As one of the most important cultural movements of the 20th Century, jazz has a rich history that has seen it transform from an underground subculture to a hugely widespreadpopular music movement, which has grown rapidly from its meagre beginnings in the early 20th century.
Jazz first sprung up around the southern most regions of the United States and was developed by the early African American communitiesliving there. Certainly, there are strong and distinctive West African elements to jazz music that can still be noticed today, including the traditions of improvisation, as well as syncopated rhythms and blues strains.
As with many musical genres, the term that we now use to describe it actually developed after the movement itself had gained ground and it was therefore not until around 1915 when the word ‘jazz’ (American West Coast slang) began to describe the unique style of music that had become popular around the Chicago area.
Jazz has grown into an incredibly far-reaching genre of music, which encompasses a vast array of ever-evolving sub-genres that stretch from its early inception up until the present day. This can make it very tricky to contain and critics and scholars alike struggle to define what exactly is, or more pertinently perhaps, is not, the crucial element that makes jazz ‘jazz’! However, a decent starting point seems to be that jazz, ultimately, came about with the African American communities fusing their traditional sound with European music. Joachim Berendt, respected jazz critic, argues that the genre differs from more classically European sounding music through the inclusion of that unique jazz ‘swing’, which can be put down to the history of improvisation and the spontaneity in song-writing and performing that this encourages. It can also be noted that jazz artists will rarely play the same rendition of a song twice, instead leaving much more scope for interpretation, based on mood, overall atmosphere and their relationship with fellow performers.
Some of the associated jazz sub-genres which are recognised as owing their sound to the original roots of jazz music, include: big-band swing; bebop; free jazz, jazz fusion; acid jazz; funk; hip-hop and nu-jazz. However, as with many musical genres, it shifts and mutates depending upon the customs and style of the locality in which it is being played, so many regional differences are seen, for example, the development of Cuban and Brazilian jazz, with their very distinct styles.