About This Lesson
Jazz And Blues Are Types Of Music That Are Totally American. Early jazz and blues tunes evolved out of the Southern slaves’ tradition of “call & response” work songs. Slave ships transported Africans to North America, South America, and the Caribbean islands. Many of the enslaved people came from the Congo and spread the Bamboula rhythm throughout the “New World” The people from the Congo brought the Bamboula rhythm and spread it throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Black Americans were freed after the Civil War, and many migrated into New Orleans, Louisiana, considered to be the birthplace of jazz. Black American and Creole musicians, who were either self-taught or schooled in the melodies and harmo- nies of European classical music, played in jazz bands, brass bands, military bands and minstrel shows in New Orleans. Field Hollers, Blues, and Spirituals are the roots of today's jazz and blues music. The music continued to evolve into more sophisticated forms that led from Dixieland, to Swing, to Latin to Bebop and many other forms. American jazz and blues are known, loved and played throughout the world.
