This is the first article in my The day the music died series on jazz and its influence on music culture over the last 100 years.
A brief history of jazz
Jazz is perhaps the most complex and long-standing musical style in history. From its roots with the African slaves over 200 years ago, the style encompasses over 20 different genres and has been subject to copious, and often arduous, research, particularly in recent years.
The style can be traced back to a merge of two distinct traditions: African tribal music concepts, and European instruments.
Early jazz (pre-1910)
In 1808 the African slaves brought strong tribal music traditions with them to the United States. These were primarily work songs or ritual chants—functional music. At the time, African music had no concept of harmony—this was introduced by the Europeans—instead focusing on a single-line melody and using the call-and-response pattern (often used in physical labor groups in the Deep South).
An interesting history note here is that African music strongly used pentatonic scales: rarely anything else. This led to one of the core concepts of jazz—blue notes.
It is unknown when the African Americans started using European instruments, however it could be as early as the late 1890s. This meld of African and European music is commonly accepted as the start of the jazz form. A key player in this was Buddy Bolden (King Bolden in jazz royalty)—an African American cornetist and bandleader whose music style and attitude greatly shaped the now-classic definition of the jazz style. In 1907, at the age of 30, he suffered an episode of alcoholic psychosis and was institutionalised for the remainder of his life. No known recordings of Bolden performing exist today.
Dixieland
The Dixieland style originated around the turn of the century in New Orleans and spread across the United States from about 1910. It takes elements from various previous styles (such as ragtime and blues) and merges them with polyphonic melodies and improvisation. It was perhaps the first formal jazz style because it made a clear distinction between the rhythm section and solo instruments—a key component of jazz.
The defining sound of Dixieland is created when a solo instrument plays a melody and the other instruments improvise around it. This gives a disjointed, ‘street corner’ style of playing—as opposed to the rehearsed, unison sound that is heard from a band or ensemble.
A recurring theme in Dixieland music is a march, where musicians walk through the streets playing their instruments. An example of this is a scene from the James Bond movie Live and Let Die, where some Dixieland musicians march down a street as part of a funeral procession.
Dixieland continued on through the 1920s, but by the swing era in the 30s, it had mostly died, with few performers still active. ### Roaring Twenties The 1920s in America saw a massive shift in the lifestyle and values of people following the end of World War I. This period is known as *The Jazz Age*, and is associated with a break in traditions in all parts of society, including music. There was no single defining feature of the Jazz Age, however two major styles appeared during the early 20s: solo performers (which was taken from Dixieland) and scat singing. Solo performers were made famous by [Louis Armstrong](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Armstrong) (or *Satchmo*, after his [embouchure](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embouchure)) who encouraged his band members to improvise short solos during performances. Armstrong is considered one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century, with his recognisable gravely voice and powerful trumpet playing. Two instruments that came to prominence during this era were the clarinet and saxophone, beginning with [Sidney Bechet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Bechet). Along with the trumpet, they often served as solo instruments during performances with the rest of the band as backing and fill. The Twenties also gave rise to a new element in many jazz performances: scat singing. Made famous by Louis' recording of *Heebie Jeebies* in 1926, scat singing is fast vocal improvisation with random words or sounds that are meaningless. It was used throughout the 20s by many different composers and bandleaders and was a key element of the swing style in the next decade. The Roaring Twenties ended with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression. ### The swinging 30s One of the most notable genres to be formed as part of the jazz style was swing. Formed at the start of the Great Depression in early 1930s by [Duke Ellington](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Ellington) (*The Duke*—a man who I consider to be the greatest jazz legend of all time), it was the dominant form of American music from 1935 to 1945. Made famous by many big band leaders (most famously the clarinetist [Benny Goodman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Goodman) and pianist [Count Basie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Basie)), the genre defines the rhythm section as the most important in the band, with free improvisation through solos. It is commonly recognised by its distinctive use of swung notes (as opposed to straight notes) to produce the feeling of a rhythmic [groove](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groove_\(music\)). Band sizes drastically increased during the swing period: some *big bands* had over 60 musicians. They were primarily made up of brass and woodwind, giving a very rich harmony and full sound. Unlike in previous jazz genres, percussion was considered one of the most important sections in the bands and rooted it as an integral part of any band. To this day, swing remains as one of the most recognisable genres in jazz.Above is the Glenn Miller Orchestra (commonly known as Glenn Miller and His Orchestra) playing the famous swing piece In The Mood (circa 1939), which has become one of the best-known arrangements of the big-band era. You can see Glenn Miller himself playing trombone from 0:31.
Avant-garde
The 1950s and 60s gave rise to a more experimental style of jazz. Saxophonists such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane increasingly used dissonance and atonality in their music, giving rise to the avant-garde genre.
New Orleans
New Orleans jazz (or New Orleans Traditional) was a 1960s revival of Dixieland from the turn of the century. It incorporated most of the original elements from its Dixieland roots, but brought new instruments from outside of the brass and woodwind families (such as string bass and guitar) that had populated jazz previously.
Today, the term ‘Dixieland’ is commonly used to mean New Orleans jazz, instead of the original Dixieland from 40 years previous.
Louis Armstrong made a reappearance in the New Orleans style of jazz, playing many famous Dixieland songs that were performed decades earlier. A well-known Dixieland song is Louis’ rendition of When The Saints Go Marching In (traditionally used as a funeral march). It serves as an example of how such a simple song can be ‘jazzed up’ and performed.
Modern jazz
By the 80s, the jazz style had disappeared from the limelight, and the once strong jazz community split, roughly into two groups. The first group retained the traditional style of jazz pioneered by Louis Armstrong and The Duke many years earlier.
In 1987, the United States House of Representatives and Senate passed a bill defining jazz as:
… a rare and valuable national American treasure to which we should devote our attention, support and resources to make certain it is preserved, understood and promulgated.
— the Honorable John Conyers Jr., passed by the 100th Congress of the United States of America.
Smooth jazz
The second group that split brought another genre of jazz to public attention: smooth jazz. While this genre can be traced back to at least the late 60s, it became the prominent genre during the 90s, and is still active today. This was helped by many radio stations beginning to play smooth jazz artists such as Kenny G, Dave Koz, and Grover Washington Jr. Smooth jazz features a strong saxophone melody (typically on a soprano) with electronic backing, such as guitar and synthesizers.
A defining feature of smooth jazz is to reinvent old jazz standards, incorporating new instruments that did not exist 40 years ago. One very famous example of this reinvention is Kenny G’s rendition of Summertime, an aria written by George Gershwin in 1935.
The future of jazz
Although the jazz community as a whole has shrunk considerably in the 21st century, some musicians still continue to perform, primarily in the smooth jazz, funk and fusion styles.