Styles of Jazz

Styles of Jazz during the Roaring 20s

By: Alexandra Kelly

Though the roaring twenties was known as “a time of unprecedented prosperity — the nation's total wealth nearly doubled between 1920 and 1929”, perhaps it is best known worldwide as the jazz era (PBS). It just so happens that throughout all of this development, there was a jazz boom in which this music genre became extremely popular during this time period. The jazz era can best be described as, "It was an age of miracles," (Fitzgerald).

Jazz initially originated from and was influence by the Blues. There are various styles of jazz, and within each style several sub-styles/genres have evolved. That being said, the most important styles during the 1920s include instrumental jazz and Dixieland jazz.

Between these two styles instruments tend to vary; however, there are a group of primary instruments that are commonly found in all styles. Different styles incorporated different instruments; however, one will almost always find that the primary instruments are consistent. This is further illustrated through the two popular styles of the 1920s.

To begin, though Louis Armstrong was widely known for his scat singing, jazz shifted between music influenced by vocals to music influenced by instrumentation only. With the use of instruments in jazz music, it would give reason for various instruments to compete over one another, thus mutes were invented for horn instruments to stray away from “blasting” away at every tune.

When instrumental jazz was first introduced, it comes to no surprise that the instrument of choice was the saxophone. However, it is stated that clarinets were the star instrument of this style at the beginning of the decade and it was not until the end when the saxophone replaced the clarinet as most favorable. In addition to the saxophone, clarinet and various horns found in instrumental music, there were and still are many other types of instruments among these present in the style. They are split into sections, so, there are the horns, reeds, woodwinds, rhythm and strings.

Second, Dixieland jazz, often referred to traditional jazz, hot jazz, or early jazz was developed in New Orleans in the 1920s. It soon spread up and throughout Chicago and New York. This particular style is most important for its integration of the blues, ragtime and brass band as one arrangement. Instruments that appear in this style include the trumpet, clarinet, trombone, piano, drums, string bass, banjo or tuba and sometimes the saxophone. For the most part, vocalists are not present in Dixieland jazz. Two songs that are well-known examples of this particular genre include are “When the Saints Go Marching In” and “Basin Street Blues”. 

Media Sources

http://youtu.be/omxvYHNVJ6g
Example of instrumental jazz. 

http://youtu.be/FH8kH-EH3-I

Example of Dixieland jazz: no vocals.

http://youtu.be/wyLjbMBpGDA
“When the Saints Go Marching In” by Louis Armstrong.

Primary Sources

Fitzgerald, F Scott. "F. Scott Fitzgerald: Biography." Editorial. n.d.: n. pag. EBSCOhost. Web. 17 Nov. 2012.

PBS. "Jazz: A History of America's Music." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/jazz/time/time_roaring.htm>.

Other Sources

Tivis, Greg. "Jazz Styles: the Sub-genres!" Jazz Styles: The Sub-genres! N.p., 2010. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. <http://www.gregtivis.com/articles/Jazz-Styles.php>.