the first classic, Memphis Blues. Then came Jasbo
Brown, a reckless musician of a Negro cabaret in Chicago, who
played this and other blues, blowing his own extravagant moods
and risqué interpretations into them, while hilarious with gin.
To give further meanings to his veiled allusions he would
make the trombone "talk” by putting a derby hat and later a
tin can at its mouth. The delighted patrons would shout,
"More, Jasbo. More, Jas, more.” And so the name originated.
As to the jazz dance itself: at this time Shelton Brooks, a Negro comedian, invented a new “strut,” called “Walkin' the Dog.” Jasbo’s anarchic airs found in this strut a soul mate. Then as a result of their union came “The Texas Tommy," the highest point of brilliant, acrobatic execution and nifty foot- work so far evolved in jazz dancing. The latest of these dances is the "Charleston,” which has brought something really new to the dance step. The “Charleston” calls for activity of the whole body. One characteristic is a fantastic fling of the legs from the hip downwards. The dance ends in what is known as the "camel-walk”—in reality a gorilla-like shamble—and finishes with a peculiar hop like that of the Indian war dance. Imagine one suffering from a fit of rhythmic ague and you have the effect precisely.
The cleverest "Charleston” dancers perhaps are urchins of five and six who may be seen any time on the streets of Harlem, keeping time with their hands, and surrounded by admiring crowds. But put it on a well-set stage, danced by a bobbed-hair chorus, and you have an effect that reminds you of the abandon of the Furies. And so Broadway studies Harlem. Not all of the visitors of the twenty or more well-attended cabarets of Harlem are idle pleasure seekers or underworld devotees. Many are serious artists, actors and producers seeking something new, some suggestion to be taken, too often in pallid imitation, to Broadway's lights and stars.
This makes it difficult to say whether jazz is more characteristic of the Negro or of contemporary America. As was shown, it is of Negro origin plus the influence of the American environment. It is Negro-American. Jazz proper, however, is
