History of Blues and Jazz

People from Europe and America brought Africans to America as slaves before and during the nineteenth century. These Africans brought their music with them. After the American Civil War (1861 – 1865), the African- American people in the United States were not slaves anymore. Their African-American music became famous. It started in the South, in Louisiana, and it was called blues and jazz.

Blues and jazz became very popular in the twentieth century. A person who ‘sings the blues’ usually feels sad. Most of the time, he or she loses something. It can be a person, money or a job. Blues expresses sad feelings, sometimes in a funny way. People played blues first with only one or two instruments, for example, a guitar, a harmonica, or sometimes a piano. Sometimes they sang it without any instruments. Some famous blues musicians are Bessie Smith, John Lee Hooker, and B. B. King. B. B. King named his guitar ‘Lucille.’

Jazz came soon after blues. Composers added more musical instruments. Jazz can be happier and is often faster. Some famous jazz musicians are Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davies and Wynton Marsalis.

Musicians who play blues and jazz change the music to show their emotions. They play the music differently each time. Today people all over the world still like to listen to blues and jazz because we need to express our feelings sometimes.