ISSN: 2690-8298 May. 01, 2020
Vol 1, Issue. 12
Jazz is one of the most influential genres in music and one to which many other genres owe its existence. Jazz musicians also place huge value on having their own distinct sound which means that even one trumpeter or trombone-player can sound very different to the next. With this in mind, it’s no wonder why jazz is so influential on modern music and the subject of interest for every rock, pop and hip-hop artist alive.
In this article, I wanted to talk more about the influence of jazz on modern music and why jazz is so important for musicians in every other genre. But in order to better understand this influence, it’s important to know about the origin of jazz itself.
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About the Origin and Growth of Jazz in the United States
Jazz is a genre that first appeared in New Orleans during the late 19th century. For many, jazz is the American version of classical music and developed from ragtime and blues which was mostly associated with African-American communities. Jazz was also considered a “source of freedom” at a time when so many people were receiving poor treatment due to the color of their skin.
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In most performances, jazz musicians will play a solo which they come up with on the spot and this improvisation requires a lot of skill. However, the rhythm is also consistent in jazz and forward momentum is called “swing”. During each jazz performance, you might also note how each player or instrument responds to another and this pattern is known as “call and response”. Jazz is also synonymous with various emotions and you can literally hear the sense of pain or joy in each piece.
New Orleans was a key enabler for the growth and development of jazz in America. With a population that consisted of people from Germany, Mexico, Italy, France, Africa and the Caribbean, this was undoubtedly one of the most diverse cities in the country.
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When African-American traditions mixed with those from the above nations, jazz eventually emerged from blues, marches and ragtime music. It was mostly created and used for the purpose of dancing but people soon began to sit down and listen to jazz. It developed incredibly fast from this point onward and famous musicians such as Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington came to the fore. For this reason, this mix of artists also inspired a variety of styles including swing, cool jazz and jazz rock. And soon enough, jazz was being played all over the world with jazz musicians, bands and even famous jazz festivals cropping up in every corner of the globe.
And this was when jazz began influencing not just the music industry, but also the world in which we live in today...
How Jazz Influenced the Modern World
You might have heard about Carl Sandburg or T.S Elliot who were two of the most famous poets in 19th century America. Believe it or not, these poets were heavily influenced by music and often wrote about jazz, while also mimicking the music style.
Around this same time, “flappers” used jazz to rebel against society and this led to an incredible shift in the fashion industry. What’s more, jazz provided employment for females in the music industry, while female musicians were socially accepted. Just so you know, flappers were a generation of western women who wore bobbed hair and short skirts, and listened to jazz music. Also, these young women voiced their disdain for social norms or what was considered “conventional behaviour” in the 1920s.
Advertisers also picked up on this rising trend and suddenly, the African-American culture was desirable. In fact, this was a period of reversal as many colored musicians were being employed which was ironic given how jazz had originated from the music of slaves in America. However, this was equally important for being some long-awaited recognition for the black culture and history in America.
PexelsWhy Jazz is Influential for Modern Day Music
When you think of it, Hip-Hop in particular holds many similarities with jazz music. Both hip-hop and jazz are synonymous with freestyle and improvised solos. What’s more, they are both used to tackle political and social issues, while providing an outlet for artists and listeners regardless of whatever complications they might be facing in life.
It also makes sense that jazz was the birthplace for almost every other genre in modern music. In other words, jazz evolved throughout the 20th century and grew in popularity in African-American communities. Due to this rising popularity, other genres including rock, pop and hip-hop began absorbing jazz into the creation process.
As mentioned above, the improvisation of lyrics in freestyle rap was often compared to the improvisation in jazz. Rappers like Gang Starr and A Tribe Called Quest are just two to mention but hip-hop in general was given direction by jazz music at the very least. If we look to modern day musicians such as Beyonce, we can also see that many pop singers regularly work and perform with jazz musicians. Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin also improvised a lot and used solos that were unplanned at the time.
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Final Thoughts
You will find the same or similar chord progressions in jazz as most other styles of popular music. Although reinvented somewhat, these styles are essentially borrowed from jazz in the same way that you might notice in a chord extension. Jazz also has many rhythms which have been adapted into modern music and used to create an infectious energy that often stimulates the subconscious before the conscious mind.
Anyway, you get my point, jazz is the foundation for many styles and genres of modern music. Just as any jazz player does things differently, modern musicians use a variety of influences and styles to create a unique sound of their own. It just so happens that many of these aspects originated from jazz music and helped create the colorful, vibrant and enigmatic world of music we have today.
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