Music of New Orleans

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The music of New Orleans assumes various styles of music which have often borrowed from earlier traditions. New Orleans, Louisiana is especially known for its strong association with jazz music, universally considered to be the birthplace of the genre. The earliest form was dixieland, which has sometimes been called traditional jazz, 'New Orleans', and 'New Orleans jazz'. However, the tradition of jazz in New Orleans has taken on various forms that have either branched out from original dixieland or taken entirely different paths altogether. New Orleans has also been a prominent center of funk, home to some of the earliest funk bands such as The Meters. The city is also the home of some of the world's most important sludge metal bands and arguably the place where the style was born.

Early 19th century

The African influence on New Orleans music can trace its roots at least back to Congo Square in New Orleans in 1835, when slaves would congregate there to play music and dance on Sundays. African music local music, including that of such local Whites as Louis Moreau Gottschalk. Along with such popular European musical forms popular in the city, perhaps most notably the brass band traditions, the cultural mix laid the groundwork for the New Orleans musical art forms to come.

By 1838 the local paper—the daily Picayune—ran a scathing article complaining about the emergence of brass bands in the city, which it stated could be found on every corner. In 1885 local authorities tried to outlaw such expression in the square, though the restriction was not long-lived.

Jazz

The term "jazz" (early on often spelled "jass") did not become popular until the mid and late 1910s, when New Orleans musicians first rose to prominence in other parts of the USA and the New Orleans style needed a new name to differentiate it from the nationally popular ragtime. Before then, the New Orleans style was frequently simply called "ragtime" (Sidney Bechet continued to call his music "ragtime" throughout his life), along with such local terms as "hot music" and "ratty music".

The local New Orleans dance music style was already distinctive in the 19th century. When this style became what was later known as "jazz" remains a matter of debate and definition, although most New Orleans music historians believe what became known as New Orleans style jazz was the product of a series of developments, probably reaching it's famous form no earlier than the 1890s and no later than the mid 1910s.

By the 1890s a man by the name of Poree hired a band led by cornetist Buddy Bolden, many of whose contemporaries as well as many jazz historians consider to be the first prominent jazz musician. The music was not called jazz at this time, consisting of marching band music with brass instruments and dancing. If anything, Bolden could be said to have been a blues player. The actual term "jazz" was first "jass", the etymology of which is still not entirely clear. The connotation is sexual in nature, as many of the early performers played in rough working class venues. Despite colorful stories of mid-20th century writers, the prostitution district known as Storyville was no more important in the development of the music than the city's other neighborhoods, but did play a role in exposing some out of town visitors to the style. Many instruments used were often acquired second-hand at pawn shops, including used military band instruments.

During this period ragtime was becoming very popular in the United States, and New Orleans musicians began to incorporate the music with an uptempo beat. It should be said that the Creole people of New Orleans also contributed greatly to the evolution of the artform, though their own music became heavily influenced by the pioneering work of Bolden. New Orleans-born musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet and Jelly Roll Morton all recalled the influence Bolden had on the direction of the music of New Orleans (Armstrong himself had no memory of Bolden, but was told about him by his mentor King Oliver), and jazz itself.

Second line

The use of brass marching bands came long before jazz music through their use in the military, though in New Orleans many of the best-known musicians had their start in brass marching bands performing dirges as well as celebratory and upbeat tunes for New Orleans jazz funeral processions from the 1890s onward. The tradition drove onward with musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Henry "Red" Allen and King Oliver. The presence of marching bands lives on today in The Big Easy, with musicians such as the Marsalis family doing some of their earliest work in such bands.

Much of New Orleans music today owes its debt to the early marching bands, even those marching bands which predate the birth of jazz music. In the late 19th century marching bands would often march through the streets of the city in second line parades. Some of the earliest bands originated from the Tremé neighborhood, and the city gave birth to such bands as the Excelsior, Onward and Olympia brass bands. The Onward and Olympia bands each have sustained incarnations that continue performing to this day. Modern examples of the brass band tradition can be heard in the playing of groups like the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, or the Rebirth Brass Band led by trumpeter Kermit Ruffins.

The history of the marching band in New Orleans is a rich one, with the various bands performing at virtually every major social event the city has to offer. They perform at funerals, picnics, carnivals and parades. The relationship between jazz bands and brass bands is one of co-influence. Jazz bands of this era began to go beyond the confines of the 6/8 time signature the marching bands utilized. Instead, New Orleans jazz bands began incorporating a style known as "ragging"; this technique implemented the influence of ragtime 2/4 meter and eventually led to improvisation. In turn, the early jazz bands of New Orleans influenced the playing of the marching bands, who in turn began to improvise themselves more often. Again, yet another indication that jazz music is symbolic of freedom.

