Jazz - in this word is hidden not just the designation of the next musical style, here lies the whole history of new music, which first sounded at the beginning of the 20th century. The roots of jazz can be found much earlier, but it has received its development as an individual style relatively recently. It arose in the USA at a time when the country was experiencing the oppression of the Negro people, the persecution of this segment of the population, which was largely expressed in jazz compositions.
History of jazz
As far back as the 17th century, the first slaves from Africa were brought to America. These people were used on the plantations for the hardest work. Black slaves had practically no rights, being content with what they had. They found the only share of consolation and joy in music.
Africans have a great sense of rhythm, thanks to which they can sing to the beat. In those hours when they were given a little rest, dark-skinned slaves sang, accompanying themselves with blows on cans, tin cans, clapping their hands, etc. This is how the first motifs of the music that in the future will be called jazz arose.
History of the development of jazz
Jazz Development - New Orleans
In the cosmopolitan city of New Orleans, the development of different cultures took place, which led to the development of a new form of musical art. The period from 1900 to 1917 is commonly referred to as the time of traditional or New Orleans jazz.
At this time, this style is gaining particular popularity. His fans are not only black guys, but also white Americans. One of the most famous performers of jazz music is Louis Armstrong, who was born in New Orleans.
Swing is a means of expression in jazz
With the beginning of the Swing era, many small ensembles reorganized into larger groups. Thanks to the development of this expressive medium, now jazz music gives the impression of a huge internal energy, which is in a state of unstable balance.
Bebop - modern jazz
Another style that gradually developed in jazz music. It is a fairly fast tempo, and is also distinguished by complex improvisations, which are created by changing not the melody, but the harmony itself.
free jazz
The late 1950s and early 1960s was the time of free jazz, which included a retreat from Western consonance and rhythm. The main emphasis from now on was on the search for greater freedom of expression.
Decline of jazz music
In the late 60s of the XX century, this style of music experienced a decline in popularity. Despite the fact that many performers tried to revive this style by introducing modern listeners to jazz, they did not succeed. It is for this reason that jazz musicians were left without work, and a large number of jazz clubs were closed during this period.
rebirth
However, as time went on, jazz gradually returned. Today it is of interest among listeners from all over the world, regardless of what nationality a person has. Jazz traditions were revived, the style became popular again.
It is noteworthy that in jazz there is no permanent composition. There is always an ensemble of soloists, which distinguishes this style from all others.
Jazz developed in our country as well, appearing in the 20s of the XX century. A special orchestra was organized by Valentin Parnakh. Ten years later, jazz began to gain particular popularity among the inhabitants of the USSR, largely due to the performances of the ensemble led by Leonid Utesov.
Jazz as a separate musical style lives on today. He has many fans who are ready to give a lot for him to develop and continue to exist for many more years.
Jazz is a genre of music that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States. The characteristic features of jazz are improvisation, polyrhythm based on syncopated rhythms, and a unique set of techniques for performing rhythmic texture - swing.
Jazz is a kind of music that arose on the basis of the blues and spirituals of African Americans, as well as African folk rhythms, enriched with elements of European harmony and melody. The defining features of jazz are:
- sharp and flexible rhythm based on the principle of syncopation;
- wide use of percussion instruments;
- highly developed improvisational beginning;
-expressive manner of performance, characterized by great expression, dynamic and sound tension, reaching ecstatic.
Origin of the name jazz
The origin of the name is not fully understood. Its modern spelling - jazz - was established in the 1920s. Before that, other variants were known: chas, jasm, gism, jas, jass, jaz. There are many versions of the origin of the word "jazz", including the following:
- from the French jaser (to chat, to speak in a tongue twister);
- from English chase (chase, pursue);
- from the African jaiza (the name of a certain type of drum sound);
- from Arabic jazib (seducer); from the names of legendary jazz musicians - chas (from Charles), jas (from Jasper);
- from onomatopoeia jass, which imitates the sound of African copper cymbals, etc.
There is reason to believe that the word "jazz" was used as early as the middle of the 19th century as a name for an ecstatic, encouraging cry among blacks. According to some sources, in the 1880s it was used by New Orleans Creoles, who used it in the sense of "speed up", "speed up" - in relation to fast syncopated music.
According to M. Stearns, in the 1910s this word was common in Chicago and had "not quite a decent meaning." In print, the word jazz occurs for the first time in 1913 (in one of the San Francisco newspapers). In 1915, it entered the name of T. Brown's jazz orchestra - TORN BROWN "S DIXIELAND JASS BAND, which performed in Chicago, and in 1917 appeared on a gramophone record recorded by the famous New Orleans orchestra ORIGINAL DIXIELAND JAZZ (JASS) BAND.
