Joe “King” Oliver, Duke Ellington, Lois Armstrong, Earl Hines, Jelly Roll Morton, Buddy Bolden, Freddie Keppard, Bunk Johnson, and Clarence Williams are the 1920s jazz musicians that influenced both popular music and Classical music. African American music styles dominated the 20th century. Jazz was born right around 1895 in New Orleans and combines Ragtime, marching band and the blues music. Because most jazz musicians could not read music, they very often improvised and what started out as a recognizable song ended being a unique piece of music never heard before.
New Orleans was the door to early jazz where these great 1920s jazz musicians established their careers. This port city had ties to the sounds of the Caribbean, and Mexico, and a large well-established black population, making the Crescent city was just right for the development of a new music. Chicago came into the scene for 1920s jazz when the musicians trekked north after the clubs in Storyville were closed in New Orleans. Jazz found energy as the recordings made by the jazz musicians made their way across the Mid-West. The early careers of Earl Hines, Johnny Dodds, Louis Armstrong, and King Oliver were recognized for their work in the windy city.
New York contributed to the jazz age in so many ways, piano style was widely popular and was developed from ragtime and was very popular. James Reese Europe recorded jazz with Orchestration and contributed to 1920s jazz history. The Cotton Club showcased Coleman Hawkins and Don Redman, but it was not until Fletcher Henderson brought Louis Armstrong from Chicago that the swing era was ushered in.
As jazz evolved, the great African American bands were Jimmy Lunceford, Chick Webb, Mills Blue Rythm and Andy Kirk’s Clouds of Joy. The great vocalists of the time were Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Fats Waller. 1920s jazz and the 1920s jazz musicians have had a very important impact on the music of today.
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