Jazz

In those days of the slaves’ freedom, in the 1890s to the 1910s, they were under strict segregation and their movement was thus restricted. They could only gain employment in certain low class areas. They began to play for dances, open air shows, clubs and brothels. Some also formed marching bands. One place which was the hub of all such activities was New Orleans. New Orleans is by and large considered as the birthplace of jazz music. It provided so many advantages to the black musicians that they were naturally drawn to the place. Geographically, New Orleans was found right at the end of the Mississippi River. In this way, access into it was very easy. People could also easily leave the city to carry out their music. Since the Mississippi River ran past several slave states, all these people were drawn into the city. New Orleans, a busy place of trading, was the gateway into the Caribbean, and thus was a veritable melting pot for all sorts of people. Another very interesting thing about the city is that it used to pay allegiance to both France and Spain before it did the USA. As one can imagine, different ethnic groups existed in New Orleans by virtue if this. Of course, each ethnic group brings to the city its own influence and flavor. All these features and more made New Orleans the perfect place for the development of a genre like jazz.

As with most wonderful things in this world, the road leading to the establishment of jazz isn’t an all-rosy one. One of the most important factors leading to the formation of jazz is a not entirely pleasant one. The men of New Orleans who had French or Spanish roots, known as Creoles, had a custom which made it acceptable for them to keep mistresses. These creoles were known to be quite educated and provided very well for their children. They supported the cultural and musical beauty of the city. These Creoles mostly went in for women of mixed race who were light skinned. At first, children resulting from such a union were generally accepted into the white community because of their Creole and light skinned parents. They thus had the same rights and privileges. However, around the year 1894 a law was passed in Louisiana that said that anyone with African blood was a Negro, and thus could not enjoy the same rights and privileges as the whites. This resulted in the Afro-Creoles being pushed out of the white community. They thus became a part of the black society. This was a very important happening in the creation of jazz.

Even before the emancipation of slaves, those who escaped would run to New Orleans to sing and dance in a place known as the Congo Square. Thus, New Orleans at the turn of the century was a bee hive of musical activity. There were symphony orchestras, opera companies, brass bands among others. Also a party going air hung upon the city constantly, and this continues to this day. Thus the musicians in New Orleans were always had work to do since they were in high demand. Now previously the blacks had limited access to musical instruments other than drums. However, army bands went defunct and there was a proliferation of brass bands and this enabled the blacks lay their hands on instruments they hitherto had no access to. The Creoles were always very well trained musicians, mostly playing orchestral music. Thus they trained their Afro-Creole children as such. Drums were only allowed on Congo Square on Sundays. The slave masters generally associated drums with rebellion and thus discouraged it as much as possible. Their music was thus largely based on vocals. But when that law was passed in Louisiana and thus the black Creoles began to associate with the black slaves and learned much of their culture, it created a fusion of two different sets of music styles. Both groups contributed elements of their styles to influence present day jazz. The field holler, call and response, strong rhythm and interactivity flowed directly into jazz music. Thus jazz music passed through its many transitions, from Dixieland to swing to bebop to its current form.