Listen to a curated playlist of TN's bandleaders and orchestras, soloists and standards that innovated the Jazz genre.
jazz
TN Jazz History
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When people think about the origins of jazz, they may think of centers like New Orleans, Chicago, L.A. and New York, but Tennessee contains a treasure trove of jazz innovators and educators who significantly impacted the development of the genre. All of these musicians had something in common: training.
Whether it was in an army service band, high school band, music school, university, mentorship from seasoned players at local clubs and studios, or part of their family heritage, Tennessee’s great names in jazz were given the opportunity
to 1.) hear great music, 2.) access instruments, 3.) be equipped with skills and techniques, 4.) find a community they could play and grow with, and 5.) pass their knowledge on to others.
Musically, jazz derives many of its features and instrumentation from the evolution of America’s military music. Drums were the first instruments used for military music in the colonies. This practice was carried over from England, and also from the ancient traditions of Africa represented by the African diaspora that was brought to America through the cruelty of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Often free and enslaved African Americans were given the position of drummers as military corps were formed. These powerful instruments were used to coordinate marches, summon a call to arms, communicate coded messages across long distances and cut through
the noise of battle. Wind instruments, or “fifes,” were added by Benjamin Franklin in 1756, thus making “fife & drum” and military music synonymous. Fifers and drummers actually took part in the battles of the French and Indian, Revolutionary and Civil wars. Fife and drum, and bugle calls after 1812, ordered every aspect of a soldier’s everyday life, down to drills, assemblies, and mess routines at camp. A musician in the military was a paid position. During the Civil War, the salary for field musicians in the Union was about $17/month, which was more than a private’s pay, and high ranking musicians could get paid up to the same as a second Lieutenant. Their payscale reflected just how valued a job they had. Because of this, Tennessee and the nation would begin setting up musical military service bands as early as 1774, establish regulations to standarize the meaning of beats and calls in 1779, and require every regiment by law to have its own field band by 1861. ...
