Jazz Music in New Orleans and Its Early Roots Research Paper

Introduction

Attempting to trace the exact time jazz music was born can be difficult. Despite this, an important piece of information that is available and accurate is that it began in New Orleans. For the majority of people in New Orleans, music was a necessity. Throughout the nineteenth century, diverse racial and ethnic groups such as the Italians, Africans as well as Irish found a shared cause in their love for the art. The 1870s represented the culmination of a century of music production in the city. During this age, the European classical legacy and influences from the European folk and African elements were combined with a popular American mainstream resulting in jazz. Immediately after the start of the twentieth century, the genre started to emerge as part of a broad musical revolution comprising blues, ragtime, marches, and spirituals. The aim of this paper is to examine the early roots of jazz music in New Orleans.

Discussion

The early development of jazz in New Orleans is mostly connected to the popularity of bandleader Charles Bolden, who was an uptown cornetist whose musical power and charisma became legendary. After briefly playing with Charles Galloway’s string band in 1894, Bolden created his group in the following year.¹ (Atkins 2003). During the next decade, he established a loyal following, entertaining dancers throughout the city² (Bjorn and Jim Gallert 2001). In 1906, he collapsed while continuing a street parade performance³ (Boulard 1988, 53). In 1907 and for the remainder of his life, he was institutionalized at the state sanitarium at Jackson⁴ (Danesi 2022). Dancing had, for a long time, been a mainstay of the city’s nightlife, and Bolden’s fame was based on his capability to provide dancers with what they desired.

During the nineteenth century, string bands dominated dance work, offering waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and schottisches to a polite dancing public. By the turn of the century, instrumentation borrowed from bass marching bands and string bands had become predominant⁵ (DeVeaux 2022, 525). The audiences, particularly young people, requested more excitement or hype⁶ (Feinstein 1994, 3435). The emergence of blues, ragtime, and later jazz allowed the artists to satisfy the youth audience⁷ (Gioia 2011). Increasingly, musicians started to redefine roles, changing from sight-reading to playing by ear.

Compared to society bands such as John Robichaux, Bolden’s band practiced until they memorized their thoughts. All members could provide suggestions for improving a piece of music, subject to the leader’s approval⁸ (Kammen 1996, 791). Gradually, the jazzmen of New Orleans became known for a style of blending improvised parts, sometimes called collective improvisation⁹ (Kozhevnikova 2019). It appealed to younger dancers and players since it allowed greater freedom of expression and spontaneity¹⁰ (Li 2018). After Bolden, numerous bands competed for control of the music market.

Trombonist Frankie Dusen became the new leader of Bolden’s band and renamed it the Eagle Band after a favorite saloon. Cornetist Manuel Perez had the Imperial Orchestra, which is a dance band featuring Louis nelson Delisle on clarinet. Additionally, he led the Onward Brass Band in a looser and more improvisational direction¹¹ (Lipsitz 2004, 10). Other groups such as the Peerless, Superior, and Olympia started to play the exciting sound of jazz¹² (Scaruffi 2005). Laine’s Reliance bands continued to attract young white artists who wanted to play jazz¹³ (Godshalk 2022, 156). Nevertheless, the band which best depicted the transition from Bolden’s early trials to the classical jazz bands of the 1920s was Kid Ory’s Creole band.

Edward Ory was from Louisiana and was classified as a Creole of color. In 1901, he was already a leader of a band while only fourteen years old¹⁴ (Bonsaver 2018, 152). He organized dances for his neighbors and cast an eye toward the city of New Orleans¹⁵ (Hobson 2020, 155). In 1907, Ory took his band to the Crescent City¹⁶ (Martinelli 2018, 203). Over the next ten years, he upgraded his personnel to consist of future jazz stars such as Louis Armstrong, Joe Oliver, Warren Dodds, as well as Jimmie Noone¹⁷ (West 2019, 101). Apart from being talented in making music, he had the capability to promote events at a high level. It is reported that he revolutionized the practice of cutting contests between bands that promoted horse-drawn furniture wagons when he introduced the utilization of motorized trucks¹⁸ (Wiggins and Taslimah 2022, 116). For multiple years, his band held forth at Pete Lala’s saloon in Storyville.

The early development of jazz in New Orleans was linked to the community life of the city, which is seen in brass band funerals, Saturday night fish fries, and music for picnics in ball games. There were red beans as well as rice banquettes on Mondays, and nightly dances at neighborhood halls throughout the town¹⁹ (Gioia 2011). The New Orleans sound represented good-time music, delivered in a rollicking, which suited regular individuals seeking music that triggers their emotions. The emotional content connected the performers to their audiences. It provided a musical communication in which every party could participate. In spite of their popular success at home, bands from New Orleans usually experienced difficulty in attempting to win over novel audiences in places such as Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago.

Coinciding with the first World War, musicians started to travel extensively. They often found themselves at an advantage in their efforts to introduce dancers to the New Orleans sound. The story of the original Creole Orchestra is an example²⁰ (Feinstein 1994, 3435). The band was arranged in Los Angeles by bassist Bill Johnson, who traveled with a band to that city as early as 1908²¹ (Robertson 2018, 670). By the next six years, he had attracted some of New Orleans’ best jazz players comprising cornetist Freddie Keppard, violinist James Palao, and clarinetist George Baquet. While performing at a prizefight, the Creole band’s reputation was ruined by a writer affiliated with the LA Times, who claimed that they were imitators. This is despite the band traveling throughout the United States from 1914 to 1918, playing in prestigious theatres, which should have meant success.

