While the usual claim for New Orleans as the unique “birthplace” of jazz
may be somewhat exaggerated, the city’s distinctive cultural climate provided
a microcosm for the social forces that created jazz—in particular, tensions
within the nominally “black” community between “Creoles of color” and
lower-class black populations, and the interactions between these musicians
and “white” musicians of many ethnic backgrounds. The nascent New
Orleans jazz style is exemplified by the music of cornetist Buddy Bolden,
whose work was never recorded. This was a music that adapted oral musical
techniques of lower-class origin to the new demands of professional dance
music, thus setting the direction for jazz for decades to come. We outline
the basic elements of New Orleans style, discuss the Great Migration and
its importance to the development of jazz, and look in detail at the music of
the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Jelly Roll Morton, Joe “King” Oliver, and
Sidney Bechet.
- Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Dixie Jass Band One-Step
- Jelly Roll Morton, Dead Man Blues
- Jelly Roll Morton, Doctor Jazz
- King Oliver, Snake Rag
- Red Onion Jazz Babies (Sidney Bechet), Cake Walking Babies (from Home)