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Jazz in the 1920s

The 1920s saw the prohibition of alcoholic beverages, which saw the emergence of speakeasies. This in turn led to the popularity of jazz in the 1920s as a lot of jazz artists played in them. Phonograph and Radio further increased the following of jazz music during the jazz age, which is marked with decadence and hedonistic ways of living.

Jazz in the 1920s: In early jazz in 1920s, popular music comprised dance, novelty songs and show tunes. Paul Whiteman gave a touch of elaborate orchestrations to jazz music and came out with a new form of jazz music. Paul Whiteman is also considered the “King of jazz”. Other band leaders who made their mark during this period include, Ted Lewis, Harry Reser, Lo Reisman, and Fred Waring.

The Swinging 1930s - In this era after early jazz in the 1920s, solo became important in jazz. Jazz now came to be performed by big bands, such as Benny Goodman, Fletcher Henderson, Don Redman, and Duke Ellington. This age was characterized by the popularity of swing music, which is primarily dance music. It also gave the composers and opportunity to improvise and come out with more innovative sounds.

The Cool Jazz of 1940s and 1950s – After jazz in the 1920s and 1930s Cool jazz became very popular in 1950s. The Bop and Swing tones were smoothed out in the form of cool jazz. East coast musicians and composers were major contributors to this kind of music.

Latin Jazz - Latin jazz included Afro-Cuban and Brazilian jazz. Jazz musicians, Dizzy Gillespie and Billy Taylor spread Afro-Cuban music.

Modal Jazz - The soloists drew inspiration from medieval church modes. The jazz musicians freed themselves of all sorts of restrictions and concentrated on new harmonics. Pianist Bill Evans is the most popular name associated with modal jazz.

Soul Jazz - The 1960s saw the emerging popularity of soul jazz. The jazz composers concentrated on rhythmic groove and gave prominence to Hammond organ and Hammond’s sounds.