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Meet the Jazz Band at WeBop this Winter!
Join this Winter Term, as they have to know the instruments that make up a jazz combo, from the noble trumpet to the engine of the band, the drums. Each week you’ll move, sing, and play along as you learn about each instrument, culminating in a jam session with a live jazz band.

Highlights

* Slide from high to low like a growling trombone
* Swing your favorite nursery songs
* Scat oo-pop-a-da like Ella
* Swing the band with your steady drum beat
* Play a mean jazz riff on the piano
* Walk like a bass swinging way down low
* Jam with the a live jazz quartet
* Have fun playing with your friends and family

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For dates, registration, and pricing, please visit http://www.jalc.org for more info.

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This short little article will give you a better understanding of a jazz performance, meaning how to perceive the music and the musicians. For this, I give a little information about the seating of jazz gigs and how this reflects the mindset of the jazz listener. More importantly, this article will explain when and how to respond to the music you hear (clapping, shouting, dancing, etc).

It is aimed at those who have never or seldom attend jazz concerts and might be interested in how to uphold the “audience member” part of the bargain.

Where to sit

(1) Most jazz gigs offer open seating, and this is actually an extension of the attitude toward the music. Nothing official or formal, just sit where you would like, so you can have a good time. Having said that, here are a couple little tips for the noobies to remember. Like most other concerts, try to avoid the first row center (seating or tables) – especially if you arrive late. Most of the time, this seating is usually reserved for special audience members (i.e. family, friends, and even for the performers at different times in the show). Obviously if there are quite a few people seated, and those front seats/tables aren’t taken, there might a reason for it.

Other than that, it is free game. If that doesn’t narrow it down enough, how about picking a spot where you will have a good line of sight to the musicians. This may be obvious; however let me clarify that this doesn’t necessarily mean that you can see the entire stage. Many times musicians (often lead singers/featured artists) will have their area that they will sit in or occasionally move around in. This is the featured part of the concert, so if you cannot get a seat with the entire group in vision at all times, go for the lead musicians. Some prefer to get very specific vantage points, where they are can see how the musician moves or how he plays the instrument (as opposed to just viewing them head on).

Sitting toward the back is not necessarily a bad thing at all. As I have mentioned, jazz is a little less formal when it comes to seating arrangements, as your interests and comfort are number one priority. Sit where you feel comfortable and listen how you want to listen. This is often where other artists, jazz efficiandos, and other reviewers/media end up sitting.

If you are a “tapper” or “head-bobber” (no, nothing impure intended here), you might want to be positioned a little off to the side – this is not because you might stand out or look ridiculous like if you were at a classical concert (in which case you would be ridiculed); rather it is simply because it could be distracting for other audience members.

Finally, late comers should always move quickly and quietly to the most convenient position (even if it means standing), so as to not distract the musicians or audience members. Pretty common sense, but it needs to be pointed out that this respect is of high priority than your assigned or usual spot (should that be the case).

(2) There is one other scenario regarding seating, and it is of the “dinner and music” variety. If there are assigned seats for the meal (usually determined by a host/hostess), this is where you will be for the show. On rare occasions, seating could change in between the meal and the concert, dictated by the course of events in the night (dinner, break, drink, music).

Applause

Probably one of the most confusing, and at times most controversial, things about the jazz performance is when to clap. Audience members generally enjoy showing their appreciation for the musicians, but most are reluctant to do so because of their inexperience with the music – result: the band thinks they suck because they didn’t hear any response from the audience.

Generally, these are the following times when audience members are expected to clap at a jazz gig: when the band first comes out, after each song, and when the set concludes (usually getting a little louder each time – if you like the group). These are pretty much set in stone, and you shouldn’t have any reluctance in clapping at these times. If you do not know when the end of the song occurs, wait for others to start. This is common in jazz, as the same song is seldom played the same way (even if played during different sets in the same night).

But what about solos? Glad you asked. The solo for the musician is more than their chance to play louder and more extravagant than the others on stage. They are being featured, and they have the opportunity to infuse their own flavor and message into the song. Jazz musicians, on the whole, are very expressive and enjoy leading the audience on a journey with their solo. But more than this, they are offering themselves to the audience and enjoy the response from the listeners. In other words, if there is no response from the crowd, the message has not been received as it was intended. In short, clapping at the end of EACH solo (even when there are multiple solos) is encouraged.

Having said that, there are some guidelines if you don’t want to be picked out of the crowd as “that guy”, but before you start worrying, I can assure you they’re pretty much based on common sense.

(1) Clapping after EACH solo is fine; however keep the clapping to a minimum. Now, that isn’t to say that musicians want to hear golf claps; rather keep the length of the clap brief. This is mostly because the music is still going, and the end of a solo could be an important transition to the next part of the song. This is in contrast with the classical or operatic clap which involves profuse bowing on the part of the performer and many curtain calls.

(2) In general, when there are multiple soloists playing right after the other, there is a progression where the lead or featured musician will be going last. This means there is generally a progression in the volume of the clapping, starting with moderate and ending in a loud. Keep in mind, though, that you should still refrain from any sustained clapping beyond 4 to 5 seconds.

(3) Yelling is generally not the best way to respond after a solo, although the occasional “yeah” or “woo-hoo” can be heard. Let us just point out that this is generally done by those you know the artists personally or who are at least a regular to jazz concerts. When going to your first couple of gigs, you might not want to be the first person to do this. In short, refrain from verbal outbursts or anything that might involve a spotlight being place on you.

(4) The avid jazz listener and frequent guest at jazz gigs will often let you a short comment or even a small clap IN THE MIDDLE of the solo. The reason for this is that they usually hear something in the solo that is very notable and common in jazz – “the quote.” Musicians like to quote themselves and each other, and what this means is that they might throw in a short reference to “pop goes the weasel” or other famous lick mid-solo. Not only is it creative and entertains the crowd with their musicality and musical ability, but it can even quote a musician who has used that line before (maybe even in the same song). For beginners, don’t worry about this. Let the regulars handle this, and don’t feel offended if it happens.

One last bit about applause. The noobie might perceive the “post-solo” clapping to be short and disrespectful, but it is well received. It is enough to hear response and know that the audience is with them, and at the same time, they know the rest of the song can keep going without thunderous applause or other interruption.

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Well, during this period, musicians and artists were looking for a new spin on their style of music. Whether it was pop or whether it was fusion or even R & B, this diversion seemed to take on a life of its own, developing from the combination of many already-existing elements to form something that might have new appeal. But what was that appeal? Was it really anything new? Yes and no.

A Breakdown Of Acid Jazz:

Jazz first came onto the scenen in the late 1980s in the UK, with the objective of appealing to the British dance scene. It incorporated many elements, much of which was based in jazz funk. The beat and pulse of funk lends itself quite well to dancing, so it is easy to see that this would be a large foundation. But what is not always clear is what happens on top of that funk.

Some believe that its primary focus was to add the element of electronic music, namely in the form of sampling and live spinning and scratching by a DJ. It is true that many such artists aimed at doing this; however couldn’t this simply be seen as an electronic version of funk? In other words, this isn’t really “new.” Why could it deserve attention in its own right, as a completely different category of music.

The answer can be seen in many artists that arrived on the scene in the early – and even mid – 1990s. Groups like The Brand New Heavies and Incognito were also interested in expanding on current popular music, but their approach was a little more unconventional compared to other predecessors. Influenced by the pulsing beat of fusion and the foundation that funk provided, they were also in touch with the contemporary jazz scene. The idea was to introduce, little by little, elements of jazz into the music, so as to expose more people to a (let’s face it) rather beaten and battered style – one that did not have much success in mainstream music.

What elements of jazz were present? Many of the tracks by the artists named above featured more in-depth developments, began to take on more of a jazz-like form, and even incorporated many progressions and structures common in jazz. Of course, this “obscure” approach to music would not be accepted by society as a whole and would not be easily understood or embraced; HOWEVER, to embed within pop, funk, R & B, and other more common styles, it would have the effect of almost a subliminal message. Begin the song in a more common form and style, intertwine jazz properties, and then RESOLVE like popular music.

It was, in our opinion, a rather ingenious approach to the promotion and attempted “reawakening” of jazz, and it was not like anything ever heard before. A lot of people give Acid Jazz a lot of flack because, in a lot of ways, it doesn’t line up with anything we can refer back to in traditional jazz form. The lack of improvisation, or “minimalistic re-interpretations” of the main theme (at best), threw out a red flag for most jazz fans.

Conclusions:

So, what are we left with? Those that cling to the funk and fusion side of the coin, mixing in their electronic adaptations, DJ-like looping samples, and favoring a movement toward dance. In fact, for these people, it may have even been considered a “revival” of sorts, back to a thriving jazz fusion or jazz-funk style. If it can truly be called ACID “JAZZ,” where is the jazz? Incorporating jazz into this line of thinking does not necessarily mesh well, and if dance is in fact the goal and objective, it would tend to lean away from this incorporation of anything traditionally known in jazz. Many critics, and avid jazz followers, take this point of view, in denying that there was ever any jazz influence in the music to begin with.

On the other hand, followers of traditional and even contemporary jazz were not too quick to move toward this because of the lack of jazz structure, form, and progression. They could not relate to it in the same way, and largely despised the title because it was doing a great injustice to their beloved form.

Overall, it seemed to be an “experiment,” resulting in various, and mutually exclusive, concoctions. It is always difficult to appease a large group (let alone popular culture) when hybridization is on the menu. One will usually find two ends of the spectrum, like in the case of Acid Jazz, where a style (or styles) are attempting to break through the confinement of borders imposed on them by the listeners.

In any event, we believe the idea is great! The realization does not always meet expectations, but for those select few that can find an even balance of many different influences, they get a glimpse at a larger view of what music represents and how people react to it. It would be great to see more hybridization, in our opinion. It may even unite or reunite fans and followers that once shared the same ground and perspective.

Your Opinions:

With that, we leave it up to you – the reader. Send us your thoughts on this topic. In light of our topic of hybridization, it would be great to hear other opinions and maybe come a little closer to understanding what Acid Jazz is and who it appeals to.

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1. An Introduction To Jazz’s Influence On Society: The 4th of a 4-part Series on the Essentials of Jazz
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Introduction:

For most jazz performers, they began with a love for the music and the style. Listening to the standards, they were probably drawn in by the great melodic lines and subtle harmonies we hear in our favorite music – from Louis Armstrong to John Coltrane and Miles Davis to more contemporary artists such as Brad Mehldau and Denny Zeitlin.

However, if you are familiar with jazz, whether from a performance or even a listener’s perspective, it is the solo that really catches people’s attention. The art of taking existing or borrowed melodies, chord structures, and rhythms and putting them all together in your own words – that is your own statement – is what we know about jazz improvisation. And it is more often than not the improvisation that people associate with jazz music.

For the listener it is great – the time when the artist shows the crowd his unique creative abilities and technical styles. For the performer on the other hand, especially the novice or intermediate player, the solo can be quite a daunting task. How am I going to create my own melody and manage to stay within the chord changes? How can I make it sound like I really know what I am doing? How do I master the technical aspect and impress people?

If, however, you ask any great jazz musician these questions about improvisation, you will find that they are not looking for a showy, technical masterpiece that wows the crowd (and intimidates other musicians). They often see the solo as an opportunity to say something – really as an extension of verbal communication. It does not have to be highly flashy and technical; rather it should communicate something – a message, a feeling or emotion. In fact, most would say that one could have the greatest technical abilities (having mastered all scales and chord progressions), but if they were not trying to say something, it would be empty.

Be A Storyteller:

Improvisation in jazz can be seen much in the same way a storyteller is seen. While it is their job to communicate a message or feeling to the listener or reader, the storytelling does not take place alone – that is it does not end with something the storyteller has said. The interest comes not out of a one-way communication from orator to the crowd, but stems mainly from a conversation in which the crowd can also participate. I do not necessarily mean that the crowd will get up and tell part of the story; rather their reactions and questions to that message, for example, are critical components. In this thinking, it is a good idea to see this storytelling as a sharing process.

The musician also takes on this role, giving to the audience what it is they are feeling or trying to say. A good story will reel the audience in, make them listen to the music, and react. An example of this reaction is the audience’s expectations for the lines to follow. “Based on this line, the next one will include a faster run, a retreat to a more quiet dynamic, or even an explosive chord that ends the line.” With this in mind, the musician is leading them on a journey in which they are interacting. The musician may want to reveal what the crowd is waiting for (like a happy ending), or switch gears and show them something different (like a plot twist).

