Jazz is known for being one of the only styles of music created in the United States, although it is a blend of West and West African musical traditions. Jazz began in New Orleans around 1900, but its roots go back hundreds of years before, when slaves brought to the United States developed spirituality and blues to communicate with each other and express sadness, desires, and religious beliefs. The music was passed down orally with each new generation making their own unique changes to the songs, which were often in the form of a call and response and were not accompanied by musical instruments.
The rhythms and melodies of the black community were combined with European compositions leading to the development of Ragtime music around 1895. “Ragging” in a song meant dragging certain notes and livening up the music by rearranging the notes. Ragtime and jazz are similar, but ragtime music is efficiently solo piano music, while jazz music is played in ensembles.
Although jazz is closely related to blues and ragtime, one of the most important elements of jazz music is that it is improvisational music: familiar notes and lines are a starting point for musicians to develop unique songs. Early jazz musicians often couldn’t read music, but they thrilled audiences by bringing thrill, excitement, and the unexpected to their pieces. While ragtime music was popular in restaurants, clubs, or hotels, jazz was a mobile and versatile music played at funerals, parades, weddings, and festivals.
The 1920s became known as the Jazz Age, as New Orleans jazz was brought to the nightclubs of Northern cities such as Chicago and New York. It was fancier than New Orleans music, and New Orleans Jazz distinguished itself as a more folksy, spontaneous form of jazz. Throughout the 20th century, many variations of Jazz music were popular, including Dixieland, bebop, Big Band, swing, cool jazz, soul jazz, and Latin jazz.
All forms of jazz music and the types of music that inspired or preceded it are celebrated during the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. The event began in 1970 as a way to showcase New Orleans’ unique musical heritage, arts, crafts and cuisine. The first Jazz Festival had a lineup that included Duke Ellington and Fats Domino and only around 350 attendees.
The Festival’s popularity quickly grew and it now attracts millions upon thousands of visitors, world-renowned singers and top talent from New Orleans and Louisiana. This year, artists like Rod Stewart, Jon Mayer, Harry Connick Jr. and ZZ Top will take part in the event that will take place on the weekends of April 27-29 and May 4-6.
Attendees of the 2007 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival are invited to stay at the Hotel Maison de Ville in the French Quarter so that, in addition to seeing the festival performances, they will be right next to jazz clubs and bars where they can hear intimate performances by traditional musicians. and contemporary jazz artists who have been inspired by the early performers.