Most people believe that Jazz music was first heard during the period known as the "Jazz Age" of the 1920's
. The truth is that the origin of Jazz was much earlier. In fact it is roots can be traced to a period between 1850 & 1900 when African slaves & freed people began to experiment with European music.
The music of central & western Africa is filled with intricate rhythms & improvisation played on percussive instruments. When the early African American people incorporated these rhythms in to American spirituals, hymns & hillbilly tunes the roots were planted for new forms of music that would finally lead to the Jazz phenomena. However this new improvisational style of music would not be a given name until around 1915 when it was first called "Jass" or "Jassing".
The first instruments used to play this new style of music was more commonly part of military marching or dance bands. Percussion, brass, woodwind & string instruments were taken up by the African Americans. Without formal training the new musicians were free to interpret & play in their own style. The new music lacked formal structure & collaborative improvisation became a key feature of the new sound. African rhythms & improvisation were combined with European instruments & American tunes. As Jazz developed, long improvised solo performances would also become part of plenty of music pieces.
The first style of music to be classed as Jazz was called Dixieland & it was performed from around the turn of the century in the Southern states of America. New Orleans would become the first home of this new sound. Dixieland itself had it is roots in the Ragtime music played at the finish of the nineteenth century. In fact plenty of Dixieland bands & orchestras would include Ragtime music in their repertoire.
Jazz music would become a form that gives musicians freedom to experiment with sounds. New harmonies & rhythms could be added to music on the fly, adding originality to each performance. It can be described as "music from the heart". Each device & performer added their individual brilliance to a collective performance.