TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, I’m Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.
Jazz has always been about movement—musically, culturally, and historically. It began with ragtime in the late 1800s, where composers like Scott Joplin laid down syncopated rhythms and structured forms on the piano.
Then came New Orleans jazz, blending blues, spirituals, and marching band sounds into joyful group improvisation.
As jazz spread to cities like Chicago and New York, the music got more sophisticated, and it evolved into the big band era with legends like Duke Ellington and Count Basie.
But by the 1940s, a revolution was brewing. Young musicians like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk broke away from the dance floor, creating a new sound—bebop.
Bebop made the solo king, fast and complex, and turned jazz into high art.
From ragtime to bebop, jazz continues to evolve.
This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and South Carolina Public Radio, made possible by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina.