The Strength of Jazz

This episode of Jazz on the Rocks celebrates the brute strength of Jazz. From it's development in the early 20th century in New Orleans where the city's population was more diverse than anywhere else in the South, and people of African, French, Caribbean, Italian, German, Mexican, and American Indian, as well as English, descent interacted with one another. African-American musical traditions mixed with others and gradually jazz emerged from a blend of ragtime, marches, blues, and other kinds of music. At first jazz was mostly for dancing. Jazz continues to be a viable genre today influencing everything from Rock to Hip-Hop.