The origins of the word are uncertain, but « jazz » was named « word of the 20th century » by the American Dialect Society. The Oxford dictionary indicates that its first known appearance dates back to 1912, in reference to the Pacific Coast League of baseball. Ben Henderson, pitcher for the Portland Beavers, invented a new pitch that he called « jazz ball ».
Typically American innovations, jazz and baseball share a common history. The word « jazz » was born in baseball; at the beginning of the 20th century, it referred to « pep, energy » before becoming the term for the new style of frenetic music.
For over a century, baseball and jazz have formed a duo. Both baseball and jazz use the term « swing » as a noun and a verb, and in both cases, the swing involves timing and synchronization.
Both jazz and baseball were born in the United States and have become global symbols of America. Louis Armstrong sponsored a baseball team. Ella Fitzgerald was a Dodgers fan. During the swing era, many big bands formed baseball teams: Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington. Jazz musicians have recorded numerous songs about baseball, from Take Me Out to the Ball Game and Baseball Boogie to Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball?
Jazz musicians and baseball players strive to find a perfect balance between discipline and spontaneity, between the prescribed and the improvised. But today, the distance between the two disciplines is greater.
