Louis Blues."
In New Orleans, the folk tradition and formal music came together
for the first time. There, the Latin tradition had permitted the
Creoles to participate in education and culture. They had developed
a rich musical tradition, and many of them had received training in
French conservatories. However, they preferred the sophisticated
European music to the more earthy sounds of their blacker brothers.
With the growth of Jim Crow legislation, the Creoles lost their
special position in society, and they found themselves forcibly
grouped with the blacks, whom they had previously shunned. Out of
this fusion of technical musicianship and folk creativitiy emerged
a new, vigorous music which became known as jazz.
Jelly Roll Morton was one musician who had begun by studying
classical guitar but preferred the music of the street. He became
a famous jazz pianist and singer. Over the years, he played his
way from night spots in New Orleans to those in St. Louis,
Chicago, Los Angeles, and scores of smaller cities. The musical
quality of jazz, instead of adopting the pure tones of classical
music, was boisterous and rasping.
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