Difference between revisions of "Jazz History"

Table of Musicians by Decade and Musical Instruments[edit]

NOTE: In this table, one can click on any item as a hyperlink for more information except for the top headings or musical instruments' abbreviations.

Early Jazz Styles and Some of Their Representatives[edit]

Early Jazz[edit]

• Dixieland – (Original Dixieland Jazz Band)

• Ragtime – (Scott Joplin (p))

Table of Early Jazz Musicians by Instrument and Lifespan Dates[edit]

• Ragtime, Dixieland, Piano Professors
• Migration from New Orleans to other large cities (Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Memphis, etc.)

NOTE: Click on musician's name or musical instrument below for more information.

Jazz in the 1920’s: Ragtime & Blues[edit]

Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Joe “King” Oliver (cornet), Louis Armstrong (trumpet), Jelly Roll Morton (piano), Bix Beiderbecke (trumpet), Sidney Bechet (clarinet)[edit]

Jazz in the 1930s: Big Band & Swing: Big band orchestras of: Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie[edit]

1931–1957

Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, Jimmie Lunceford, Tommy Dorsey, Mills Blue Rhythm Band, Fletcher Henderson, Woody Herman, Artie Shaw, Chick Webb, Don Redman, Charlie Barnet, Casa Loma Orchestra, Lionel Hampton & Claude Hopkins, Georgie Auld, Cab Calloway, Bob Crosby, Jimmie Dorsey, Teddy Hill, Harry James, Gene Krupa, Stan Kenton, Glenn Miller, Shorty Rogers, Pete Rugolo, and Jack Teagarden.

1930–40s: Buddy Tate, Earle Warren, Jo Jones, Dickie Wells and Buck Clayton, Andy Kirk, John Hammond.

Swing era musicians ordered by lifespan with hyperlinks to biographies at Wikipedia[edit]

• Paul Whiteman (1890–1967)
• Fletcher Henderson (1897–1952)
• Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899–1974)
• Earl Hines (1903–1983)
• Fats Waller (1904–1943)
• Glenn Miller (1904–1944)
• Jimmy Dorsey (1904–1957)
• Coleman Hawkins (1904–1969)
• William "Count" Basie (1904–1984)
• Tommy Dorsey (1905–1956)
• Johnny Hodges (1907–1970)
• Cab Calloway (1907–1994)
• Benny Carter (1907–2003)
• Art Tatum (1909–1956)

Big Band Jazz (1920's-1940's)[edit]

Michael Verity explains below in green font how jazz began to switch from group and big band arrangements in the late 1930's-early 1940's to increased emphasis on individual solo improvisations. The innovations of Coleman Hawkins (1904-1969) and Lester Young (1909-1959) helped lead to further developments later in Bebop.

+++Coleman Hawkins

+++Coleman Hawkins

++++++Lester Young

+++++Lester Young

“In 1922, Coleman Hawkins moved to New York, where he joined Fletcher Henderson’s (pictured below) orchestra. Inspired by Louis Armstrong who briefly toured with the group, Hawkins resolved to create an individualistic improvisation style.

The primacy of the soloist was budding thanks to Armstrong’s Hot Five recordings on Okeh Records. Famous songs included “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue,” and “Big Butter and Egg Man.” Saxophonist Sidney Bechet’s virtuosity was documented as well, with his 1923 recording of “Wild Cat Blues” and “Kansas City Blues.”

In 1927, cornetist Bix Beiderbecke recorded “In a Mist” with C-melody saxophone player Frankie Trumbauer. Their refined and introspective approach contrasted with the gregarious New Orleans style. Tenor saxophonist Lester Young brought the style to prominence, and offered an alternative to the gruffer playing of Coleman Hawkins.

It wasn’t just in tone that the two differed. Young’s specialty was embellishing and creating melodies, while Hawkins became an expert at outlining chord changes by playing arpeggios. The convergence of these two approaches were integral in the development of bebop in later years.”^[2] (bold not in original)

• "Sweet" Big Band Dance Orchestras - "sweet" meant more lyrical, slow, and popular (as represented by Paul Whiteman’s band)

++++++Paul Whiteman

Paul Whiteman LP Record

++++++ King of Jazz

Portrait of Paul Whiteman

• "Hot" Big Band Dance Orchestras - "hot" meant faster, energetic, more powerful – (as represented by Glenn Miller or Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestras)

Glenn Miller

Glenn Miller markee

++++++ Glenn Miller

Portrait of Paul Whiteman

+++

Swing Bands (1935-1945)[edit]

• Swing - Swing music became popular around 1935 (although it began in the 1920s). It is distinguished by a more supple feel than the more literal 4/4 timing of earlier jazz with a walking bass line developed by Walter Page – (Duke Ellington’s or Count Basie's Orchestras)

Duke Ellington[edit]

+++

Count Basie[edit]

+++++ +++++ +++++

Table of Bebop Musicians by Instrument (early 1940's-1955)[edit]

• Bebop developed in the 1940's and is characterized by sophisticated improvisations involving fast tempos with rhythmic unpredictability and harmonic complexity. Wikipedia: Bebop explains that Bebop musicians “explored advanced harmonies, complex syncopation, altered chords, extended chords, chord substitutions, asymmetrical phrasing, and intricate melodies.” The term “bebop” is an onomatopoeic reference to the accented melodic lines and references the rhythmic punches heard in the music. A typical Bebop band consisted usually of saxophone and trumpet with rhythm sections of piano, bass, and drums. Because the band had fewer members bebop shifted musical focus from complex band arrangements to increased improvisation and interaction between members. The Bebop rhythm section (piano, bass, drums) innovated as well in that their roles were expanded from just being time-keepers to interacting with soloists and adding their own embellishments. Bebop drummers Kenny Clarke and Max Roach often get credited for shifting focus from the bass drum to the ride cymbal as the main time-keeping element of the drum set.^[3] This permitted greater flexibility in a group's overall sound and allowed soloist's room to experiment with rhythm while enabling drummers to interact more easily with soloists.

SWING ERA including trumpeters Joe Guy, Hot Lips Page, Roy Eldridge

Jazz in the 1940’s: Roy Eldridge (trumpet), Coleman Hawkins (tenor saxophone), Ben Webster (tenor saxophone), Lester Young (tenor saxophone)[edit]

Jazz in the 1950’s – Bebop: Charlie “Bird” Parker (alto saxophone)[edit]

Cool Jazz, West Coast Jazz, Hard-Bop and Modern Mainstream[edit]

Cool Jazz: Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Modern Jazz Quartet, Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, Shorty Rogers, Tony Scott & Bill Evans, J. J. Johnson, Lennie Tristano.

West Coast: Stan Getz ("West Coast Jazz"), Chet Baker ("Chet Baker and Crew"), Gerry Mulligan ("California Concerts"), Chico Hamilton ("Quintet; With Strings Attached"), Harold Land ("West Coast Blues"), Jimmy Giuffre ("Jimmy Guiffre 3"), Herb Geller, Barney Kessel, Clifford Brown, Tadd Dameron, Serge Chaloff, Shelly Manne, Art Pepper ("Surf Ride"), Shorty Rogers, Bill Perkins ("Octet"; "On Stage"), Howard Rumsey ("Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse Allstars"; "Lighthouse at Laguna"), Marty Paich ("I Got a Boot Out of You"), Curtis Counce ("Carl's Blues"), Stu Williamson ("Stu Williamson Plays"), Red Callendar ("Swingin' Suite"), Gerald Wiggins ("Trio"; "Wiggin' with Wig"), Bob Brookmeyer ("The Modernity of Bob Brookmeyer"), Dave Pell ("Octet"; "Love Story"), Teddy Edwards ("Sunset Eyes").

Hard Bop: Clifford Brown, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Cannonball Adderley, Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan, Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith, Cannonball Adderley, Nat Adderley, Art Blakey, Thelonious Monk, Sony Clark, Paul Chambers, Miles Davis, Kenny Dorham, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Thad Jones, Jackie McLean, Charlie Mingus, Hank Mobley, Max Roach, Prestige All-Stars.

Modern Mainstream: Dizzy Gillespie, Mose Allison, Kenny Burrell, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Herb Ellis, Erroll Garner, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt, Milt Jackson, J. J. Johnson, Kai Winding, Quincy Jones, Oscar Peterson, Buddy DeFranco, Oscar Peterson, Zoot Sims, Birdland Stars, Four Brothers.

• Cool jazz/West Coast jazz — (Miles Davis (tr), Chet Baker (tr), Gerry Mulligan (bs), Dave Brubeck (p), Lennie Tristano (p))

• Bossa Nova — Brazilian music and jazz (Stan Getz (ts))

• Modal Jazz — (Miles Davis’s “Kind of Blue”)

• Hard Bop — (Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Horace Silver (p), Clifford Brown (tr), Lou Donaldson (as), Max Roach (d), Miles Davis (tr) in the early 1950's, Jimmy Smith (org), Stanley Turrentine (ts), Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (as), Johnny Griffin (ts), Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (ts), Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band, Charlie Rouse (ts,fl))

Horace Silver, Cannonball Adderley, the stark, astringent, tormented music of saxophonists Jackie McLean, and Tina Brooks; the gentler, more lyrical contributions of trumpeter Art Farmer, pianists Hank Jones and Tommy Flanagan, composer Gigi Gryce; and such consciously experimental and truly one-of-a-kind players and composers as Andrew Hill, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus.

• Free jazz — (Ornette Coleman (ts,as,vio,tr), Peter Brötzmann (as), Albert Ayler (ts,as))

• Soul Jazz — (Cannonball Adderley (as), Horace Silver (p))

• Latin Jazz — (Machito (voc, conductor, maraca's), Tito Puente (timbales), Cal Tjader (vibes), Poncho Sanchez (congas))

• Third Stream — classical music & jazz (Paul Whiteman (viola, violin, conductor), Gunther Schuller (theorist, conductor, French horn, fl), Modern Jazz Quartet)

• Jazz-Rock fusion — (post 1969 Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, Return to Forever)

Table of Post Bop jazz musicians by instrument [edit]

Trumpet 🎺	Saxophone 🎷	Trombone	Piano 🎹	Double Bass	Drums 🥁	Guitar 🎸	Miscellaneous 🎼
Miles Davis (1956-68)	John Coltrane (ts/as/ss/fl/bcl)	J. J. Johnson	Tommy Flanagan	Paul Chambers	“Philly Joe” Jones	Kenny Burrell	Jimmy Guiffre (cl)
Freddie Hubbard	Eric Dolphy (as/bcl/fl/scl/bs/piccolo)	Curtis Fuller	Herbie Hancock	Ron Carter	Jimmy Cobb	Joe Pass	Eric Dolphy (as/fl/cl/bcl/piccolo)
Lee Morgan	Julian “Cannonball” Adderley (as)		McCoy Tyner	Jimmy Garrison	Tony Williams	Wes Montgomery
Woody Shaw	Wayne Shorter (as/ss)		Red Garland	Charles Mingus (p)	Elvin Jones	Jim Hall	Larry Young (org)
Booker Little	George Coleman (as/ts)		Bill Evans	Scott LaFaro	Paul Motian		Toots Thielemans (harmonica)
Nat Adderley	Sonny Rollins (ts)		Wynton Kelly	Ray Brown	Billy Higgins		Bobby Hutcherson (vibes)
Donald Ayler	Jackie McLean (as)		Hank Jones	Percy Heath	Ben Riley
Donald Byrd	Dexter Gordon (ts)		Bobby Timmons	Sam Jones	Ed Blackwell
Benny Carter	Joe Henderson (ts)		Mal Waldron	Buster Williams
Ted Curson	Charlie Rouse (ts/fl)		Andrew Hill	Reggie Workman
	Joe Lovano (ts)		Cedar Walton	Doug Watkins
	Phil Woods (as)		Chick Corea	Red Mitchell
			Ahmad Jamal
			Gil Evans (orch)

Table of Post Bop Jazz Vocalists[edit]

World fusion jazz — (Shakti, Nguyen Le)

Heavy Metal Jazz — (Last Exit)

Creative Improvised Music — heavy blowing, traditional/non-traditional, and free (Sun Ra, Peter Brötzmann, Anthony Braxton, AACM, Henry Threadgill)

color

Internet Resources on Jazz History[edit]

Jazz Timeline from Jazz in America (Herbie Hancock Institute, formerly Thelonious Monk Institute)

Wikipedia: Jazz drumming
Wikipedia: Improvisation

“Jazz at 100” University of Virginia's WTJU 91.1 FM 📻

“One hundred years of jazz recordings in 100 one-hour programs that will present representative music from a century of recorded jazz history since the 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jazz band. The series explores the broad sweep of that narrative, its representative and its idiosyncratic players, its durable movements and dead ends, and its popular recordings and rarities.”

NOTES[edit]

1. ↑ Christopher Dennison, Primary Sources: An Examination of Ira Gitler's "Swing to Bop and Oral History's Role in the Story of Bebop, M.A. thesis, Graduate School-Newark, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, May, 2015, 6-7.
2. ↑ "Jazz by Decade 1930-40" by Michael Verity at ThoughtCo.com
3. ↑ “The man given credit for founding Bop (or "klook-mop") drumming is Kenneth (Klook) Clarke, who was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1914. He had the house band at Minton's Playhouse in New York, where, along with musicians such as Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie, they experimented with, and developed the bebop style of playing. Clarke had been experimenting prior to this, in the late thirties, and had been let go by Louis Armstrong and Teddy Hill because of it. Clarke's playing was said to be a model of solidity and good taste, and his use and non-use of the bass drum was widely copied. Clarke influenced many young drummers, including Max Roach, in the early forties.” (Thomas Shultz, A History of Jazz Drumming, 1979, 123)