New Orleans Jazz
New Orleans Jazz was first heard about 1900, in a musical climate laden with folklore influences ranging from ragtime to spirituals, from work songs to blues, from minstrel shows to marching bands, from the colorful Mardi Gras celebrations to the picturesque funeral processions.
New Orleans played a key role in the birth and growth of Jazz, and the music’s early history has been more thoroughly researched and documented there than anywhere else. But, while the city may have had more and better Jazz than any other from about 1895 to 1917, New Orleans was by no means the only place where the sounds were incubating.
Every southern city with a sizable black population had music that must be considered early Jazz. It came out of St. Louis, which grew to be the center of ragtime; Memphis, which was the birthplace of W.C. Handy (1873-1958), the famed composer and collector of blues; Atlanta, Baltimore, and other such cities.
What was unique to New Orleans at the time was a very open and free social atmosphere. People of different ethnic and racial backgrounds could establish contact, and out of this easy communication came a rich musical tradition involving French, Spanish, German, Irish and African elements. It was no wonder that this cosmopolitan and lively city was a fertile breeding ground for Jazz.
New Orleans was noted for its many social and fraternal organizations, most of which sponsored or hired bands for a variety of occasions — indoor and outdoor dances, picnics, store openings, birthday or anniversary parties. And, of course, Jazz was the feature of the famous funeral parades, which survive even today. Traditionally, a band assembles in front of the church and leads a slow procession to the cemetery, playing solemn marches and mournful hymns. On the way back to town, the pace quickens and fast, peppy marches and rags replace the dirges. These parades, always great crowd attractions, were important to the growth of Jazz. It was here that trumpeters and clarinetists would display their inventiveness and the drummers work out the rhythmic patterns that became the foundation for “swinging” the beat.
And so it was in New Orleans that greats like Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Sidney Bechet and Johnny Dodds walked their first musical steps. But by the twenties, many of the solo artists left New Orleans looking for fame and fortune. Some went to Chicago or New York, others to Los Angeles and other cities, spreading their musical influence everywhere. In the 1950’s, many leading jazz musicians started playing “New Orleans style” again and met with great success. Among these were Kid Ory, Wilbur and Sidney De Paris, and trumpeter Henry “Red” Allen. Many musicians, like Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden, Sidney Bechet and Bobby Hackett, never ceased to include in their recordings and live performances the most characteristic tunes of the New Orleans sound. Today, New Orleans is enjoying a Jazz renaissance with young musicians like Wynton Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr., spreading the Crescent City gospel worldwide. Thanks to the inspiration that Wynton has provided, New Orleans has become a hotbed for Jazz activity once again.
