History of Jazz
Welcome to History of Jazz — an exploration of jazz from its roots in New Orleans to the present day.
Every week, new articles trace the people, places, recordings, and cultural forces that shaped one of the most influential art forms in history. Each post is researched, verified against primary sources, and reviewed by a human editor before publication.
Latest Posts
The Swing Era and the Rise of the Big Bands
How the swing era’s big bands reshaped jazz, dance culture, and American popular music during the 1930s and early 1940s.
When Harlem Swung: Jazz and the Rise of New York's Greatest Nightclubs
How Harlem's legendary nightclubs and ballrooms turned jazz into America's soundtrack during the 1920s and 1930s.
The Bebop Revolution: How a Handful of Musicians Reinvented Jazz
In the early 1940s, a small group of restless musicians transformed jazz from danceable swing into a virtuosic art form — and changed music forever.
Kind of Blue and the Rise of Modal Jazz
Miles Davis's 1959 Kind of Blue rewired jazz by replacing chord-driven improvisation with modal frameworks, opening new melodic freedom for soloists.
When Jazz Moved to Chicago: The Great Migration and the Birth of a New Sound
How the Great Migration carried jazz from New Orleans to Chicago's South Side, where it evolved from collective improvisation into the age of the soloist.