While Jazz has often been called the only truly American Classical Music, it's origins actually began from a forcibly imported Afro-Centric influence. The West Africans who were kidnapped and brought into the United States endured the harshest form of human slavery ever carried out on Earth. Following its demise, a remnant spirit continued to persist that would never fully allow Afro-Centric people to be completely acclimated as an integral part of the American fabric.
Given this history, Jazz has very little to do with being American, native or otherwise. Because much of its evolutionary development occurred within the United States, Jazz has been claimed by America. Born from the pain and struggles of a disenfranchised people (stripped of their culture and languages with no way to return home), its genius as the highest musical art-form is irrefutable! African slave labor funded the American Industrial Revolution yet the great-grandchildren of those people were never permitted to share in that wealth.
Given this history, Jazz has very little to do with being American, native or otherwise. Because much of its evolutionary development occurred within the United States, Jazz has been claimed by America. Born from the pain and struggles of a disenfranchised people (stripped of their culture and languages with no way to return home), its genius as the highest musical art-form is irrefutable! African slave labor funded the American Industrial Revolution yet the great-grandchildren of those people were never permitted to share in that wealth.
In spite of insurmountable odds, the indomitable Spirit of these Afro-Centric People did find the means to carve its own path as they fought to survive. From that pain came the birth of Jazz. Following the 400 years of legalized American slavery came the reconstruction of the south and with it came Jim Crow Laws and segregation. These two issues made life and an equitable quality of living impossible for Afro-Centric People but it served to instill a unity and cohesion which future formal one-way integration has not been fully able to erase with all its intended assimilation and social pretense.
With imposed hardships brought about via a socially and politically un-inclusive environment, many of the young Afro-Centric men and women would later migrate from the south into the north seeking employment because no substantial work opportunities existed in the south. As a result, these folk began exploring one of the few opportunities which would enable them to survive, namely, as music and melody makers. Notably, this first began in New Orleans, home of Louis Armstrong. He was one of the key and principal pioneers of Jazz due to his phenomenal talent and he was "hope personified" for all others who would follow.
New Orleans was and to some extent has always been an unusual place where folk of different ethnic origins and cultures learned to live side by side. Without going into the particulars concerning the origin of Afro-Centric Creole folk and how they happened to be a wealthier and better than an ordinary class of folk, suffice it to say that the interaction between them and other Afro-Centric folk contributed heavily to the development of Jazz as it brought together two musical genres which combined to form the Earliest Jazz! From that point, migration coupled with a sophisticated 'Grapevine' had its way and spawned further cultural syncretism focused on this newly invented style of music.
This background is important to note since it would predominate and influence the thinking of many who otherwise might not have pursued careers in music had other employment been readily available nor would the music have had such a richness of expression across a broad spectrum of the then unified Afro-Centric Community. Notably, this key aspect fed and nurtured experimentation because the Earliest Jazz was born from the idea of blending...
