Why is jazz uniquely american

At its infancy , jazz contained elements of Ragtime, marching band music, and the Blues. Over the coming decades, this native-born form of musical expression evolved into swing, bebop, hard bop, cool jazz, fusion, smooth jazz and contemporary.

Truly, the wide-ranging sounds of jazz capture the dynamic complexity of the American experience. Those are just some of the reasons that jazz is a great art form, and why some people consider it "America's classical music.

Jazz developed in the United States in the very early part of the 20th century. New Orleans, near the mouth of the Mississippi River, played a key role in this development.

The city's population was more diverse than anywhere else in the South, and people of African, French, Caribbean, Italian, German, Mexican, and American Indian, as well as English, descent interacted with one another.

African-American musical traditions mixed with others and gradually jazz emerged from a blend of ragtime, marches, blues, and other kinds of music. At first jazz was mostly for dancing. In later years, people would sit and listen to it. After the first recordings of jazz were made in , the music spread widely and developed rapidly.

Jazz developed a series of different styles including traditional jazz, swing listen, for example, to Benny Carter, who got his start in swing music, in Benny's Music Class bebop, cool jazz, and jazz? Most of these early, often nameless, musicians were Black. The inventive musicians would take a piece of metal or glass and massaged their guitar strings bending the notes, flattening the thirds, which evolved into the Blues. In fact, the Blues, in turn, served as the foundation for Jazz. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

All rights reserved About Us.