Jazz Opportunities

The Jazz Age: Prevailing Opportunities for African Americans During the Jazz Age, jazz music, primarily dominated by African Americans before 1920, began to gain popularity among whites and transformed into an important aspect of American culture. The increased popularity of jazz music led to a growing acceptance of African American culture and presented African Americans with the opportunity to gain social status. Music has always played an essential part in African American life and its aspects have influenced the creation of jazz. Jazz music, referred to as “jass” before the 1920s, is heavily rooted in African- American folk music(Axelrod 48). Although some slave owners did not allow their slaves to partake in work songs, many allowed it because it provided aid to production. Work songs displayed their use of call and response and synchronization. In addition, African Americans expressed their longing for freedom and their loyalty to their faith through spirituals. Spirituals were primarily vocal, and included improvised lyrics and harmonies. It is said that African music is closely related to speech through its intensive meaning and emotion behind slight variations of pitch, and even the tone of the voice (Axelrod 84). Jazz music also borrows elements from blues music. The blues rooted from a southern African-American folk tradition, mainly consisting of slow tempo and “blue notes”, which included lowered thirds and sevenths (Axelrod 10). Syncopation, call and response, and improvisation were all prominent techniques in African American music that carried into jazz music. And although some discredit the idea that Jazz originated from the African American culture, there are undoubtedly African American roots seen in jazz music. New Orleans, Chicago, and New York City were prominent cities that allowed jazz music to flourish. Music produced in these cities differed from each other in terms of style, purpose, and sound. It is said that New Orleans is “the Mecca of jazz”(United States, National Parks Service). Dixieland, also referred to as New Orleans jazz, combined polyphonic improvisation, ragtime, blues, as well as many other brass band marches. A popular song from this style of music is “When the Saints Go Marching In”, which is often commonly known by non-prominent Jazz admirers. Jazz music in New Orleans was associated with the public life of the city. It was used in ball games, funerals, as well as nightly dances. While New Orleans’ style of jazz was often seen as marching music, Chicago’s style, although similar to Dixieland, strove for a big band sound and relied less on collective improvisation. “During the better part of the recording boom of the 1920s, Chicago was the place to be”(United States, National Parks Service). During the years 1922 to 1923, many New Orleans jazz musicians such as the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and King Oliver’s Creole Jazz band were able to create a number of popular recordings After the Great Migration (1916-1920), many African Americans from the South, including many musicians, joined the already booming black community on the South Side of Chicago in search of opportunities in the entertainment and economic district. South Side clubs were strongly interested in new southern jazz musicians. This allowed for a number of black musicians to be discovered in the music industry. During the late 1920s, Chicago’s role as a center of jazz began to decline due to the booming of New York City. The New York style of jazz incorporated the style of stride piano, which was a more virtuosic style of ragtime, and established modern aspects of jazz such as avant-garde and bebop. New …show more content…
The Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist group stationed in the South, terrorized African Americans, and as well as immigrants, Catholics, and Jews going into the 1920s. .Membership to the Ku Klux Klan drastically increased, ranging from three million to up to eight million participants (History.com Staff).The Jim Crow Laws was also primarily instituted in the southern states; however, it affected northern states as well. These laws were a series of anti-black laws that upheld that whites were superior to blacks in all aspects of society. Segregation was instituted in hotel, libraries, entertainment, stores, and virtually every aspect of public life. However, jazz allowed some African Americans to gain social standing in a much segregated