Jazz Festivals

Jazz is known as being one of the only styles of music created in America, though it is a mixture West African and Western music traditions. Jazz’s began in New Orleans, around the 1900’s, but its roots can be traced back hundreds of years earlier when slaves who were brought to America developed spirituals and blues in order to communicate with one another and express sadness, desires and religious beliefs. The music was passed along orally with each new generation making their own unique changes to the songs, which were often of a call and response form and unaccompanied by musical instruments.

Rhythms and melodies from the black community were combined with European compositions leading to the development of Ragtime music around 1895. “Ragging” a song meant dragging out certain notes and livening up music by rearranging notes. Ragtime and Jazz are similar but Ragtime music is predominantly sole piano music while Jazz music is played in ensembles.

Though jazz is closely associated with blues and ragtime, one of the most important elements of jazz music is that it is improvisational music–well-known notes and lines are a starting point for musicians to develop unique songs around. Early jazz musicians often could not read music but they thrilled audiences by bringing emotion, excitement and the unexpected to their pieces. While ragtime music was popular in restaurants, clubs or hotels, Jazz was mobile, versatile music played at funerals, parades, weddings, and at festivals.

The 1920’s were known as the Jazz Age as New Orleans jazz was brought to nightclubs in Northern cities such as Chicago and New York. It was more upscale than the music of New Orleans, and New Orleans Jazz distinguished itself as being a more folksy and spontaneous form of Jazz. Throughout the 20th century, many variations of Jazz music were popular including Dixieland, bebop, Big Band, swing, cool jazz, soul jazz and Latin jazz.

All forms of jazz music and the types of music that inspired it or have preceded it are celebrated during the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. The event began in 1970 as means of showcasing the musical heritage, arts, crafts and cuisine unique of New Orleans. The first Jazz Festival had a lineup that included Duke Ellington and Fats Domino and only about 350 attendees.

Quickly the Festival’s popularity grew and it now draws hundreds of thousands of visitors, world-renowned singers and the top talent of New Orleans and Louisiana. This year, artists including Rod Stewart, Jon Mayer, Harry Connick Jr. and ZZ Top are set to play in the event which will take place during the weekends of April 27-29 and May 4-6.

2007 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival attendees are invited to stay at the Hotel Maison de Ville in the French Quarter so that in addition to seeing the festival performances, they’ll be right by jazz clubs and bars where they can hear intimate performances by traditional and contemporary jazz artists who have been inspired by the earliest performers.

By: Carolyn Polinsky