opus 1, no. 2; overview & history (pre-jazz)

Hello, fellow geniuses. Surprise! I've survived the first week - which is what this blog post will be explaining (+ a summary of the history I read through). I've also realized that I've forgotten to include something in my intro:

hello. it is I, the jazz man.

This is what I'll be using to represent me through my amazingly interesting adventures. It's essentially a tiny upgrade up from a stick figure, which is unfortunate, but I guess we can't all be great artists (cough ellie acuna cough). Anyways, this is me. I shall use it to represent certain events/scenarios since I prefer the stick figure to actual pictures of myself. For example:

it's lit

ANYWAYS, MOVING ON. SORRY. 
Okay, let's Pretend This Never Happened. So. The summary and overview. You may have it.

the overview: what have I learned this week? what have I done?

• History: as planned, I have learned all about what set the stage for jazz to begin. More information can be found below.
• Musician: this week, I studied Bud Powell. I will be making a short biography post on him, so stay tuned (haha. because tunes in music. hah.)
• Actual playing: I learned jazz chords and common combinations of said chords. I will be making a separate post for that so this post doesn't become 3000 words long.
• I have asked Mr. Conahan for an interview. Date isn't decided, but he agreed to help out, so that's great! :)

Anyways, onward! Let's go over what I've learned.

this week on jazz history

Before jazz, the world was cold and dreary. Snow covered the lands, burying everything in ice and chill. No plants could survive. People were starving. The nations of the past had fallen long ago.

a lone human races through the snow, desperate for warmth. and jazz.

ANYWAYS, MOVING ON (part two).
My main question this week was 'what set the stage for jazz?'

The answer? Well, I'll go more in depth, but the answer can be pretty much summed up in one word: diversity.

Basically, think about this: the time is before the 1850s. What happened before the 1850s? A lot. But what really happened?

A comprehensive list of things that happened before the 1850s

• nothing at all happened before the 1850s.
• the antebellum era started before the 1850s.
• the end of the antebellum era was not before the 1850s, because the era ran from 1815-1861, and 1861 is not before the 1850s.
• the African slave trade closed before the 1850s. Unfortunately for humanity, the USA did not end slavery before the 1850s. It was somewhat fortunate for jazz, however.

Okay, so a lot did happen before the 1850s. And around the time period of the antebellum era is when historians really like to find the roots of jazz.

So what was the only other important thing on my.. comprehensive list? Slavery, specifically in the U.S.

The obvious fact here is that Slavery Is Bad, and the U.S.A's Morals Are Now Crappy (I mean they kind of were already but still). 

a very scientific graph

But in terms of jazz, the huge slave population at the time was very important. Because of the slaves, there was increased creole population - African-Americans who were born in the US, not Africa.

Then, as the creole population began switching around traditional African music techniques, a somewhat unique-sounding style of music began (keep in mind that it wasn't jazz quite yet, it just was no longer traditional African music).

Now mix this change in music with the 'melting pot' of diversity down in New Orleans, and you've got yourself The Perfect way to find a new music style.

modern-day New Orleans. Jazz would be born here. one day.

So basically, those were the conditions in America before jazz that prepared the world for jazz. Goodbye, that's all for now.

This was long, and there was a lot of information. I hope it was Not Too Boring. Thanks for managing to get all the way down here!

Also: I have commented on Nina's blog, Amanda's blog, and Allison's blog.

Sources:
 "Jazz History Timeline." All About Jazz. All About Jazz, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.