Jazz began as a story of the city in church and parades, a performance narrative countering that of the Lost Cause. A chorus of various instruments with vocal-like warmth, jazz offered moderate, relaxed tempos to which people could dance or march, even in a hot climate.
Jazz rose from working class roots to popularity with the elite. Some jazz songs satirized issues in the city. Brass bands flourished in towns near New Orleans, and the bands often played funerals for prominent people and benevolent society members. Influential jazz and ragtime musicians included John Robichaux, Buddy Bolden, Paul Barbain, Kid Ory, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Manuel Perez, Lorenzo Tio, and James Brown Humphrey.
A white redemption narrative also grew during this time. A large white-unity event happened in 1889 in the form of the funeral of Jefferson Davis, who died in New Orleans. African American funeral processions faced pushback from whites. In 1903, Pope Pius X banned bands from playing in church except in special circumstances. As Catholic churches fell into line, black Creole musicians from Catholic families played funerals in other churches as the burial tradition spread.
Street Queens: New Orleans Brass Bands and the Problem of Intersectionality