.Jazz music is an important factor in many people's lives. Jazz has affected many time periods in America. The Roaring Twenties is one example. This time became known as the Jazz Age. Jazz music and dancing were used as a way for people to have fun and forget about the tragedies happening because of World War I and the Great Depression. The 1920s were dominated by jazz from the beginnings with Bessie Smith to the top with Duke Ellington. Much of it reflected the Harlem Renaissance, but white men also got into the act. In 1920, trumpeter Louis Armstrong developed the concept of swing music. Many legendary jazzmen finally made it onto records including stride piano performances from James P. Johnson with 1921's Carolina Shout. Fats Waller made his first piano rolls in 1922, and Jelly Roll Morton his first piano solos on disc with 1923's New Orleans Joys, Kansas City Stomp, Milenburg Joys, Wolverine Blues, and The Pearls. Radios finally started becoming popular in 1922, and Duke Ellington performed on radio in 1923. Blues legend Bessie Smith had a huge 1923 hit with "Downhearted Blues," along with "Gulf Coast Blues." Gertrude "Ma Rainey" Pridgett was also recorded for the first time that year. Thus, jazz has not only affected American lifestyles but has also affected the history of the United States as a whole....
