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•The first Africans are sold into slavery in America
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•Slavery is abolished in the U.S. by the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
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•The first piano rags appear in print.
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•Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag is published and sells over 100,000 copies.
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•Jelly Roll Morton composes King Porter Stomp.
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•Scott Joplin moves to New York.
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•The popularity of ragtime continues to grow among Blacks and white resulting in increased public interaction between the races.
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•Pianist Scott Joplin publishes his opera Treemonisha.
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•Irving Berlin records Alexander's Ragtime Band, which becomes a hit but is scorned by ragtime purists.
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•Pianist W.C. Handy writes St. Louis Blues.
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•Jazz musicians begin to leave the city for the North.
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•The Original Dixieland Jass Band (an all white group) makes the first jazz recording, Livery Stable Blues, and also becomes the first jazz group to appear on film in the movie, The Good for Nothing.
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•Scott Joplin dies.
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•The classic era of ragtime ends
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•Trumpeter King Oliver leaves New Orleans for Chicago
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•Tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins tours with blues singer Mamie Smith and begins to develop a unique style of playing.
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•The Original Dixieland Jass Band performs in London.
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•The town of Zion, Illinois bans jazz performances, labeling them "sinful."
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•Pianist James P. Johnson records The Harlem Strut and Carolina Shout, the earliest stride piano recordings, in New York
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•Trombonist Kid Ory's band, based in Los Angeles, makes the first recordings by a black ensemble playing in the New Orleans style.
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•Race records are created, marketing and categorizing music by the race of the performers.
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first network radio broadcast is made
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•Cornetist King Oliver's band, which includes Louis Armstrong on trumpet and Armstrong's wife Lil Hardin on piano, makes its first recordings, including Dippermouth Blues.
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•Louis Armstrong moves to New York City.
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louis armstrong records first record with bessie smith
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•F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is published; Fitzgerald christens the decade "The Jazz Age."
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•Pianist Jelly Roll Morton's group the Red Hot Peppers records in Chicago.
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mixed race recording
fats waller is forced to play behind a screen to seperate him from the white musicians -
great depression
people listen to radio because they cant afford records -
•Bandleader Paul Whiteman and his orchestra star in the movie The King of Jazz.
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first all female band
pianist lil hardin forms first all female band -
•Cornetist Bix Beiderbecke dies of pneumonia at age 38.
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•Duke Ellington records It Don't Mean a Thing (If it Ain't' Got That Swing), the first jazz composition to use swing in the title.
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•Clarinetist Jimmy Dorsey and trombonist Tommy Dorsey form the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra.
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•Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday appear in the film Symphony in Black.
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Nat King Cole makes his first recordings
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•Composer and bandleader Duke Ellington hires saxophonist Ben Webster and records Ko-Ko, Concerto for Cootie, and Cottontail.
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jelly roll Morton dies
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billboard magazine publishes first black record chart
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•Glenn Miller publishes a text-book for arranging music.
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•Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie leave Billy Eckstine's band.
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•The American Federation of Musicians lifts the recording ban.
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•Dizzy Gillespie records Be-Bop.
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•Dizzy Gillespie forms a big band that includes pianist John Lewis and drummer Kenny Clarke.
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louis armstrong and billy holiday play at carnegie hall
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•The first Festival International de Jazz is held in Paris, featuring Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Sidney Bechet, Miles Davis, Kenny Clark, and others.
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•Pianist Oscar Peterson makes his first recordings.
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Dizzy Gillespie both disband their big bands due to financial constraints.
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•Pianist John Lewis forms the Milt Jackson Quartet with vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Kenny Clarke.
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carnegie hall presents a jazz concert
featuring trumpeter chet baker, saxiphonists gerry mulligan and paul desmond -
•Gerry Mulligan's piano-less quartet records My Funny Valentine.
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•Benny Goodman's band goes on tour with Louis Armstrong's All Stars eventually leading to a fight that ends with Goodman having a nervous breakdown.
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the first American jazz festival is organized in Newport rhode Island
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•The Dave Brubeck Quartet records Jazz Goes To College
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•Charlie Parker attempts suicide and is later admitted to Bellevue Hospital.
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•Clarinetist Jimmy Dorsey dies.
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•Miles Davis records Milestones, featuring early modal jazz.
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•Saxophonist Lester Young dies
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•Trumpeter Miles Davis records Sketches of Spain, which uses Flamenco music, and then tours Europe.
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•The Newport Jazz Festival relocates to New York after rioting in its original location.
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•Saxophonist Stan Getz and guitarist Charlie Byrd record Desafinado, which sparks renewed interest in bossa nova.
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•Miles Davis performs and records with his new group with Herbie Hancock, saxophonist George Coleman, bassist Ron Carter, and 17-year-old drummer Tony Williams.