MUSIC 151 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Storyville, New Orleans, Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong
Document Summary
According to many scholars, new orleans is renowned as the birthplace of jazz. When new orleans was founded in 1718, it was alternately under. French and spanish rule, but the french culture remained dominant. Because of this, fine arts were highly regarded in new orleans society, and the quantity of french opera houses and orchestras was unusual for a city of its size. There was a pervasive laissez-faire attitude that encouraged free and open expression and creativity. Catholic colony that was tolerant of cultures outside the mainstream. New orleanians of french and spanish descent had an accepted practice of keeping a mistress, quite often she was of mixed blood. From these relationships emerged the generation of creoles of color. Because creoles were of mixed blood, they were considered their own unique class of people and were held in higher regard than blacks, but not as high a level as whites.
