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Jazz is a type of music. Some
people say that jazz is America's only true art form. That's because it began
here. Hundreds of years ago, black people worked as slaves (奴隶) and
made up songs to pass the time. It wasn't called jazz then, but the way the
slaves were playing and singing music was special.
The music of America's black
people began to be called jazz in the early 1900s.
What makes jazz special is
improvisation (即兴创作). That means making the music up on the spot (当场). No music in front of you. No long discussion with other people in
your band.
"It's free. It's beautiful,"
says Geoffrey, a sixth-grader at Stratford Landing Elementary School. Geoffrey
is such a good musician that he has performed at the Kennedy Center.
Geoffrey says, "It's easy
to express your feelings through jazz. You are more focused on being creative
and using your imagination in jazz. "
Washington DC is a very important
place in the history of jazz. It has a famous jazz piano player: Duke
Ellington.
Born in Washington in 1899,
Ellington as a child wanted to play baseball instead of the piano. But his
parents played the piano, so he started playing the piano when he was seven
years old.
In 1920, he played small shows
at the Howard Theatre. When he was 24, he moved to New York, but he didn't
forget his hometown. He called his band the Washingtonians and later he
returned to perform at the Lincoln Theatre.
