Ragtime and blues fused ‘All That Jazz’ By Laura Szepesi
Published: Sunday, March 17, 2013, 7:09 p.m. Updated: Monday,
March 18, 2013 EDITOR'S NOTE: Thursday marks the 85th birthday
of well-known Connellsville jazz trombonist Harold Betters. We
salute him with this four-part series, starting today with a
brief history of jazz music. In 1979, actor Roy Scheider brought
the life of Broadway dancer / director Bob Fosse to the big
screen in the film “All That Jazz.” “All” is the perfect way to
describe jazz music. Jazz was born around 1900 in New Orleans —
about the same time as the earliest music recordings became
available to the public. It grew out of ragtime, which many
sources claim is the first true American music. Like jazz,
ragtime has Southern roots, but was also flavored by the
southern Midwest. It was popular from the late 1800s to around
1920. It developed in African American communities, a mix of
march music (from composers such as John Philip Sousa), black
songs and dances including the cakewalk. Ra