How Jazz Music Changed a Culture

The jazz music that originated in New Orleans began to spread throughout the nation.  Louis Armstrong relocated north to Chicago in the early 1920’s taking his creative sound there.  Jazz music was quickly liked by those in the area and the popularity of jazz quickly began to spread north of Louisiana.  Jazz music not only spread through the music industry but influenced many other things such as art, diversity, and fashion.  Poetry and jazz collided in the 1920’s forming a beautiful type of art called jazz poetry (University of Minnesota).  Jazz poetry is described when a poet writes to the rhythm of jazz music.  The poem is said to have a certain vibe to it that relates it to jazz music.  Jazz music also played a part with diversity and segregation.  Jazz musicians were primarily African-American and because of jazz music they became highly desired within the white privileged community.  “For the first time in American history, what was previously considered ‘bottom culture’ rose to the top and became a highly desired commodity in society” (University of Minnesota).  Once jazz music took center stage, women’s hem lines began to increase and men started wearing baggy pants.  Women who once where forced to have long hair began to cut their hair short.  Jazz music is credited for changing culture in many different ways: from how people dressed, wrote, danced and who they associated with.  One genre of music helped merge a broken nation. 

Works Cited

University of Minnesota. "A New Jazz Culture." University of Minnesota. N.p., 2015. Web. 3 Jan. 

     2016. <http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/tbacig/studproj/is3099/jazzcult/20sjazz/ 

     jazzculture.html>.