Ever wondered what is jazz, what is its history and who were the greatest representatives of this style of music. In this publication in which you find yourself, we are going to solve all the doubts you have about this musical genre from the end of the XNUMXth century.
He was born in the United States, and has been a very influential genre in popular music years ago and even today. There are many who believe that this term comes from the jargon used by athletes on the west coast. On the other hand, for others the word jazz has African roots related to the sexual act.
jazz is a mixture of different African American and North American sounds and rhythms. It is considered one of the most famous and influential musical styles in the world for other musical genres. If you are a lover of this type of music, as well as others, but you are interested in the history that is born around these genres, you will like this publication.
What is jazz: origin and concept
The Jazz, emerged in the nineteenth century as a new musical genre originating in the southern state of the United States, Mississippi. This genre has its origin thanks to the union of different Afro-American melodies and rhythms.
Emphasize that the musical identity of this style is complex, so it cannot be easily defined. It is true, as we have just said, that it is the result of Afro-American culture, but It has also been influenced by other cultures and musical genres.
The beginning of this new musical style occurs when the slaves of African origin residing in the southern parts of the United States, begin to express their customs and traditions by using different instruments like him too and accompanying him with songs.
The songs they performed were their way to express their dissatisfaction with the situation of slavery that many of them lived at that time. In many of their rituals, the slaves took off their shoes and sang to keep the collective memory alive.
Source: https://es.wikipedia.org/
Because of a ban on these activities, the slaves seek to manifest themselves in another way using their palms and the beating of their feet, such as percussion elements to create your music and enjoy your customs. This restriction that we are talking about was not applied in the well-known Place Congo in New Orleans. In this place, there were many slaves who freely met to sing, dance and play handmade percussion instruments.
The African melodies, the use of instruments, the harmonies and the phrasing were the main aspects that established the foundations of jazz at that time and which paved the way for the first notes of blues to begin to appear. The search for your own sound is the starting point to achieve these bases mentioned.
When slaves obtained their freedom, they could not only enjoy their rights, but thanks to this new musical styles appeared such as ragtime that are known as the antecedents of the jazz that we all know today.
Evolution of jazz, from 1910 to 1950
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/
Two musical genres are known to pave the way for jazz. The first of them is known as dixieland, which emerged in 1910 and was performed by groups in which three basic instruments were played such as the tuba, trumpet and saxophone. In addition to these three, they were also often accompanied by drums, bass, trombone and on certain occasions the clarinet.
Another of the genres that will pave the way is the one we mentioned in the previous section, ragtime whose main figure was Scott Joplin. This genre we're talking about, it mixed accents and syncopations that were later performed by pianists.
At Lóleo Eventos, great city of st louis, located in Missouri, it was customary accompany funerals with a music band. Slow, paused melodies were played with a soft and sad tone when accompanying the coffin to the cemetery. When he turned around, the music changed to a more cheerful style making people dance, sing and their mood totally changed.
These gangs, began to gain popularity among other very different sectors such as brothels where they started playing their music. Years later, in 1917, the decision was made to close the brothel neighborhood in Storyville where these bands played.
This caused the emigration of all these musicians to Chicago and New York where they settled in more prestigious clubs, many of them owned by the mafia. With these lived events, the expansion of the musical genre of jazz begins.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/
The jazz that was performed at this time was characterized by rhythmic pulsation on downbeats. This concept refers to a succession of beats that are constantly repeated, which causes time to be divided into equal parts. Rhythmic accents shift to the second and fourth beats.
In 40s, jazz is already recognized and appreciated in many parts of the world. The fall of the swing bands gives way to a completely different new musical style such as BeBop in 1941. Dizzy Gillespie is one of the leaders of this new musical style. Thanks to his handling and trumpet sound, the characteristics of this new musical language are revealed.
Another of the pioneering figures of BeBop is Charlie Parker, who introduced a new way and language of improvisation with an emotional style totally unknown and surprising for those who listened to him.
