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Abstract Jazz originates from New Orleans of southern America at the end of 19th century, and is characterized by a strong but flexible rhythmic understructure with solo and ensemble improvisations on basic tunes and chord patterns and, more recently, a highly sophisticated harmonic idiom. In the 1920s-1990s, Jazz develops very fast, and in different periods Jazz has different characteristics. As a musical form of America, Jazz reflects the situation of American society and culture. In the 1920s, Jazz gets its first-step development and brings together elements from Africa and Europe. Jazz is a kind of pure American black music because in this period the United States monopolizes this art. In the 1960s-1970s, Jazz gets new development; some fresh elements are introduced into Jazz, which reveals that America artists do not monopolize the scene and Jazz is spread to the world quietly. Jazz’s sad and strong rhythm and disappointing lyrics reveals a confusing American society and Americans’ contradictory feelings after the Second World War. In the 1980s-1990s, it seems that each European country has its own style in Jazz for different cultural backgrounds. The melting-pot social and cultural environment brings about Jazz’s multi-elemental development. In turn, the multi-elemental development of Jazz demonstrates the coexistence and co-development of different cultures and ideas in America. 摘　要爵士乐是19世纪末起源于南美新奥尔良的一种音乐形式。它以强劲而灵活的旋律为构架，在节奏与和音形式的基础上配合个人和集体的一种即兴表演。越到后来，爵士乐的风格越复杂，谐和。20世纪20年代到90年代，爵士乐发展得很快，并且在不同的时期有着不同的特点。作为美国的一种音乐形式，爵士乐反映了美国社会文化不同时期的情况。20世纪20年代时，爵士乐得到了初步的发展。爵士乐将非洲与欧洲的元素相结合，并融合成为新的文化，显示出了美国特有的音乐表现特色。爵士乐是一种纯的美国黑人音乐，因为在这个时期美国独占了这项艺术。在20世纪60，70年代，爵士乐有了新的发展，一些新的音乐元素融入到了爵士乐。这些融合是美国社会发展的结果，它显示了此时的美国已不在独占爵士乐这个舞台，爵士乐正在悄悄的走向世界。在这二十年里，爵士乐时而忧伤时而强劲的旋律以及令人绝望的歌词揭露了二战后动荡的美国社会和美国人矛盾的心情。到20世纪80，90年代时，几乎每个欧洲国家因为文化的差异都有了各自的爵士乐风格。美国社会与文化的多元发展带来了爵士乐的多元化，爵士乐的多元发展则展现了不同的文化与思想在美国的共存与发展。 Introduction Jazz is a treasure of American culture which originated from New Orleans of southern America at the end of 19th century. Compared to other music forms, it is a unique music form characterized by improvisational performance and changeable rhythm. In terms of the way of performance, Jazz isn’t only performed by solo but also by a group of people. And there is a great variety of musical instruments involved in the performance, like clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, and trombone and so on. In playing Jazz, the percussion instruments are also an important part, such as drum, double bass, and the piano. The entire musical instruments work together as if there is a party of sounds. Then the player makes an improvisational dealing with the timbre, cadence of the musical instruments. However, this is not enough; Jazz emphasizes more on player’s distinctive performance than Jazz itself. As a special music form, it also requests players to put their own musical mind and emotions into the performance. Only the sound from heart can make Jazz fantastic. Especially, its changeable rhythm always brings listeners into another world, and sometimes it is so wild like a strong howling, sometimes it is very soft as a weak patient. In addition, Jazz is also a free music form in which there is no certain rule, rhythm, or way of performance. Because of the characters mentioned above, it develops very fast in America and later sweeps the whole world. Jazz brings together elements from Africa and Europe, and then made them an expression of music unique to America. And in the 2