If you truly want to appreciate the music you listen to, I would recommend that you study about it’s Roots. It was a life changing experience for me to study about the music of the United States. I studied about Jazz, Blues, Ragtime, Spirituals and Gospel. It was Rather astonishing to see how this music is inter- related. It is said that American music is Jazz. My studies revealed to me that Jazz is an African American creation which started in the south of the United States. The name Jazz was given in 1917 and it is said that this name originated from different sources including a whorehouse in New Orleans. Jazz has its roots in several types of music including West Africa, Nigeria and Ghana. Jazz was originally dance music but became listening music after the forties. It was also oral music meaning that it is not written down. The American root of Jazz is two folds, black and white. White roots can be seen in European hymns, folk Music, popular song, dances melodies and harmonies. Black roots can be found in work songs, spirituals, Gospel hymns and dances. There are several styles of Jazz, New Orleans or Dixie Jazz, Swing, B-Bop, Cool Jazz, Free Jazz and Jazz-rock. (Fusion) New Orleans Jazz was popular between 1900 and 1917. Jazz style that was related to Bop but was calmer is called Cool Jazz. Lester Young, Stan Getz, Lennie Tristano, a pianist and Miles Davis, a trumpeter and Bandleaders were leaders of Cool Jazz. Cool Jazz pieces tend to be longer than the B-Bop works and relied more heavily on arrangements. One of the finest works in Cool Jazz style is Boblicity (1949,) by Miles Davis. Free Jazz came about in the 1960’s when Some musicians broke from Traditional Jazz and created their own style of Free Jazz. Jazz-Rock came out about the late 1960’s, it is a style of Jazz that combined Improvisation and rock rhythms and tone colors. Jazz Rock group include Acoustic instruments along...
