Early jazz is a combination of different musical styles, most of which are associated with African-Americans. The central figures were Early Blues Singers (Robert Johnson), Jazz moved "up the river" to Chicago (Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton), and Dixieland - New Orleans (King Oliver). The blues, which had influenced jazz from the beginning, became increasingly popular due to singers like Ma Rainey, Mamie Smith and Bessie Smith---the latter selling thousands of discs, including a national hit, “Down Hearted Blues”. The period from the end of the First World War until the start of the Depression in 1929 is known as the "Jazz Age"(Jazz History). Jazz had become popular music in North America, although older generations considered the music
