The 1920s was a time of significant change in all aspects of life. This includes music. During the twenties, jazz music became increasingly popular among young people and African Americans. Jazz music originally rose from the African American communities in the south, beginning in the early 20th century. By the 1920s, jazz music was extremely popular in large cities, where musicians began to play jazz in a big band format. (1) Jazz was unlike any other music at the time, with its loud and off beat rhythms, which attracted a ton of attention. Famous jazz musicians of the time were Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Coleman Hawkins. Some of this attention that jazz music received was not always positive. “In its early years jazz was considered the devils music by diverse segments of the American public.” (2) Along with jazz music came new forms of dance. Most famous of the new dances was the “Fox Trot”. The Fox Trot was a fast paced dance, which followed the fast pace music of jazz. The jazz music craze of the 1920s was fueled by the enthusiasm of the younger generations who listened to it. Like previous generations before them and generations which followed them, the youth of the 1920s used jazz music as a form of expression and an outlet from everyday life.
1. http://www.swingmusic.net/getready.html
2. http://www.trailend.org/dow-jazzage.htm
