JRP Topic Idea: America's Only Original Art Form?

It's America's only original art form. It's the baseball of music!  It has no melody!  I can't dance to it!

“If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know.” 

― Louis Armstrong

Wait, no!  That's not true.  Don't worry, you can ask.  Really!  I mean, what is jazz anyway?  Where did it come from?  Why are there so many different kinds of it?  Who even likes to listen to it anyway?

Maybe it's time for you to find out.  Just think about it - part of your research could be to just sit back and listen to music.  How great is that?

You could listen to this,

or this



or this



or this (a personal favorite)



or this



or even this (though I warn you, it's REALLY experimental and odd)



So, why IS this the original American art form?  What is so American about it?  Please, tell me!

If you're interested, check out these books and sites:

Grammy Museum and Blue Note Records
Ken Burns' History of Jazz