Jazz Was a Baseball Word Before It Was Music
Jazz is an American musical form. The word appears first in sports writing, not in music.
Jazz is a musical form that developed in African American communities in New Orleans around the turn of the twentieth century. The earliest printed uses of the word are not musical: it appears in Californian baseball writing around 1912 meaning energy or fighting spirit, and only attaches to music a few years later. Its own origin is unknown despite exhaustive searching. *And all that jazz* means and so on, recorded from the 1950s.
- A musical form. *New Orleans jazz.*
- Energy (early sense). *Full of jazz.*
- To enliven. *Jazz it up.*
- And all that jazz — and so on. *All that jazz.*
- American — from about 1912. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | jazz | Jazz. |
| Verb | jazz | Jazzing. |
| Adjective | jazzy | Jazzy. |
| Compound | jazz age | The jazz age. |
| Recorded | 1912 | In baseball writing. |
- He plays jazz piano.Music.
- Jazz it up a bit.Verb.
- It first meant energy.History.
What made jazz new
- Improvisation as a central element rather than an ornament
- Swung rhythm, unequal notes played as if equal on the page
- Blue notes, pitches bent between the standard scale steps
- Call and response between players
- Roots in blues, ragtime and brass band traditions
American English, recorded from about 1912 meaning energy or spirit, of unknown origin.
Did jazz always refer to music?
No. The earliest printed uses are in Californian baseball writing around 1912, where it meant energy or fighting spirit.
Where does the word come from?
Nobody knows. Despite extensive research no origin has been established.