Jazz

What is it? An established musical genre that pre-dates the 20th century with its origins in New Orleans: a cultural melting point of different musical influences and ethnicities. By the early 20th century, Jazz was taking on a form of its own beyond its original influences and was characterised by collective improvisation, European harmony and African rhythms, improvisation around the melody, ensemble playing etc. This came to be known as Dixieland Jazz; which by the 30's had evolved into Swing with New York the original hotbed. This was the only time that Jazz was ever considered mainstream and was strongly associated with dancing. From the early 40's another innovation took place in the form of Bebop -though this was not considered mainstream or danceable. It was art music for listeners.

Since then, Jazz has branched out into many sub genres. It has been around for more than 100 years now and continues to evolve...