jazz history
Blues-born genre's past
Jazz history is the academic study and documentation of jazz music's development, from its origins in early 20th-century New Orleans through its evolution into swing, bebop, cool jazz, free jazz, and fusion.
The term appears in course titles, book subtitles, and museum exhibits: She's taking jazz history this semester.
It encompasses not just musical styles but the social and cultural contexts—race, migration, nightlife, recording technology—that shaped the genre.
- Count BasieKansas City bandleader
- brass sectionOrchestra's wind-blown metal instruments
- big bandLarge jazz ensemble
- swingSuspended recreational seat
- spiritualsEnslaved people's sacred songs
Louis Armstrong · Great Migration · Dixieland · Charlie Parker · work songs · ragtime · Harlem Renaissance · Duke Ellington · blues · blue note · Dizzy Gillespie · Thelonious Monk · cutting contest · protest songs · minstrelsy · Billie Holiday · African drumming · Miles Davis