The Jazz age was a time of partying, dancing and jazz music; it was careless and fun for everyone who participated. The era began in the 1920’s but ended when the Great Depression started and it was mostly in the United States, Britain and France. Jazz music became a part of everything, its rhythm and beat was used in a lot of art forms, especially in poetry. Poets responded to Jazz music by making a rhythm in their poems and using sounds that particularly jazz instruments made in their poems, like guitars, trombones, trumpets, and drums because it added a musical effect. Jazz music became a poetic inspiration. The jazz age was uniquely African-American and the age was about rejecting the idea of wanting to be accepted by the white race. The art forms of the time captured this idea and it was about rejoicing in black heritage and creativity. Instead of wishing away the daily hardship African-American went through, the material focused on the troubles of everyday work life of this group. Langston Hughes was an extremely influential poet during the 1920’s and he was one of the very few poets that were able to capture the rhythm of the blues in his poems. Hughes was born on February 1st , 1901, and he died on May 22nd,1967. Two of his famous poems are the weary blues and trumpet player.
