Bebop musicians played in small groups, a departure from the big bands. N The 1940s bebop movement featured really fast tempos and complex solos. N Swing era, which began in the mid-1930s, featured big bands led by Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Count Basie, and musicians like saxophonists Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young, trumpter Roy Eldridge and singer Billie Holiday. The later Chicago style was embodied in the cornet player Bix Beiderbecke. Innovators included Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet and King Oliver. N New Orleans jazz developed in the early 20th century. As with blues, jazz was invented and molded almost exclusively by African-Americans, as were the major innovations along the way: And there's a lot to choose from because jazz is very old and is very eclectic. The older I get, the more that mainstream, "straight-ahead jazz" makes me go "ho-hum."īut jazz is very subjective. Big bands, with their written arrangements and little improvisational elbow room, leave me bored. My preferences are grounded in the postwar, small-combo jazz of 1940s bebop, 1950s "free jazz," and even 1960s jazz-fusion. Jazz remains a lot of things to a lot of people. And because there's a mound of stuff out there, dating way back to the early 20th century, you've got a lot to choose from. So, repeat after me: Jazz is not Kenny G or Frank Sinatra.īut even without those guys, jazz is replete with enough stylistic twists and turns to keep most of us fairly sated. Want really great jazz-vocal phrasing? Listen to jazz singer Billie Holiday or Sarah Vaughan. Want to be a hepcat? Don those dark sunglasses and listen to cool jazz masters like Miles Davis or John Coltrane or Charles Mingus or Thelonious Monk. Want to be a weenie? Get a perm and listen to Kenny G. Rat Pack Frank is to jazz what Pat Boone is to rock 'n' roll. N Jazz isn't guys like Frank Sinatra, either. Key on the precision of the saxophone playing, get swept up in a moanful acoustic bass solo or deft fingers dancing over a keyboard. Such knowledge is best left to that goateed, pipe-smoking guy sitting over there in the corner.įor the rest of us, just because we can't deconstruct the music doesn't preclude an appreciation of superlative musicianship, tone, phrasing and unique instrumental style and voice - all qualities of the very best jazz. What the heck is a chord change, anyway? Honestly, I haven't a clue. That is, the ability of a jazz musician, within a certain musical framework - or little to no framework - to improvise a solo on the spot, based on the chord changes, melody or musician's whim. But, fundamentally, it's all about improvisation. So, just what is jazz? It's a lot of things. Jazz is all that and more, with its power to soothe and hype you all up. Sexy, propulsive, sad, achingly beautiful, downright scary. And I'm here to say: You, too, can love jazz. I don't know a flattened fifth note from a flat tire. Henry Threadgill: "Too Much Sugar for a Dime"Īrt Ensemble of Chicago: "The Third Decade"Īnd so I am here before you as a lonely guy who is not a musician or music professor. John Carter: Five suites of "Roots and Folklore" Miles Davis: "In a Silent Way," "Bitches Brew," "Tribute to Jack Johnson" John Coltrane: "Ole Coltrane," "Live at Birdland," "Impressions" Ornette Coleman: "Shape of Jazz to Come," "Change of the Century" Thelonious Monk: "It's Monk Time," "Criss-Cross"Ĭharles Mingus: "Blues and Roots," "Mingus Ah Um"īillie Holiday: Most anything recorded in the 1930s and early 1940sĮddie Harris, Les McCann: "Swiss Movement" John Coltrane: "Blue Train," "Giant Steps," "A Love Supreme" Horace Silver: "Song for My Father," "The Jody Grind" Miles Davis: "Kind of Blue," "Steamin'," "Water Babies" Not something, they figure, requiring an advanced music degree to appreciate.
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