Jazz styles
Archaic jazz (early jazz, early jazz, German archaischer jazz)
Archaic jazz - a collection of the oldest, traditional types of jazz, created by small ensembles in the process of collective improvisation on the themes of blues, ragtime, as well as European songs and dances.
Blues (blues, from English blue devils)
Blues is a type of Negro folk song whose melody is based on a clear 12-bar pattern.
The blues sings about deceived love, about need, the blues is characterized by a compassionate attitude towards oneself. At the same time, the lyrics of the blues are imbued with stoicism, mild mockery and humor.
In jazz music, the blues developed as an instrumental dance piece.
Boogie-woogie (boogie-woogie)
Boogie-woogie is a blues piano style characterized by a repetitive bass figure that defines the rhythmic and melodic possibilities of improvisation.
Gospel (from English Gospel - Gospel)
Gospels - religious tunes of North American blacks with texts based on the New Testament.
Ragtime (ragtime)
Ragtime is piano music based on the "beat" of two mismatched rhythmic lines:
- as if broken (sharply syncopated) melody;
-clear accompaniment, sustained in the style of a swift step.
Soul
Soul is Negro music associated with the blues tradition.
Soul is a style of vocal black music that emerged after the Second World War on the basis of rhythm and blues and gospel music traditions.
Soul jazz (soul-jazz)
Soul jazz is a type of hard bop, which is characterized by an orientation to the traditions of the blues and African American folklore.
Spiritual
Spiritual - an archaic spiritual genre of choral singing of North American blacks; religious chants with texts based on the Old Testament.
Street-edge (street-cry)
Street edge is an archaic folklore genre; a type of urban solo labor song of street peddlers, represented by many varieties.
Dixieland, dixie (dixieland, dixie)
Dixieland is a modernized New Orleans style characterized by collective improvisation.
Dixieland is a jazz group of (white) musicians who adopted the manner of performing Negro jazz.
Zong (from English song - song)
Zong - in the theater of B. Brecht - a ballad performed in the form of an interlude or an author's (parody) commentary of a grotesque nature with a plebeian vagabond theme close to jazz rhythm.
Improvisation
Improvisation - in music - the art of spontaneously creating or interpreting music.
Cadence (Italian cadenza, from Latin Cado - I end)
A cadenza is a free improvisation of a virtuoso nature, performed in an instrumental concerto for a soloist and orchestra. Sometimes cadenzas were composed by composers, but often they were left to the discretion of the performer.
Scat (scat)
Scat - in jazz - a type of vocal improvisation in which the voice is equated with an instrument.
Scat - instrumental singing - a technique of syllable (textless) singing, based on the articulation of syllables or sound combinations that are not related in meaning.
Hot (hot)
Hot - in jazz - a characteristic of a musician who performs improvisation with maximum energy.
New Orleans jazz style
New Orleans style of jazz - music characterized by a clear two-beat rhythm; the presence of three independent melodic lines, which are carried out simultaneously on the cornet (trumpet), trombone and clarinet, accompanied by a rhythmic group: piano, banjo or guitar, double bass or tuba.
In the works of New Orleans jazz, the main musical theme is repeated many times in various variations.
Sound (sound)
Sound is a jazz style category that characterizes the individual sound quality of an instrument or voice.
The sound is determined by the method of sound production, the type of attack of the sound, the manner of intonation and the interpretation of the timbre; sound is an individualized form of manifestation of the sound ideal in jazz.
Swing, classic swing (swing; classic swing)
Swing - jazz, arranged for extended variety and dance orchestras (big bands).
Swing is characterized by the roll call of three groups of wind instruments: saxophones, trumpets and trombones, creating the effect of rhythmic buildup. Swing performers refuse collective improvisation, the musicians accompany the soloist's improvisation with a pre-written accompaniment.
Swing reached its peak in 1938-1942.
Sweet
Sweet is a characteristic of entertaining and dance commercial music of a sentimental, melodic-lyrical nature, as well as related forms of commercialized jazz and "ojazzed" popular music.
symphonic jazz
Symphonic jazz is a jazz style that combines the features of symphonic music with elements of jazz.
Modern jazz (modern jazz)
Modern jazz is a collection of jazz styles and trends that have emerged since the late 1930s after the end of the classical style period and the "swing era".
