Jazz
In the 1910s, African syncopation and improvisatory feel met ragtime, brass bands, and European functional harmony to create improvisatory music. From Dixieland through swing jazz, it became the source of horn arrangements and bouncing beats in early R&B — distinct from the blues, whose rural work-song roots differ from jazz’s classical theory and instrumentation.
Genre genealogy
Explore the genre genealogy →GENRE PATHWAY EXPLORER22 NODES · 31 EDGES
LAYER
HEAD Jazz · 2 ancestors · 2 ROOTS
Card = genre birth (★) / dashed lane = derivative stage (no birth page). ★ opens birth; cards without birth open the genre page. Click to highlight path. Pan and zoom.