Embrace Your Own Unique Signature:

This sharing is a dynamic between the performer (in this case a musician) and the audience. Within the story, the musician is not only conveying a story through messages and emotions. They are also putting their own twist on the story. That is to say, the solo is their own signature. Just as a storyteller has their own style or nuance to the way in which they communicate, the musician divulges a little bit about themselves. What does the musician bring to the table? This could be a unique approach to rhythm, dynamics, and even pacing (right to the point development or round-about paths).

One technique, often underestimated and ignored by the novice performer, is the focus on the pause. During this silence, there isn’t any music to hear, but that does not necessarily mean that it is void of importance or impact on the rest of the solo. In fact, this silence is a great way to break up the statements before and after, to cue transitions, or even to catch the audience off guard by suspending or delaying the expected outcome. The role the pause plays can be equated to an almost suspenseful feeling in a scary movie, or to an unresolved ending of a chapter in a book. This is a great technique for storytelling and should be utilized in improvisation.

Be Spontaneous:

Another tip for improvisation is to be able to adapt within the solo. While typical soloists are essentially displaying a microcosm of their acquired knowledge and abilities through one story, they are not engaged in a dynamic that invites reaction and response. If one was to simply take snippets of rehearsed solos they have practiced over 20 years, put them together in one solo, they would just be regurgitating what they have already expressed. Not only is this boring for the musician, but it is evident for the listener. There is a lack of development, lack of theme, and maybe even an overall confusion as to the direction of the solo. If you have ever had to tell the same story more than twice, you know what I mean. It becomes rehearsed and stagnant.

However, if you would think of a different way or approach to tell the story, you are engaging not only yourself but the audience as well. You are not regurgitating or repeating, you are communicating in real time, altering your intensity or even changing your pacing of the story. As you are now more engaged and committed to a creative way to tell the story, the audience will pick up on this and go along with your adventure.

Spontaneity is not only important for storytelling, it will also allow you to adapt should something unexpected happen. You can rehearse over and over again, but what happens when (for example) a string on a guitar breaks or you miss the key note(s) that lead to your next phrase. Being able to adapt will allow the musician to change gears and take another path – even if it is not where they intended to go. There is no such thing as a “wrong” solo, just go with it and see what develops.

“Only by harrowingly traversing that bridge between conscious
and unconscious can the jazz artist succeed in revealing a new
story with each telling. In the art of jazz, the truly improvised
solo remains the ideal. It is a unique story, a kind of spontaneous
interior monologue shared with the listener. It is effectually a
work in progress, a single entry in an ongoing diary of discovery.”
- Robert Washut (Jazz Educators Journal)

Conclusion:

Most great jazz musicians do, in fact, have a highly developed arsenal of technical ability when it comes to note-for-note and chord-for-chord. Many use this ability in their solos as well. It is important, however, to realize that improvisation is not necessarily this ability to awe and impress. Working on your technical approach to jazz will no doubt help, but it should be seen as a tool – a vehicle to get you where you want to go.

Storytelling, the platform on which a solo is based and the framework for the performers motivation, is essential for a good solo and allows for the intercommunication and sharing mentioned in this article. It is not dispensable and cannot be replaced by technical abilities; rather it is the glue of the solo and should be considered the primary characteristic of improvisation.

“Like the story, the improvised jazz solo can be appreciated on many
levels. Because of our natural fascination with pyrotechnical display,
we tend to marvel at the technical virtuosity of a soloist in much the
same way that we share in awe at a spectacular show of fireworks.
Nonetheless where we may be dazzled by display, we are touched
forever by the magic of the story.”
- Robert Washut (Jazz Educators Journal)

Like This Topic?

It is the basis for our “Poll Of The Week & Contest”
(August 20th-27th)

Take the time to drop your vote (on the right of the page) and even submit an opinion in our forum

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Have you even been in any of the following situations?

- “I need to pass a class, and the only way is to pass the test or to write this paper on jazz.”
- “I’m going to have dinner with the boss, and I know he’s a jazz buff. I would really impress him/her if I knew something about jazz.”
- “My girlfriend/boyfriend is really into jazz, and I wish I could show them I understand it a little and show the same interest.”

This article will give you 2 approaches to going about gathering your research:

Approach #1

(4 Easy Steps)

This first approach gives you links to articles that All Your Jazz has posted. This is a good starting place and will help you out if you need to gather some basic information quickly. Below we offer basic guidelines, followed by links to articles to find this information.

- Guideline #1: Take a brief look at the history and time line of the development of jazz. Focus on general dates and events that made large impacts on jazz. (Visit Article)

- Guideline #2: Be familiar with a few of the main styles of jazz. The development of jazz can be traced through different styles (e.g. swing, bebop, New Orleans). This will also help you with the guideline #1. (Visit Article)

- Guideline #3: Once you have zeroed in on a few jazz styles, pick 1-2 artists from each style to associate with these styles. (Visit Article)

- Guideline #4: Be familiar with some of the Jazz Standards. Below is an mp3 player where you can listen to a few of the most popular and influential tracks. Being able to identify at least one of these will win you points!

If you follow these 4 guidelines, you will be on your way to developing a good grasp of jazz, allowing you to take part in discussions and voice your opinion on jazz! For a closer look into jazz, please follow up with Approach #2 (below). The two approaches in combination will give you the best success becoming familiar with jazz!

Approach #2

This second approach gives you links to lists of recommended materials (books, cds, dvds, etc) to begin gathering your information.

Best Selling Jazz DVD Collections
Jazz Reading: Best selection for newbies and avid fans of jazz
Get Familiar With The Jazz Standards: The most influential albums that lay the foundation for jazz

This is best choice for a more comprehensive approach, though if you need your information faster, see the first approach.

With either approach, All Your Jazz hopes that the resources found in this article will get you on the right track toward learning a little about jazz – or even toward a more long-term interest.

Please let us know your opinion of this post and the information within it. If you would like to know more information, or would like to suggest that we include other materials you have found, just send us a comment below. If you are pleased with this post, and would like to contribute toward the future of the site, please buy me a coffee (below)!

Related posts:

1. An Introduction To Jazz Styles: The 1st of a 4-part Series on the Essentials of Jazz
2. An Introduction To The Greatest & Most Influential Jazz Artists: The 2nd of a 4-part Series on the Essentials of Jazz
3. An Introduction To Jazz’s Influence On Society: The 4th of a 4-part Series on the Essentials of Jazz

The sources that are listed below are categorized according to type of reading. They range more in-depth reading like jazz history, to a more comprehensive approach with fun and interesting facts about jazz. Either way, All Your Jazz has complied a list of works that offer you many selections for all your different jazz needs.

We will be adding on to this list as we receive information about new releases, as it is our hope to bring you the latest and best-selling materials. If you are unable to find a selection that best suits your needs, would like to suggest additional materials to us, or simply would like to comment on the materials you see here, please feel free to leave us a comment.

Section 1:History of Jazz

The History of Jazz Ted Gioia Beginning with details provided from firsthand accounts of slave dances in the early 19th-century New Orleans, Gioia relates the story of African American music from its roots in Africa to the international respect it enjoys today. Styles that developed in such hotbeds as New Orleans, Chicago, Kansas City, and New York are considered along with the artists that personify these styles. With the arrival of more white musicians, such as Benny Goodman in the Swing Era, jazz achieved the height of mass popularity. This was quickly followed by the more experimental modern jazz movement, with artists like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie redefining the music and moving beyond entertainment into the realm of "serious" music. This well-researched, extensively annotated volume covers the major trends and personalities that have shaped jazz. The excellent bibliography and list of recommended listening make this a valuable purchase for libraries building a jazz collection.

Jazz: A History of America’s Music Ward, Burns, Murray, Morgenstern This lavishly illustrated history describes the evolution of jazz during the 20th century, focusing on the careers of a key players like Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Benny Goodman. In his introduction to the massive volume, Burns writes that his decision to make Jazz was inspired by a comment made by Gerald Early, a writer he interviewed for the authors’ last documentary, Baseball.  Burns admits he knew next to nothing about jazz before deciding to create "the most comprehensive treatment of jazz ever committed to film," and there lies the work’s Achilles’ heel. Burns has his conclusionDthat jazz is a metaphor for the United StatesDfirmly in hand before he begins to know his subject. This smugness translates into a rather tepid, conservative view of jazz. The entire 40-year period from 1960 forward is relegated to a single chapter, a rather pronounced statement about how the authors feel about more recent achievements. More than 500 illustrations and photos.

Section 2:Comprehensive and Complete

	Jazz 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Jazz John F. Szwed Anyone interested in learning about a distinct musicjazzwill welcome this newest addition to the popular 101 reference series. Noted anthropologist, critic, and musical scholar John F. Szwed takes readers on a tour of the musics tangled history and explores how it developed from an ethnic music to become North Americas most popular music and then part of the avant garde in less than fifty years. Jazz 101 presents the key figures, history, theory, and controversies that shaped its development, along with a discussion of some of its most important recordings.
	What to Listen For in Jazz Barry Kernfeld This new book from the editor of The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz offers a unique way of approaching and understanding jazz. Drawing on twenty-one historic jazz recordings, reproduced on a compact disc that accompanies the book, Barry Kernfeld illustrates jazz rhythm, forms, arrangement, composition, improvisation, style, and sound. Students and fans alike have much to gain from thoroughly reading this incisive guide; indeed, so do professional critics humble enough to admit that they probably don’t know all this stuff already.
	Jazz for Dummies, 2nd Edition Dirk Sutro The fun and easy way to explore the world of jazz. Jazz is America’s greatest music, but with over a century’s worth of styles and artists, where do you begin? Relax! This hep cat’s guide delivers the scoop on the masters and their music — from Duke Ellington to Charlie Parker to Wynton Marsalis. It’s just what you need to tune in to the history and musical structure of jazz and become a more savvy listener. Discover how to understand the traits and roots of jazz, tune in to jazz styles, listen to great jazz artists, catch a live performance, and even succeed in a jazz ensemble. Includes a list of more than 100 recordings for your jazz collection.

Section 3:Jazz Stories and Novels

	The Story of Jazz -Marshall W. Stearns (1970) The effect of jazz upon American culture and the American character has been all-pervasive. This superlative history is the first and the most renowned systematic outline of the evolution of this unique American musical phenomenon. Stearns begins with the joining of the African Negro’s musical heritage with European forms and the birth of jazz in New Orleans then follows its course through the era of swing and bop to the beginnings of rock in the 50s, vividly depicting the great innovators, and covering such technical elements as the music’s form and structure.
	Jazz In Search of Itself (hardcover) -Larry Kart (2004) Kart is a genuine critic. He analyzes how a particular player sounds more closely than, it certainly seems, any other jazz writer who, like him, doesn’t use musical notation to illustrate the discussion. In a piece on avant-garde saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, a listener-demanding musician, Kart describes the first 3 minutes of a 23-minute performance so concretely that one could easily check out his accuracy by listening to the same recording. By no means always so thoroughgoing, he still reliably gives readers enough solid information to aurally check up on him, and then to argue with as well as learn from his evaluations. Kart is also historically and sociologically well informed about jazz, enabling him to make cogent assessments of received opinion on historic performers such as Louis Armstrong; to ask informants the right questions or give them room to say arresting things (see the Frank Zappa interview); and to cogently critique whole movements (e.g., jazz revivalism in "The Neo-Con Game"). Ray Olson Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved.
	Tales of the Jazz Age (paperback) -F. Scott Fitzgerald (2007) Commemorating the 100th anniversary of his birth, these essays present a middle-aged Fitzgerald looking back on the era he came to epitomize. This book of five confessional essays from the 1930s follows Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda from the height of their celebrity as the darlings of the 1920s to years of rapid decline leading to the self-proclaimed "Crack Up" in 1936. The poetics of Fitzgerald’s style are not lost in nonfiction, and these pieces display some of his finest writing. This publication from Boomer Books is specially designed and typeset for comfortable reading.
	Growing Up with Jazz: Twenty-Four Musicians Talk about Their Lives and Careers (hardcover) -W. Royal Stokes (2005) A jazz writer for three decades, W. Royal Stokes has a special talent for capturing the initial spark that launches a musician’s career. In Growing Up With Jazz, he has interviewed twenty-four instrumentalists and singers who talk candidly about the early influences that started them on the road to jazz and where that road has taken them. From Art Blakey to Claire Daly to Don Byron, here are the compelling stories of two dozen top musicians finding their way in the world of jazz.
	Duke Ellington – American Jazz Man (Biography) (paperback) -Biographiq (2008) Duke Ellington – American Jazz Man is the biography of Duke Ellington, an American composer, pianist and band leader who was one of the most influential figures in jazz, if not in all American music. As a composer and a band leader, Ellington’s reputation has increased since his death, with thematic repackagings of his signature music often becoming best-sellers. Ellington called his style and sound "American Music" rather than jazz. One of the twentieth century’s best-known African-American celebrities, Ellington recorded for many American record companies, and appeared in numerous films. Duke Ellington – American Jazz Man is highly recommended for those interested in reading more about this admired music legend.

