Jazz Roots

It emerged in the XIX century in USA as a mixture of different musical genres, principally the traditional african music and some european rithms. In the XIX century, the slaves in North America find in music a new way of expression, making allussion to biblical and religious messages. This was the religious music made by the black people, and it collide with the white music to create the musical rithm known as Blues. The Blues' structure is of twelve compass, and it uses the so called blue notes which are alterations in the seventh and third notes of the scale.

Some musicians and experts in the subject afirm that it is not possible to know when exaclty the jazz emerged as a musical dgenre. The first jazz record was created in 1917, but the jazz existed at least from 20 years ago. It has also influence of the classical music, work songs, ragtime, etc. At the begining, the jazz was perfomed by non educated musicians from New Orleans. Music was an important part of the current life in this city, at least in 1890. he bands were hired to play in different kinds of parades, parties and dances. As they were non formally educated musicians, they didn't played their melodies continuelly but they have to improvise, and this was the key to create the jazz.

During the next two decades, there is no real information about the jazz. Freddie Kepard succeded Bolden, who was the first jazz musician , but he was quickly replaced by King Oliver who got the tittle of the best jazz performer in New Olreans. Even though some musicians went form New Orleans to the North, tha jazz was kept as a typical expression of this city until the First World War. In january of 1917, an agroupation of white musucians dare to call themselves as The Original Dixieland Jazz Bans (ODJB) and it recorded Darktown Strutter's Ball and Indiana for Columbia. Their music was consider too revolutionary for the time and it wasn't published, but two months later the ODJB recorded for the Victor signature Livery Stable Blues and The Original Dixieland One Step which were huge hits. As this, many other agroupations joined the jazz movement and began recording. The new genre was becoming a fashion and a hit, and for the producers, it was a new opportunity for selling. Even though the jazz's roots were black, almost a decade have to pass by before the black musicians could record their own music. In that time, people truely believed and affirm that the jazz had been created by white musicians. Later on, and until today, people supported the idea that it had bben created by black musicians and that it was a black music itself, and only the black could perform it as it should for only they had the knowledge, the feeling and even the talent to play it.

In 1920, Mamie Smith recorded the first blues, "Crazy Blues" and the jazz was replaced by this genre. Still, the jazz keep on progressing and moving on and the New Orleans Rythm Kings, one of the first agroupations that improvised alone, sounded in 1922 as if they have had a decade to make a huge progress over the ODJB.