Ragtime originated in the Southern United States during the late 1800s. This music is made up of the vibrant rhythms that are often associated with African dance. Scott Joplin was a great pianist of the ragtime era. But it is the moment when the jazz culture transitioned to the blues style. The blues style had another important influence on the development of jazz. Blues singers usually sang with background instruments such as guitar, piano and sometimes harmonica. A famous and very important blues musician was Bessie Smith, who had a great impact on the blues era. As time passed, jazz continued to change throughout history. The next jazz style was Dixieland, or traditional jazz, which emerged in the early 20th century. Dixieland jazz was a combination of blues, ragtime and brass band. Common instruments in a Dixieland jazz-style band included clarinet, cornet-trumpet, trombone, and saxophone. Normally the rhythm section included banjo, drums, piano, tuba or double bass. Unlike the blues, Dixieland was usually performed without a singer. Some of Dixieland's most talented jazz musicians were trumpeter Louis Armstrong, trumpeter Bix Beiterbecke, and pianist Jelly Roll Morton. The Dixieland jazz phase died out with the advent of the Big Band. Big band was a very popular style. A big band is an ensemble of 10 or more musicians. The Big Band played instruments such as saxophones, trumpets, piano,