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This article, a summary of Jazz’s Influence On Society, is the last of a 4-part series covering the nuts and bolts of jazz. Whether you are an avid listener and musician, a noobie interested in what jazz has to offer, or simply want to brush up on your jazz knowledge to impress those around you, this 4-part series about the fundamentals of jazz is a great start and a MUST READ!

Introduction:

Ever since jazz has been around, it has played a tremendously large role in society. From the beginning of Ragtime (which heavily influenced the transition to Traditional/New Orleans Jazz at the end of the 19th century) all the way to the advent of acid jazz, fusion, and modern jazz in the 1980’s and 1990’s, we can view jazz not only as music and entertainment, but also as a means of regulating society. Whether we are talking about its influence on people’s spirits in the Great Depression of the late 1920’s and early 1930’s or if we talk about it’s evolution to Swing in the 1930’s and 1940’s, a common thread can be found. That is, namely, a form binding a society through common desires and emotions.

As was mentioned in part 3 of this 4-part series, jazz artists and musicians have made tremendous contributions toward the music we know as jazz. While we do not want to de-emphasize this point, it is also true that the times in which these artists and musicians set the stage for a certain type of atmosphere and feeling. Yes, they did play a large role in their own developments of jazz, and this is not to be overlooked. It is, however, also possible to say that given the circumstances of the times (especialy in the beginning of the 20th century), jazz musicians and artists were given their opportunity to step forward and produce.

Just as they have formed their impression on jazz music, it was also the other way around. In essence, one can look at this topic not only as jazz’s influence on society, but also as society’s influence on jazz. This symbiosis, if you will, is what has allowed jazz to develop and evolve in the way it has.

Jazz has changed over the last 80 years, and this fact parallels this line of thinking. As time has changed, so has everything else, from economic and technological development, to people’s life styles, to the role jazz and other forms of music play in the everyday lives of people. To say that jazz is as popular now would not be the most observant statement; nonetheless, it has remained within a niche of society that embraces what it has to offer. This may be a nostalgic road trip to the past (when jazz’s popularity had peaked), a reverence payed to the stylistic nuances of jazz, or simply a love for the instruments and sounds that are commonly associated with jazz. Regardless of which, jazz finds itself within our society, having first given opportunity to musicians and artists and then being carved around society’s ever-changing life styles by these same people.

Jazz & The 1920’s: Traditional/New Orleans Jazz

The 1920’s found itself in a state of industrial and technological development. This era has special importance not only to those who experienced it, but also to those who continue to benefit from it’s contributions. Jazz, not coincidentally, followed in suit, feeding on such advancements and developing from other great and influential styles of music. It can be said that human and material resources combined to express an energetic phenomenon known as Jazz, encompassing not only music but a state of mind.

This era saw many great artists, Louis Armstong, Kid Ory, Bix Biderbeck, and Jelly Roll Morton to name a few. This lively new music combined syncopations of ragtime with adaptations of popular melodies, hymns, marches, work songs and the Blues. It was a great development in jazz that helped bind a country through tough times ahead.

Toward the end of the 1920’s, society found itself having taken a 180 and was now in The Great Depression. Having fed off the emotions and energy of the early part of the decade, jazz now took a different role, as glue for a society in need. From the depression, plaguing people economically to prohibition, depriving people mentally and socially, jazz took its stronghold on those that had created it and strove to be the one that would soften the blow and give people they joy they needed.

Jazz & and 1930’s

coming soon

Related posts:

1. An Introduction To Jazz Styles: The 1st of a 4-part Series on the Essentials of Jazz
2. An Introduction To The Greatest & Most Influential Jazz Artists: The 2nd of a 4-part Series on the Essentials of Jazz
3. An Introduction To Jazz History: The 3rd of a 4-part Series on the Essentials of Jazz

This article, a summary of Jazz History, is the 3rd of a 4-part series covering the nuts and bolts of jazz. Whether you are an avid listener and musician, a noobie interested in what jazz has to offer, or simply want to brush up on your jazz knowledge to impress those around you, this 4-part series about the fundamentals of jazz is a great start and a MUST READ!

The following offers a brief summary of various stylistic periods in the music’s history and the major musicians associated with each style. It is not designed to be comprehensive, but to provide readers with information on where each style and its practitioners fit in jazz history. Dividing music like jazz up by style is necessarily imperfect, but it provides a way of getting a handle on the music.

Traditional/New Orleans Jazz:

Jazz music first appeared sometime in the 1890s, and is typically thought to have originated in New Orleans. This is not strictly true; though most of the elements that combined to create jazz were present in the city around this time and the history of music in New Orleans is fairly well documented, it is very probable that much the same thing was taking place throughout the American south, southwest, midwest, and even in California. One reason to use New Orleans as a model is precisely because of the documentation that exists about the music and its early practitioners.

Some of the elements of jazz which originated in African music include the very vocal nature of the music, particularly the use of tonal coloration, sometimes called “blue notes”. These are notes which fall somewhere between two notes in the Western scale and therfore cannot be precisely notated. African languages rely on the way in which phrases or words are said as much as on the word itself, something that is not as important in English and European languages. So, it was only natural for musicians to attempt to imitate the human voice with their instruments, something which can still be heard in jazz music today. Another element that African music bequeathed to jazz is that of polyrhythm, the superimposing of one pattern of beats on top of another with each having equal importance.

The European influence on jazz includes the very instruments that have typically been used to play it. Trumpets and trombones were, of course, well-established in the symphony orchestra by this time. The saxohone, invented by Adolphe Sax in 1840, was a mainstay of the marching and military bands that were heard at this time. The harmonic structures used by European composers were also taken as a starting point for jazz, and many of the forms used in European music as well as dance rhythms were influential as well. It is important not to think that the European influences on jazz were all harmonic and the rhythmic influences were all African. The cross-pollination between these two influences was much more subtle than that.

Marching bands were very important in New Orleans and other cities for at least two reasons. The first was that many of the first jazz musicians learned how to play their instruments and, in some cases, read music while playing in such bands. The other reason for marching bands’ importance is the fact that the music they played helped inspire one of the important precursers to jazz, ragtime.

Ragtime:

Ragtime was music composed for solo piano, but it took as its inspiration marches and other European musical forms such as the polka. It also derived from dance music of the 1890s, such as the cakewalk (so named because the best dancers would win a cake-go figure) and owed its structure and “oom-pah” bass figures to European music like the mazurka and polka. Ragtime later influenced the development of the stride and boogie piano styles, but ragtime itself was not yet jazz. It didn’t really swing and there was no room for improvisation, since the composition was intended to be played as notated by the composer. Even though the first instrumental ragtime, “Missisippi Rag” wasn’t published until 1897, the music developed well before that. Many black performers were earning good livings playing ragtime music in bars and on vaudeville stages where they received tips for their playing. Once the music became popular, music publishers became interested in it, but many of the leading players didn’t bother publishing their compositions because they didn’t need the money, so great were their tips.

The best known composer of ragtime music was Scott Joplin. Joplin was born in Linden, Texas on November 24, 1868, but his family moved to Texarkana when he was around 7 years old. He learned a great deal about musical harmony, style, and structure from his teacher, Julius Weiss. By his teens he was working as a pianist, travelling and playing in saloons and brothels across the midwest, settling in St. Louis around 1890. He was already playing and composing ragtime, and three years later he relocated to Sedalia, Missouri. There he worked at the Maple Leaf Club, where he composed one of his best-known compositions, “Maple Leaf Rag”, which was published in 1899. Over the next fifteen years, he composed more than sixty rags and various other pieces as well, including his grand opera, Treemonisha. Though the opera failed in its first performance, it was highly successful when staged in the 1970s, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1976. Joplin died on April 1, 1917 in Manhattan State Hospital of syphilis which he had contracted many years earlier.

Blues:

Blues is an American musical form that has no known direct ancestors in either African or European music. It is a unique blend of both musical traditions that did not exist anywhere else before its emergence in this country. alan Lomax has cited some examples of similar music found in Northwest Africa, but it is generally believed that they are not direct ancestors of the blues. Blues can be traced through the African-American oral tradition back to the 1860s. It is music that conveys the reality of human suffering but is filled with redemption and transcendence.

The influence of the blues on jazz cannot be overemphasized. Although many other influences have existed and continue to influence the development of jazz music, blues is the basis of jazz. Blues was the first music to emphasize improvisation, and its unique tonal coloration became an integral part of the jazz vocabulary. Any attempt to trace the roots of jazz music must take into account the influence of the blues.

Some feel that the use of blue notes (flatted thirds, fifths, and sevenths, for want of a better definition) is what defines music as blues, others argue that it is the form (traditional twelve bar) that defines it, while still others feel it is simply a philosophy or feeling. Whatever definition you give it, blues informs a great deal (though not all) jazz and was an essential ingredient in the creation of this new hybrid music.

Traditional Jazz:

Traditional Jazz is a broad term used to define a jazz style employed by musicians working in New Orleans between 1900 and 1917, and musicians from New Orleans who played and recorded in Chicago from around 1917 throughout the 1920s, a period known as “The Jazz Age.” It is also used to describe the music played by revivalists from various periods who have sought to perform music in the same style as that employed by these groups of musicians. Some reserve the term to describe a variant of traditional New Orleans and classic jazz styles.

The first music that is generally referred to as jazz is that of New Orleans trumpet player Buddy Bolden and pianist Jelly Roll Morton. While Bolden is a legendary figure of the distant past, with no recordings and few photos to define his musical style, Bolden is still considered to have been the man who first blew jazz in New Orleans, and this fact is confirmed by Morton in his interviews by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress. Morton himself is generally considered to be the first jazz composer and arranger, well-known for his many compositions as well as for the meticulous care with which he orchestrated the performances of his Red Hot Peppers. Morton’s Red Hot Peppers sessions, recorded in Chicago in 1926 and 1927, are generally thought to be the best existing recorded representation of New Orleans jazz.

Joe “King” Oliver is another legendary figure in the development of New Orleans jazz, and is also known as the mentor of Louis Armstrong. Oliver, Armstrong, Morton, and a host of other musicians from the Crescent City ended up in Chicago during the 1920s. This was partly due to the closing of the legendary Storyville District in New Orleans by the U.S. Navy during the U.S. involvement in World War I, though it was not the only factor that led to the migration.

The first generally recognized jazz recording was made in 1917 by the Original Dixieland Jass Band, a white band from New Orleans who cut their record, “Livery Stable Blues” in New York. Or course, jazz was being simultaneously created by a large number of black musicians in New Orleans but these musicians were not recorded due to the lack of recording facilities in that city. Joe Oliver went to Chicago in part because of the opportunity to be recorded there. Cornetist Freddy Keppard was to have been the first recorded jazz musician, but he turned down the offer, reportedly because he was afraid other musicians would steal his ideas from the recordings.

Louis Armstrong arrived in Chicago to play in Joe Oliver’s band, but he was invited to join the Fletcher Henderson band a short time later in New York. Returning to Chicago, Armstrong cut his legendary Hot Fives and Hot Sevens recordings and forever transformed jazz music. Armstrong’s conception placed the soloist at the center of jazz music, a concept that was foreign to those familiar with contraputnal New Orleans groups. On numbers like “West End Blues” and “Potato Head Blues” Armstrong blew solos of such incredible force and originality that others quickly followed in his footsteps.

The 1920s are generally referred to as “The Jazz Age”, and the 20s are usually thought of as the first truly modern decade. Everything was seemingly done to excess. Women’s fashions became scandalous, loose and scanty, with hemlines nearing the knees, which had been unthinkable only a few years previous. Josephine Baker became a society hit in Paris, while Mae West entertained audiences in the U.S. with her risque humor. Thanks to Prohibition, drinking became a sporting pasttime for both the upper and lower classes. Many became wealthy in the stock market boom of the time, and business became bigger than ever. Evangelists such as Billy Sunday and Aimee Semple Macpherson held sway. Literature in this era is generally represented by F. Scott Fitzgerald, but there were an incredible number of great writers working during this decade, including Faulkner, Hemingway, Langston Hughes, Huxley, and Dorothy Parker. Of course, it all came to an end with the stock market crash of late October, 1929, made all the more remarkable by the fact that the New York Stock Exchange had set a record in March of that same year for number of shares traded in a day.

