Dixieland

American  

[dik-see-land] / ˈdɪk siˌlænd /

noun

1. (sometimes lowercase) a style of jazz, originating in New Orleans, played by a small group of instruments, as trumpet, trombone, clarinet, piano, and drums, and marked by strongly accented four-four rhythm and vigorous, quasi-improvisational solos and ensembles.

2. Also Dixie Land Dixie.

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Dixieland British  

/ ˈdɪksɪˌlænd /

noun

1. a form of jazz that originated in New Orleans, becoming popular esp with White musicians in the second decade of the 20th century

2. a revival of this style in the 1950s

3. See Dixie

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Dixieland Cultural  

1. A kind of jazz originating in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the early twentieth century. The rhythms of Dixieland are usually rapid, and it generally includes many improvised sections for individual instruments.

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Etymology

Origin of Dixieland

First recorded in 1925–30; Dixie + land

Example Sentences

From the outset, the festival embraced musical diversity: big band, swing, ska, blues, Dixieland and bebop.

From BBC • May 1, 2026

He was not a musician himself but he loved jazz — straight-ahead and Dixieland — and swing most of all.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 20, 2025

Robertson's rollicking guitar struggles for sonic space over the Dixieland jazz of "Ophelia," The Band's broadcast of nostalgia for a home that is lost.

From Salon • Aug. 12, 2023

The players transition into a Dixieland feel as the collective falls into chaos, challenging listeners to wake up.

From New York Times • Jul. 5, 2023

Despite jazz’s African-American origins in the Blues and in New Orleans’s funeral procession bands, the members of the Original Dixieland Jass Band itself were the children of white European immigrants.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall