<P> The Jazz Age was a period in the 1920s and 1930s in which jazz music and dance styles rapidly gained nationwide popularity . The Jazz Age's cultural repercussions were primarily felt in the United States, the birthplace of jazz . Originating in New Orleans as a fusion of African and European music, jazz played a significant part in wider cultural changes in this period, and its influence on pop culture continued long afterwards . The Jazz Age is often referred to in conjunction with the Roaring Twenties . American author F. Scott Fitzgerald is widely credited with coining the term, first using it in the title of his 1922 short story collection, Tales of the Jazz Age . </P> <P> Jazz music originated in New Orleans in the "sub-style" of Dixieland Jazz . Jazz is the hybrid of African and European influence . From African influence, jazz got its rhythm, "blues" quality, and traditions of playing or singing in one's own expressive way . From European influence, jazz got its harmony and instruments (saxophone, trumpet, piano, etc .). Both influences used improvisation which became a large part of jazz . New Orleans provided a great opportunity for such an occurrence because it was a port city, with many different cultures and beliefs intertwined . While in New Orleans, jazz gained influence from creole, ragtime, and most importantly blues music . Two important aspects of jazz are swing and improvisation . The famous jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong's most influential impact upon jazz was bringing an improvisational soloist to the forefront of a piece . The birth of jazz music is credited to African Americans, but expanded and over time became modified to become socially acceptable to middle - class white Americans . Those critical of jazz saw it as music from people with no training or skill . White performers were used as a vehicle for the popularization of jazz music in America . Even though the jazz movement was taken over by the middle - class white population, it facilitated the mesh of African American traditions and ideals with white middle - class society . Cities like New York and Chicago were cultural centers for jazz, and especially for African - American artists . People who were not familiar with jazz music could not recognize it by the way Africans Americans wrote it . Furthermore, the way African - American writers wrote about jazz music made it seem as though it was not a cultural achievement of the race . </P>

The dance that became popular during the roaring twenties