By the end of the 1920s and the dawn of the 1930s, a new musical sound, swing, was on the horizon, and the Swing Era was eventually ushered in.

Big Band & Swing:

Let’s get one thing straight right away. Swing music is a style, just like dixieland and bebop are styles of music played by certain groups of musicians at a certain time in history. Styles can be revived, it’s true, but there is always a time at which a certain style of music evolved, became popular, and eventually developed into or was replaced by something else. Big band, on the other hand, is a format, and as such is has existed in jazz music fromt he swing era right into the present. There are big bands who play swing (Count Basie, Artie Shaw), bop big bands (Dizzy Gillespie’s big bands), progressive big bands (Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington), and even modern/experimental big bands (such as Carla Bley’s work with big groups).

The terms “swing” and “big band” are not really interchangeable, though you will hear people use them that way. One reason for this is that many of the big bands that became most popular began and reached their peak with the swing era. Many people feel that the arrangements of these bands as well as the music they played truly constituted the “golden age” of jazz music. Another reason for the music of big bands being associated with swing music is that at about the same time swing died out (post World War II), it became almost impossible to keep a large band on the road profitably. Count Basie managed it until about 1950. Stan Kenton radically changed the style of music he was playing. Duke Ellington simply continued to write his innovative music for a large ensemble, and his prolific writing kept his group recording and touring for his entire life. Still, even the few big bands who managed to record and tour after the end of the swing era were losing money by doing so. Even Dizzy Gillespie, one of the most successful musicians of the bebop post-swing era, lost money for most of the time he kept his bebop and Latin big bands together. One of the reasons behind this is simple: jazz music has decreased in popularity and record sales since the swing era. In other words, the swing era was the last time that jazz music and American popular music were one and the same.

The early 1930s saw the formation of large bands by Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington. These leaders increased the size of a typical band from a high of ten members to around fourteen or so members. They also jettisoned dixieland’s use of the tuba and the banjo as rhythm instruments, replacing them with the standup bass and guitar. The beat of the music also changed. The ryhthm section now emphasized the four-to-the-bar beat, rather than the two-beat emphasis that had been seen in dixieland and New Orleans style jazz. The syncopated figures that were played by the horn sections over this beat were punchier and the syncopation more surprising than it had formerly been. The bandleaders themselves had considerable prestige, often being seen as excellent instrumentalists in their own right, rather than merely conductors. Because there was a great deal of music being played, often for dancing and for long periods of time, the musicians could no longer just remember their parts, and so the importance of arrangements grew, as did the prestige of the arranger. In the height of the swing era, the bands could be quickly recognized based on factors such as the instrumental style of the leader, the sound and style of the arrangments, and the individual voices of the primary soloists within each organization. Improvisation itself, which had been fairly free-flowing at the height of the polyphonic New Orleans style, was much more restricted within the framework of big band arrangements and swing music. Solos were plotted out in the arrangement, with space left for a certain soloist’s choruses, and arranged backing was written for the ensemble to provide a counterpoint and, in many cases, a springboard for the soloist to work off of.

Swing music is generally recognized to have “taken off” around 1935 with the arrival of Benny Goodman. Though Henderson, Ellington, Bennie Moten, and Count Basie laid the groundwork for the music that became swing, Goodman did much to popularize it and make it the music of the young people of the day. His appearance at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles is thought to have been one of the defining events in the history of jazz and of swing music in particular. Young people flocked to hear Goodman’s exciting band, engaging in energetic new dances such as the Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, and Shim Sham. There’s no question that the athletic dancing that became part of swing culture was part of the attraction to young people, even though Goodman himself felt that the dancing detracted from the musical quality of the band’s performance. Swing music, and not rock & roll, was one of the first defining elements of mass youth culture, and one of the first to be commercially exploited, albeit many years after it originated.

Swing is also generally seen as a highly democratic form of music and one that did much to relax the racial divisions of the country. People from all walks of life embraced the music, including young and old listeners, male and female, black and white. Indeed, some of the venues where swing music was played were racially mixed (though clearly the minority) and Benny Goodman hired and recorded with black musicians. Still, there were plenty of divisions and it would be a long time before the country would even attempt to become truly integrated. This was probably one of many factors that led to swing music’s eventual downfall–the hypocrisy of blacks who had helped American win World War II not being free in their home country.

By the time that World War II came around, bands such as Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, and Glenn Miller had become quite popular playing a more commercialized version of swing music. Even though black musicians such as Ellington and Basie were well known and had become revered as important cultural icons, there were many bands led by black musicians who were not given the acclaim they deserved. These included Chick Webb, Jimmie Lunceford, and Earl Hines.

The commercialization of swing music, World War II, and the 1942 Musicians’ Union recording ban were all elements leading to the demise of the swing era and the rise of a new style of jazz called bebop.

Bebop:

Bebop arrived on the scene, to hear the tale, a fully formed grotesque of music, a deranged Athena fully sprung from the head of the Zeus-like swing era. It caused some musicians, such as Cab Calloway and Tommy Dorsey, to have violent reactions. Many audiences weren’t ready for the new sound either. This is what we commonly hear about one of the most important musical developments of the 20th century. As usual, there is some truth to the stories but there is also a lot of overstatement. The fact is, Bop was more evolutionary than revolutionary, and might not have been seen as anything but the next logical progression were it not for a couple of historic events that kept the incubating music under wraps, as well as the incendiary personalities of some of its leading musicians.

There can be no question that the style of big band music originated in Kansas City by performers such as Count Basie and Bennie Moten had largely been appropriated by a white, middle-class audience in the period just prior to and including World War II. In addition, the term “Swing” was commercialized and used as a marketing buzzword. Degan Pener points out in The Swing Book that the recording industry went from gross revenue of $2.5 million in 1932 to $36 million in 1939, largely on the popularity of swing music. This type of thing has been common throughout American history; artistic, cultural, and lifestyle statements that are seen as threatening or perhaps a form of rebellion are incorporated into the mainstream through the commercialization of their iconography. Think of the sudden popularity of leather, vinyl, or “bondage” clothing, or the commercialization of teen “grunge” music and fashion in the 1990s. Clearly the pioneers of bebop were originals, not just musically but also original personalities who could not be appropriated or imitated at the time because they placed themselves well outside the mainstream. If society would not recognize black people’s artistic achievements, seeking instead to sanitize and assimilate the music that was born of the original African-Americans’ experiences in this country, then why should black musicians continue to function within the mainstream?

Still, the musicians who would finally usher the new sound of bop into being had their training in the bands and music of the swing era. Louis Armstrong had already begun to establish jazz as the music of the soloist, and the best swing soloists, like Lester Young, were continuing to experiment with ways to push the boundaries imposed on the soloist further. Young became adept at gliding forward with lengthy phrases that took no notice of the natural division of the bar line, which had been a problem for some earlier jazz soloists. Charlie Parker certainly listened to and was influenced by Young, who, though he played within the idiom of the time, was himself outcast because he didn’t play tenor sax in the prevailing Coleman Hawkins style. Dizzy Gillespie cut his teeth in Cab Calloway’s band until his explosive solos caused Calloway to admonish him not to play “that Chinese music” in his presence. Between 1941 and 1945, a number of bands had become incubators for the future “bop revolution”, none more auspicious than the group led by Earl “Fatha” Hines. Hines was a pioneering jazz pianist, well known as one of the fathers of the stride piano style, but he never ceased to be interested in the further development of jazz music, and was capable of playing vital and even innovative piano solos into the 1970s and 80s. In 1943, Hines’ group included vocalists Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughn as well as horn players Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gillespie, and tenor man Wardell Gray. Unfortunately, this group did not record due to a strike by the American Federation of Musicians that prohibited recording by its members. Those fortunate enough to have heard this group play live heard, in all probability, the chrysalis of swing into what was becoming bebop, but that was really only a handful of people. What has been lost to history are recordings of Parker and Gillespie, in particular, honing the identities that would burst upon the jazz scene a short time later. The strike lasted more than a year, and when it was over Parker and Gillespie (along with Eckstine and Vaughn) had moved on, though Gray did remain with the Hines band through 1946. Ironically, the same musicians’ strike and ban on recording is also pointed to by many as a contributing factor in the demise of swing. By the time World War II ended for the United States, those returning from overseas had little reason to anticipate the complete change in the musical scene that confronted them. Bebop was now widely, though by no means universally, accepted and the predominant form of jazz being performed and discussed with any degree of seriousness.

Early jazz and swing musicians looked upon themselves largely as entertainers. There was no comprehension that jazz music might be or develop into an art form. Even later, in the 1950s and 60s, those jazzmen who survived from this era were often embarrassed or pretended not to understand when the music was discussed or written about in a serious way. The bebop musicians did not feel this way at all. They refused to be relegated to the role of entertainer, often behaving in temperamental or “difficult” ways, often refusing to discuss their music with non-musicians, and sometimes even turning their backs on the audience. The entire attitude of bebop seemed to be “I am playing for myself and for the other musicians who are playing with me. Your listening is purely coincidental.”

Of course, most of these musicians did want their music heard and enjoyed. Charlie Parker grew depressed during a series of dates in California when the group’s music was greeted with outright hostility. It was 1945 and Parker was 25 years old; he would be dead within 10 years. His drug habit had become tellingly problematic by this time, and Parker decided to stay in Los Angeles and do some recordings for the small Dial label over a twenty-month period in order to earn some cash. These recordings are among the treasures of the Parker canon, demonstrating his endless inventiveness as we hear several versions of each tune with solos that never seem to repeat themselves, tread overly familiar waters, or become rote. In fact, there is probably no better way to either introduce yourself to Parker’s genius or to dig deeper into it than to check out The Complete Savoy and Dial Studio Recordings 1944-48. Not only will you hear Parker at the height of his inventiveness and power, you will also experience bop musicians such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Bud Powell, Tommy Potter, and John Lewis providing some truly transcendent moments of their own. What is truly amazing about the Dial sessions, especially in light of bebop’s well-deserved reputation as a music of complex and labyrinthine chord changes, is that many of the tunes here are based on 12 or 32-bar blues. Parker seems to always find something new to say even within the familiar blues changes. Physically and emotionally Parker was hardly at his best when most of these sides were recorded, yet you’d never know it from the performances. These were indeed the golden years of bebop, when the music and its chief proponents were mature, yet fresh and still full of ideas and excitement over what they had accomplished and would still do in the future.

From our vantagepoint it may be difficult to imagine that this music created so much controversy or that its creators were not instantly hailed as geniuses by one and all. In many ways bebop did create a break from jazz’s past, a dividing line that made it impossible to go back. But it is hard to imagine that bebop, or something like it, wasn’t inevitable as the next stage in the development of this music. There was simply too much talent, too much of the history of oppression, and too much personality in these young men for it not to have happened.

Cool Jazz:

Ted Gioia

Ted Gioia, one of the writers who has given significant attention to cool jazz, writes “The cool aesthetic has always found a few lonely champions in the jazz arena–fascinating individuals who have provided an alternative to the dominant hot stylists. As such, the stand as double outsiders in the already counterculture world of jazz.” The very term “cool jazz” conjures up images of martinis, bachelor pads outfitted with the latest stereo equipment, and sophisticated, detached chicks dressed in the latest fashions. The word cool denotes a detachment, a less emotional approach to the music. In short, cool jazz is something of a college-educated form of jazz, often influenced by other musical forms such as classical music. Cool jazz features arrangements that are generally more complex than those found in bop, where the head is played, followed by solos, then played again. Often complex harmonies were played behind the solos in cool jazz–it was much more a style that emphasized the composer and arranger.

The first ‘cool’ jazz recordings were by a nonet (or nine piece) group led by Miles Davis and recorded on a group of sides that came to be known as The Birth of the Cool (a title that was applied after the fact, by the way). The Davis group was more collaborative and marked some of the first influences of composer/arranger Gil Evans, who later worked with Davis on a groundbreaking group of albums that sought to combine delicate, complex arrangements with improvisation. In addition, baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, who later became a major player in cool jazz on the West Coast, also played on the Birth of the Cool sessions, as did John Lewis, a pianist whose approach was certainly cerebral in nature. The instrumental voices in the Davis nonet were fused in such a way as to make them all equals rather than competing sections like those of a big band. More tonal colors worked their way into the palette as well, with French Horns and tuba being added. These were musicians who were well grounded in bebop, having come up playing this style, so it is not a question of their possessing virtuosity. Rather, they chose to express themselves in a way that left the technical virtuosity that was obvious in bebop behind. The Birth of the Cool nonet was not commercially successful and their recorded sides were few. Recent CD releases have combined the total studio output of the group with a live radio broadcast from the Royal Roost to collect virtually all of the group’s recorded music under the “Birth of the Cool” title, but at the time there was no real sense that the group had recorded a large or even unified body of work. Nonetheless, their music became highly influential as the various members who had contributed to the nonet spread out and began to lead their own ensembles.

