Jazz | Definition, History, Musicians, & Facts | Britannica
Jan 4, 2025 · Jazz, musical form, often improvisational, developed by African Americans and influenced by both European harmonic structure and African rhythms. It is often characterized by syncopated rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, and the use of original timbres. Learn more about its history and prominent musicians.
George Gershwin | Biography, Songs, & Facts | Britannica
Dec 25, 2024 · George Gershwin, one of the most significant and popular American composers of all time. He wrote primarily for the Broadway musical theatre, but his orchestral and piano compositions were also important. His notable works included the composition Rhapsody in Blue and the opera Porgy and Bess.
jazz summary | Britannica
jazz, Musical form, often improvisational, developed by African Americans and influenced by both European harmonic structure and African rhythms. Though its specific origins are not known, the music developed principally as an amalgam in the late 19th- and early 20th-century musical culture of New Orleans.
Miles Davis | Biography, Albums, & Facts | Britannica
Dec 14, 2024 · Miles Davis, American jazz musician, a great trumpeter who as bandleader and composer was one of the major influences on the art. Along with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Charlie Parker, he is regarded as one of the four most important and influential musicians in …
Jazz dance | Definition, History, Characteristics, Types, & Facts ...
Jazz dance paralleled the birth and spread of jazz itself from roots in Black American society and was popularized in ballrooms by the big bands of the swing era (1930s and ’40s). It radically altered the style of American and European stage and social dance in the 20th century.
Blues - African American, Delta, Jazz | Britannica
5 days ago · Blues developed in the southern United States after the American Civil War (1861–65). It was influenced by work songs and field hollers, minstrel show music, ragtime, church music, and the folk and popular music of the white population.
Louis Armstrong | Biography, Facts, What a Wonderful World, …
Nov 25, 2024 · Louis Armstrong, the leading trumpeter and one of the most influential artists in jazz history. He was also a bandleader, singer, film star, and comedian. With his great sensitivity, technique, and capacity to express emotion, Armstrong led in …
jazz - Students | Britannica Kids | Homework Help
Since the 1920s, however, jazz has usually signified a tradition in Afro-American music that began as a folk music in the South and developed gradually into a sophisticated modern art. While classical and rock music have often borrowed features of jazz, they remain outside the …
Jazz - Ragtime, Blues, Swing | Britannica - Encyclopedia Britannica
Jan 4, 2025 · Jazz - Ragtime, Blues, Swing: In the early 1930s two bands made important contributions to jazz: Bennie Moten’s, with the recordings of “Toby,” “Lafayette,” and “Prince of Wails,” and the Casa Loma Orchestra, with “Casa Loma Stomp” and “San Sue Strut.”
Modern dance | History, Styles & Techniques | Britannica
A number of the modern dance movement’s precursors appeared in the work of American women. Loie Fuller , an American actress turned dancer, first gave the free dance artistic status in the United States.