The Jazz Movement in Chicago

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The jazz movement originated in the south. New Orleans became the first focal point of jazz in the early 1900’s. Jazz was created by combining the folk music of African Americas brought with them from Africa and the big band sound growing through the states. From this initial spark of jazz music came a variety of different styles. Blues, swing branched out from the basic jazz style. Jazz eventually found its way to Chicago in the early 1920s. Jazz clubs and cabernets began to spring up in Chicago. Out of these clubs arose some of the greater known jazz musicians of the time. Earl Hines, Johnny Dodds and Louis Armstrong all came out of Chicago during this time. The music played by the majority of the jazz musicians in Chicago was much calmer than what could be heard in New Orleans at the time. This more refined jazz was geared me toward the middle class and upper that lived in the city. One of the musicians that moved to Chicago from New Orleans was King Oliver. His wilder type of jazz from the south instantly gained popularity in Chicago because it was different and new to these listeners but he eventually tamed down to the type of jazz in this area. These clubs were primarily owned by the gangsters of the era. Once gangs died down so did the clubs they ran. Jazz then moved to the radio stations in the area to keep itself alive. At this point a new type of sound was starting, a branch of variation of jazz called swing.^{[citation needed]}