Gerry Mulligan’s piano-less quartet, featuring trumpet player Chet Baker, certainly did much to increase the profile and popularity of cool jazz. Mulligan and Baker played counterpoint around and against each other’s lines, sounding more like a relaxed version of a Bach fugue than contrapuntal New Orleans jazz. The space opened up by the lack of piano or guitar not only helped further define the cool sound as a basically minimalist style, it also left considerable room for Mulligan and Baker to solo in a relaxed, unhurried style. The group recorded many well-regarded sides. When Baker left the group, Mulligan brought in trumpeter Art Farmer, a supremely lyrical improvisor who also played off well against Mulligan’s baritone sax. Baker continued to play the cool style right up until his death in 1988, sometimes offering world-weary vocals that seemed like extensions of his trumpet sound.

The Lighthouse, a club located in Hermosa Beach, CA, became the focus of the cool school in California, with musicians such as Shorty Rogers, Shelly Manne, Bud Shank, and Jimmy Giuffre holding forth almost nightly. The music they created still sounds relatively new and innovational, which is quite an accomplishment considering most of it was created in the mid-50s.

Very little cool jazz produced through the end of the ’50s and into the 1960s is strictly cool, but it all has recognizable elements that link the different practioners of the sound together. For example, Dave Brubeck’s work, while retaining many elements of the cool movement, is often very agitated, searching, and experimental. His quartet’s work with “odd” time signatures opened the door for late-’60s experimenters like Don Ellis and Brubeck’s piano work has sometimes been described as “bombastic” by jazz critics.But the quartet also featured alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, who played every bit as lyrically as Chet Baker or Lee Konitz and had a gorgeous, thin sound that went against what any alto player has done before or since. An intellectual and talented wordsmith, Desmond became, in many ways, the perfect example of a cool jazz artist–cerebral, clever, humorous, and with a penchant for good scotch and dating models. Brubeck, too, came across as an intellectual and something of an avant-gardist because of the fact that he had studied with composer Darius Milhaud. The group’s music is anything but an exercise in intellectualism, though–with drummer Joe Morello and bassist Eugene Wright, the group could swing fiercely in any time signature.

Pianist John Lewis, who had also played on the Birth of the Cool sessions, formed The Modern Jazz Quartet (or MJQ) with vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Connie Kay (who replaced original drummer Kenny Clarke). Lewis was clearly interested in exploring new forms with the group, frustrated by the bop format of theme (head), followed by improvisation (solos), and a final repeat of the head. He was interested in composing music that utilized more elaborate (and frequently classical) structures–the sonata, for example–within which bop-style improvisation would remain an important ingredient. This led many purists to complain that he had fallen under the sway of European (read: white) influences and that what the group was playing was not, essentially, jazz. Nonetheless, many of Lewis’ compositions, such as ‘Django’ have become part of the standard jazz repertoire, performed by a variety of artists. In 1953, Lewis earned a Master’s degree in Music Theory from the Manhattan School of Music, and led the MJQ as pianist and musical director until they disbanded in 1974.

Lee Konitz, another Birth of the Cool graduate, is the other major player in the cool school of jazz, along with his cohorts pianist Lenny Tristano and tenor man Warne Marsh. While their music was highly complex and often beautiful, it never really caught on with the public at large the way that the Mulligan and Brubeck Quartets and the MJQ did. They recorded some very interesting and significant albums for Atlantic Records in the ’50s, but their music has generally been judged as too cold and distant, too abstract and lacking in emotion even for most cool jazz fans.

Though some would class the Brazilian-influenced recordings of Stan Getz as cool jazz, they really belong to a completely different class of music, although they do share some of the characteristics associated with the cool school. Nonetheless, by the time these recordings were being made, cool jazz was, in effect, already dead. It certainly didn’t disappear as an inspiration, and the recordings of the Davis nonet, the Brubeck Quartet, the Mulligan groups, and the Modern Jazz Quartet have remained among the best selling jazz works of all time. The meditative sound of cool jazz certainly inspired many later musicians, both inside and outside of jazz, including many artists who record for ECM Records and Miles Davis’ own In A Silent Way.

Hard Bop:

In some ways the history of the hard bop genre is the history of all modern post-bop jazz. The strains of blues, gospel, and R&B that figured in the music of many hard bop musicians led to the development of soul jazz, which eventually led to the development of fusion and electric experiments in jazz. There were also developments such as the organ/tenor sax combo, which brought bluesy Hammond B-3 organ sounds and the open sounds of a variety of hard-driving R&B tenor sax players. Bebop had set jazz and R&B on divergent paths, and cool jazz further solidified jazz music’s status as an art music, but hard bop seemed designed to reconcile the two and to incorporate newly-developing elements of black music into the jazz genre.

Hard bop truly began as a genre with a series of recordings made and released in 1954. Art Blakey led a group that played at Birdland and featured pianist Horace Silver, bassist Curley Russell, trumpet player Clifford Brown, and saxophonist Lou Donaldson. The two-volume recording A Night at Birdland With the Art Blakey Quintet was groundbreaking and pointed to future developments. That same year, a newly clean Miles Davis, who had conquered his heroin addiction, recorded the album Walkin’ for Prestige with an all-star group that included Silver, Kenny Clarke, Percy Heath, J.J. Johnson, and Lucky Thompson. The track “Walkin’” heralded the arrival of a new paradigm in jazz with its relaxed tempo and straightforward, bluesy melody. Davis’s soloing, emphasizing the use of space, was particularly effective in this setting, and the album, along with subsequent live performances, heralded Miles’s comeback. It is interesting to note that Miles was important in the development of the hard bop sound and sensibility, which stood in direct opposition to the ethos of the cool sound that Miles had also pioneered.

Blakey and Silver made another recording at the end of 1954 entitled Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers. The album featured bassist Doug Watkins, trumpet player Kenny Dorham, and tenor sax player Hank Mobley, and featured the distinctive, simple, blues-based melodies that would become Silver’s calling card as well as the aggressive rhythms that became associated with Blakey. Clifford Brown, who had recorded several Blue Note albums including the live set with Blakey, joined drummer Max Roach on Mercury Records’ Emarcy label to form the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet, which featured Richie Powell on piano, George Morrow on bass, and Harold Land, a West Coast tenor saxophonist who was a top-notch bebop player. This band also laid down elements of what came to be considered the hard bop style, with Sonny Rollins replacing Land near the time of the group’s final recordings. Unfortunately, Brown was killed in a car crash in June of 1956. Meantime, Blakey began to hatch what would become known as The Jazz Messengers, a cooperative that became a breeding ground for the best jazz talent from the mid-fifties right into the 1980s. Blakey kept the name Jazz Messengers when the original group went in different directions. Subsequent versions included Jackie McLean, Bill Hardman, and Donald Byrd (1956), Lee Morgan, Benny Golson, Bobby Timmons, and Jymie Merritt (1958). It was this 1958 version of the band that recorded the classic album Moanin’, with Timmons coming to the fore as a composer and arranger. The tune “Moanin’” follows a typical blues pattern, and demonstrates clearly that hard bop was about a certain melodic simplicity even though soloists still used this basic backdrop as a base for virtuosic solo adventures. The interplay between Lee Morgan and Benny Golson also provided a strong blueprint for later editions of the band.

Golson was later replaced by Wayne Shorter, who became the band’s musical director and composed numerous songs for the group. His playing also fit well with the group’s overall dynamic, and this version of the Messengers distinguished itself on a variety of recordings including The Big Beat and A Night In Tunisia. When Morgan left, Freddie Hubbard was brought in to fill the trumpet chair, and other alumni of this band include pianist Cedar Walton and trombonist Curtis Fuller. Shorter eventually left this consummate small group to join another, the “Second Great Quintet” of Miles Davis, which included Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams, the band that further expanded the reaches of small group jazz and carried Miles all the way to his first experiments with electronic instruments and rock beats.

Meanwhile Horace Silver, graduate of the first Jazz Messengers sessions, was continuing to pursue a path that led through the blues, R&B, and gospel. Compositions like “Sister Sadie” demonstrated his compositional aesthetic, and he recorded a string of albums that explore similar areas, including Song For My Father and The Jody Grind. Other musicians were also exploring some of the same thematic components and producing music that was as much a part of popular black music of the ‘60s as the music of leading R&B and soul recording artists of the day. These included guitarist Wes Montgomery, whose use of unison octaves became a trademark sound, organist Jimmy Smith, who was influenced by blues organists and whose funky organ sound became an influence in the burgeoning acid jazz movement of the 1980s, and saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, who fused the exquisite harmonic conception of Charlie Parker with the funky blues-based sensibilities of artists like Ray Charles. The music of these artists was sometimes called “soul jazz” because of its mixture of jazz’s improvisation and harmonic conception with the blues-based melodies of R&B.

Smith proved to be a major inspiration to later jazz organists, including Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, and Richard “Groove” Holmes. Many jazz purists deride the Hammond B-3 players, judging them to be playing blues or soul music and outside the parameters of jazz, but there’s no doubt that these organists were bona fide jazz players. McDuff led a quartet with tenor sax player Red Holloway, drummer Joe Dukes, and a very young guitarist named George Benson, a group that absolutely sizzled. Organist Jimmy “Hammond” Smith and saxophonist Houston Person played together in one of the premiere organ/tenor bands of the 1960s and ‘70s; Person later hooked up with Richard “Groove” Holmes as well. Saxophonist Illinois Jacquet worked with organists Milt Buckner and Wild Bill Davis, and Jimmy McGriff continues to be a force, releasing the recent album McGriff Avenue.

Soul Jazz may be seen as a further outgrowth of hard bop, but it should be noted that many hard bop players remained very clearly within the confines of mainstream jazz even while mining components of blues and R&B. Others, like Jackie McLean, Dexter Gordon, and Sonny Rollins, to name but three, were influenced by hard bop, but continued to mine the more harmonically complex areas of bebop itself.

Fusion:

Fusion is a pretty big category, and we’ve lumped a lot of material together here. Basically, these are the grandaddies of the marriage of jazz with electronics, rock, funk, and technology. If you like your music with plenty of guitar and synthesizer work, then this is the stuff for you. But lots of today’s top DJs and music fans find plenty to like among the great fusion works of yesteryear. And there’s lots of great sample material here as well. So sit back, open up your mind, and check out some of these masterworks of jazztronica’s first flowering.

Miles Davis is the grandfather of fusion–but don’t tell him that. As he once said, “A legend is an old man with a cane known for what he used to do. I’m still doing it.” Nonetheless, he pretty much started the ball rolling back in 1969 when he released In a Silent Way, an album that uses ambient sound washes created by no less than three keyboards and the guitar of John McLaughlin as a base over which Miles soars. All in all it’s a pretty subdued album, but the same cannot be said of the masterpiece Bitches Brew. Released in 1970 as a double LP, it mixed free jazz blowing by a large ensemble with electronic keyboards and guitar, plus a dense mix of percussion. The result isn’t like anything that had been done up until then, and it doesn’t sound much like other fusion, either. Miles followed that up with Live-Evil, a mind-blowing monster album that mixes studio work with live recordings done at the Cellar Door. As on the previous two albums, producer Teo Macero’s studio manipulations of the recording done by the musicians is a major part of the album. Tribute to Jack Johnson is pretty straightforward and probably the most rock-oriented album Miles ever made. There’s a lot of John McLaughlin guitar work on it as well.

On the Corner started a new phase for Miles, one which was heavily influenced by the funk of Sly and the Family Stone and James Brown, and which ended up being extremely influential on today’s DJ culture and drum ‘n’ bass experiments. The dense, percussion-heavy music heard on this album is very afro-funk/rock centered and remains very controversial to this day among jazz fans. Miles continued to mine this sound on Get Up With It, his last studio release before a five year period of retirement. The album is known for the track “He Loved Him Madly”, a tribute to Duke Ellington that inspired Brian Eno’s ambient experiments. Also excellent and similar in nature are the live recordings Agharta and Pangea, recorded at afternoon and evening concerts the same day in Japan.

