Jazz History
Lesson 1: The Advent of Jazz: the Dawn of the 20th Century
Lecture Notes
I.
II.
Introduction
A. Jazz grew out of the African-American community at the turn of the 20th century,
a time when they were being denied their basic rights
B. Music has since become a symbol of American individualism, ingenuity,
democracy and inclusiveness
New Orleans
A. Birthplace of Jazz
1. Most cosmopolitan city in the South
2. Was founded by the French and developed by the Spanish
3. Americans took it over as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803
a. Deal negotiated between Thomas Jefferson and Napoleon
Bonaparte
b. United States paid France $15 million for the territory
c. 828,000 square miles of land from Mississippi River to Rocky Mountains
and Gulf of Mexico to Canada
d. Became thirteen states and nearly doubled the size of the US
4. Prior to Civil War, city was famous for its opera house, two orchestras, and
Mardi Gras
5. Large port city – many people came and went at its wharves, bringing with
them their individual musical styles
a. African-Americans added emphasis on dance and percussion rhythms
that had originated in Africa
b. African-Americans also brought Latin rhythms from the Caribbean, as the
West Indies served as a stop along the slave route for many of their
ancestors
6. Creoles of Color
a. Term that referred to the light-skinned descendants of white slave
masters and their black mistresses
b. Enjoyed a special status in New Orleans, somewhere between the black
and white worlds
c. Creole musicians prided themselves on their formal training and often
looked down on the less-schooled African-Americans, calling them
“fakers” and “earmen”
d. During Reconstruction, Creoles held considerable political influence in
the city. However after the last federal troops were withdrawn in 1877,
they saw their power/influence steadily decline
i.
Reconstruction: 1865-1877
ii.
Era of rebuilding following the Civil War
iii.
Saw passage and ratification of 13th Amendment abolishing
slavery (1865), 14th Amendment granting ex-slaves citizenship
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(1868) and the 15th Amendment giving all citizens the right to vote
(1870)
7. Plessey vs. Ferguson
a. 1890 law required black and white train passengers to travel through the
state of Louisiana in different cars
b. In hopes of overturning this law and other segregation laws, a New
Orleans Creole (Homer Adolph Plessey) was arrested for refusing to leave
a white first-class car for which he had bought a ticket
c. Became the decision that decided that “separate but equal” facilities
were constitutional
d. Evolved into “Jim Crow” laws
i.
Derived from minstrel hit “Jump Jim Crow”, written and
performed in 1830 by a white man in black face make-up
ii.
Ridiculous and degrading character
iii.
Became a staple of the American minstrel show and became
synonymous term used for the systematic discrimination and
segregation in the South
e. Affected New Orleans music
i.
Negro Blood law – any traceable African blood labeled you as a
Negro
ii.
Creoles now classified as second class citizens
iii.
Forced to compete for work with the less well-trained black
musicians that they had once scorned
B. During this time of segregation and oppression, African-Americans added three
new ideas to the city’s musical mix
1. Ragtime
a. Outgrowth of African-American tradition of “ragging” – syncopating and
rearranging every kind of music to make it livelier and easier to dance to
b. Older people deplored it, younger people loved it
2. Blues
a. Black refugees were flooding into the city from rural cotton fields in
search of better paying jobs
b. Brought the blues with them
c. Began as vocal music with no strict structure, told of the trials of
everyday life
d. New Orleans musicians adopted this style and developed a 12-bar
structure that allowed for an infinite number of variations and expressed
many emotions
3. Black Holiness Churches
a. Sacred music
b. Musically same as the blues – built around same rhythms, blue note, and
structure
c. Both used call and response style
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III.
IV.
C. Sometime in the late 1890s, a handful of black musicians began to fuse all of
these musical ideas into something new - the result was something unique
D. Segregation in the South and specifically New Orleans did not prevent musicians
from learning from one another and from listening to all styles of music
Beyond New Orleans
A. Around 1910, musicians grew weary of segregation and began to move north in
search of a better life; took their new musical style with them
B. Phonograph
1. Invented in 1877 and popularized after World War I
2. Took jazz to all people around the country and all over the world
3. Turned jazz into a national sensation
4. Many older people thought that it was a little more than noise
C. New style of music began to be known as jazz
1. Originally a slang phrase that was unmentionable in proper society
2. Alternatively spelled jas, jass or jaz
3. Term is most likely Creole or West African in origin, possibly stemming from a
word meaning “energy” or “drive”
D. Many white Americans continued to resist jazz music
1. Seemed wild and rowdy
2. Had been invented by African-Americans (social stigma)
3. Argued that it was primitive and barbaric
4. Young white people (especially dancers) enjoyed the music
a. Some wanted to begin making the music themselves
b. African-American musicians welcomed them, no color barrier among the
musicians
E. Great Migration
1. By the end of the 1920s, many blacks were moving from the South and
arriving in Chicago everyday to flee the oppressive Jim Crow laws
2. Between 1917 and 1930, half a million African-Americans moved into
Chicago
3. South State Street in Chicago was built up with clubs featuring jazz music and
musicians - became known as the Stroll
Father of All to Come
A. In Chicago in the summer, crowds would gather at a place called Lincoln Gardens
to hear musicians play; the most famous performed with the Creole Jazz Band –
coronetists Joe “King” Oliver and his protégé, Louis Armstrong
1. Armstrong was born in 1901 in a poor New Orleans neighborhood that was
so violent that people called it the Battleground
2. His mother was a prostitute and he barely knew his father
3. At 12, he got into trouble with the law and received his first coronet lesson
while he was serving time in a home for troubled boys
4. His natural ability was impressive and by his teenage years, he was playing in
clubs in the city
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5. He spent three summers mastering his craft on the Mississippi steamboat
ships
6. Left New Orleans to go to Chicago and play with King Oliver. He was already
a legend in New Orleans
B. Armstrong and Oliver thrilled the audiences in Chicago
C. In 1924, accepted an initiation to New York City to perform in some of the best
known black clubs in all of America - he was about to launch a musical revolution
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