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The pulsing beats and syncopated melodies of jazz were soon to become the heartbeat and voice of American music. Rising from the mixed soil of blues, ragtime, and many other folk styles of music, jazz was a flame of creation that spread from south to north, influencing culture, literature, and anything it touched. The risen Phoenix of jazz, alone and full of potency, is the only true original form of music that has been spawned in the country of America.
The creation of jazz as a musical innovation did not just appear out of anywhere, just as in the creation of anything there is influence and inspiration. To say that there is any one particular influence to the creation of jazz would be talking from ignorance and misinformation. While jazz has had some profound influences such as blues and ragtime, it is impossible to pinpoint a primary influence. Jazz was more or less a fusion of certain styles of music, with certain additives adjoined to the lump sum of music. “From the fusion of blues, ragtime, brass-band music, and syncopated dance music came jazz, a genre developed in its own style and repertory” (Southern 365). Whether it was in the piano styles or the drums of jazz there were always influences. “The melding of ragtime piano music and the blues had a profound effect on the development of jazz, especially through the keyboard players” (Stroff 7).
With some of the same regional growths one can make a pretty fine argument that the blues is the foundation of jazz. “One can’t talk about jazz without talking about the blues, which evolved from a mix of spirituals and field hollers with European-based folk and hymns.” “ Almost certainly the blues is the most critical element in jazz’s development as Americas greatest homegrown art form. And jazz music, among other things is just another way of playing or singing the blues” (15). ... The birth date of the blues is even more elusive than ragtime, and jazz, but it still can be traced to southern country lands and the dates that it had become popularized in the bayou, such as New Orleans.
Approximate Word count = 1685
Approximate Pages = 6.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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