Dixieland
The earliest style of jazz, originating in New Orleans in the early 1900s, featuring collective improvisation.
In Depth
Dixieland jazz features a front line of cornet (or trumpet), clarinet, and trombone improvising simultaneously over a rhythm section of piano, banjo, bass, and drums. This collective improvisation creates a joyful, polyphonic texture unlike the soloist-focused approach of later jazz. The style draws on brass band marches, blues, ragtime, and African rhythmic traditions. Traditional jazz or New Orleans jazz are preferred terms, as Dixieland has contested racial connotations.
The Original Dixieland Jass Band made the first jazz recording in 1917, though Black New Orleans musicians had been playing the style for at least two decades before.