A Brief History of Jazz
Jazz began in New Orleans in the early 1900's. It soon spread into big cities in the United States like Kansas City, Memphis and New York City. Jazz was extremely popular and was often played at clubs and events because it was most often accompanied by dancing. Jazz was at the heart of the city of Harlem in New York and was often found playing at the Cotton Club.
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans, the place where jazz was born, in 1901. Armstrong played the trumpet and first started out playing jazz music when he became a member of the Creole Jazz Band. The band was lead by Joe "King" Oliver and played in Chicago. While playing in the band Louis gained fame and became well know in the jazz world. In 1924, he left the Creole band and became a member of Fletcher Henderson's band. Henderson's band played in New York and was known as one of the best jazz bands during that time. Below is a video of Armstrong playing and singing during a live performance of Hello Dolly.
"There is two kinds of music, the good, and the bad. I play the good kind."
Louis Armstrong
"There is two kinds of music, the good, and the bad. I play the good kind."
Louis Armstrong
Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington, born as Edward Kennedy Ellington and was a self taught musician. He was born in Washington D.C. and started playing music when he was just 7 years . As a boy he played at family gatherings and wrote his first song at age 15. His song was called "Soda Fountain Rag". His love of music inspired him to create a band at the age of 22 called the Washingtonians. Ellington is well known as a famous jazz pianist and composer that played at the Cotton Club in Harlem. He led the orchestra at the club. Ellington also composed music during the 1920's and some of his pieces include "Mood Indigo" and "The Sophisticated Lady". Duke wrote over 2,000 compositions in his lifetime. He later on created the Duke Ellington Orchestra and toured the U.S. and England playing in over 300 concerts. Below is a video of Duke Ellington playing the piano with the Cotton Club Band.
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was a famous Blues singer. She was born in 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee and was one of seven siblings. She started off singing on the street but in 1912 she began singing professionally. In 1923 she signed her first record deal with Columbia Records. Her first recording took place in New York to a song called "Down Hearted Blues". She continued to record songs and recorded with many people including Louis Armstrong, James P. Johnson and Fletcher Henderson. In her lifetime she recorded around 200 tunes. She became the highest paid black artist in the world in 1927. Unfortunately, her career took a turn for the worst during the great depression when she lost her record deal and became an alcoholic. But she will forever be remembered as the outstanding vocalist of the decade. Below you can listen to one of her recordings called "Nobody knows when your down and out".