Jazz blossomed in New Orleans for many reasons, one
prominent one being simply locations. New Orleans, nestled right in the Gulf of
Mexico and the base of the Mississippi, was a center for international trade, a
growing post reconstruction city, and nurtured a melting pot of cultures. This
melting pot of cultures created new divisions of cultures as well as pushing
the well-established boundaries of race. New Orleans received a large
proportion of its trade from South America and that brought the Mexican influences
that proved essential to the development of Jazz. Mexican artists brought new instruments,
woodwinds, and also classical training that was not offered to Blacks in
America at the time. With the addition of these influences Jazz became
infectious, American’s couldn’t get enough. Despite being seen as “Black Music”
it was beloved by white audiences, even Black artists became adored by white
audiences. Jazz became a way to transcend the racial divide. This transcendence
mixed with the pushed boundaries of race was unique to New Orleans. Artists
like Jelly Roll Morton used Jazz as a way to raise his social standing from his
Creole background. The Creole culture was one of the main cultures that pushed
the racial boundaries. Creole musicians were trained classically as opposed to
Black musicians, which lacked that training but more fully embraced the Jazz
style. With the Louisiana Legislative Code NO. 111 all people with any African
descent in their background were considered “Negro.” When this happened Creole’s,
that previously viewed themselves as higher on the social scale, were viewed by
society as the same as Black. (Gioia, 32)
I would say that the fluctuation of racial divisions was one
of the more prominent developers of Jazz. This was the force driving forward
all the innovations that made Jazz what it is. Despite being identified as a
Black music style, white audiences everywhere loved it and this gave Jazz
musicians the ability to push racial lines. There were many other factors that
helped create Jazz, not one is specifically responsible. It took everything,
the Mexican influence, the dichotomy of the creole culture, Storyville, and the
African influences, and a drive for modernism. The racial division fluctuation
in New Orleans provided a large effect on the development of Jazz that may be
prominent, but all the other factors are just as necessary.
