Last week, rolling out’s new AI Music Lab launched its first advancement, an AI Music Generator that pushes the boundaries of culture and technology at the intersection of music and generative AI. A playlist created on rolling out’s AI Music Generator is now free on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok music, and 20+ other digital music distribution platforms.
Rolling out’s AI Music Generator analyzes the patterns, structures, and styles of existing music. Then, it uses our AI algorithms to create entirely new copyright-free compositions, from beats to complete tracks. At rolling out, we’re on a mission to redefine music production by making it more accessible so it can be used to help everyone experience the magic of music creation and be a part of our culture and the AI revolution. You can access our AI Music Generator at https://www.rollingout.ai and our playlist by going to your preferred digital music streaming service and searching “Rolling Out Music.”
This got our editorial staff thinking about how much our culture has driven so many innovations in music in the U.S. and globally. A big focus area for the rolling out AI Music Lab today is jazz, which was the first indigenous American style to make a significant impact on music around the world. From the driving brass bands to the soaring gospel choirs to the beat and syncopation of ragtime and the thunder of blues, the roots of jazz are part of most of what we call modern music. You can’t talk about jazz without mentioning the Harlem Renaissance.
The Harlem Renaissance changed everything, from the civil rights movement to the evolution of sociology to the entire trajectory of the arts. It showed that “popular music” could be just as artful and innovative as classical music, if not more. It inaugurated brilliant authors and poets such as Langston Hughes, Nella Larson, and Jean Toomer into the larger literary canon.
The roaring twenties, or Jazz Age, is often celebrated for its cultural importance, and yet, how many songs from the 1920s do you know? Probably not many, and that’s the point of this multi-part series — to help rectify that. Some of the greatest, most important musical pieces of all time were recorded and released in the 1920s, and they deserve to be remembered and enjoyed.
So, as we go light-years ahead with rolling out’s new AI Music Generator, we wanted to take you back, not just to talk about the historical importance of these pieces, but also to show you that this music, our music, still holds up to this day regardless of whatever innovations may be next.
If you haven’t read “Harlem” the poem by Langston Hughes, it’s a great reflection of the spirit of the time. Grab a copy, turn your speakers up, and enjoy. Below are the first five songs we recommend for your Jazz Age jazz playlist. We will release five songs weekly together with background on the artist and the music.
“Charleston” (1925) James P. Johnson
A mascot of the Jazz Age, “Charleston” was the defining dance tune of the decade. Written by one of the greatest pianists and composers of his era, James P. Johnson, in this original 1924 recording, we can hear a master at work. Every key is touched with a gorgeous lightness, yet every note sags with a pronounced weight, a technique that radiates raw talent. It’s a song that is remarkably still very danceable a century after it was recorded, and with a tinge of tragic melancholy and some gorgeous piano playing, is well worth a listen in 2023.
“Heebie Jeebies” (1926) Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five
This song is simply timeless. Basic but catchy melodies string the song along, and Louis Armstrong, one of the greatest instrumentalists of all time, carries this song with his powerful and passionate cornet playing. Beyond that, while this song is known as the song that popularized scat, it’s also one of the best to utilize scat. His voice is perfect for it, and he has a natural charisma that elevates the song. The vocal melodies are also just catchy and well worth a listen.
“Black Bottom Stomp” (1926) Jelly Roll Morton’s Red-Hot Peppers
This song is too good to have been released when it was. Rhapsody in Blue often gets the credit for taking jazz to another level. Still, while Rhapsody in Blue bridged jazz and classical to perfection, Jelly Roll Morton’s masterfully dense, complex, multi-faceted concoctions showcased the genre’s true potential. Listen to how it utilizes improvisation; the solos are improvised but arranged in a somewhat specific and complex way at specific places, giving the song a very calculated flow. It’s a multi-faceted piece that switches through different moods with tactful precision while retaining a loose, improvised spirit that allows it to bump and swing like few other tunes of the decade.
“Jazz Battle” (1929) The Rhythm Aces (featuring Jabbo Smith)
Oh, what could have been. Touted as Louis Armstrong’s rival, by the time this song was released, hot jazz was dead, and so, unfortunately, was Jabbo Smith’s career. He was a truly phenomenal instrumentalist, his performance at once danceable, passionate, tight, and technical. It single-handedly takes the song from a solid if forgettable jazz tune to a fantastic display of talent worth listening to a century after it lit up the dance floor.
“Black and Tan Fantasy” (1927) Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
Listen to this one with headphones. scenic, impressionistic, melancholic atmospheres from the duke. The depressive drawls of 1920s Harlem after a night’s drinking expressed through song.
