Dixieland

King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band

In the early twentieth century, one of the most diverse cities in the world was New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally a French trading outpost at the Mississippi delta, the city had seen an influx of Anglo-Americans moving West, African Americans emancipated from slavery, immigrants from across the world. All the musical traditions of these various cultures combined to form the first uniquely American form of music, Jazz. Because jazz first appeared in New Orleans, early jazz is known as Dixieland, a common nickname for the American South.

Dixieland incorporates the syncopation and "ragging" bass/accompaniment patterns of ragtime, which was itself a synthesis of African and European music, with the tonal and structural qualities of the Blues. Elements of African and Latin American percussion are present, as well as some of the style of traditional French and Italian folk music.