Jazz History and Music Downloads.

Jazz music is quite possibly one of the most recognized American music styles in the world. Often it is linked with Blues music, although now jazz and blues have distinctive differences in instrumentation, rhythm, and overall sounds. Jazz is generally credited as having originated in New Orleans, although this is a really hard fact to prove because at nearly the very same time as this new sound wave was popping up in New Orleans, it was also becoming a force in other American cities like Kansas City, Chicago, and St. Louis.

The sound of jazz at its base and roots is thought to be derived from West African musical rhythms, mixed in with the then popular classical European music that was predominant at that time in American history.

We first see jazz music as a genre beginning around the early 1900’s, somewhere around 1912 or so, although it did not reach its peak or height until later, between the 1920s and late 1940s.

By this time, jazz music had become a staple and an American tradition, destined to remain forever. Many sub-genres of jazz spun off through the decades as well including ragtime, big band, swing, Dixieland jazz, and others.

There is and always has been some serious debate among jazz musicians as to what the defining boundaries to this form of music actually are.

There have been arguments about instruments, beat, rhythm, and other factors. Duke Ellington, one of the most famous jazz musicians said, “it’s all music.” Many jazz musicians themselves are rather hesitant about labeling their music.

Truth is, jazz music incorporates many different aspects of music on many different instruments, not just guitar and piano, and combines them into one richly harmonious sound. If there is anything that jazz musicians don’t argue about, it has to be that jazz is music brought out and played by the heart and soul.

In the midst of the roaring 20s, jazz gained a reputation for being immoral by the general public and populace. Influenced by the fear of integration and their long standing ties to racism, this African American music that inspired dancing and integrated social interactions gained terrible reviews from newspapers and the white, wealthy elite of society. If anything, the bad publicity jazz began receiving did little more than to make it even more popular.

The 1920s is where we see such musicians as Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Earl Hines, Benny Goodman, and Artie Shaw. These artists became so internationally known and recognized for their music that they are still played today, and nearly anyone- even those who don’t listen to jazz will know those names - which serves to show how far reaching jazz’s influences have been on American culture.

Morning Serenade - Download Jazz MP3