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Traditional Jazz

Jazz Roots

The rhythms and sounds of jazz and blues have their beginnings in the South among the black African slaves. Early black musicians in New Orleans imitated the sounds of field hollers with their instruments. Among the early bands, Kid Ory would influence Louis Armstrong, who would be the first important jazz musician. From New Orleans, jazz moved to Chicago and then to New York, mostly on the strength of those city's large black population. It would not be long before white American musicians embraced the new idiom. The strict segregation of the South kept musical groups either black or white, but never mixed until late in the 1930s and even then met with disapproval. Another important center for jazz was Kansas City, a wide-open city, where the Territory bands, like Benny Moten , Andy Kirk, and Hot Lips Page held court. The highest profile leader to come out of KC would be a transplant from New Jersey, Count Basie.

New Orleans is the only place I know of where you ask a little kid what he wants to be and instead of saying 'I want to be a policeman', or 'I want to be a fireman,' he says, 'I want to be a musician'. —Alan Jaffe

Anyone can learn what Louis Armstrong knows about music in a few weeks. Nobody could learn to play like him in a thousand years.—Benny Green

The Black Jazz Bands

The black bands of early jazz found more acceptance in Europe than in the United States; many of them went there and a few stayed. The early bands had great players that were not well recorded or were never recorded, so we just have the say so of those that heard them. Jabbo Smith, Willie "Bunk" Johnson, George Lewis,Jimmy Harrison, and Buddy Bolden are just a few of the players that influenced those that came later. Fletcher Henderson's Band developed the tenets of the Big Band era and it would be Benny Goodman who would bring it to fruition. The contribution of the black bands cannot be underestimated. Earl Hines, Chick Webb, Cab Calloway, Don Redman, Andy Kirk, and Benny Carter all led successful units.