz’s pioneers (Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald) were making influential music at this time

5. Bebop breaks the mold • Jazz’s popularity continued to grow in the 1940s, but a counter jazz movement (called Bebop) influenced what was to come later in Jazz music • Musicians like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie led the Bebop movement

6. Miles Davis and Cool Jazz • Miles Davis broke from his early Bebop days and started a new Jazz movement (“Cool Jazz”) in the 1950s and 1960s • This period had the peak and the start of the decline of Jazz’s popularity (Rock ‘n Roll was rising at this time)

7. Jazz moves to the fringe • From the 1970s to today, Jazz music has lost a lot of its popularity • Experimental artists like Ornette Coleman and the Free Jazz movement were not popular with mainstream listeners • Ken Burns’ documentary on Jazz brought back some of the interest in this genre