The History of Jazz

Catalog description

This course traces the development of American jazz from its origins in African-American musical traditions. Students examine the roots of jazz in ragtime, blues, work songs, and march music and study the development of different jazz styles such as Dixieland in the '20s, swing in the '30s, bop in the '40s, and continuing to the present. The course emphasizes the connection between historical periods and the music of jazz: America's original art music.