At that time, segregation laws were passed and Creoles were declared 2nd-class citizens. Many of these people were well educated and the musicians were classically trained. They brought their traditional musical background and combined it with the group-created, individual expression and rhythm brought by the African Americans, and jazz was born. Buddy Bolden is often credited with being the first musician to play jazz. The Original Dixieland Jazz band is the first group to record jazz, and Louis Armstrong taught the world how to swing and determined the direction of jazz and took it from simple dancing music into an art form through his improvised solos.
Jazz is a very educational music.
You can't just bang around on a piano randomly and say that you are playing jazz. Because of the level of sophistication, there are many jazz snobs who hurt jazz through their superiority complexes. Good jazz is jazz that YOU like. I hope you find this site educational. Most of all, if you aren't into jazz, I hope it inspires you to give it a try.