ABSTRACT
African-American jazz represents its vast African root system and is the culmination and synthesis of all earlier African-American musical forms. There are infinite sociocultural features of Global-African music that were incorporated into the powerful magnetism of jazz before being distilled into the modern and contemporary musical juba that was labeled “jazz.” Exploring the evolution of Homo sapiens culture through examining the progression of “jazz” from its African roots, delineates and parallels the historical migrations of humankind, from its African source, through the lens of musical instruments, iconography, cultural and ritual patterns, kinetic expression, and shared musical elements. To comprehend the myriad Pan-African cultural forces reflected in jazz, conscientious historical study of African music cannot restrict itself to the development of musical forms and style alone. The music is often highly ornamental (melismatic), much like the modern modal jazz of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ornette Colman, and other musicians in jazz styles that emerged during the 1960s.
