Abstract The paper traces the history of jazz, beginning in the 1920's. It then focuses on the contributions of some of the most notable musicians and composers of the era.
From the Paper "Jazz music is many things to many people. It is the rhythmic beat of a swing band recreated by "Big Bad Voodoo Daddy," or the "Brian Setzer Orchestra." It is Louis Armstrong playing a sweet, soulful trumpet, or Duke Ellington playing the piano in a smoky club in Harlem. "That word jazz is ambitious. Not content with a peer's place in the dictionaries, it has shouldered its way into encyclopedias. Here is the definition given of it in Chambers' 'Encyclopedia': 'Jazz, dance music, generally syncopated, played by a band eccentrically composed. The jazz drummer, a sort of one-man band, provides the characteristic feature of jazz, which is noise. . . . The origin of the word is uncertain. The term has been applied also to noisy proceedings, to loud writing, to eccentric and discordant coloring'" (Osgood 10). Jazz came into the language and the hearts of the American people in the 1920s, and it has never left."
Abstract Jazz was created as a reaction to the African-Americans' need to create their own form of culture. This paper examines how jazz evolved from the black marching bands of New Orleans after the Civil War. The paper examines the history of jazz from the 1920s and 1930s until World War II.
From the Paper "As the decade progressed, the performance styles in all groups featured more written arrangements and placed increasing emphasis on solo performance. Representative of the many players who led the outburst of jazz virtuosity in the 1920s were Sidney Bechet, Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton, Coleman Hawkins, Armstrong, and James P. Johnson. Among the leaders in establishing the sound of the new big bands were Fletcher Henderson (with Don Redman, his arranger) and Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington. It was Henderson who developed the performance style that became known as swing, featuring call-and-response patterns between brass and reeds."
Abstract This paper explains that, with the closing of the Storyville seaports in New Orleans and increased discrimination in the south, numerous musicians began to venture to Chicago and New York with hopes of finding prosperity in their field of business--jazz. The author points out that, in Chicago, the four main styles of jazz were Boogie Woogie, Chicago Jazz, Society Jazz and Urban Blues and the major innovators were Bix Beiderbecke and Benny Goodman. The paper relates that, in New York's Harlem area, which did more for the Jazz age then any other town in the world, jazz flourished in the different styles of bands from big band to spasm bands and in innovators such as Paul Whiteman, James Reese Europe and Fletcher Henderson, which resulted in the Harlem Renaissance that opened the eyes and the mouths of African-American public.
From the Paper "Bandleader Paul Whiteman was another major New York Jazz figure of the era. He was especially famous for introducing jazz into the mainstream audience of the decade. Not only was he a great performer of the day, be he also gave back to the jazz community as an avid listener and audience member himself. For instance, Duke Willington stated, "no one could fault Whiteman for his generosity of spirit." In 1924, after finishing his evening at New York's Palais Royal, he would stop by around the corner at the Kentucky Club to soak up the sounds of Duke Ellington and his Club Serenaders."
