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Pre Ragtime
The New Orleans city council establishes “Congo Square” as an official site for black slaves to be able to gather. This square enabled African-American slaves to be able to set up a market, sing, dance, and play their music. Also, since this was one of the few places that slaves were able to gather in the Confederacy, slaves from many places came to gather here, and the square quickly became the cultural heart of New Orleans.
http://www.jazzinamerica.org/JazzResources/Timeline -
The First Ragtime Composition
The first known ragtime composition (but not published) was Harlem Rag, written by the pianist Tommy Turpin. This means that even though the piece was not published for a few more years, this was the first progress since 1817 towards jazz music.
http://www.jazzinamerica.org/JazzResources/Timeline -
The Birth of Jazz
1895-The Birth of Jazz
In 1895, Buddy Bolden created what is now known as the modern jazz genre, when he started the Buddy Bolden Band. The band’s combination of the cornet, trombone, clarinet, guitar, double bass electrified New Orleans and inspired a generation of musicians.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/17/buddy-bolden-invents-jazz
http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/music/musichistory/jazzbirthplace.html -
The First Published Ragtime Compositions
Pianist Scott Joplin published his first two rags, named Please Say You Will and A Picture Of Her Face. These two compositions kick started the interest in this new genre that became known as Ragtime.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Scott_Joplin -
The First Ragtime Hit
In 1899, Scott Joplin published the first big ragtime hit, Maple Leaf Rag. This piece sold over 100,000 copies, and started to push ragtime into the forefront of American culture.
http://www.jazzinamerica.org/JazzResources/Timeline -
The Theatre in New Orleans
The theater, Lincoln Park, was opened in New Orleans, which enabled ragtime and early jazz composers a place to showcase their music to crowds. This created even more interest in the genre. The theater however, was only devoted to entertaining the black population of New Orleans.
http://www.jazzinamerica.org/JazzResources/Timeline -
Mixing of Races
Before 1909, the black and white populations both had a mutual distrust towards one another. However, the growing interest of ragtime had encapsulated both the white and black populations. This slowly broke the color barrier between the races, as they found a common interest. As a result, there were more public, positive interactions between the races, although there was still a sizable distrust that lingered.
http://www.jazzinamerica.org/JazzResources/Timeline/1900/1909 -
The First Major Jazz Band
For the previous 20 years, ragtime had dominated the New Orleans entertainment sector. However, this all changed when the all-white Original Dixieland Jass Band burst onto the scene in 1917. In May 1917, the ODJB released their first record as Victor 18255, and this was a big hit, and thus captivated the minds of American music enthusiasts. This also caused more racial integration as white Americans became more engaged in the genre. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_Dixieland_Jass_Band -
The End of Ragtime And The Official Birth of Jazz
In the wake of the Original Dixieland Jass Band’s smashing success, the vast majority of composers shifted their focus into trying to replicate ODJB’s success, and this left ragtime as a thing of the past. As a result of this, the American public began to listen to jazz, and from that point on, ragtime became considered as a precursor to jazz.
http://www.jazzinamerica.org/JazzResources/Timeline/1910/1919 -
The First Major Female Star
Blues singer, Bessie Smith, publishes her first recording, Down-Hearted Blues, which sold one million copies in 6 months. This was the first major female jazz singer (blues is a sub-genre of jazz) to have a break out hit. This enabled, and inspired female musicians to step up and create their own music.
http://www.jazzinamerica.org/JazzResources/Timeline/1920/1929