Nevertheless, theater audiences were in a position to react properly since New Orleans jazz was dancing music. In 1916, the Victor Talking Machine Company provided the Keppard and Creole Orchestra a chance to record²² (Zagala 2020, 106). The latter feared that recording would allow the competition to imitate his style. When the Creole Orchestra disbanded two years later, there was little that could be seen as a result of their efforts²³ (Robertson 2018, 672). Each member of the band joined a new musical alliance separately. However, in retrospect, they were the first New Orleans-style band to travel and perform in different places extensively.

Conclusion

The paper has examined the early roots of jazz music in New Orleans, including highlighting the key players responsible for developing the genre. It has been stated that the sound has influences from various groups consisting of Africans, Italians as well as the Irish, who discovered something through which all can connect. The late nineteenth century has been described as the epitome of music production in the city. It was during the time that European folk, African elements, and American music merged and resulted in jazz. One of the main and most popular musicians of this era comprised Charles Bolden, a cornetist.

The paper has shown that Bolden connected with his audience by displaying musical power and charisma. Despite his career ending in an institution, he is described as one of the pioneers and influencers of jazz music. After playing with Charles Galloway for a brief moment, it is said that he formed his band and started entertaining his growing following throughout the next decade. Six years after the start of the twentieth century, he developed health issues and collapsed while performing for a gathered audience. This meant that other musicians and dancers had to emerge and replace him in the genre.

It is stated in the paper that Trombonist Frankie became the leader of Bolden’s former band and renamed it. Another cornetist named Manuel Perez was in charge of the Imperial Orchestra dance band. He led the Onward Brass Band in a looser and more improvisational direction. Other groups started playing the exciting sound of jazz, including the Peerless, Superior, and Olympia. All this can be attributed to the foundation established by Bolden, who made being a fan or listener of the sound appear outstanding. One important note is that after people’s interest in the genre grew immensely, the youth began to request music that had more excitement. This they could find in Kid Ory’s Creole band, which excelled in the depiction of the transition from Bolden’s early experiments to classical jazz.

Bibliography

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Footnotes

1. Atkins, E. Taylor. “Toward a global history of jazz.” Jazz Planet (2003): xi-xxvii.
2. Bjorn, Lars, and Jim Gallert. Before Motown: a history of jazz in Detroit, 1920-60. University of Michigan Press, 2001.
3. Boulard, Garry. “Blacks, Italians, and the making of New Orleans jazz.” The Journal of Ethnic Studies 16, no. 1 (1988): 53.
4. Danesi, Marcel. “Jazz and American Popular Culture.” The Year’s Work in Critical and Cultural Theory 2022.
5. DeVeaux, Scott. “Constructing the jazz tradition: Jazz historiography.” In Black American Literature Forum, vol. 25, no. 3, 525–560. St. Louis University, 1991.
6. Feinstein, Sascha. “Jazz poetry: From the 1920s to the present.” (1994): 3435–3435.
7. Gioia, Ted. The history of jazz. Oxford University Press, 2011.
8. Kammen, Michael. “Culture and the State in America.” The Journal of American History 83, no. 3 (1996): 791–814.
9. Kozhevnikova, Evgeniya. “The Boundaries of Modern Jazz Composition: Interaction between Tango and Jazz Music.” (2019).
10. Li, Mo. “A History of Jazz in China: From Yellow Music to a Jazz Revival in Beijing.” Ph.D. diss., Kent State University, 2018.
11. Lipsitz, George. “Songs of the Unsung: The Darby Hicks history of jazz.” In Uptown Conversation, 9–26. Columbia University Press, 2004.
12. 1Scaruffi, Piero. “A history of Jazz Music.” Last modified July 7, 2005.
13. Godshalk, David Fort. “History and the Robert Charles Riot of 1900-K. Stephen Prince. The Ballad of Robert Charles: Searching for the New Orleans Riot of 1900. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, (2021). 264 pp. $27.95 (paper), ISBN 978-1-4696-6182-7.” The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 21, no. 2 (2022): 156–158.
14. Bonsaver, Guido. “Jazz Italian Style: From Its Origins in New Orleans to Fascist Italy and Sinatra.” (2018): 150–152.
15. Hobson, Vic. “Historically Informed Jazz Pedagogy: New Orleans Counterpoint and Barbershop Harmony.” Jazz Education in Research and Practice 1, no. 1 (2020): 155–166.
16. Martinelli, Francesco. “Jazz Italian Style: From Its Origins in New Orleans to Fascist Italy and Sinatra.” (2018): 203-206.
17. West, Aaron J. “Jazz Italian Style: From Its Origins in New Orleans to Fascist Italy and Sinatra by Anna Harwell Celenza.” Notes 76, no. 1 (2019): 98–101.
18. Wiggins, Jackie, and Taslimah Bey. “Music Learning as Life in an African American Family: The Story of Charlie Gabriel in New Orleans.” Journal of Historical Research in Music Education 43, no. 2 (2022): 115–141.
19. Gioia, Ted. The history of jazz. Oxford University Press, 2011.
20. Feinstein, Sascha. “Jazz poetry: From the 1920s to the present.” (1994): 3435–3435.
21. Robertson, Clyde C. “New Orleans Jazz in the World.” (2018): 664–674.
22. Zagala, Mathilde. “Creating Jazz Counterpoint: New Orleans, Barbershop Harmony, and the Blues by Vic Hobson. 2014.” Journal of World Popular Music 7, no. 1 (2020): 104–109.
23. Robertson, Clyde C. “New Orleans Jazz in the World.” (2018): 664–674.