| Synopsis: |
What is jazz? "Jazz like any artistic phenomenon, represents the sum of an addition. The factors of this addition are, to my mind, African music, French and American music and folklore" (Robert Goffin 1934) From its early origins in the Yoruba drumming of West Africa, blending with the European folk melodies in America, through the slave trade, through the bootlegger clubs of the Roaring Twenties and to the present day, jazz has been around the world, keeping the rhythms and melodies flowing and people's feet tapping. The term "jazz" was originally an African American slang term for the sexual act. It is believed to have arisen in the brothels of New Orleans, in the late nineteenth century and it is in New Orleans that jazz music was born. From there it moved up the Mississippi River to Memphis, St Louis and finally to Chicago. Jazz started as an American phenomenon but is now an international one. In this book we examine the early history of jazz, from its origins in Africa and watch as it evolves into the variations it has taken to the present day. We will follow the various styles as they appear and look at the major players who kept the pulse of jazz beating. |