Blog
All articles, from the earliest origins of jazz to the modern era — in chronological order.
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.
Origins of Jazz: How New Orleans Gave Birth to America's Music
From Congo Square's African drumming to Storyville's smoky halls, the story of how jazz emerged from New Orleans' extraordinary cultural melting pot.