Example Of Essay On The African Antecedents To Jazz

Jazz as a musical genre appears to have its roots in slavery which began in 1919 when the first African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia. Between 1650 and 1900, it is estimated that 10 million Africans came across the Atlantic with almost 4 million coming from West Centre Africa.
Despite the many hardships, slaves managed to find opportunities for self expression. For example, they would stay after church services to sing and dance. They also met at secret places to listen to travelling preachers and sing spirituals.
About 1850, the Protestant City-Revival Movement created a new song genre which was popular for revival meetings held in temporary tents erected in stadiums where the attendants could sing.
A network that became known as The Underground Railroad started operating in the early 19th century. Based on one estimate, it is thought that by 100,000 slaves had escaped by this route by 1850 . Such Negro spirituals as “Wade in the Water”, “The Gospel Train” and “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” directly refer to the UGRR.
1865 saw the abolition of slavery. Blues music is said to have been developed largely with the influence of folk musical ancestors which included work songs, spirituals, shouts, and hollers. The first appearance of the blues is not well defined and is often dated between 1870 and 1900, a period that coincides with the emancipation of the slaves and the transition from slavery to sharecropping and small-scale agricultural production in the southern United States.
Jazz is said to be a product of the New Orleans' melting pot. It is also claimed to have grown simultaneously in New Orleans, Saint Louis, Kansas City and Chicago. It is considered America's classical music which combines the traditions of black New Orleans with the creative flexibility of the blues, certain elements of which can be traced back to West Africa. And just to make things more interesting, there is a French-Creole influence that dates back to the same period.
Duke Ellington's Take the "A" Train was written in 1939 and was used in the 1943 film Reveille which featured Duke Ellington and other great jazz musicians from the Big Band and Swing Era in the 1930s. Billie Holiday's Billies Blues attests to the enduring appeal of the blues today.