Following his 1980 comeback, Miles played a much more straightforward funky style of music, and his studio recordings often don’t convey the musical intensity he and his groups were capable of reaching live. Still, there are some good moments to Decoy and You’re Under Arrest as well as the import only Star People. His best post-comeback moments were three albums he did for Warner Brothers with Marcus Miller recording most of the parts besides Davis’ trumpet. For all practical purposes, these are the first true jazztronica recordings: Tutu, Siesta, and Amandla. All three are heartily recommended. Still looking ahead, Miles planned an album that incorporated rap, collaborations with Prince, and his own brand of funk/hip-hop, but he died before the project was completed. The album was finished with the help of rapper Cool Moe Be and released as doo-bop. While not worthy of Miles’ legacy, it does show that he was on the cutting edge until the very end.

Not surprisingly, many of the first wave of fusion musicians came out of Miles’ first electric bands. One of the first such innovators was keyboardist Herbie Hancock. Hancock began using the Fender Rhodes electric piano at Miles’ insistence, and soon he was at the forefront of electric keyboard players, customizing his Rhodes and experimenting with the new synthesizers that became available in the early 1970s. After leaving Miles, Herbie worked with a sextet known as Mwandishi (all the musicians in the band took African names, Mwandishi being Hancock’s). Their first album, Mwandishi was fairly straight-ahead free jazz, but the next two, Crossings and Sextant, incorporated the Moog synthesizer work of Dr Patrick Gleeson, and the combination of the band’s ambient spacieness, Hancock’s Fender Rhodes, and the Moog make these essential listening for anyone interested in the roots of electronica. The first two are available on Warner’s 2-disc Mwandishi: The Complete Recordings, while Sextant, on Columbia, has been remastered as a single album. None of these albums sold very well at the time, though, and Hancock went for the booty on his next release, Headhunters. Featuring the incredibly funky track “Chameleon” as well as a reworking of Hancock’s “Watermelon Man”, the album sold immensely and was extremely influential on the jazz fusion to come. Hancock’s next release, Thrust, featured more funky grooves, including the beautiful ballad “Butterfly.” Herbie continued to fluctuate between acoustic and electric jazz with mixed results. In the early ’80s he collaborated with Bill Laswell on three albums that fall much more under the electronica/jazztronica banner than fusion: Future Shock, Sound System, and The Perfect Machine. The first of these included the hit single “Rockit”, which was the first hit recording to utilize DJ scratching, and which influenced later DJs such as DJ Qbert and DJ Krush. Most recently Hancock released Future2Future on which he works with a number of electronic musicians who were influenced by his early jazz-electric-fusion experiments.

Guitarist John McLaughlin and drummer Tony Williams were both Davis alumni, and they, together with organist Larry Young (who played on some of the Bitches Brew sessions) formed the group Lifetime. Unfortunately, they were poorly managed and made only a few albums, but they are classic jazz/rock fusion works that helped propel McLaughlin into his next project, Mahavishnu Orchestra. The most recommended Lifetime works are Emergency!, the group’s first album, which combines Williams’ turbulent post-bop drumming with McLaughlin and Young’s psychedelic jamming stew. The next album, Turn It Over, is dark and angry, and highly recommended. The only thing that mars both albums is Williams’ less than wonderful vocal work. Also worth checking out are The Ultimate Tony Williams and Wilderness.

Before forming Mahavishnu John McLaughlin recorded the psychedelic jam album Devotion which featured Larry Young along with bassist xxx Rich and the drummer from Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsies, Buddy Miles. The two most classic Mahavishnu Orchestra albums are undoubtedly Inner Mounting Flame and Birds of Fire. Both feature the stellar work of keyboard player Jan Hammer, violinist Jerry Goodman, bassist Rick Laird, and drummer Billy Cobham, and both are considered among the very best jazz/rock fusion albums of all time. Too bad the original group wasn’t able to hold it together, though the recently released Lost Trident Sessions provides a missing piece of the group’s legacy. Though subsequent albums, featuring replacement violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, have some sublime moments, none come close to these albums. Still, McLaughlin has continued to explore fusion and world elements throughout his career, and the influence of Miles is always somewhere in the mix. Other McLaughlin albums well worth checking out are Love, Devotion Surrender (with Carlos Santana), Electric Guitarist, and Friday Night in San Francisco (with Paco DeLucia and Al DiMeola). Then there’s his work with the Indian-influenced Shakti, which includes Handful of Beauty and Natural Elements. The group, now called Remember Shakti, reunited for the excellent Saturday Night in Bombay.

Sources:
(1) www.geoffboxell.tripod.com/jazz.htm
(2) Norton Anthology of Music
(3) Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
(4) www.jazzitude.com
(5) The History of Jazz (Ted Gioia)

Recommended Further Reading:
The History of Jazz – Ted Gioia (paperback)
Introduction to Jazz History (6th Edition) (paperback)
History and Tradition of Jazz – Thomas Larson (paperback)
The Jazz Scene: An Informal History from New Orleans to 1990
- W. Royal Stokes (paperback)

Related posts:

1. An Introduction To Jazz Styles: The 1st of a 4-part Series on the Essentials of Jazz
2. An Introduction To The Greatest & Most Influential Jazz Artists: The 2nd of a 4-part Series on the Essentials of Jazz
3. An Introduction To Jazz’s Influence On Society: The 4th of a 4-part Series on the Essentials of Jazz

This article, a summary of The Greatest & Most Influential Jazz Artists, is the second of a 4-part series covering the nuts and bolts of jazz. Whether you are an avid listener and musician, a newbie interested in what jazz has to offer, or simply want to brush up on your jazz knowledge to impress those around you, this 4-part series about the fundamentals of jazz is a great start and a MUST READ!

Introduction:

This article aims to give you a little bit of information on the most famous and influential artists of jazz. While it would be be impossible to include every artist, this list does represent a very large number of the greats.

Bill Evans

Whether playing flute, keyboards, tenor or soprano saxes, or arranging and producing his own fine compositions, Evans is undoubtedly a musician with an extraordinary depth of vision. Bill Evans has brought with him a much – needed breath of fresh air. Since his emergence in the early ’80s, Evans has also effectively contributed to the band Elements with bassist Mark Egan and drummer Danny Gottlieb, John McLaughlin’s revamped Mahavishnu Orchestra, and has recorded and toured with with Herbie Hancock, Andy Summers, Dave Grusin, Lee Ritenour and Michael Franks.
In 1984, Evans left the Davis band and recorded his breath – taking solo album Living In The Crest Of A Wave – an album so brimming vitality, exceptional arrangements and atmosphere, it stands as a remarkable first effort. In 1985, Bill Evans’ growing stature in jazz was confirmed when he became one of the first new musicians to be recorded by the reawakened Blue Note Label. His ‘85 “The Alternative Man” is an advance on even his excellent first album and features six guitarists – John McLaughlin, Hiram Bullock, Jeff Golub, Sid McGinnis, Dave Hart and Chuck Loeb. He has been regarded as “one of the greatest musicians I’ve ever come upon,” quotes Miles Davis. This is praise indeed from a master musician and a suitable endorsement for one of the music’s most original, inventive and exciting new entrants.

Charlie Parker

Charlie “Bird” Parker is one of the most important figures in jazz history and also one of its greatest tragic heroes. He got his nickname (also known as “Yardbird”) from his love of chicken. He came from Kansas City and was a self-taught Alto Saxophonist who didn’t realize that many jazz songs of the day were only played in a few keys, so he learned them all. He quit school at the age of 15 to become a musician. His education was brutal: once he tried playing Body and Soul in double-time and was laughed off of the stage. Another time, he was playing with Count Basie’s orchestra in a jam session. They were playing I got rhythm and Bird lost the key and couldn’t find it. Basie’s drummer, Jo Jones completed his humiliation by throwing his cymbal at Bird’s feet. Bird continued practicing and got the point where he could play Lester Young’s solos in double time. Miles Davis said the only time you were surprised with Bird was when he didn’t do something amazing on the bandstand. He could literally walk in off the street and start playing, and never make a mistake. His playing was fast, perky, and very bluesy, all wrapped up into one. He can make you bounce around one moment and feel his pain the next. His music is rooted in the Kansas City blues and every song he played had a blues twist to it.

Charles Mingus:

Charles Mingus is universally acknowledged as one of the most influential figures in the world of jazz, and many musicians consider even that expansive description too limited, believing that the great bassist should be ranked among the most important men in all of twentieth-century music. Mingus’s accomplishments are certainly remarkable and wide-ranging. As an instrumentalist, he lifted the bass from its traditional role as a timekeeper and harmonic regulator to that of a full participant. His playing was technically brilliant, individualistic, and always deeply expressive. As a composer, he produced outstanding works of all types, from earthy, blues-oriented tunes to sophisticated orchestral numbers to free-form pieces. In performance and in composition, he demonstrated a deep understanding of virtually every style of jazz that existed during his lifetime. His talent for assembling groups and bringing out the best in both green and experienced players was legendary, and his influence continues to be profoundly felt years after his death. Mingus’s energy led him to engage in many activities during the late 1950s, in addition to composing and upholding his reputation as one of the greatest soloists of all time. Angered by the unfair treatment meted out to musicians by major recording labels, Mingus established Debut Records in 1952. From 1953 to 1955, Mingus gave written contributions to the Jazz Composers Workshop, but in 1955 he founded his own workshop, based on his belief that written notation was not equal to his composing style. In his Jazz Workshop, Mingus carefully dictated each line of a composition to the appropriate player, thereby ensuring that all of his intended nuances were fully understood. His unique talent for putting together combos and bringing out the best in each player came to the fore during that era. J. J. Johnson, Kai Winding, and Thad Jones were but a few of the musicians who flourished under his direction. Mingus fans will likely continue the debate over which of his many accomplishments was the greatest. Martin Williams, author of The Jazz Tradition, stated unequivocally that “Mingus the bassist … made the most important and durable contribution to jazz because he made people think of the instrument in a new way and because he was a virtuoso … outstanding enough to be numbered among the great soloists regardless of instrument.” Yet few would argue with Understanding Jazz author Ostransky, who concluded that when Mingus’s playing, his compositions, his leadership, and his continuing influence are all taken into account, “the classification for Charlie Mingus is catalyst.”

Stan Getz:

Without doubt, Stan Getz is recognized as one of the greatest tenor saxophone players of all time, his influence wide, and far-reaching. He was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1927. While still a teenager, he launched his career playing saxophone at age 16 in Stan Kenton’s orchestra. He recorded with Woody Herman on the song titled “Early Autumn” during 1948. He was 21 years old at the time. Getz became the man with the golden sound, and his saxophone playing was in constant demand. Stan Getz had the ability to take a song and make it uniquely his, emphasizing the melody line with attention to subtle shadings of sound in the high register range. He had an influence on John Coltrane, among many other young saxophone players. Getz was one of the most admired and imitated tenor saxophone players. He completed a series of landmark quartet recordings during the 1950s. He also toured with his friend, French organist Eddie Louis. But it was not until 1963 that he became an internationally-known jazz performer with his recordings with Brazilian composers and Brazilian musicians. His hit version of Jobim’s “The Girl From Ipanema” still receives much airplay today. Among his classic Brazilian work is found “Jazz Sambo” and “Getz/Gilberto”.

Dave Brubeck:

Dave Brubeck has long served as proof that creative jazz and popular success can go together. Although critics who had championed him when he was unknown seemed to scorn him when the Dave Brubeck Quartet became a surprise success, in reality Brubeck never watered down or altered his music in order to gain a wide audience. Creative booking (being one of the first groups to play regularly on college campuses) and a bit of luck resulted in great popularity, and Dave Brubeck remains one of the few household names in jazz. From nearly the start, Brubeck enjoyed utilizing poly-rhythms and poly-tonality (playing in two keys at once). He had classical training from his mother, but fooled her for a long period by memorizing his lessons and not learning to read music.
In 1946, he started studying at Mills College with the classical composer Darius Milhaud, who encouraged his students to play jazz. During 1946-1949, Brubeck led a group mostly consisting of fellow classmates, and they recorded as the Dave Brubeck Octet; their music (released on Fantasy in 1951) still sounds advanced today, with complex time signatures and some poly-tonality. The octet was too radical to get much work, so Brubeck formed a trio with drummer Cal Tjader (who doubled on vibes) and bassist Ron Crotty. The trio’s Fantasy recordings of 1949-1951 were quite popular in the Bay Area, but the group came to an end when Brubeck hurt his back during a serious swimming accident and was put out of action for months. By 1958 (after countless revisions in his band lineup), he was quite successful. In 1960, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond’s “Take Five” (one of the most popular Brubeck quartet tracks, done in 5/4 time signature) took to the charts, paving the way for a series of songs played in “odd” time signatures like 7/4 and 9/8. There is no shortage of Dave Brubeck records currently available, practically everything he cut for Fantasy, Columbia, Concord, and Telarc are easy to locate. Brubeck, whose compositions “In Your Own Sweet Way,” “The Duke,” and “Blue Rondo a la Turk” have become standards, remained very busy (despite some bouts of bad health) into the 2000s’.