In 1948, a new movement was born, the cool. This new style was directly related to the previous one, BeBop. Cool jazz was very popular with white musicians like Lennie Tristano, but it was clearly popular with black musicians as well. At this time many important names appear in the history of jazz such as Gunther Schuller, Bob Graettinger or Gil Evans.
Evolution of jazz, from 1960 to the present
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Free jazz was born in 1960 under multiple criticisms by not only the public but professionals in the sector qualifying this new style as not music. Over the years, this style has influenced more and more people, especially young jazz musicians.
about the years 1965, free jazz becomes a way of expression for musicians on different themes. Two years later, a recession begins to emerge regarding this style, free jazz.
In this musical trend in 1970, followed by the so-called Electric Jazz which made use of electronic music influenced by the rock genre. This experimentation of rock groups with jazz music later gave rise to new musical styles.
At this stage in history, jazz musicians merged this genre with other musical cultures giving rise to new substyles such as jazz rock, flamenco jazz, Latin jazz, etc. This period is characterized by the fusion of styles.
In In the 80s, the greatest fall in jazz music began, caused by the different fusions that have occurred over the years. This resulted in this musical genre completely moving away from its origins, giving rise to a great crisis. With the arrival of neo-traditionalism, jazz underwent a series of important changes claiming to return to the origins and purity of style.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/
Jazz, in the 90s coexists with different musical genres such as pop, rock, grunge, etc. The revolution caused by the main jazz musicians of this stage revealed the various techniques they used for improvisation. These techniques were collected from different influences, which later merged without limits.
Not just in New York City great jazz artists appeared, but many more emerged beyond its borders. He reworked concepts established by different generations of jazz musicians.
Electronic music and the revolution it brought with it directly influenced the development of jazz. Thanks to this revolution, they begin to appear new improvisers who come from traditional free jazz but bring in turn influences of the classical avant-gardes of electronic music.
At Lóleo Eventos, Currently, there are many artists who have developed the jazz rap substyle such as Kanye West, Hocus Pocus, Madlib, among others.
Outstanding representatives of jazz
In this section, we will name some of the most important jazz figures in the world, honoring this musical style that for many is considered a tool with which to build inclusive societies.
Duke Ellington
Source: https://lacarnemagazine.com/
One of the greatest jazz legends in the world. Composer, pianist and conductor. He highlights his large number of musical pieces of this style, more than two thousand among which Jeeps Blues stands out.
Charlie Parker
Source: https://www.elconfidencial.com/
With more than sixty compositions and more than one hundred records, the saxophonist and composer Charlie Parker is recognized as one of the best jazz performers.
Charles Mingus
Source: https://www.pinterest.es/
Activist against racism, composer, pianist and double bass player. He has more than 20 record productions that take jazz to be heard around the world.
Ella Fitzgerald
Source: https://www.rtve.es/
This woman made a ten productions and in addition, he recorded with different artists of the level of Duke Ellington and Count Basie.
Nina Simone
Source: https://www.rtve.es/
Singer, composer and pianist of different musical styles such as jazz, blues rhythm and soul. Defender of the rights of the black population. She leaves North America to move to Europe.
Miles Davis
Source: https://es.wikipedia.org/
Jazz trumpeter and composer. Member of the local group Eddie Randle's Blue Devil's. I stand out musically for the modification I made of the trumpet tones.
Dizzy gillespie
Source: httpses.wikipedia.org
With an outstanding musical career, we bring you this representative of jazz music. Trumpeter, singer and composer of this musical style that he worked with Charlie Parker. He is one of the North American pioneers in joining the Afro-Cuban jazz movement.
Louis Armstrong
Source: https://www.esquire.com/
Internationally consecrated figure as a trumpeter and singer with a great influence on the history and evolution of jazz.
The virtues that the musical genre of jazz brings together have been recognized by the UN as a movement for unity, dialogue and work between different peoples and races.