In the early 20th century, New Orleans became a crucible where many different traditions were mixed together because it became one of the most important trading centers in the United States at one time. After the 1803 Louisiana purchase and the lifting of trade restrictions on the Mississippi River, commerce went up dramatically due to its location on the coast and the advent of the steamboat, where goods could be shipped and received in staggering amounts. People started to flock to New Orleans looking for jobs and it soon became a cosmopolitan center of the South and a major hub of commerce. The District, or Storyville, was a place in New Orleans that even rich people went to for prostitution and the whorehouses there became places where people created music to pass time. It was responsible for putting people in the right mood for the bordello. In his book, The History of Jazz, Ted Gioia argues that the bordellos of Storyville are not the only factor responsible for the emergence of jazz but that there were more sources of New Orleans jazz such as inspiration from Baptist rhythms, Saturday night fish fries performances, private fund-raising ventures, and second-line funeral processions (Gioia 108-111 [ebook])
New Orleans, however, had a unique diversity that separated it from other big and diverse cities, such as New York, because of the french culture that remained and the influence of the Creoles. It became a mecca for runaways, ex-slaves, and free Creoles from the Caribbean who migrated to the cosmopolitan environment of New Orleans because it was a place of vital aliveness and African-based diversity. Forty-percent of the inhabitants were foreign-born and most of that percentage was black.
The tension between the elite Creole class and the underclass blacks was one of the most important factors that was responsible for the birth of jazz because the Creoles, brought the European dances and music with them and the rest of the blacks brought their own African cultures with them. Emancipation brought down the higher status of the Creole elites and the mixing that ensued between the Creoles and the black ex-slaves helped create jazz. The tension and pressure of the class and race conflict that gave birth to jazz is reflected in the music itself, which goes to show the significant influence it had on the music.
Many of the Mexican musicians that performed in the 1884 Cotton exposition in New Orleans stayed and taught classical music to the black musicians there who lacked a structured foundation in music. They also brought with them woodwind instruments, among which were the saxophone and the clarinet. Jazz wold not be what it is today without the contribution of the Mexican immigrants. Thus, jazz emerged in the melting pot of New Orleans due to all the different people mingling and bringing their different cultures with them, drawn into the city by the commerce and money.
*********
Commented on Noah Rubin's blog post, but I did not see it on there right after I published it, so here is the comment I posted in case it doesn't show up later:
*********
Commented on Noah Rubin's blog post, but I did not see it on there right after I published it, so here is the comment I posted in case it doesn't show up later:
You mention in your second paragraph that Storyville/The District formed the proper environment in which the lower and upper classes were able to discreetly conglomerate, but what about the other sources for jazz - such as the second-line funerary processions, private fund-raising ventures, and the baptist rhythms that closely inspired jazz rhythms? Do you think that they played a part in the obscurity which you mention in your conclusion? I really like how you state that the obscurity is jazz's important history because there are many factors known and unknown that have probably contributed to its development. Great job!