Diazzy Gillespie:

John Birks Gillespie was born on October 21, 1917 in Cheraw, South Carolina, the youngest of nine children. He emerged as a trumpet player whose role as a founding father of modern jazz made him a major figure in 20th-century American music. His signature moon cheeks and bent trumpet made him one of the world’s most instantly recognizable figures. In a nearly 60-year career as a composer, bandleader and innovative player, Gillespie cut a huge swath through the jazz world. In the early 1940’s, along with the alto saxophonist Charlie (Yardbird) Parker, he initiated be-bop, the sleek, intense, high speed revolution that has become jazz’s most induring style. In subsequent years, he incorporated Afro-Cuban music into jazz, creating a new genre from the combination.
In the last decade, his career seemed recharged, and he became ubiquitous on the concert circuit as a special guest. New York Times writer Peter Watrous in decribing Dizzy’s month long engagement at the Blue Note wrote, “In honor of his 75th birthday, Mr. Gillespie played for four weeks at the Blue Note in Manhattan in a stint that featured perhaps the greatest selection of jazz music ever brought together for a tribute.” Dizzy Gillespie died of cancer on January 6, 1993. In 1960, Gillespie was elected by the Readers into the Down Beat Hall of Fame.

Duke Ellington:

Ellington would be among the first to focus on musical form and composition in jazz using ternary forms and “call-and-response” techniques in works like Concerto for Cootie (known in its familiar vocal version as Do Nothin’ till You Hear from Me) and Cotton Tail and classic symphonic devices in his orchestral suites. Duke Ellington was recognized in his lifetime as one of the greatest jazz composers and performers. A genius for instrumental combinations, improvisation, and jazz arranging brought the world the unique “Ellington” sound that found consummate expression in works like “Mood Indigo,” “Sophisticated Lady,” and the symphonic suites Black, Brown, and Beige (which he subtitled “a Tone Parallel to the History of the Negro in America”) and Harlem (”a Tone Parallel to Harlem”). Some of Ellington’s greatest works include, Rockin’ in Rhythm, Satin Doll, New Orleans, A Drum is a Women, Take the “A” Train, Happy-Go-Lucky Local, The Mooche, and Crescendo in Blue. Duke Ellington and his band went on to play everywhere from New York to New Delhi, Chicago to Cairo, and Los Angeles to London. Ellington and his band played with such greats as Miles Davis, Cab Calloway, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, and Louis Armstrong.
They entertained everyone from Queen Elizabeth II to President Nixon. Before passing away in 1974, Duke Ellington wrote and recorded hundreds of musical compositions, all of which continue to have a lasting effect upon people worldwide for a long time to come.

Ella Fitzgerald:

Few artists stand as the very definition of the art they practice, but Ella Fitzgerald is one of them. No jazz singer can avoid being influenced by her, or at least taking into account the monument of her work. Fitzgerald didn’t have the darkness of Billie Holiday, the bravura of Sarah Vaughan or the acidity of Carmen McRae, but what she did have was a suniness, a childlike joy and a classic command of her craft that audiences picked up on right away. Originally influenced by Connie Boswell, she also swung like mad, and was one of the few singers revered by jazz instrumentalists. Her scat singing, which soared through a three-and-a-half octave range, was flexible, creative and a sure crowd-pleaser. Though she sang solidly in a swing-to-bop mode, Fitzgerald never seemed to go out of style, gathering fans from each succeeding generation. In the 1960s, she filled college auditoriums full of student rebels and appealed to lounge lizards in the ’90s. Fitzgerald died on June 15, 1996. Her career spanned 60 years, and in 1979 Fitzgerald was elected by the Readers into the Down Beat Hall of Fame.

Herbie Hancock:

Herbie Hancock is a true icon of modern music. Throughout his explorations, he has transcended limitations and genres while still maintaining his unique, unmistakable voice. Herbie’s success at expanding the possibilities of musical thought has placed him in the annals of this century’s visionaries. With an illustrious career spanning five decades, he continues to amaze audiences and never ceases to expand the public’s vision of what music, particularly jazz, is all about today.
Herbie Hancock’s creative path has moved fluidly between almost every development in acoustic and electronic jazz and R&B since 1960. He has attained an enviable balance of commercial and artistic success, arriving at a point in his career where he ventures into every new project motivated purely by the desire to expand the boundaries of his creativity. There are few artists in the music industry who have gained more respect and cast more influence than Herbie Hancock. As the immortal Miles Davis said in his autobiography, “Herbie was the step after Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, and I haven’t heard anybody yet who has come after him.” Now in the fifth decade of his professional life, Herbie Hancock remains where he has always been: in the forefront of world culture, technology, business and music. Though one can’t track exactly where he will go next, he is sure to leave his own inimitable creative style and imprint wherever he lands. Recommended Albums: Maiden Voyage, My Point of View, Takin’ Off

John Coltrane:

Born September 23, 1926 in Hamlet North Carolina. Died July 17, 1967 at Huntington Hospital in Long Island NY. Coltrane grew up in High Point NC, moving to Philadelphia PA in June 1943. He was inducted into the Navy in 1945, returning to civilian life in 1946. Coltrane worked a variety of jobs through the late forties until (still an alto saxophonist) he joined Dizzy Gillespie’s big band in 1949. He stayed with Gillespie through the band’s breakup in May 1950 and (now on tenor saxophone) worked with Gillespie’s small group until April 1951, when he returned to Philadelphia to go to school. In early 1952 he joined Earl Bostic’s band, and in 1953 he joined Johnny Hodges’s small group (during that saxophonist’s short sabbatical from Duke Ellington’s orchestra), staying until mid 1954. Although there are recordings of Coltrane from as early as 1946, his real career spans the twelve years between 1955 and 1967, during which time he reshaped modern jazz and influenced generations of other musicians. Coltrane was freelancing in Philadelphia in the summer of 1955 when he received a call from trumpeter Miles Davis. Davis, whose success during the late forties had been followed by several years of decline, was again active, and was about to form a quintet. Coltrane was with this first edition of the Davis group from October 1955 through April 1957 (with a few absences), a period which saw influential recordings from Davis and the first signs of Coltrane’s ability. This classic First Quintet, best represented by two marathon recording sessions for Prestige in 1956, disbanded in mid-April. During the latter part of 1957 Coltrane worked with Thelonious Monk at New York’s Five Spot, a legendary gig. He rejoined Miles in January 1958, staying until April 1960, during which time he participated in such seminal Davis sessions as Milestones and Kind Of Blue, and recorded his own influential sessions (notably Giant Steps).

Louis Armstrong:

Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong always thought of himself as, and insisted that he was, a child of the American century; born July 4th, 1900. However, the truth holds that, he was born on August 4th, 1901, which is documented in the Baptismal Registry of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in New Orleans. The actual date is not as important; but what is important is, what Louis gave to the world…he gave of himself! Louis was a quick learner. In 1918, King Oliver and his band went to the Lincoln Gardens in Chicago. Louis was asked to take Oliver’s place with the hottest band in New Orleans, “Kid Ory and His Creole Jazz Orchestra.” Then in 1922, Louis joined up with the “Tuxedo Jazz Band.” It was this year that King Oliver called for Louie to come to Chicago and play second trumpet at the Lincoln Gardens. In the same interview with Murrow, he asked Louie…”Did that make you happy?” Louie’s smile got bigger ?”OH – Yeah…could nobody get me out of New Orleans.”
Were it not for Olivers’ pianist, Lillian Hardin, the trumpet duet might have continued. She took a special interest in Louie and became the second major influence in his life. In 1924, Louie and Lillian were married. Louis was called by the great bandleader and arranger, Fletcher Henderson, to come to NewYork and play in his orchestra. It was his wife who encouraged Louis to go that same year. So in September 1924, Louie set out to join the Henderson musical conglomerate. He brought with him, a quality of solo playing far exceeding anything that New York had heard thus far in jazz. Louie’s musical ideas and the harmony knowledge he learned with Oliver, were a stimulus to action for Henderson’s staff arranger, Don Redman. Louie remained with Henderson for about a year.

Miles Davis:

A great influence, not only to jazz, but to pop culture in general, Miles Davis stands out as one of the few that has been able to shape jazz and be shaped by it at the same time. His experience writing, recording, and performing has given listeners a large and diversified array of music. From his troubling experience with heroin in the 50’s to his best-sellers and most popular recordings in the 60’s and 70’s. Some of the minimalist experiments he performed at the close of the 70’s foreshadowed the ambient and electronic music that would become common in the 80’s and 90’s. Miles died on September 28, 1991, but his music, style, and collaborators all continue to influence not only jazz music, but popular culture as well.

Sonny Rollins

Rollins established himself as the outstanding jazz saxophonist between Charlie Parker and John Coltrane and a leading figure in the hard-bop style. The prevailing interpretation of his method of improvisation derives from Schuller’s “Thematic Analysis” of Rollins’ celebrated solo on Blue7 (1956); other writers, accepting and expanding on Schuller?s insights, have even declared thematic improvisation to be Rollins’ greatest contribution to jazz. Having played with other greats like Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Thelonious Monk, his exposure to the jazz scene led him to be regarded as the most talented and innovated tenor saxophonist in jazz, having great success with this first recordings in the 1950s. He has remained essentially true to the bop tradition, an aspect of his playing that was again apparent in an acclaimed solo performances at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, in 1985. Except for a six month hiatus in 1983, after he collapsed from exhaustion, Rollins has remained active through the late 1980s, touring the USA, Europe, and Japan and recording a fusion bop and soul music with his quintet.

Thelonious Monk:

Thelonious Monk was an important member of the jazz revolution that took place in the early 1940s. Monk’s unique piano style and his talent as a composer made him a leader in the development of modern jazz. His late 1950s recordings on the Riverside label had done so well that in 1962 he was offered a contract from Columbia. As a performer he was equally successful, commanding, in 1960, two thousand dollars for week-long engagements with his band and one thousand dollars for single performances. His December 1963 concert at New York’s Philharmonic Hall, a big-band presentation of originals, was for him a personal landmark. In the early 1970s Monk made a few solo and trio recordings for Black Lion in London and played a few concerts. Beginning in the mid-1970s he isolated himself from his friends and colleagues, spending his final years at the home of the Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter in Weehawken, New Jersey. After playing a concert at Carnegie Hall in March 1976, Monk was too weak physically to make further appearances. He died on February 17, 1982, in Englewood Hospital, after suffering a massive stroke. Along with Miles Davis (1926–1991) and John Coltrane (1926–1967), Monk is remembered as one of the most influential figures in modern jazz. The music Monk left behind remains as some of the most innovative and unique material in all of music, jazz or otherwise.

Related posts:

1. An Introduction To Jazz History: The 3rd of a 4-part Series on the Essentials of Jazz
2. An Introduction To Jazz Styles: The 1st of a 4-part Series on the Essentials of Jazz
3. An Introduction To Jazz’s Influence On Society: The 4th of a 4-part Series on the Essentials of Jazz

This article, a summary of different Styles of Jazz, is the first of a 4-part series covering the nuts and bolts of jazz. Whether you are an avid listener and musician, a noobie interested in what jazz has to offer, or simply want to brush up on your jazz knowledge to impress those around you, this 4-part series about the fundamentals of jazz is a great start and a MUST READ!

An Introduction To Jazz Styles:

The following offers a short description of each jazz style along with examples of artists and music from each. Please refer to the Mp3 players for examples of each style. Please keep in mind these are some of the most popular and well-known styles, and due to the possibility of unlimited combinations of these styles, it is possible that there are new styles which are not included in this article. Please feel free to comment on any additions that have not been included in this article.

Ragtime – The origins of Jazz: Rhythms brought from a musical heritage in Africa were incorporated into Cakewalks, Coon Songs and the music of “Jig Bands” which eventually evolved into Ragtime, c.1895 (timeline). The first Ragtime composition was published by Ben Harney. The music, vitalized by the opposing rhythms common to African dance, was vibrant, enthusiastic and often extemporaneous.

