what does the word "JAZZ" mean?
Gary Valentin
come about by itself?
gary
Amos Omondi
Gary Valentin <vale...@gaia.torolab.ibm.com> wrote:
>Is there an origin for that word or did it just
>come about by itself?
>
There is a theory that it is a corruption of "jass",
which, if you remember the story of Storyville
and the phrase "all-night jass", means ... er,
ding-dong?
Carlos May
: Is there an origin for that word or did it just
: come about by itself?
According to some sources, the term first became widely applied to
music in Chicago about 1915 -1916. It was used to refer to the music
of the New Orleans bands coming up north. The New Orleans musicians
usually called their music "ragtime" (or "hot" or "ratty" music), but
since it was so different from the "ragtime" music popular nation-wide
(eg, the New Orleans style used bluenotes and polyphonic collective
improvization) a new term was needed for it, hence "jass".
The term "jass" (and spelling variations) is documented earlier with
two meanings: in venacular, something loud, clangy, and perhaps
hokey (eg, a multi-colored plaid coat might be described in slang as
"jassy" in the mid-teens). The sexual use of the term supposedly
dates even earlier. "Jass" is related to the word "jism". In
certain circles, the verb "to jass" was understood to be the
equivilant of "to fuck". (Not unlike the term "rock and roll",
slang for the sex act, also came to be applied to music). As the
late Vet Boswell said, refering to her youth in New Orleans,
"It used to be that no one would say the word "jazz". It was an
obsecene word."
The spelling seems to have been changed from "jass" to "jazz" in
New York City in 1917, in an attempt to foil various rascals who
amused themselves by defacing the "J"s from advertising posters,
so as to make them say " ASS BAND".
Russell Heithoff
Gary Valentin <vale...@gaia.torolab.ibm.com> wrote:
>Is there an origin for that word or did it just
>come about by itself?
>
The exact origin and meaning is unclear but few would debate that it
had a very sexually explicit meaning in and around New Orleans before and
around the turn of the century. I read some where a reference to an article
written in the early part of this century about two woman, one asked
the other if she had "jassed" yet that night.
I think it was the ODJB that changed the word from jass to jazz for
a recording they did in NY (1916 or 17). I always assumed it was to clean
up the image for marketing purposes, but that's unsupported speculation on
my part. Any body remember the details of this story?
Russ
Bruce Cogan
>Is there an origin for that word or did it just
>come about by itself?
>
Here's what _Chicago Jazz_, by W. H. Kenney says
"The word "jazz" has been traced back to a San Francisco journalist
writing in 1913."
"It was used to denigrate Tom Brown's Ragtime Band [in Chicago, in 1915,
by a rival band]. "Jass" was an obscene normally associated with
other matters in Chicago's Levee vice district."
..
"The word "jazz" first appeared in [Chicago's] black press ..
on September 30, 1916. The Chicago Defender used the word to
describe music produced by black pianist-songwriter W. Brenton
Overstreet in support of Estella Harris. Harris was now accompanied
by a "Jass Band"... Soon thereafter, "Jaz" was used in the
Indianapolis Freedman."
Bruce Cogan