• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Language / Why Do Jazz Musicians Call a Spontaneous Session a “Jam” and How Did the Word Originate?

Why Do Jazz Musicians Call a Spontaneous Session a “Jam” and How Did the Word Originate?

February 28, 2020 by Karen Hill

All musicians refer to an informal and exhilarating musical session as “jamming,” but the term first surfaced in the jazz world during the 1920s.

“Jam” in jazz is a short, free, improvised passage performed by the whole band.

It means pushing or “jamming” all the players and notes into a defined free-flowing session.

And just like the preserved fruit “jammed” into a jar, a musical jam is sweet!

Preserved fruit was first called jam during the 1730s simply because it was crushed, then “jammed” into a jar.

To be “in a jam” has the same origin and means to be pressed into a tight or confining predicament.

Jamming radio signals is a term from World War I and means to force so much extra sound through a defined enemy channel that the original intended message is incoherent.

All this is from jam, a little seventeenth-century word of unknown origin that meant to press tightly.

Related Facts

  • Who was Duke Ellington and Why was Duke Ellington one of the most significant jazz musicians and composers?
  • What Is Spontaneous Generation and How Did the Theory of Spontaneous Generation Explain the Origin of Life?
  • What is Jazz and Where did Jazz come from?
  • What Does a "Dry Run" Mean and Where Did the Term For a Practice Session Originate?
  • Where does the expression "to shoot the bull" originate and What does bull session mean?
  • What was the Longest Traffic Jam Ever?

Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « What Is the Name of the “Thinker” in Auguste Rodin’s Famous Statue and Where Was He From?
Next Post: Where Was the First Ferris Wheel Built? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2021 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy