No other form of music in the 20^th century has undergone so many changes as Jazz music has. Jazz can not only be seen as a simple music style but also as a connection between foreign cultures. When it started of blacks and whites united for the first time to simply celebrate and perform without any racial discriminations. Due to the importance of New Orleans at the end of the last century it became an ideal place for this new music. The port attracted people from all over the world and "Storyville" was the place where they would go. European orchestral music blended with African musical elements to the now famous Dixieland style.

Personally I became interested with this theme because my parents both are Jazz fans and so I have been listening to Jazz music all of my life. What bothered me though was that I did not have a clue about the development of the music, the different styles and main musicians. While I worked on this program I discovered some very interesting aspects and funny stories that motivated me to continue and even to precise my research.

The program uses two main menus. One can be found on the left side of the screen, the other one in the centre. The left one can be used to go directly to the main pages, while the centre is used to go to learn more about the specifics. The wav-files at the Jazz Café can be started by double clicking them and are supposed to entertain the user while learning about Jazz.

The program was created mainly by using Microsoft’s Frontpage 98, but also by using my own HTML skills. All pictures where scanned in, worked over and integrated by myself. As graphic programs I used Adobe Photoshop 5.0 and Paintshop Pro 4.0. All wav-files have been selected, copied, worked over, cut and pasted by myself with the use of WinOnCD 3.6. The two main map I copied from the Internet, the original pictures are in the folder \originals\pictures, but I forgot the address. All added buttons were created using cliparts from Imagine It! (Macmillan) and the graphic programs I named earlier.

My main reason to create a program and not to simply type this work was that I have been a computer freak since I was 8 years old and so I decided that I finally wanted to create something myself. I also do believe that it is easier for people to learn about Jazz, using a nice looking program instead of reading white papers full of letters. Since computers become more and more important everyday, the programming also prepared me for my future job as a computer programmer. I also want to show this program to potential future employers.