tale that the music was born in its red light district is purest nonsense. New

Orleans did have legalized prostitution and featured some of the most

elaborate and elegant "sporting houses" in the nation. But the music, if any,

that was heard in these establishments was made by solo pianists.

Actually, Jazz was first heard in quite different settings. New Orleans was

noted for its many social and fraternal organizations, most of which

sponsored or hired bands for a variety of occasions -- indoor and outdoor

dances, picnics, store openings, birthday or anniversary parties. And, of

course, Jazz was the feature of the famous funeral parades, which survive

even today. Traditionally, a band assembles in front of the church and

leads a slow procession to the cemetery, playing solemn marches and

mournful hymns. On the way back to town, the pace quickens and fast,

peppy marches and rags replace the dirges. These parades, always great

crowd attractions, were important to the growth of Jazz. It was here that

trumpeters and clarinetists would display their inventiveness and the

drummers work out the rhythmic patterns that became the foundation for

"swinging" the beat.

The best way to account for the early development of jazz in New Orleans is to familiarize yourself with the cultural and social history of this marvelously distinctive regional culture.

One might say that jazz is the Americanization of the New Orleans music developed by the Creoles, occuring at a time when ragtime, blues, spirituals, marches, and popular "tin pan alley" music were converging. Jazz was a style of playing which drew from all of the above and presented an idiommatic model based on a concept of collective, rather than solo, improvisation.

Ultimately, New Orleans players such as Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet developed a new approach which emphasized solos, but they both began their careers working in the collective format, evident in the early recordings by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (1917), Kid Ory's Sunshine Orchestra (1921), the New Orleans Rhythm Kings (1922, 1923) and King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band (1923).

Armstrong's impact became apparent with the popularity of his Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings (1925-28), redirecting everyone's imagination toward inspired solos. Meanwhile, in New Orleans, community connections such as "jazz funerals" in which brass bands performed at funerals held by benevolent

associations continued to underline the role of jazz as a part of everyday life.

Jazz may have been a luxury (entertainment) in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, but in New Orleans it was a necessity--a part of the fabric of life in the neighborhoods. And it still is.

THE EARLY MUSICIANS - Buddy, Bunk, Freddie and The King

The players in these early bands were mostly artisans (carpenters,

bricklayers, tailors, etc.) or laborers who took time out on weekends and

holidays to make music along with a little extra cash.

The first famous New Orleans musician, and the archetypal jazzman, was

Buddy Bolden (1877-1931). A barber by trade, he played cornet and began

to lead a band in the late 1890's. Quite probably, he was the first to mix

the basic, rough blues with more conventional band music. It was a

significant step in the evolution of Jazz.

Bolden suffered a seizure during a 1907 Mardi Gras parade and spent the

rest of his life in an institution for the incurably insane. Rumor that he

made records have never been substantiated, and his music comes from

the recollection of other musicians who heard him when they were young.

Bunk Johnson (1989- 1949), who played second cornet in one of Bolden's

last bands, contributed greatly to the revival of interest in classic New

Orleans jazz that took place during the last decade of his life. A great

storyteller and colorful personality, Johnson is responsible for much of the

New Orleans legend. But much of what he had to say was more fantasy

than fact.

Many people, including serious fans, believe that the early jazz musicians

were self-taught geniuses who didn't read music and never took a formal

lesson. A romantic notion, but entirely untrue. Almost every major figure

in early jazz had at least a solid grasp of legitimate musical fundamentals,

and often much more.

Still, they developed wholly original approaches to their instruments. A

prime example is Joseph (King) Oliver (1885-1938), a cornetist and

bandleader who used all sorts of found objects, including drinking glasses,

a sand pail, and a rubber bathroom plunger to coax a variety of sounds

from his horn. Freddie Keppard (1889-1933), Oliver's chief rival, didn't

use mutes, perhaps because he took pride in being the loudest cornet in

town. Keppard, the first New Orleans great to take the music to the rest of

the country, played in New York vaudeville with the Original Creole

Orchestra in 1915.

JAZZ COMES NORTH

By the early years of the second decade, the instrumentation of the typical

Jazz band had become cornet (or trumpet), trombone, clarinet, guitar,

string bass and drums. (Piano rarely made it since most jobs were on

location and pianos were hard to transport.) The banjo and tuba, so closely

identified now with early Jazz, actually came in a few years later because

early recording techniques couldn't pick up the softer