Harlem's Jazz Evolution

            As black people migrated north in the early twentieth century, their music came with them. Cities such as New York and Chicago became centers of both black population and black culture, where jazz naturally flourished. Of these cities, New York’s racial dynamics, as well as its opportunities for dissemination of jazz music into mainstream culture provided an environment that encouraged the evolution and growth of jazz music. For these reasons, New York played the most important role in the flourishing of jazz.

            Harlem, following the First World War, filled with African American migrants, who came from the South, as well as the midtown area of the city (Gioia, 90). Harlem became the preeminent location of black autonomy, with the majority of the real estate under black ownership. From these circumstances, the Harlem renaissance emerged, with Harlem a cradle high culture. However, life for many Harlem residents was difficult, with low wages and high rent. From this culture emerged Harlem’s rent parties, where people would pay entry to apartments to hear musicians play, and the money went toward rent payments (Gioia, 90). In this environment emerged stride piano, a more slick and professional iteration of ragtime, where showmanship and competition mattered as much as the music itself, an attitude that came to permeate jazz culture from that point forward (Gioia 93).

            New York provided a unique opportunity to introduce black music to mainstream American culture. Fats Waller, as the leading stride pianist of the time, was able to take his music from the Harlem’s clubs and rent parties to Broadway and the big screen (Gioia 95). In this format, Waller was able to reach a wider, mainstream audience than he would have been able to in any other city. The opportunities available to musicians in New York even attracted Louis Armstrong, invited by Fletcher Henderson to come play in his band, where his musical influence is credited with the beginnings of swing (Stewart, 2/3/15).  Armstrong also played in Hot Chocolates, a Broadway musical written by Waller, which brought further attention to jazz music (Gioia, 118). All of these opportunities were unique in New York, as America’s largest city.

            The development of black autonomy in New York, as well as access to mainstream culture allowed jazz to flourish and develop in a way that would have been impossible elsewhere. For this reason, I maintain that New York was the most important city for Jazz in the 1920s.

Works Cited

Gioia, Ted. The history of jazz. Oxford University Press, 2011.

Stewart, Jeffrey. "New York to Jazz." UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA. 3 Feb. 2015. Lecture.