Jazz.You've heard or read all of the romantic stories about the word "Jazz". The word Jazz meant "Pep" or "Zip", and was mostly used in the world of sports. So far, the oldest reference in music I found was 1915. The article below comes from June 22, 1913. Besides finding the word "Jazz" in here, I was amazed to also find the expression "Hep" in here as well! It seems that as soon as Jazz appeared, everyone wanted to know where it came from!
So here we have the definition JAZZ in a musical sense, from June of 1915!
This is two years BEFORE the first Jazz Recordings were released.
1915. Jazz was still being used to describe sports. Most of the time it was used in reference to Baseball and Boxing.
OK. So how about the term "Jass"? This little item was taken from a newspaper that was dated Jan. 1st 1899!
<---Marion Harris - JAZZ BABY
Now, here was an interesting way to explain Jazz! It was invented to get revenge for slavery!
Of course there were also total idiots around to give their uneducated & unwanted racist opinions. The sad news is that this type is still around...and teaching.....!
This article shows the dangers of dancing to Jazz as shown by the couple on the left. How true! So a wonderful invention was made so folks could dance to Jazz music without getting the urge to merge. I believe this later became the Hula-Hoop.
During the Summer of 1896, people started to hear about a new kind of music that was called "Rag-Time". Mr. Harney claimed he invented it.
"Forced To Play Blues" Are there no limits to what these fiends are capable of? The lady on the right killed her boyfriend who had just dumped her and didn't want her husband to find out.
And here we have mention of a band playing with "Swing". Not unusual,except that this is from 1908! Way BEFORE Jack Purvis had his great prison band.
In 1917, folks were wondering where this "Jazz" music came from. As if things weren't confusing enough, they asked a Banjo Player! Now, that's not to say that Banjo players are bad people and lie. Not at all! But you should always check your sources before publishing!
This is from early 1917. The lines were now drawn. If the "fogies" had power to control the dance floor, it was slipping fast. In a few months a war would change everyone, forever.
