All that jazz!

Current Events, Jan 11, 2002

It's hip. It's hop. It's cool. It's him. It's her. It's even you. To many musicians and fans, the beat of jazz is like the heartbeat of America. Jazz, an American musical form that is around the globe, is one of this country's greatest contributions to music. Jazz has roots in the southern United States-- growing out of plantation songs, the blues, and ragtime rhythms. Though the 1920s are considered the jazz age, jazz began to flourish in the 1800s, when musicians such as horn players Buddy Bolden began to improvise--create music on the spot--against a familiar melody Musicians such as trumpeter Louis Armstrong helped popularize the new musical form.

In 1932, bandleader Duke Ellington recorded the song "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing." Soon, fans nationwide were asking for swing, a type of jazz with a danceable beat. In the 1940s, musicians such as trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and saxophonist Charlie Parker started playing bebop, which was jazz with complicated chord patterns, solos, and melodies. Cool jazz followed, with musicians such as Miles Davis playing more subtle instrumental sounds and a more even beat. In the 1970s, fusion jazz combined older jazz styles with other musical forms, such as rock. As time went on, jazz welcomed new influences--such as computerized sound--and new generations. Writer Gerald Early said, "When [future generations] study our civilization two thousand years from now, there will only be three things that Americans will be known for: the Constitution, baseball, and jazz music."

LOS ANGELES, CALIF.

In 1935, Benny Goodman and his band were the first group to regularly feature black and white musicians together on a public stage.

ST. LOUIS, MO.

In the late 1890s, pre-jazz music called was made here.

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y.

During the 1920s, New York City became the jazz capital of the world.

NEW ORLEANS, LA.

This is the birthplace of jazz.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER

Jazz spread from New Orleans north to Chicago. Musicians, including trumpeter Louis Armstrong, played on riverboats traveling up and down the river.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]