You have to be buried properly for the soul to be at peace, to say nothing of the importance of good burial for the survivors. Dancing at funerals was not only a given in Africa, it was an old (and sometimes prohibited) tradition in Spain, a country with African heritage.
A symbol of life, a symbol of death and a symbol of re-birth, the New
Orleans jazz funeral salutes a life well lived and the passage of a
departed soul into a better world.
The music at the start of the jazz funerals starts off slow and
mournful, out of sorrow and respect for the loss of the departed. As the
deceased is laid to rest, he has gone to his reward and the music
reflects the joy both of the departed's ascension into paradise, along
with a celebration of life.
This funeral harkens back to old African traditions – a belief that life
wasn’t over at ‘death.’ The Dahomean and Yoruba of West Africa thought
that death, in this world, meant that a spirit could now run free into a
new one. Those still living would mourn, yes – but then they could
revel in the knowledge that their old friend would be dancing his heart
out, on the other side.
Louis Armstrong describes a New Orleans Jazz Funeral in the documentary film Satchmo the Great.
"And, speaking of real beautiful music, if you ever witnessed a funeral in New Orleans and they have one of those brass bands playing this funeral, you really have a bunch of musicians playing from the heart, because as they go to the cemetery they play in a funeral march, they play "Flee As a Bird," "Nearer My God Today," and they express themselves in those instruments singing those notes the same as a singer would, you know. "
The reason for rocking the casket, is so he can dance one last time.
Some nice B/W photos from Jazz Funerals dating 1968-1970 you can find here
