Dixieland (music)
Dixieland is a style of jazz that emerged in the early 20th century, particularly during the 1920s and 1930s. Originating in New Orleans, it draws influences from various musical traditions, including ragtime, gospel, and military marching band music. Characterized by its ensemble format, a typical Dixieland band features instruments such as trumpet, clarinet, trombone, piano, upright bass, drums, and banjo, allowing for simultaneous improvisation where all musicians contribute to the melody and harmony without a single leader.
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, founded in 1917, played a pivotal role in popularizing this style, being the first jazz group to record music for a major label. Despite its roots in a context of racial segregation, the band's success demonstrated that jazz could appeal to a wider audience, influencing the music industry. Over time, artists like Louis Armstrong introduced new techniques that affected Dixieland's sound, leading to the incorporation of more prominent solos. While the popularity of Dixieland waned with the rise of big band music in the 1930s, a revival in the 1940s helped maintain its presence, particularly in cities like New Orleans, where it remains appreciated today.
Dixieland (music)
Dixieland is a form of jazz that was popular in the 1920s and 1930s. It was famous for its large ensembles of musicians. Dixieland was influenced by New Orleans style jazz, ragtime, gospel, and military marching band music. It influenced other styles of jazz and was most popular in New Orleans, Chicago, and New York City.
Background
Jazz first evolved in America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was a conglomeration of various contemporary musical styles at the time. Jazz was heavily influenced by blues, a musical genre pioneered by former enslaved peoples in the nineteenth century. Blues was emotive, and its lyrics commonly dealt with love, loss, and oppression. Jazz was also influenced by ragtime, another popular musical genre. Ragtime made new and innovative use of different timing structures. Most importantly, jazz came to make heavy use of improvisation. Instead of writing compositions in advance, jazz musicians would often write their music as they played it. They would build off one another's rhythms and chord progressions; this led to the creation of novel and unique musical pieces.
Jazz first developed in New Orleans, where small numbers of musicians improvised with one another. In many cases, these musicians were musically illiterate. They could not read musical notations. Most bands would make sure they recruited at least one consistent member, often called a "reader," who was fluent in reading musical notes. However, because of the improvisational nature of the genre, it was not necessary for all of the musicians in the band to know how to read music; they could learn to play music by ear. These jazz musicians were colloquially called "fakers."
Jazz quickly became popular across the country. Many jazz musicians toured America, playing for whoever would listen. Jazz also spread through early recordings. These records, called 78s, were made of brittle, hard plastic called shellac. They were produced by record studios in Chicago and New York and were sold across America.
Overview
Dixieland, a distinct style of jazz, was developed in New Orleans. It took its name from the first successful Dixieland recording, "Dixie Jass Band One Step." While it developed in New Orleans, Dixieland is distinctly different from traditional New Orleans jazz.
A standard Dixieland band included a trumpet, a clarinet, a trombone, a piano, an upright bass, drums, and a banjo. In later recordings, the trumpet was sometimes replaced by a cornet, the bass with a tuba, or the banjo with a guitar. Bands oftentimes included multiple musicians playing each instrument. For this reason, many Dixieland bands grew much larger than their traditional New Orleans jazz counterparts.
In both traditional New Orleans jazz and Chicago-style jazz, musicians take turns engaging in solos. In a solo, a single musician carries the melody of the musical piece, often showcasing his instrumental skill in the process. During this, other musicians follow the soloist's lead. They provide the rhythm, beat, and chord progression necessary to keep the song flowing.
In Dixieland, no one musician takes the lead at any given time. Each musician is expected to know their specific role, allowing all the musicians involved to improvise at the same time. The drums keep the beat and help all the other instruments keep time. The piano, banjo, or guitar plays the chords that give the musical piece structure. The trumpet plays the melody, which is reinforced by the clarinet. The bass and tuba provide the bass line, which is reinforced and embellished by the trombones.
The Original Dixieland Jass Band, later called the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, was one of the most famous Dixieland bands. Founded in 1917, the band wrote and recorded the first jazz record ever to be released by a major record label. The band's core members included trombonist Edwin Edwards, drummer Tony Sbarbaro, pianist Henry Ragas, clarinetist Larry Shields, and cornetist Nick LaRocca. The band released "Livery Stable Blues" and "Dixie Jass Band One Step," which were distributed nationwide. As the band became more successful, the members were invited to tour and record new material in Europe. Unfortunately, public support for the band waned while the members were overseas, and the group disbanded in 1925. However, the members reunited in 1936 for a radio performance, after which they recorded a number of songs together for a few years before separating again.
Unlike many jazz bands at the time, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band was made up entirely of White musicians. During the early twentieth century, racial segregation was still in full effect. Jazz music was predominately played by Black American musicians. Record companies did not believe that jazz could be successful outside Black American markets, and they usually failed to sign jazz musicians. The massive success of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band showed record labels that jazz could be enjoyed by all demographics, paving the way for other jazz musicians.
When jazz legend Louis Armstrong began to make waves in Chicago, Dixieland bands began to incorporate some of his techniques into their music. Armstrong was a horn virtuoso, playing the trumpet and the cornet in ways that had never been heard before. He wove long, powerful, improvised solos into jazz songs, impressing and entertaining audiences. In response to this, some Dixieland bands began to introduce musical solos into their acts. Prior to Armstrong, jazz solos had been almost exclusively confined to Chicago-style jazz.
By the 1930s, the popularity of both New Orleans jazz and Dixieland had begun to decline, thanks in part to the rising interest in big bands. A revival of traditional jazz in the 1940s helped to renew interest in the genre, and the music remained popular in select areas of the country, especially in New Orleans, into the twenty-first century.
Bibliography
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“Dixieland Jazz New Orleans.” New Orleans, www.neworleans.com/things-to-do/music/history-and-traditions/dixieland-jazz-new-orleans. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.
"Early New Orleans and Chicago Style Jazz." McGraw-Hill Education, highered.mheducation.com/sites/007297642x/student‗view0/chapter5/index.html. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.
"A New Orleans Jazz History, 1895–1927." National Park Service, 14 Apr. 2015, www.nps.gov/jazz/learn/historyculture/jazz‗history.htm. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.
Ruhlmann, William. "Louis Armstrong: Biography." AllMusic, www.allmusic.com/artist/louis-armstrong-mn0000234518/biography. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.