[LateNight]

Originally Posted by rhertz

I don't know if this is true or not, but is New Orleans is the birthplace of Jazz? If true, this might make New Orleans the most unique city in the entire country. That is, unless someone can name another city that is the birthplace of a new genre of music.

New Orleans is certainly generally considered the birthplace of Jazz. more specifically a section of New Orleans called "Congo Square". Of course it's hard to really pin anything down, for this was before radio and before recorded music. (some time at the turn of the century, very early 1900's)

Jazz was brought about by the many musical influences already available in New Orleans.. coming together around the end of the Ragtime form of music, many early jazz players speak of their ragtime influences. They also had an infusion of European symphony halls and opera houses, segregated with white, black and creole audiences. Ragtime starting off in the Midwest brought down to new orleans by traveling musicians. Mix that in with New Orleans style Funeral Parades and Mississippi Delta migrants bringing in their music of gospel and blues. Jazz is a blending of all these elements that existed in New Orleans at the time. some of the earliest jazz recordings were made in Chicago, but almost all of the hot jazz musicians associated with the birth of jazz were born and raised in the Cresent City.