In Retrospect of Music’s Constant Revolution

Who created Jazz music?  Who was the first to record Jazz music? Did race have anything to do with how Jazz history was portrayed?  Let’s get right to the point about another United States creation:  Jazz music. The ‘race’ of  many musicians plays a part in their success.  This isn’t about race. We are just paraphrasing what scholars echo in academic journals and research documents throughout the modern world.  The inventors of jazz music were not Caucasians, yet a number of so-called Caucasian jazz pioneers received credit for imitating the true originators of jazz music, while placing  themselves at the forefront of jazz history. 

Debates continue, discussing what the origins of jazz are.  Christian Blauvelt addressed the topic in a February 24th, 2017 BBC article titled, The Mysterious Origins of Jazz.  In answering the question of “who,” invented jazz, Blauvelt stated that, “The musical DNA in Livery Stable Blues comes from black artists and shows that jazz is a fundamentally African-American music, even if an all-white band was first to record it.”  The DNA behind the origins of jazz forces us to look toward Spirituals, and the Blues.   The origins of jazz are argued extensively, and the answer is clear: the United States contains a hidden history that counterbalances  very public view that we see each day.     

Anyone fairly knowledgeable will know that New Orleans is the origination point of jazz music.  When the specific originators are identified, the story becomes clearer. For Ragtime music, two people must be mentioned when discussing the originators–Charles “Buddy” Bolden, and Scott Joplin.  A good reference for Ragtime’s history is a book called, The Product of Our Souls: Ragtime, Race, and the Birth of the Manhattan Musical Marketplace by David Gilbert.  Another useful book is, King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era by Edward A. Berlin.

The timelines between Ragtime and Dixieland Jazz overlap.  Comparisons and specific points are made about what the differences are, and countless arguments will continue to be made saying that Dixieland was better than Ragtime jazz.  Another book that explains Dixieland music is called, Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong by Terry Teachout.  The uninformed  public will associate Louis Armstrong with New Orleans and as being the founder of jazz music, and this is not true.  What is true, is that Armstrong was a major catalyst in propelling jazz into mainstream culture.  Musicians were fine with Armstrong being credited with inventing Jazz, because the global popularity of jazz was insured because of him.

The story begins when we look back at the impact that jazz music has had on the world. When we look back, we must recognize the revolutionary ideas that improvisation represents.  In retrospect, we can look  back and respect the way jazz music rose from the shadows of society to becoming a musical force in U.S. culture.  All around the world, jazz music is a well-known product of the United States.  Name the genre, and bits and pieces of jazz theory exist within that genre.