History Of Jazz Jazz has a rich history of over 100 years. The musical genre has changed a great deal since its inception in the late 1800s from ragtime to swing to bebop and more. At The Oundle School of Ballet , we offer modern jazz dance classes . As the most popular genre for musical theatre it is a great place to start with dance. The history of jazz is important to keep in mind, however.
The history of jazz tells us a lot about how both music and societal values progressed. This includes the fact that the music came from the merging of European and West African musical traditions and the instruments used in the beginning were popularised because they were easy to purchase from pawnshops after the American Civil War.
New Orleans In The Late 1800s A vague and disputed historical timeline, most agree that the history of Jazz begins in New Orleans in the late 1800s . A cosmopolitan city where West African musical traditions were mixing with European harmonic musical structures.
With the technology for recording music improving, artists such as Scott Joplin, WC Handy and Jelly Roll Morton began experimenting with this new sound. They used old military instruments from pawn shops and popularised ragtime, blues and jazz.
The Swing Era The soloist performances of Louis Armstrong and others were overtaken in popularity in the swing-era between 1935 and 1946 by larger bands. Consisting of approximately 18 musicians, these bands brought swing to the mainstream during this period of the history of jazz.
During this time Benny Goodman performed with the first racially integrated band in 1938. This mainstream integration of bands did a lot to promote progressive thought on racial equality.
Bebop Bebop indicates an important shift in style for jazz. The music became faster and more technically complicated which moved the audiences from dance floors to smoky bars where the audience sat down. In the early 1940s, a split began between the art music of this new jazz style and music with more focus on the vocalist than the musicians.
Hard Bop Hard bop is a mixture of bebop jazz with R&B, Gospel and Blues influences. It came out of another shift in the late 1940s when cool jazz became more popular than bebop as it was a return to musical bands rather than soloists.
Hard bop is generally the recognised jazz style we think of today however the shifts and changes that shaped the genre in the history of jazz are important to remember.
Get In Touch Join us for modern jazz dance classes at The Oundle School of Ballet in Peterborough. Contact us today on 01832 272 981 for more details or fill in our online contact form .
