Effects of Jazz on Society in the 1920's

The Jazz Era was not only a period of early big band, but also the actions and customs of an era. In the 1920’s jazz affected many different aspects of society, especially women’s rights, fashion, and the social status of African Americans. The “Roaring Twenties”, also known as the “Jazz Era”, was the period just coming out of World War I. The generation of youth at the time, were rebelling against their parent’s culture and traditions. Jazz music was looked down upon as the music of African American’s, which caused an even greater attraction for the youth.

Jazz music actually came from rural cities in Louisiana and traveled to big cities, like New Orleans. Although a lot of people consider it to have originated in New Orleans in the early 1900s, but it then began to sweep across the entire country. More musicians from New Orleans moved north when more job opportunities became available (Tyler, 2012). Prohibition even helped jazz music to become more popular; after alcohol was prohibited “Speakeasies” were formed. They were establishments that sold alcohol during the time that it was illegal. The term “Speakeasy” was created because people would speak very quietly about them in public places and even when people were inside of them they would speak quietly to not alert the authorities. Jazz had been circulating throughout the country and evolving for almost a decade before it was first recorded. The first Jazz group to record was a white New Orleans band; they were called the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. In 1917 the band recorded in the Victor studios and sold enough to cause there global jazz stardom (Fordham, 2011). The first African American Jazz group to record was Kid Ory’s jazz ensemble in 1922 (Scaruffi, 1996).

Effects of Jazz in the 1920s 3

The growing popularity of Jazz helped the African American community gain a raised social status because of the increasing desire for Jazz music and musicians. They finally had places where they...