Chicago Jazz and the Great Migration Free Essay Example, 1250 words

These reasons include; The failure of crops in their regions of origin. The existence of too much discrimination in the south. The availability of job opportunities in Chicago factories and WWI demand for workers. The decent pay for work done. The jobs in Chicago paid good and reasonable money. The Chicago Defender ads in the north held out the optimism of a better life. In regard to the above reasons, about 75,000 immigrants came to north from the southern region of the Chicago as early as from 1916 to 1920s. Among the immigrants were the very creative persons in the south. Jazz artists came from New Orleans to perform music in Chicago, New York and Kansas. Blues artists arrived from the Delta. The NAACP warmly welcomed the writers and poets such as the sculptor Augusta savage, poet Langston Hughes, and writer Zola Neale Hurston. Together with poet Countee Cullen and among other black artists, they formed a cultural explosion termed Harlem Renaissance. The immigrants came to be par t of an already booming African American community on the southern side of Chicago. At that time, the entertainment and economic district was The Stroll; the existence of the prospect of work that attracted people to the Stroll. We will write a custom essay sample on Chicago Jazz and the Great Migration or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now By working very hard, the community could afford the payment to have music entertainment that lured musicians in great numbers to Chicago. The availability of music pleasure amassed musicians in an unprecedented way. Most of these artists performed jazz music that people of Chicago loved so much (Rowley, Hazel. Richard Wright. 53). Before the Storyville was closed Chicago could boast of great musical talent and prominent venues such as the sheet music, at 2700 south state, that featured Pekin Theatre from 1904. In respect to the Chicago Defender, Erskine Tate performed violin recital for the first time in 1910, in Chicago. He was the leader of Vendome orchestra. In 1906, Wilbur Sweatman played an amazing clarinet in Chicago. Moreover, Jelly Roll Morton presided over a band at the Richelieu and Elite #2 Cafes and the DeLuxe in the course of 1914 and 1915. Also, many different New Orleans had already performed at the north before 1917. The famous band of Brown was the first band to come to the north in the 1915. By the time Sidney Bechet, King Oliver, Freddie Keppard and other prominent New Orleans musicians set a foot in north to rub musical shoulders in 1918 with local talent, the classic style of New Orleans artists had already started to transform an indifference to local tastes.