Dixieland

The term dixieland was first coined by Dan Emmett in his song Dixie's Land in 1859, in reference to the slave trader Jonathan Dixie. It was not a positive term for African-Americans, as its usage defined any area of the south where slaves had not yet received emancipation. Dixieland music can be defined in a number of ways, though its origin is to be found in New Orleans, present first in the music of King Oliver. It quickly spread north and became popularized along with the migration of southern blacks to areas like Chicago. Today the term is used in reference to the music, which provides a general description of any form of jazz that is derived from early New Orleans jazz.

The term dixieland is generally not used very much by New Orleans-based musicians, for there is good evidence that the term was imposed on them. For instance, the first band to actually use the term in reference to the music in their name was the all-white Original Dixieland Band. This band played no small role in the coinage of the term dixieland in reference to jazz in New Orleans, though they were not the innovators of the music. The only true barrier this band broke was being the first to record New Orleans music, which happened in New York City of all places in 1917. It should be noted that despite the criticism Paul Barnes made about them, he also said that they had a "first class band".

An early student of Dixieland was the young Louis Prima, as well as his older brother Leon, both of whom lived outside the French Quarter in a working class neighborhood populated by Italian-American and African-American musicians. Into his early 20s, Louis Prima performed on trumpet and cornet throughout New Orleans before following in the path of his idol Armstrong, and moving North for career reasons, where he appeared at the Famous Door in New York City, eventually relocating to Las Vegas where, beginning in the mid-1950s, he regularly appeared with another New Orleans musician, saxophonist Sam Butera.

Rhythm & Blues and Rock & Roll

A new style came out of New Orleans after World War II. Prominent musicians such as Fats Domino helped shape what was first widely known as "rhythm and blues", which was at least an important ancestor of rock and roll, if not the first form of the music. In addition to the local talent, early rockers from elsewhere such as Little Richard recorded many of their early hits in New Orleans using bands of New Orleans musicians.

Hip hop

New Orleans has a rich hip hop history. Master P was the first mainstream rapper from New Orleans. His No Limit Records and Birdman's Cash Money Records helped discover talented young New Orleans rappers throughout the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century. Some seminal New Orleans artists from No Limit include Soulja Slim, C-Murder, and Silkk the Shocker. Over the years, Cash Money likewise has signed and released albums by several New Orleans artists including BG and the Big Tymers, and perhaps most famously Lil' Wayne.

Heavy metal

New Orleans has an active metal scene which began to take real form in the late 1980s. Bands such as Eyehategod, Exhorder, Soilent Green, Goatwhore, Kingdom of Sorrow, and Superjoint Ritual are either based in the city, or have a majority of their members hailing from the area. Artists such as Mike Williams, Jimmy Bower, Brian Patton,

The city is known for the "Louisiana sound," which was pioneered by Exhorder, who was the first band to combine doom metal and up-tempo thrash metal. Several of these metal groups share a style which draws inspiration from Black Sabbath, Melvins, hardcore punk as well as Southern rock. Down has a style closer to classic rock; Kirk Windstein is founding member of Crowbar Brian Patton is a member of Eyehategod and Soilent Green. L. Ben Falgoust II is the singer of Goatwhore and Soilent Green.

Electronic

New Orleans is also well known for its recent rise in the techno community. Recent artist have been popping up more and more throughout the first decade of the 21st century. Such as popular artists by the names of Christoph Andersson and Swiss Chriss.

References

External links

A History of New Orleans Music in 100 Tracks, edited by Ted Gioia (jazz.com)

Clarence's Greater New Orleans Area Cajun and Zydeco Schedule

New Orleans composer Edmund Dédé

New Orleans composer Basile Barés

Biographical sketches of New Orleans African American composers B. Barés, E. Dédé, L. Lambert, S. Lambert, J. W. Nickerson, A. J. Piron, and F. V. Seymour, and notes regarding their downloadable music. Site also has notes on 22 downloadable Creole melodies.

NOLA Underground

No Questions, No Answers New Orleans Punk Compilation 1980

The WTUL New Wave Hour - 1978

List of past and present New Orleans musical artists

Tullos, Allen. "Music of the Louisiana Gulf Coast." Southern Spaces, February 26, 2004, http://southernspaces.org/2004/music-louisiana-gulf-coast.

Category:Culture of New Orleans, Louisiana Category:American music history