**the Story Of Jazz Music: Part-Ii Poem by RAJ NANDY

THE STORY OF JAZZ MUSIC
PART – II

NEW ORLEANS: THE CRADLE OF
JAZZ!

BACKGROUND
Straddling the mighty bend of the River
Mississippi,
Which nicknames it as the ‘Crescent City’;
Was founded in 1718 as a part of French
Louisiana colony!
New Orleans* gets its name from Phillippe II,
Duc d’ Orleans, the Regent of France;
A city well know for its music and fondness
for dance!
The city remained as a French Colony until
1763,
When it got transferred to Spain as a Spanish
Colony!
But in 1800, those Spanish through a secret
pact,
To France had once again ceded the colony
back!
And finally in 1803 the historic ‘Louisiana
Purchase’ took place, -
When Napoleon I sold New Orleans and the
entire Louisiana State, -
To President Thomas Jefferson of the United
States! **

THE CONGO SQUARE
The French New Orleans was a rather liberal
place,
Where slaves were permitted to congregate, -
For worship and trading in a market place, -
Only on Sabbath Days, - their day of rest!
They had chosen a grassy place at the edge of
the old city,
Where they danced and sang to tom-tom beats, -
Located north of the French Quarters across
Rampart Street;
Which came to be known as the Congo Square;
Where you could hear clapping of hands and
stomping of feet!
There through folk songs, music and varying
dance forms, -
The slaves maintained their native African musical
traditions all along!
African music which remained suppressed in the
Protestant colonies of the British,
Had found a freedom of expression in the Congo
Square by the natives, -
Through their Bamboula, Calanda and Congo dance!
The Wolof and Bambara people from Senegal River
of West Africa,
With their melodious singing and stringed instruments,
Became the forerunners of ‘blues’ and the banjo!
And during the Spanish era, slaves from the Central
African forest culture of Congo,
Who with their hand-drummed polyrhythmic beats,
Made people from Havana to Harlem, to rise and
dance on their feet! ***

CULUTRAL MIX
After the Louisiana Purchase, English-speaking
Anglo and African-Americans flooded the state!
Due to cultural friction with the Creoles, the new-
comers settled ‘uptown’, -
Creating an American sector, separate from older
Creole ‘downtown’!
This black American influx uptown brought in, -
The elements of the blues, spirituals and rural
dances into New Orleans’ musical scene!
These African cultural expressions gradually
diversified, -
Into Mardi Indian traditions, and the Second Line, ^^ -
And eventually into New Orleans jazz and blues;
As New Orleans became a cauldron of a rich
cultural milieu!

THE CREOLES
Creoles were not immigrants but were home-
bred;
They were the bi-racial children of French
Masters and their African women slaves!
Creole subculture was centered in New Orleans.
After the Louisiana Purchase of 1803,
The Creoles rose to the highest rung of society! @
They lived on the east of Canal Street in the
French sector of the city.
Many Creole musicians were formally trained in
Paris,
Played in opera houses of Paris, and later led Brass
Bands in New Orleans!
Jelly Roll Morton, Kid Oliver and Sidney Bechet
were famous Creoles;
About whom I shall write as this Jazz Story unfolds!
In sharp contrast on the west of Canal Street lived
the Negro musicians,
They lacked the economic advantages the Creoles
had gained!
They were schooled in the Blues, Work songs,
and Gospel music,
And played by the ear with improvisation as their
unique characteristic!
But in 1894 when 'Jim Crow’s' racial segregation#
laws came into force, -
The Creoles were forced to move west of Canal
Street - to live with the Negroes!
This mingling lighted a ‘musical spark’ creating
a flash,
Igniting the flames of a New Music which was later
called Jazz!

