t the end of Orleans Street, in the Vieux Carré, there used to be a place where slaves would gather, sing and dance, talk in their native languages, and play their traditional instruments. As early as 1819, architect Benjamin Herny Latrobe recorded in his journal drawings of these instruments, drums and banjos.

The place--was known as Place de Negres or Old Congo Square, now Louis Armstrong Park--is where jazz, the only indigenous music of the United States, can be traced.

Jazz emerged in the 20th century as a combination of rhythms from Africa and the Caribbean, mixed with the melodic structures of Spain and France.

"Heebie Jeebies"sheet music by Boyd Atkins (1926) A young Louis Armstrong appears along with other musicians and singers on this cover. Louisiana State Museum

White and black musicians influenced each other while hanging out in clubs, or while listening or playing in the bordellos of Storyville District, where pianists such as Steve Lewis, Spencer Williams, and Manuel Manetta performed for the customers. Louis Armstrong, "King" Oliver, and Jelly Roll Morton also started there. Some of them achieved international recognition.

The new music was first referred to in slang terms, such as "gutbucket," "ragtime," or "ratty music." The word jazz comes from the word "jass," an archaic English word. It was used by the Musician's Union as a slur against Tom Brown's Dixieland Band when it played in Chicago. The band became known as Brown's Dixieland Jass Band and eventually was officially named the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. It was the first New Orleans jazz group to make successful records and many of its tunes continue to be mainstays for traditional jazz bands.

The term Dixieland applies only to music developed by white musicians, according to jazz critics of the 1930s. The word Dixie, originally from the song of the same name, was a nickname for New Orleans and had nothing to do with African culture. In fact, it was a distortion of the French word dix or ten, printed on one side of the ten-dollar bill issued for circulation during the 1800s only in New Orleans, which was then referred to as Dixie.

Buddy Bolden (1878-1931) has been credited with amalgamating various musical elements, but his career was cut short. Freddie Keppard and his Original Creole Orchestra spread the sounds of the new music everywhere. Most of it was improvised. Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941) was the first notable composer and arranger.

Preservation Hall Gelatin silver print by Robert Simmons. New Orleans Museum of Art