A jazz funeral is a funeral procession accompanied by a brass band, in the tradition of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Drummers at the funeral of jazz musician Danny Barker in 1994. They include Louis Cottrell, (great-grandson of New Orleans' innovative drumming pioneer, Louis Cottrell, Sr. and grandson of New Orleans clarinetist Louis Cottrell, Jr.) of the Young Tuxedo Brass Band, far right; Louis "Bicycle Lewie" Lederman of the Down & Dirty Brass band, second from right.
Musicians play for a funeral leaving St. Augustine Church in the Tremé neighborhood; Michael White in foreground.
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in European harmony and African rhythmic rituals.
Albert Gleizes, 1915, Composition for "Jazz" from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Ethel Waters sang "Stormy Weather" at the Cotton Club.
Al Jolson in 1929
Dance in Congo Square in the late 1700s, artist's conception by E. W. Kemble from a century later