Jelly Roll Morton referred to New
Orleans as “the cradle of Jazz,” a claim that is widely accepted (Gioia, 42). While
the importance of New Orleans in the early history of jazz is evident, the
features of the city that contributed to the genesis of jazz are complex and
numerous. The emergence of jazz in New Orleans, as a music form that has roots
in Europe, Africa, and the New World, was certainly influenced by the
multicultural nature of the city. New Orleans position as a major center of
trade, its history as a French colony, and its location in the post-slavery
south created a unique environment that led to the emergence of a this new form
of music.
African
influences, particularly rhythmic complexity, seem apparent in jazz (Gioia,
11). The perseverance of African musical traditions in the South and in the
Caribbean is hard to fully characterize, though they are evident in accounts of
Congo Square, the square where slaves in New Orleans went to dance and play
music (Gioia, 4). Some aspects of this musical tradition appear to have carried
over into post-slavery New Orleans, as African rhythmic elements appear in ragtime
music, a precursor to Jazz (Gioia, 8). As these African traditions continued to
manifest themselves among the lower class Black population of New Orleans, the
Creole population, which consisted of people with mixed background (French and
Black), were integrated into the upper class of New Orleans. Creoles, under
French law, were superior to Black people and had mostly been freed from
slavery before the Civil war. Thus, they typically were wealthier than Blacks,
and eschewed Black culture. This meant that Creole musicians were often well
trained in the European classical repertoire. However, with the designation of
Creoles as “Negroes” in 1894, they were pushed into closer contact with New
Orleans’ Black population (Gioia, 32), which resulted in a mixture of European classical
music with African-influenced Black American music.
New
Orleans’ position as a major Caribbean trade center, and its proximity to
Mexico resulted in a major Mexican influence in the early jazz world. When the
Mexican government sent a national military band to the New Orleans World’s
Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition, and many remained there. In
subsequent years, many Mexican musicians continued to visit New Orleans, and
provided classical instruction to many of New Orleans’ up-and-coming musicians
(Johnson, 225-226). The influence of Mexicans in the New Orleans during the
early 20th Century resulted in the introduction of woodwind
instruments into the jazz genre (Johnson, 229). Furthermore, the Mexican
influence in the early jazz scene was expressed in the sound of the music
itself, as Jelly Roll Morton explained that playing jazz required “tinges of
Spanish” (Gioia, 6). Thus, the impact of Mexican musicians in New Orleans was
very important during the early emergence of jazz.
New Orleans
provided a setting that allowed for a combination of music from a wide range of
different traditions, due to its unique position as a major trade center in the
South, and its history as a French colony that kept slaves. These aspects of
the city created a platform where different musical traditions were able to
mix, which resulted in the creation of jazz.
Works Cited
Gioia, Ted. The
history of jazz. Oxford University Press, 2011.
Theresa Johnson,
Gaye. "'Sobre Las Olas': A Mexican Genesis in Borderlands Jazz and the
Legacy for Ethnic Studies." Comparative American Studies 6.3
(2008): 225-240.
