1. Jazz originated in New Orleans around the beginning of the twentieth century
2. New Orleans was the ideal site for the birth of jazz because it was an intensely musical city with a history of rich ethnic diversity, especially French, (Spanish), and African.
3. African American forms of music such as the blues and ragtime blended with European dance music and church music.
4. Jazz emerged when brass bands were at a height of popularity.
5. Ragtime was in such high demand that brass bands and string bands were improvising rag-like syncopations into their pieces to please danacers.
6. New Orleans musicians combined diverse materials to please people who had a taste for special kinds of musical excitement.
7. Jazz came out of the combination of instruments, repertory, and musical practices used by brass bands (and string bands) in New Orleans before the 1920's.
8. Improvisation became common as small bands attempted to perform music originally intended for large bands. Musicians imporvised parts "to order".