During the 1920s, a group of Austin High School students would venture after classes to the local ice cream parlor and listen to jazz records. They fell in love with the sound of the bands, of which the New Orleans Rhythm Kings were their favorite. The group of parlor patrons consisted of Bud Freeman (sax), Jimmy McPartland (coronet), Dave Tough (drums), Frank Teschemacher (clarinet), Joe Sulliver (piano), and Eddie Condon (guitar). These young men (and a few others) decided to form their own jazz band and thus the Austin High Gang was born.

This group made great strides in progressing the genre and defined Chicago style jazz based upon the previous New Orleans style. The instrumentation remained fairly similar, except more emphasis was given to the sax as opposed to the clarinet. Melodies were simplified and there was less collective improv. In this were a more singular line was prominent that the audience could focus on.

The rhythm section as well changed from previous styles of jazz. The section now had more drive and took a more commanding role of the overall feel of a tune. It's strange to think that a bunch of high school kids had such a large influence. But I suppose if you're good at doing something different, it'll catch on and change the perspectives of many.