Notably the precursor to Jazz styles, early Ragtime music was set forth in marches, waltzes and other traditional song forms but the common characteristic was syncopation. Syncopated notes and rhythms became so popular with the public that sheet music publishers included the word “syncopated” in advertising. In 1899, a classically trained young pianist from Missouri named Scott Joplin published the first of many Ragtime compositions that would come to shape the music of a nation.

Classic Jazz - At the beginning of the 1900’s, Jazz styles took the form of small band music and its origin credited to New Orleans. This musical style is sometimes mistakenly referred to as “Dixieland” but is less solo-oriented. Though traditional New Orleans Jazz was performed by blacks, whites and African-American creoles, “Dixieland” is a term for white performer’s revival of this style.

New Orleans style, or “Classic Jazz” originated with brass bands that performed for parties and dances in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Many of the musical instruments had been salvaged from the Confederate War which included the clarinet, saxophone, cornet, trombone, tuba, banjo, bass, guitar, drums and occasionally a piano. Musical arrangements varied considerably from performance to performance and many of the solos embellished the melody with ornaments of Jazz improvisation. This lively new music combined syncopations of ragtime with adaptations of popular melodies, hymns, marches, work songs and the Blues. The mid 1990’s saw a strong resurgence in the Classic form.

Some of the great artist of Classic Jazz include early Louis Armstrong (i.e. The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings ), Kid Ory’s album Creole Jazz Band , the music of Bix Biderbeck, & Jelly Roll Morton’s self-titled album (featuring his music from 1926 to1930).

Hot Jazz – c.1925 Louis Armstrong recorded the first of his Hot Five band records, the first time he recorded under his own name. The records made by Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five and Hot Seven bands are considered to be absolute Jazz classics and speak of Armstrong’s creative powers. The bands never played live, but continued recording until 1928.

The music was characterized by collective improvised solos, around melodic structure, that ideally built up to an emotional and “Hot” climax. The rhythm section, usually drums, bass, banjo or guitar supported this crescendo, many times in the style of march tempo. Soon, larger bands and orchestras began to emulate that energy, especially with the advance of record technology, that spread the “Hot” new sound across the country.

Chicago Style – Chicago was the breeding ground for many young, inventive players. Characterized by harmonic, inovative arrangements and a high technical ability of the players, Chicago Style Jazz significantly furthered the improvised music of it’s day. Contributions from dynamic players like Benny Goodman, Bud Freeman and Eddie Condon along with the creative grooves of Gene Krupa, helped to pioneer Jazz music from it’s infancy and inspire those who followed.

Swing – The 1930s belonged to Swing. During that classic era, most of the Jazz groups were Big Bands. Derived from New Orleans Jazz style, Swing was robust and invigorating. Swing was also dance music, which served as it’s immediate connection to the people. Although it was a collective sound, Swing also offered individual musicians a chance to improvise melodic, thematic solos which could at times be very complex.

The mid 1990’s saw a revival of Swing music fueled by the retro trends in dance. Once again young couples across America and Europe jitter-bugged to the swing’n sounds of Big Band music, often played by much smaller ensembles.

Kansas City Style – During the Depression and Prohibition eras, the Kansas City Jazz scene thrived as a mecca for the modern sounds of late 1920s and 30s. Characterized by soulful and blusey stylings of Big Band and small ensemble Swing, arrangements often showcased highly energetic solos played to “speakeasy” audiences. Alto sax pioneer Charlie Parker hailed from Kansas City.

Gypsy Jazz – Originated by French guitarist Django Reinhardt, Gypsy Jazz is an unlikely mix of 1930s American swing, French dance hall “musette” and the folk strains of Eastern Europe. Also known as Jazz Manouche, it has a languid, seductive feel characterized by quirky cadences and driving rhythms.

The main instruments are nylon stringed guitars, often amounting to a half-dozen ensemble, with occasional violins and bass violin. Solos pass from one player to another as the other guitars assume the rhythm. While primarily a nostalgic style set in European bars and small venues, Gypsy Jazz is appreciated world wide.

Bebop – Developed in the early 1940’s, Bop had established itself as vogue by 1945. It’s main innovators were alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. Until then, Jazz improvisation was derived from the melodic line. Bebop soloists engaged in chordal improvisation, often avoiding the melody altogether after the first chorus. Usually under seven pieces, the soloist was free to explore improvised possibilities as long as they fit into the chord structure.

Differing greatly from Swing, Bebop divorced itself early-on from dance music, establishing itself as art form but severing its potential commercial value. Ironically, what was once thought of as a radical Jazz style, Bebop has become the basis for all the innovations that followed.

Vocalese – The art of composing a lyric and singing it in the same manner as the recorded instrumental solos. Coined by Jazz critic Leonard Feather, Vocalese reached its highest point from 1957-62. Performers may solo or sing in ensemble, supported by small group or orchestra. Bop in nature, Vocalese rarely ventured into other Jazz styles and never brought commercial success to it’s performers until recent years. Among those known for writing and performing vocalese lyric are Eddie Jefferson and Jon Hendricks.

Mainstream – After the end of the Big Band era, as these large ensembles broke into smaller groups, Swing music continued to be played. Some of Swing’s finest players could be heard at their best in jam sessions of the 1950s where chordal improvisation now would take significance over melodic embellishment.

Re-emerging as a loose Jazz style in the late ’70s and ’80s, Mainstream Jazz picked up influences from Cool, Classic and Hardbop. The terms Modern Mainstream or Post Bop are used for almost any Jazz style that cannot be closely associated with historical styles of Jazz music.

Cool – Evolving directly from Bop in the late 1940’s and 1950’s, Cool’s smoothed out mixture of Bop and Swing tones were again harmonic and dynamics were now softened. The ensemble arrangement had regained importance. Nicknamed “West Coast Jazz” because of the many innovations coming from Los Angeles, Cool became nation wide by the end of the 1950’s, with significant contributions from East Coast musicians and composers.

Hard Bop – An extension of Bebop that was somewhat interrupted by the Cool sounds of West Coast Jazz, Hard Bop melodies tend to be more “soulful” than Bebop, borrowing at times from Rhythm & Blues and even Gospel themes. The rhythm section is sophisticated and more diverse than the Bop of the 1940’s. Pianist Horace Silver is known for his Hard Bop innovations.

Bossa Nova - A blend of West Coast Cool, European classical harmonies and seductive Brazilian samba rhythms, Bossa Nova or more correctly “Brazilian Jazz”, reached the United States c.1962 (timeline). The subtle but hypnotic acoustic guitar rhythms accent simple melodies sung in either (or both) Portuguese or English. Pioneered by Brazilians’ Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim, this alternative to the 60’s Hard Bop and Free Jazz styles, gained popular exposure by West Coast players like guitarist Charlie Byrd & saxophonist Stan Getz.

Modal - As smaller ensemble soloists became increasingly hungry for new improvisational directives, some players sought to venture beyond Western adaptation of major and minor scales. Drawing from medieval church modes, which used altered intervals between common tones, players found new inspiration. Soloists could now free themselves from the restrictions of dominant keys and shift the tonal centers to form new harmonics within their playing. This became especially useful with pianists and guitarists, as well as trumpet and sax players. Pianist Bill Evans is noted for his Modal approach.

Free Jazz – Sometimes referred to as “Avante Garde”, true Free Jazz soloists shed even the ensemble arrangement structure, giving for a totally “free” impulse experience to the music. If Ornette Coleman was considered the prophet of Free Jazz, then John Coltrane would surely be it’s leading disciple.

This radical departure from past styles invited much debate about whether it would even qualify as music and soon found its place in the Jazz underground. Ironically, the much ignored Free Jazz continues to influence the Mainstream today.

Soul Jazz - Derived from Hardbop, Soul Jazz is perhaps the most popular Jazz style of the 1960’s. Improvising to chord progressions as with Bop, the soloist strives to create an exciting performance. The ensemble of musicians concentrates on a rhythmic groove centered around a strong but varied bassline.

Horace Silver had a large influence of style by infusing funky and often Gospel drawn piano vamps into his compositions. The Hammond organ also gained mass attention as the flagship instrument of Soul Jazz.

Groove – An off-shoot of Soul Jazz, Groove draws its tones from the blues and focuses mainly on the rhythm. Sometimes referred to as “Funk” it concentrates on maintaining the continuous rhythm “hook” complimented lightly by instrumental and sometimes lyrical ornaments.

Groove is full of joyous emotions inviting listeners to dance, whether in bluesy slow vamps or up-beat. Improvised solos are kept subordinate to the beat and the collective sound.

Fusion – By the early 1970’s, the term “Fusion” had come to identity a mixture of Jazz improvisation with the energy and new rhythms of Rock music. To the dismay of many Jazz purists, some of Jazz most significant innovators crossed over from the contemporary Hardbop into Fusion. Eventually commercial influences succeeded in undermining its original innovations. While it is arguable that this Fusion benefitted the evolution of Rock, few of its influences remain in today’s Jazz.

Afro-Cuban Jazz – also known as Latin Jazz, is a combination of Jazz improvising and highly infectious rhythms. It can be traced to trumpeter-arranger Mario Bauza and percussionist Chano Pozo who had a significant influence on Dizzy Gillespie (among others) in the mid 1940s. Evolving from it’s early Bop centered roots, Afro-Cuban Jazz has become a true fusion between North, South and Central America.

Instrumentation can vary widely but typically centered around the rhythm section consisting of conga, timbale, bongo and other latin percussion, with piano, guitar or vibes and joined often by horns and vocals. Arturo Sandoval, Pancho Sanchez and Chucho Valdes are well known Afro-Cuban Jazz artists.

Post Bop – The terms Modern Mainstream or Post Bop are used for almost any style that cannot be closely associated with historical types of Jazz music. Starting in 1979, a new emergence of players hit the scene with a fresh approach to the Hard Bop of the 1960s, but rather than take it into the Groove and Funk rhythms that had evolved a generation before, these “young lions” added the textures and influences of the 1980s and 90s. Elements of Avant-Garde offer soloists new exploratory directions while polyrhythmic beats from Caribbean influences lend a wider diversity than previous Bop music.

Acid Jazz – The term Acid Jazz is loosely used to cover a wide range of music. Although it is not a true style of Jazz music that has evolved from traditional stems, it is too significant to ignore as a member of the genre.

Originating in the 1987 British dance scene, it defined a funky music style which incorporated sampled classic Jazz tracks, 70s Funk, Hip-Hop, Soul and Latin grooves, with the main focus on instrumental music and not the lyric. The resulting mosaic usually ignored improvisation giving argument to whether Acid Jazz is, in fact, Jazz.

Smooth Jazz – Evolving from Fusion, but leaving behind the energetic solos and dynamic crescendos, Smooth Jazz emphasizes its polished side. Improvisation is also largely ignored giving argument whether the term “Jazz” can truly apply.

High tech layering of synthesizers and rhythm tracks give it unobtrusive and slick packaging, where the ensemble sound matters more than individual expression. This also separates this style from other more “live” performances. Instruments include electric keyboards, alto or soprano sax, guitar, bass guitar and percussion. Smooth Jazz has perhaps become the most commercially viable form of all Jazz styles since Swing.

European – At the end of the 20th century, many Scandinavian and French musicians, feeling that Mainstream American Jazz expression had retreated into the past, began creating a new style nicknamed “the European.”

As with Acid Jazz, European seeks to return to Jazz roots as dance music. Combining elements from House (a type of disco music based on Funk, with fragments of other recordings edited in electronically) with acoustic, electronic and sampled sound to create a popular and populist variety of contemporary Jazz. Musicians involved in this movement include Norwegian pianist Bugge Wesseltoft, trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer, French pianists Martial Solal and Laurent de Wilde and saxophonist Julien Lourau.

Sources:
(1) New Orleans Jazz Styles
(2) Jazz Styles: History and Analysis (10th Ed.)
(3) Norton Anthology of Music
(4) Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

Recommended Further Reading:
Jazz Styles: History and Analysis (10th Edition) – Mark C. Gridley
(paperback)
New Orleans Jazz Styles – 3 Books/GM Disk Combo Pack
- William Gillock (paperback)

Related posts:

1. An Introduction To Jazz History: The 3rd of a 4-part Series on the Essentials of Jazz
2. An Introduction To The Greatest & Most Influential Jazz Artists: The 2nd of a 4-part Series on the Essentials of Jazz
3. An Introduction To Jazz’s Influence On Society: The 4th of a 4-part Series on the Essentials of Jazz