Jazz+in+the+20s

//**Jazz in the 20s**//

Jazz is a form of music which originated in Africa. Jazz combined the music elements from Classical Music, National Music, and finally then transformed into the various Jazz music we listen today. Today’s jazz music has a broader cultural significance than when it first originated

In the 1920's, a couple of years after the First World War, marked down the glorious Jazz Age. It first started with the Prohibition in the United States where the sale of alcoholic drinks were banned. During this time Jazz music gained a reputation as being immoral. However, many jazz bands moved to the northern states where there would be more income, and a bigger opportunity, thus bringing Jazz to a national scale of popularity.

Blues is the prototype of Jazz. It was created by some later generations of African slaves in South America. Blues has a huge musical influence in African culture and traditional music. Those African slaves transformed this into music when they moved to cities and developed their own unique music.

Black people gained their freedom, but they still suffered from a very low living standard. Most of them were not able to read. So they entertained themselves with their own traditional music.

Types of Jazz:

Big band and swing: Big band and swing came out with a band and to make up their shows for their audience. Fletcher Henderson is the leader of the band. Big Band and swing were popular at that time, so there were other bands like Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington came out and made the legend.

Cool Jazz: Miles Davis and Gil Evans are two important contributors to cool jazz style. During this time, many different styles of music evolving at one time. Cool jazz developed lately. Cool jazz became to known as because musicians were mixed with mostly black bepop musicians, and also influenced by the “smooth” sound of saxophonist who is a black, Lester Young.

Free Jazz: A free style form of Jazz, is different from other Jazz types, players do not require to practice before they perform, it is a free improvisation performance, the performance requires every player to fit in with the others. The typical free jazz players are Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylo.

Fusion: Young audiences are now interested in Heavy Metal and Rock, the older generations no longer like the pop jazz which lack expression and too much abstract in the flow of rhythm. The jazz players realize they need to impress the audience to get the audience‘s attention back. So they put some pop music element into Jazz. And Light Metal and Rock become the source of this concept. First, Davis perform jazz with electric music instrument, and receive acceptance by many young teenagers.

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