Introduction
Even though jazz is not as popular today as it was in the 20th century, this style of music is still requested. Because of its aesthetic properties, multiple individuals like to play and listen to jazz. However, not all people, including the main fans, understand that jazz is more than music. This style has left distinctive marks in various spheres throughout its long history.
For example, jazz musicians actively opposed the negative consequences of slavery, advocated for the civil rights movement, and contributed to community building. That is why this music style became popular among multiple Americans and internationally. In addition, a few elements of popular culture witnessed some influence. Jazz was so widespread in the 20th century that it significantly impacted multiple spheres, including music, style and fashion, dance, film, literature, language, and art.
Music
It was not surprising that jazz significantly impacted other music styles initially. Since jazz was mainstream in the 20th century, it was not surprising that other music movements incorporated its elements. This statement refers to rock and roll, hip-hop, funk, and soul because they have borrowed some jazz elements.
This state of affairs led to a few notable cases because the Rolling Stones and the Beatles were among those rock and roll bands that incorporated jazz into their compositions. In particular, these bands actively relied on improvisation and introduced jazz rhythms and chords into their songs, while John Lennon admired John Coltrane and Miles Davis (Kerlinger, 2023). If such famous and genius music industry representatives were influenced by jazz, other musicians and bands were no exception.
In addition, jazz influenced the industry because it popularized various trends and solutions. A suitable example emerged in the 1970s when jazz fusion emerged. This style was peculiar because it incorporated funk, rock, and other jazz elements. Characteristic features included mixed meters, complex harmonies, and the use of electric instruments. That fact stimulated other genres to experiment with numerous styles and enrich themselves with innovative solutions.
Style and Fashion
Jazz musicians were celebrities, allowing them to influence fans differently. One referred to the fact that these artists established fashion and style trends and became imitation objects. Since jazz musicians represented an innovative and popular music style, they were forced to dress accordingly. That is why stylish clothing and accessories, including fedoras, sunglasses, and tailored suits, were popular.
Women typically wore evening gowns, fake flowers, rhinestones, and other elements made of velvet or satin. Furthermore, the zoot suit was a widespread trend that became popular in the 1940s because young African American jazz musicians liked it (Ritchie, 2020). That clothing element earned fame because it personified a relaxed attitude and sophisticated aesthetic values preferred in the jazz industry. That is why people who liked jazz tended to choose specific clothing, and this fact significantly affected the entire fashion industry because people not related to jazz became familiar with its style.
Dance
Jazz music is expected to significantly impact dance styles. Various rhythms, tonalities, and chord progressions ensured that people with different preferences and moods could find compositions according to their desires. Since jazz often relied on innovations, this style sparked changes in other cultural areas, and dance was among them.
In the 1920s-1930s, jazz clubs were popular in the United States, and many youth representatives liked to spend time there. At that time, many popular dances emerged, and notable examples included the Charleston, the Black Bottom, and the Lindy Hop (Unruh, 2020). Unruh (2020) additionally explains that Lindy Hop was initially a black and working-class dance but turned into a middle-class dance in the 1990s. Thus, jazz became a dance that later became a nationwide attraction. Simultaneously, one should highlight that active reliance on energetic improvisation contributed to and inspired dancing, which promoted the growth and development of modern dance styles.
Film
Since jazz occupied a significant role in American society, it was unsurprising that this music style manifested in cinematography. Films traditionally reflect phenomena and processes popular in the community, which explains why jazz appeared in various pictures. In particular, jazz music and characteristic dances were present in many classic films, including “Casablanca” and “An American in Paris.”
Since the two became masterpieces on a global scale, they contributed to the greater popularity of jazz worldwide. This music style was used in cinemas to create mood and atmosphere, while jazz musicians were often shown as real celebrities. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that Louis Armstrong appeared in many films and created music for others. This information demonstrates that the development of jazz resulted in cinematography obtaining another topic or phenomenon that could be successfully incorporated into a story.
Literature
Similar to cinematography, various literary works focus on processes that are interesting or important to many people. That is why the jazz topic is an efficient part of many writing pieces by Langston Hughes and Jack Kerouac. These writers were jazz fans and managed to make their novels feature jazz rhythms and improvisation. Furthermore, it is not reasonable to ignore “The Great Gatsby” by Scott Fitzgerald because this work depicts the life of people in the Jazz Age (Xie, 2021). This novel describes how jazz was extremely popular among representatives of wealthy Americans in the early 1920s.
Finally, jazz played a significant role in the spread of the Beat movement. This term defines people actively rejecting traditional social and artistic conventions (Markos, 2022). This movement emerged after World War II, and its representatives were associated with and inspired by jazz (Markos, 2022). Thus, the selected style of music significantly affected literature and contributed to its development.
Language
When subcultures or united groups emerge, they typically develop specific language that is only understandable to insiders. This statement equally referred to jazz because this music style essentially impacted the English language. In particular, jazz musicians and fans created and actively used new words and enriched the existing ones with new meanings.
Suitable examples consisted of numerous lexical units, including “jive,” “cool,” “cat,” and “hip.” In particular, “jive” was used to define a type of slang popular among jazz musicians; “cool” and “hip” indicated something fashionable or stylish, while “cat” was used to call a talented jazz musician. In the mid-20th century, these words, meanings, and related phrases became popular within this social group. Today, they are a part of everyday vocabulary, and modern people do not know that these lexical units emerged thanks to jazz.
Art
Finally, one should mention that jazz significantly impacted art since painters, photographers, and sculptors incorporated its elements into their works. For example, jazz improvisation and changing rhythms, which were popular in jazz, found their reflection in abstract art. Various expressionists were inspired by jazz to create their dynamic paintings.
Elements of jazz were additionally notable in the photography sphere because many artists chose iconic jazz musicians as their models. Other photographers tried to create images that would convey the improvisational and energetic nature of jazz. Furthermore, the selected music style inspired many sculptors, including David Smith and Alexander Calder. Their creations were impressive because the artists used metal and other materials to convey the feeling and value of improvisation, movement, and rhythm. Such art was undoubtedly extremely popular among jazz musicians and fans.
Conclusion
The presented information clearly demonstrates that jazz has had significant impacts on popular culture. Since this musical style was popular among multiple people, it was not surprising that it was reflected in various spheres. In particular, jazz incorporated some elements into and promoted the growth and development of music, style and fashion, dance, film, literature, language, and art.
This description demonstrates that representatives of various cultural areas understood the important role of jazz in 20th-century society in the United States. This state of affairs simultaneously acknowledged the popularity of jazz and contributed to its further growth through the use of different channels. Finally, the legacy of this interplay between jazz and popular culture can be seen today because lexical units, songs, films, and other art pieces are available now.
References
Kerlinger, C. (2023). Exploring the jazz influences of John Lennon: A musical legacy. Ben Vaughn. Web.
Markos. (2022). The Beat generation: A history of jazz blues folk and pop. Boysets Fire. Web.
Ritchie, C. (2020). Fashioning prince: Bikini briefs, trench coats, and zoot suits, 1978–91. Critical Studies in Men’s Fashion, 7(1-2), 91-108. Web.
Unruh, K. (2020). May we have this dance? Cultural ownership of the Lindy Hop from the swing era to today. Atlantic Studies, 17(1), 40-64. Web.
Xie, Y. (2021). Conspicuous clothing of the leisure class in The Great Gatsby. International Journal of Arts and Humanities, 05(02), 21-29. Web.