Where Was Jazz Invented?
Jazz is an original American art form. With its start in the South, jazz would eventually migrate northward to Chicago, New York, and on to national popularity. The birthplace of jazz was instrumental in its development as a multiracial genre.
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Origins
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Jazz has its origins in New Orleans. Music historian Piero Scaruffi writes that brass bands of the 1880s would perform band marches and funeral dirges. When the brass bands moved indoors to New Orleans's bars and dancehalls, "jass," later jazz, was born.
Characteristics
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Early jazz focused on band ensembles and instrumental solos. New Orleans in the early 20th Century was geographically favorable to and receptive of different ethnicities, which influenced early jazz styles.
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Variation
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New Orleans was also the home of the earliest jazz variation. "Dixieland" emphasized cornet and trombone arrangements over a piano- and guitar-led rhythm section.
Artists
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Key artists of the birth and subsequent popularity of jazz were Sydney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, and the songwriter William Handy.
Factors
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Besides the social culture, other factors aided the birth of jazz in New Orleans. The popularity of records and the rise of radio shows cemented New Orleans as the center of jazz innovation.
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