Diffusion and Syncretism: The Modern Jazz Tradition

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of the musical syncretism involved in the development of a modern jazz tradition in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century. It shows how a professional ethos among popular musicians during this period guided their reinterpretation and reinvention of folk, popular, and classical music practices in the creation of this music tradition. It further argues that this ethos led them, in their low-status positions as popular musicians, to affirm their legitimacy through the creation of a high-art aesthetic. In general, this study shows how the social context in the diffusion of jazz practices affected the transformation of these practices in value and form in this century.

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