VA - Jazz Inspiration: Big Band Jazz (2011)

Harlem rhythm, New Orleans brass quartets and Southern orchestras had been knocking on the doors of American popular music since its creation. By the 1900s, all three sounds combined in the heart of Tin Pan Alley and mainstream America. In the mid 1920s, dances such as the Fox Trot, The Shimmy, The Black Bottom and The Varsity were sweeping America. One dance in particular epitomized America during this decade: The Charleston. James P. Johnson wrote "Charleston" in a stride style, which stresses a strong "swinging" bass while moving in a "stride fashion" with a single treble melody. Stride music, introduced in 1924 with "The Charleston", combined Ragtime syncopation and the smooth progression of jazz with livelier upbeat rhythms and a swinging bass that helped usher in the next decade's genre.