# Jazz - The Only True American Art Form? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-the-only-true-american-art-form/206582 "2003-10-10T00:42:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oktberfest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@Oktberfest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oktberfest)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-the-only-true-american-art-form/206582/1 "2003-10-10T00:42:39Z")
Why is jazz considered America’s only truly American art form? What makes jazz more American or more of an art form than country music? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-the-only-true-american-art-form/206582/2 "2003-10-10T01:00:28Z")
1: It isn’t. Tap dancing, banjo, comic books/strips and the musical comedy (distinct from light opera, though I’m not sure how) are all American artforms. 2: American country music is strikingly similar to English and Irish rural music, which have longer histories. Not sure where Skiffle falls into this. Jazz, as it developed in America, has an improvisational quality that differentiates it from the prior musical forms that influenced it. And it happened here first. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-the-only-true-american-art-form/206582/3 "2003-10-10T01:46:59Z")
Just curious, but why shoudn’t rap music or hip-hop be considered American art forms? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-the-only-true-american-art-form/206582/4 "2003-10-10T02:06:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jervoise \* > \*\*Just curious, but why shoudn’t rap music or hip-hop be considered American art forms? \*\* Or Rock 'n Roll? Marc ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-the-only-true-american-art-form/206582/5 "2003-10-10T03:32:02Z")
Someday I intend to put together a complete list of all the “One & only true art forms ever created in America”. I expect it to be book-length. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-the-only-true-american-art-form/206582/6 "2003-10-10T04:09:25Z")
Jazz ISN’T the only true American art form, just as prostitutions isn’t really the world’s oldest profession, and dance is not demonstrably the world’s oldest art form, and baseball hasn’t really been America’s pastime in ages. But such assertions have been tossed around for so long, writers find it easier to repeat the cliches than to offer any original commentary. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-the-only-true-american-art-form/206582/7 "2003-10-10T04:23:08Z")
Hip-Hop has been said to be the only culture/artform born exclusively and demonstrably within the United States. ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-the-only-true-american-art-form/206582/8 "2003-10-10T13:02:16Z")
Sitcoms. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-the-only-true-american-art-form/206582/9 "2003-10-10T14:23:51Z")
Disgruntled postal workers with guns.