From the Streets to the Stage: The Birth and Rise of Jazz Music

"Music is the silence between the notes," said the French musician Claude Debussy, a "silence" that expresses the dreams and desires of creators. Jazz, music without a political identity, was a protest and has always indicated the need for freedom. Its charm was not only due to its sound but also to the fact that it embodied the victory of popular culture over the culture of the few. It enabled people otherwise condemned to cultural non-existence to assert their participation in art seriously.

Jazz began as a blend of many genres of music, combining elements from Africa and Western Europe. Its roots lie in the 1880s. It developed at the crossroads of Spanish, French, and Anglo-Saxon cultural traditions. All of these musical idioms blended, and popular black music evolved over a brief time, with the development of blues singing alongside and the evolution of most religious spirituals.

It is believed to have been "born" in New Orleans by the Creoles, a tribe of French -and Spanish- speaking blacks originating in the West Indies.

The Creoles lived in Louisiana under French and Spanish rule until 1803, when they became American citizens and settled in New Orleans. They prided themselves on their social and cultural values and knowledge of Western European music. This difference placed them in a higher class than other blacks and opened the doors of high society. The performance played an essential role in their music, so they generally performed in the opera and at social events.

On the west side of the city lived the poor African-Americans. Their music was based on complex rhythms and abstract musical scales mixed with various vocals. There was polyphony and improvisation. Their songs were usually spiritual or sung to pass the time when they were working hard.

In 1894 a new legislative reform of segregation of whites and blacks displaced the Creoles to the west side of New Orleans, along with the poor mixed race. There, the two cultures and their musical genres clashed and intermingled, and a new genre of music. Jazz was born.

Over time Jazz changed, and new forms developed. By the end of the 19th century, Ragtime and Blues were the latest fad. Ragtime was mostly music with piano accompaniment and a characteristic syncopated rhythm. The most famous ragtime musician is considered to be Scott Joplin. 

Around 1900, Ragtime was assimilated by another musical genre, Tin Pan Alley. This process continued throughout the later development of Jazz, i.e., some primary Jazz genres being incorporated into the light music industry.

New Orleans was now a mecca of new artists and sounds, including everything from Ragtime, Marching bands, Pop, Dance, and Blues. The music spread north and west through immigrants and the recording industry. New Orleans musicians had begun touring across America very early on. In each place, they were a stimulus for local musicians, which helped significantly in the growth and development of Jazz.

The evolution of Jazz music in the second half of the 19th century was not accidental, as this period saw many new trends in music that originated from the popular base. Examples include:

- The English musical hall reached its peak in 1880.

- The French cabaret.

- The Andalusian flamenco appeared in Spain around 1870.

In the 1920s, Jazz ceased to be exclusively black music. It was adopted by whites and had a decisive influence on their music.

The invention of the gramophone was also instrumental in the spread of the new musical genre. The first jazz record was recorded in 1917 by the Original Dixieland Jass Band. At the same time, the significant increase in the colored population in American cities resulted in the emergence of the so-called race record, i.e., the gramophone record intended exclusively for 'black' audiences, to which the basic acoustic information about early Jazz was due.

The emergence of radio in the early 1920s also contributed to the spread of Jazz. The first radio station in America began broadcasting in 1922 in Pittsburgh. By the 1920s, Jazz had become a nationwide American musical idiom; by the late 1920s, European bands were appearing.

Among the most essential "pioneers" of Jazz were Jo "Κing" Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Ferdinand "jelly roll" Morton, and Duke Ellington. They played in a style that later became known as Dixieland.

Louis Armstrong was known as a jazz genius and "the greatest trumpeter of all time." Duke Ellington was the most important composer of the 20th century in terms of the number of compositions and variety of jazz forms.

Dancing became the latest fashion at the end of the 1930s. Thus, jazz music evolved into a new genre of dance music. Since 1935, the new style has been called Swing and is essentially an intermediary between traditional and modern Jazz. Its name comes from the English verb swing, which means to move. The primary representative of this music is considered Benny Goodman.

Bebop emerged in the 1940s as a contrast to the big swing bands, with small ensembles of musicians - four to six people - with one solo instrument, usually a soloist. In this way, musicians had more opportunities to improvise. Bebop's prominent representatives are trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and saxophonist Charlie Parker.

Cool Jazz developed in the late 1940s, parallel to Bebop. It was more refined, atmospheric, low-key, and restrained. Its most significant representatives are trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist and composer Gil Evans.

In the 1960s, Free Jazz appeared, and its leading representative was Ornette Coleman. From this decade, a new period of currents and styles begins, with improvisation as the main characteristic. This is followed by trends such as Latin Jazz, Avant-Garde, and the most recent genre, Acid Jazz, which is becoming increasingly popular.

All of those mentioned above, as well as Thelonious Monk, Lester Young, Sonny Stitt, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and John Coltrane, are some more great names of Jazz who created masterpieces that stand the test of time and trends-evolutions in their genre and "gave" the audience hours of authentic acoustic pleasure.