In a fast-paced world marked with busy lifestyles, music serves as a soothing factor for many people. Everyone has their taste of music which they tend to practice either as a hobby, passion, profession, a source of relaxation or a field of exploration as per their interests.
The world of music is vast, with various genres emerging from different times with their significant histories that come along with it. One such category that has emerged as one of the most popular and unique genres is jazz. Attempting to define this genre in a precise manner is likely to be futile considering its all-encompassing elements, along with the fact that it a form that has constantly been evolving since its beginning till contemporary times. Thus, there is likely to be no definition that could ideally define it.
Now having noticed that there is no fixed categorization of jazz as a genre in the world of music, you might be left wondering how does it differ from the other genres.
Well, read on because the following segment will help you answer the above-stated question to an extent.
Difference between jazz and other music
Though no fixed category of jazz music states its strict rules and that every artist puts their permutations and combinations of creativity to it, how do people end up recognizing it might be an intriguing question. It is very much likely to be true in the online world where many artists are practising different genres of music and styles as per their interests.
To settle this overwhelming nature of the music world and create a unique identity for jazz music, it becomes crucial to understand the roots of a particular genre and the elements that make it different from other music.
The first key element about jazz music is America’s only native art form brought into existence by the African Americans whose struggles with racism and other discrimination helped evolve jazz as an art form with distinctive elements, both musically and socially. This music was born out of New Orleans, Louisiana, around 100 years ago and has continuously evolved since then.
The elements and qualities of jazz could be traced back to be the fusion of blues, European, pop, marching, spiritual and Latin origins. It shows how jazz as a genre has drawn influences from various other genres. However, what makes it stand out is its quality to not merge its identity with any of it and get lost, but instead, maintain its own identity as jazz.