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Early jazz
Jazz had its beginnings towards the end of the 19th century, in the city of New Orleans, where slaves from Africa, the Caribbean, the south of the country and free or mestizo Creoles lived, and it was precisely that mixture of musical cultures that originated a new art form that ended up defining them all. -
New Orleans Jazz
New Orleans jazz originated from New Orleans brass bands. Consequently, instruments such as the cornet (very similar to the trumpet) would become an essential instrument in jazz. -
Chicago
Chicago bands distinguished themselves from New Orleans bands by replacing the banjo with a guitar, adding a saxophone, and changing the time signature from 4/4 to 2/4. But the most important change is the addition of the figure of the soloist. The pioneer was Louis Armstrong. -
New York
From Chicago, jazz traveled to New York where even more innovations were produced. The most important was the development of the piano, a style that would play a very important role in jazz. The biggest bands began playing in New York City, paving the way for the Big Band Era of the 1930s. -
Swing and the era of the Big Band
Until the 1930s - 1945, jazz music was associated with African American culture, but that changed with the rise of the Big Band. Instead of the more syncopated style, the Big Bands had a looser style called swing. Swing music is very danceable, and the white population liked that too. -
Bebop
The origins of bebop date back to the 1940s, when musicians from the more traditional Big Bands got together after shows to experiment with sound. The bebop was a rebellion against the populist paraphernalia of swing music. Individual improvisation took a more prominent role and had a frenzied sound. -
Cool
This cooler jazz was a response to Bebop. While Bebop was fast, frantic, and unbridled music, Cool was much more relaxing -
Hard Bop
Many jazz musicians thought Cool was too classical and European a melody. The Hard Bop was a return to more bluesy jazz and focused on Afro. Influences from gospel and rhythm music are incorporated. -
Free Jazz
As we have seen, since the days of the Big Band, jazz musicians had many musical limitations. Free Jazz was practically the elimination of all limitation, based on simply sounds. -
Fusion
1969-1990) After nearly three decades exploring the limits of the avant-garde, jazz musicians began to fuse jazz with other popular genres of music, especially rock and funk.
