The term Harlem Renaissance refers to an artistic, cultural, and social time of writing about race and the African American's place in American life during the early 1920's and 1930's. It is hard to put a specific time and date in terms of social criticism, protest and political advancements, because of the fact that it took a long time for it all to develop. Overall, the Harlem Renaissance was a time of African American's expressing talent and ideas, and was the center of urban black life in America.

All oppressed African American's knew that if they wanted to express themselves, they would go to Harlem. Harlem was your best chance at changing your life. Harlem was considered the heart of the Renaissance in African American letters, creating the name The Harlem Renaissance. Harlem was the center of African American life. Most black literature of the time referred to Harlem as Home. Harlem stands as a symbol for the best and worst qualities of African American life during the early twentieth century. The Harlem Renaissance was a time where blacks would show their true identities, emotions, feelings, opinions, etc. Blacks expressed themselves socially, cultura

17. Walton, Ortiz. Music: Black, White, & Blue. New York: William Morrow & Co, Inc., 1972.

14. Roach, Hildred. Black American Music Past and Present. Boston Ma: Crescendo Publishing Co, 1973.

7. Hughes, Langston. The First Book Of Jazz. New York: Franklin Watts. Inc., 1955.

8. Huggins, Nathan Irvin. Harlem Renaissance. New York: Oxford University Press, 1971.

The main music of the time was Jazz. Jazz music began sometime around 1895 in New Orleans. It combined the elements of Ragtime, marching band music, and Blues. The main difference between Jazz and these other types of music was the widespread use of improvisation, often played by more than one player at a time. Jazz represented a break from Western musical traditions, where the composer wrote a piece of music on paper and the musicians then tried their best to play exactly what was in the score. In a Jazz piece, the song is often just a starting point or frame of reference for the musicians to improvise around. The song might have been a popular line or blues that they didn't compose, but by the time they were finished with it they had composed a new piece that often showed little resemblance to the original song. Many of these jazz musicians were not good sight readers and some could not read music at all, never the less their playing thrilled audiences and the spontaneous music they created captured a joy and sense of adventure that was an exciting departure from the music of that time. The first Jazz was played by African Americans and Creole musicians in New Orleans. The cornet player, Buddy Bolden is generally considered to be the first real Jazz musician. Other early players included Freddie Keppard, Bunk Johnson, and Clarence . Although these musicians' names are unknown to most people, then and now, their ideas are still being elaborated on to this day. Most of these men could not make a living with their music and were forced to work menial jobs to get by. The second wave of New Orleans Jazz music

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