Donald Mack
Music 105
21 November 2016
New Orleans Style Jazz
Around the turn of the twentieth century, a musical style called jazz was developed in the United States of America. Jazz was specifically invented in the southern cities such as New Orleans, Louisiana predominately by those of the Black descent. According to Music: An Appreciation, “Jazz can be described generally as music rooted in improvisation and characterized by syncopated rhythm, a steady beat, and distinctive tone colors and performance techniques” (Roger and Kamien 468). Ever since its creation, jazz has been composed of many different styles that have branched out from the main foundation. The only thing that differs in each jazz type is the improvisation …show more content…
Since New Orleans style jazz known to man, it was one of the broadest genres of jazz. One of the first many New Orleans style jazz artists is Jelly Roll Morton. He wrote songs such as “The Pearls,” “Millenburg Joys,” “Mr. Jelly Roll,” “Doctor Jazz,” “Original Jelly Roll Blues,” and many other famous pieces. Jelly Roll Morton was a great pianist and arranger from New Orleans. Morton’s music was loved so for its exciting character. He created this mood by emphasizing a change in instruments, the contrast between solos and full band parts, and dynamics. Another popular New Orleans style jazz composer was Louis Armstrong. Louis was famous for playing the trumpet and singing from the 1920s until the end of the 1950s. Armstrong was also from New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1925 he recorded songs with his bands Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five and Louis Armstrong’s Hot Seven. He composed with many other famous Traditional jazz style artists such as Kid Ory and Johnny St. Cyr. Armstrong invented great solos and transformed dull tunes to exciting new melodies by slightly changing the pitch and rhythm of the piece. Louis also made scat singing, the singing of nonsense syllables to create a melody, popular. These talents earned him the name as one of the best jazz improvisers of all times. Some of Armstrong’s most famous works include “Hello, Dolly” and “Hotter Than …show more content…
Although jazz was not notated and therefore was hard to dated exactly when the first renditions of the music were created, it was still thought to come around earliest; this jazz style was invented at the turn of the century and grew in popularity until the fifties. This style originated in New Orleans Louisiana and was created by African Americans who wanted to express their culture in the musical form. This style, otherwise known as the Traditional style or the Dixieland style, was created by Africans in the south of the United States who wanted to express their happiness. Although there were many styles of jazz, this style was the first, the broadest, the happiest, and the most upbeat. The New Orleans style of jazz was the epitome of the jazz culture; it was what defined the whole music genre itself, even to this