Jazz Is Born
Jazz is a music genre that was born in New Orleans in 1903 as an evolution of blues music, separate from the Harlem Renaissance. However, the spread of jazz from Louisiana to the rest of the South to New York City and finally across America was a huge part of the Harlem Renaissance that occured about 20 years later.
Characteristics of Jazz
You can tell if you're listening to jazz by distinguishing these traits:
- Improvisation: Jazz musicians made up the music on the spot, so jazz sounds very spontaneous and many different instruments will play at the same time.
- The Brass: The most popular jazz instruments are the trumpet, the saxophone, and the piano. If you hear all 3 in one song, you probably have a jazz classic.
- Scatting: Scat singing, or scatting, is making nonsense words out of nowhere. An example of scatting is below right.
- Improvisation: Jazz musicians made up the music on the spot, so jazz sounds very spontaneous and many different instruments will play at the same time.
- The Brass: The most popular jazz instruments are the trumpet, the saxophone, and the piano. If you hear all 3 in one song, you probably have a jazz classic.
- Scatting: Scat singing, or scatting, is making nonsense words out of nowhere. An example of scatting is below right.
The Spread of Jazz
A major landmark of Harlem was the Apollo Theater, where famous jazz musicians entertained the crowds of New York. Jazz was spread there by laborers who left the South for better conditions up North. As more people visited countless jazz halls like the Apollo east of the Mississippi River, jazz spread across the country. The legendary Ella Fitzgerald was discovered at the Apollo near the end of the Harlem Renaissance. Jazz went on to have mainstream success until about the 50s, when rock n' roll began trending.