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The history of jazz is rather elusive, if not overwhelming. Like any other genre, it is difficult to pinpoint an exact time as to when it came into existence, although its development can be traced back into the late 19th century.  Jazz can attribute its progress to a variety of sources.  In order to understand how jazz came to be, one must look at these sources, and investigate how popular and sacred music, combined with African musical practices in America, led to the development of jazz. 

But when did jazz come to be?

The Red Hot Jazz Archive states jazz came into existence around 1895 in New Orleans.  This archive also takes a brief look at the history of jazz before 1930 and gives a comparison of jazz in relation to other Western musical traditions.

Jazz Roots: The site gives a look at the roots of jazz, and has a great article on the first 30 years of the style.

Throughout the years, jazz has seen a great many developments, and has evolved into a variety of different styles. Different sources which I have conferred with have had varying numbers and names for these styles. The two sources which I found most helpful were:

JazzWeb's Jazz Styles: This is a great timeline of the main styles of jazz. Oh... but it's not just a timeline! By clicking on the various labels on the image map, you can learn about the many styles of jazz. The image map (shown left) was constructed by Joe Germuska, who adapted the map from Joachim Berendt's The Jazz Book . The timeline is a great visual to help put the progression of jazz into perspective.

There is such a wealth of information available on the internet concerning the history of jazz.  Please don't forget to check out the following sites as well: