The history of Jazz - Essay Example

Jazz music is deeply rooted in various musical styles of African-American music with European traditional music also contributing to its melodic sound. It was composed of several styles of black folk music such as field hollers, lullabies, rowing chants, spirituals and blues. Jazz began with small bands or solo pianists playing at weddings, picnics, parades and funerals. Blues and ragtime had also formed several years before jazz, and were strongly influencing its styles and forms. New Orleans, Louisiana experienced the earliest form of jazz. Improvisation, along with the existing sounds of other black music such as ragtime and blues, made jazz unique. Charles "Buddy" Bolden, also known as "King Bolden," was known to have led some of these early jazz groups. Bolden's band was well known in New Orleans from 1900 to 1907. Many early musicians credited Bolden and his band with having originated the genre known as "jazz"; however, the term "jazz" didn't become widely known until after Bolden's era. One writer labeled Bolden as the father of jazz, and several early Jazz musicians were inspired by his playing including Joe "King" Oliver, Freddie Keppard, Bunk Johnson. The Original Dixieland Jazz Band recorded the first jazz record in 1917. They were very popular overseas as well as in the United States. The New Orleans Rhythm Kings and the Creole Jazz Band were the next bands to emerge in the early 1920s. The Creole Jazz Band would yield American cornetist King Oliver. The jazz recordings made by King Oliver's band were considered the most significant jazz recordings made by a New Orleans group. Several other jazz musicians were from New Orleans as well: trumpeters Bunk Johnson and Freddie Keppard, soprano saxophonist and clarinetist Sidney Bechet, drummer Warren "Baby" Dodds and pianist and composer Jelly Roll Morton. However, Louis Armstrong was the most influential jazz to come from New Orleans. He was King Oliver's second trumpeter. Louis Armstrong was very instrumental during the early stages of jazz music. Within his recording groups, The Hot Five and The Hot Seven, Armstrong changed the forefront of jazz by making the soloist more noticeable. He introduced a vocal improvisation to the melodies of the jazz songs known as scat singing. Scat singing had a great impact on jazz music; It altered the melodies of many jazz sounds, thereby giving them a new sound for their listener. During the 1920s, Jazz began to migrate to Chicago, Illinois. Many musicians from New Orleans, including Armstrong, were influencing the local musicians, thus creating the Chicago style form of jazz. This style was similar to that of New Orleans, however it differentiated in that it emphasized more on soloists and added the saxophone to the instruments of the band. Bix Beiderbecke, clarinetist Benny Goodman, drummer Gene Krupa, banjoist and guitarist Eddie Condon and trombonist Jack Teagarden were instrumentalists working in Chicago who were influenced by the Chicago style jazz. New York City was also another major area for jazz in the 1920s. Harlem became the center for jazz music. Piano music was also making great strides for the development of jazz music as well, and ironically, Harlem became know for the stride piano. James P. Johnson was a master at this, but it was Fats Waller who became stride piano's most popular performer. Another style of piano that developed during this time was boogie-woogie. It was a form of blues played on the piano, and it became very popular in the 1930s and 1940s. Pine Top Smith, Pete Johnson, Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons were leading boogie-woogie pianists during this time. However, it was Earl "Fatha" Hines who was the most-known pianist of the 1920s. His style influenced most pianists of the next generation such as Teddy Wilson and Art Tatum. Also, the big bands, large groups of jazz musicians that would play together, were also popular throughout the 1930s and 1940s. This period was better known as the swing era. Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson were heavy influences on the development of the big band as a jazz medium. Don Redman, Henderson's arranger, along with Henderson composed jazz pieces that were very much appreciated for their improvisation. Tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins was one of the soloists that helped them achieve this improvisation. Duke Ellington was a major player in the jazz arena. He had a band at the Cotton Club in New York City during the 1920s, and continued to lead his band until his death in 1974. There were also other black bands that were very popular during this period, and they were led by Jimmie Lunceford, Cab Calloway, and Chick Webb. Kansas City, Missouri introduced a different type of big-band jazz during the mid-1930s, and Count Basie's band was in the center of it. They were assembled in the area, and, therefore, reflected the region's emphasis on improvisation. Lester Young, Basie's tenor saxophonist, played with a rhythm and melody so unique that he opened up a whole new approach, similar to that of Armstrong's trumpet and cornet during the 1920s. There were also other musicians setting the stage for jazz during the 1930s. Among these were vibraphonist Lionel Hampton, drummer Kenny Clarke, electric guitarist Charlie Christian and trumpeter Roy Eldridge. Jazz singing also became well known, and among the leading singers were Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Mildred Bailey and Ivie Anderson. Europeans were also becoming more active on the jazz scene. Django Reinhardt, a Belgian guitarist, was a strong influence on Christian. Reinhardt's recordings were also available in the United States. Several musicians paved the way for the presence of jazz in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. Among these musicians were Armstrong, Ellington, and Henderson among many, many others. Bandleader Paul Whiteman attempted to create a lighter side of jazz music. His orchestra even premiered jazzy symphonic pieces by American composers such George Gershwin. Charlie Parker was the most notable jazz musician of the 1940s. He became the leader of a new style named bebop. It was also named rebop or bop. Similar to other outstanding musicians, Parker had played with the big bands. However, World War II brought on changes in the audiences' taste for music, and the big bands were run out-of-business. The period around World War II brought about a new change to the jazz arena, and musicians started recognizing themselves as more of artists, and stopped trying to add other improvisations to their music for a different sound. Parker still stood in the jazz forefront, collaborating with well-known musicians such as trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, pianist Earl "Bud" Powell, drummer Max Roach, pianist-composer Thelonious Monk, trumpeter Fats Navarro and jazz singer Sarah Vaughan. The late 1940s brought forth many musicians experimenting within jazz, but the most notable in jazz recordings were probably those in 1949 and 1950 by trumpeter Miles Davis. His style became known as West Coast jazz. It was refined by musicians such as tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims, tenor saxophonist Stan Getz and baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan. As a result, West Coast jazz became very popular throughout the 1950s. Pianist Dave Brubeck and alto saxophonist Paul Desmond were also very popular with Brubeck's mixture of classical music and jazz. Most musicians on the East Coast continued to thrive on the bebop tradition. Major contributors to this style included trumpeter Clifford Brown, drummer Art Blakey and tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins. Soul jazz was also derived from the Parker style, and it was played by pianist Horace Silver, alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley and his brother, cornetist Nat Adderley. Tenor saxophonist John Coltrane was introduced in 1955. He was a part of Miles Davis' quintet. The new genre created by Coltrane's music was called modal jazz. There were strivings toward combining jazz with classical music into what would be known as "third stream." Composer Gunther Schuller with pianist John Lewis and his Modern Jazz Quartet worked together to bring this movement together. Also, active was composer, bassist and bandleader Charlie Mingus and alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman. Both of these musicians brought a new excitement to jazz. Coleman even inspired an avant-garde jazz, and it was very popular within the 1960s, and included the Art Ensemble of Chicago, clarinetist Jimmy Giuffre, pianist Cecil Taylor and Coltrane. As time went by, jazz continued to flourish with Brazilian and Latin sounds being added to jazz music for all new sounds. Several musicians appealed to this era such as Stan Getz, flutist Herbie Mann, drummer Tony Williams, bassist Ron Carter, pianist Herbie Hancock, and tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Jazz took a turn for the worse in the 1960s. Many of the audiences began to appeal to other forms of music, and jazz musicians had to turn to influences by popular music to regain their stance. James Brown and Chick Corea were some of the musicians of this age. Jazz began to make a comeback in the 1980s with Wynton Marsalis and Branford Marsalis. Jazz musicians were, once again, starting to perform in front of sizeable audiences. Jazz has become more widespread and international today. It is also more open to women musicians. Jazz has also been seen by many as a form of therapy for dealing with several issues, whether emotional, mental, etcmany believe that listening to its sounds will soothe your mind, and take away any conflict that you previously held. Read More