CONTRIBUTION OF STORYVILLE
In the waning years of the 19th century,
When Las Vegas was just a farming commu-
nity,
The actual ‘sin city’ lay 1,700 miles East, in
the heart of New Orleans!
By Alderman Story’s Ordinance of 1897,
A 20-block area got legalized and confined to
the French Quarters on the NEastern side, -
Called Storyville, a name acquired after him!
This red light area resounded with a new
seductive music ‘jassing up’ one and all!
Which played in its bordellos, saloons and
dance halls!
The best of bordellos hired a House Pianist,
Who also greeted guests and was a musical
organizer;
The girls addressed him respectfully as the
‘Professor’!
Jelly Roll Morton++, Tony Jackson author of
‘Pretty Baby’ and Frank ‘Dude’ Amacher, -
Were all well known Storyville ‘Professors’!
Early jazz men who played in Storyville’s
Orchestra and bands were all Legends; -
Like ‘King’ Oliver, Buddy Bolden, Kid Orley, ++
Bunk Johnson and Sydney Bechet! ++
Louis Armstrong who was born in New Orleans,
As a boy had supplied coal to the ‘cribs’^ of
Storyville!
He had also played in the bar for $1.25 a night!
Surely the contribution of Storyville cannot
be denied!
But when America joined the First World War
in 1917, -
A Naval Order was issued to close down Storyville! %
Waging war was more important than making
love, they said!
And from the port of New Orleans the US warships
had set sail!
Here I now pause my friends, - to take a break!
-Raj Nandy
02 Aug 09
New Delhi.

FOOT NOTES: -
*NEW ORLEANS ONE OF THE OLDEST COSMOPOLITAN CITY &
A MAJOR PORT OF LOUISIANA, = THE 18th STATE OF US,
**LOUISIANA SOLD BY FRANCE FOR $15MILLION, WAS LATER
REALISED TO BE A GREAT ACHIVEMENT BY JEFFERSON!
***MANY AFRICAN STRANDS OF FOLK MUSIC AND DANCE
HAD MERGED AT THE CONGO SQUARE!
^^SECOND LINE MUSIC= Bands playing during Funerals & Marches evoked volutary crowd participation - with songs & dance as applicable
forming a second line behind the main!
@THOSE LIBERAL FRENCH MASTERS OFFERED THE CREOLES
THE BEST OF EDUCATION WITH ACCESS TO WHITE SOCIETY!
#’JIM CROW’= BETWEEN1892&1895 BLACKS GAINED POLITICAL
PROMINENCE IN SOUTHERN STATES! IN 1896 LAND-RICH WHITES DISENFRANCHISED THE BLACKS COMPLETELY! A
25 YRS LONG HATRED & RACIAL SEGREGATION BEGAN! !
TENNESSE FIRST LED BY PASSING 'JIM CROW' LAW IN 1896!
SUPREME COURT UPHELD THIS LAW WITH ITS 'SEPARATE
BUT EQUAL’’ STATUS VERDICT FOR THE BLACKS! THUS RACIAL SEGREGATION BECAME A NATIONAL INSTITUTION! !
THIS SEGREGATION DIVIDED THE BLACK & WHITE MUSICIANS ALSO! BLACKS COULDNOT JOIN WHITE MANS BAND!
+ BIRTH OF JAZZ WAS A SLOW AND EVOLVING PROCESS, WITH BLUES AND RAGTIME AS ITS PRECUSORS!
“JAZZ WAS QUINTESSENCE OF AFRO-AMERICAN MUSIC
BORN ON EUROPEAN INSTRUMENTS! ”
++ JELLY‘Roll’ Morton(1885-1941) At 17 yrs played piano in the brothels – applying swinging syncopation to a variety of music! A great Transitional Figure- between Ragtime & Jazz Piano-style.++ Buddy Bolden(1877-1931) His cornet improvised by adding ‘blues’ to Ragtime in Orleans =1900 to1907: which later became Jazz! Bunk Johnson(1879-1849) : Pioneering jazz trumpeter, inspired Armstrong! Lost all teeth & played with denture! King Oliver(1885-1938) : Cornet player&bandleader, mentor& teacher of Louis Armstrong!
He pioneered use of ‘mute’in music! KID ORY(1886-1973) :
A pioneering Trombonist developed the ‘tailgate style’ playing rhythmic lines underneath the trumpet & cornet, - propagating early Jazz! In 1918 he hired Louis Armstrong in his band as a cornet player! Sydney Bechet(1897-1959) : Pioneered the use of SAX & a Composer & a Soloist, inspired Armstrong! His pioneering style got
his name in Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame! Louis Armstrong(1890-1971) : Trumpeter, singer and a great improviser! He became the
First international soloist, who took New Orleans music to the World! % = After America joined WW-I in 1917, a Naval Order was issued to shutdown Storyville, to check the spread of VD amongst sailors!
^’cribs”= cheap residential buildings where prostitutes rented rooms!
DURING THE 1940S STORYVILLE WAS RAISED TO THE GROUND TO MAKE WAY FOR IBERVILLE FEDERAL HOUSING PROJECT!

**ALL COPYRIGHTS RESERVED BY THE AUTHOR: RAJ NANDY **