Afro-Cuban jazz (German afrokubanischer jazz)
Afro-Cuban jazz is a style of jazz that developed towards the end of the 1940s from combining elements of bebop with Cuban rhythms.
Bebop, bop (bebop; bop)
Bebop is the first style of modern jazz that developed by the early 1930s.
Bebop is a direction of Negro jazz of small ensembles, which is characterized by:
- free solo improvisation, based on a complex sequence of chords;
-use of instrumental singing;
-modernization of the old hot jazz;
- a spasmodic, unstable melody with broken syllables and a feverish-nervous rhythm.
Combo (combo)
Kombo is a small modern jazz orchestra in which all instruments are soloists.
Cool jazz (cool jazz; cool jazz)
Cool jazz - a style of modern jazz that emerged in the early 50s, updating and complicating the harmonies of bop;
In cool jazz, polyphony is widely used.
Progressive (progressive)
Progressive is a stylistic trend in jazz that arose in the early 1940s on the basis of the traditions of classical swing and bop, associated with the practice of big bands and large orchestras of the symphonic type. Widely using Latin American melodies and rhythms.
Free jazz (free jazz)
Free Jazz is a style of contemporary jazz associated with radical experiments in harmony, form, rhythm and improvisation techniques.
Free jazz is characterized by:
- free individual and group improvisation;
- the use of polymetry and polyrhythm, polytonality and atonality, serial and dodecaphone technique, free forms, modal technique, etc.
Hard bop (hard bob)
Hard bop is a style of jazz that originated in the early 1950s from bebop. Hard bop is different:
- gloomy rough coloring;
- expressive, hard rhythmic;
-increasing blues elements in harmony.
Chicago style of jazz (chicago-still)
Chicago style of jazz is a variant of the New Orleans jazz style, which is characterized by:
- more rigorous compositional organization;
- strengthening solo improvisation (virtuoso episodes performed by various instruments).
Variety Orchestra
Variety band - a type of jazz band;
instrumental ensemble performing entertainment and dance music and pieces of jazz repertoire,
accompanying performers of popular songs and other pop genre masters.
Usually a variety orchestra includes a group of reed and brass instruments, piano, guitar, double bass and a set of drums.
Historical note on jazz
Jazz is believed to have originated in New Orleans between 1900 and 1917. A well-known legend says that from New Orleans, jazz spread across the Mississippi to Memphis, St. Louis, and finally to Chicago. The validity of this legend has recently been questioned by a number of jazz historians, and today there is an opinion that jazz originated in the Negro subculture simultaneously in different places in America, primarily in New York, Kansas City, Chicago and St. Louis. And yet the old legend, apparently, is not far from the truth.
First, it is supported by the testimonies of old musicians who lived during the period of jazz's emergence outside the Negro ghettos. All of them confirm that the New Orleans musicians played very special music, which other performers readily copied. The fact that New Orleans is the cradle of jazz is also confirmed by records. Jazz records recorded before 1924 are made by musicians from New Orleans.
The classical jazz period lasted from 1890 to 1929 and ended with the beginning of the "swing era". It is customary to refer to classical jazz: the New Orleans style (represented by the Negro and Creole directions), the New Orleans-Chicago style (which arose in Chicago after 1917 in connection with the move here of most of the leading Negro jazzmen of New Orleans), Dixieland (in its New Orleans and Chicago varieties ), a number of varieties of piano jazz (barrel house, boogie-woogie, etc.), as well as jazz trends related to the same period that arose in some other cities of the South and Midwest of the United States. Classical jazz, together with certain archaic style forms, is sometimes referred to as traditional jazz.
Jazz in Russia
The first jazz orchestra in Soviet Russia was created in Moscow in 1922 by the poet, translator, dancer, theater figure Valentin Parnakh and was called "Valentin Parnakh's First Eccentric Jazz Band Orchestra in the RSFSR". October 1, 1922 is traditionally considered the birthday of Russian jazz, when the first concert of this group took place.
The attitude of the Soviet authorities to jazz was ambiguous. At first, domestic jazz performers were not banned, but harsh criticism of jazz and Western culture was widespread. In the late 1940s, during the struggle against cosmopolitanism, jazz groups performing "Western" music were persecuted. With the onset of the "thaw", the repressions against the musicians were stopped, but the criticism continued.
The first book about jazz in the USSR was published by the Leningrad publishing house Academia in 1926. It was compiled by musicologist Semyon Ginzburg from translations of articles by Western composers and music critics, as well as his own materials, and was called Jazz Band and Modern Music. The next book about jazz was published in the USSR only in the early 1960s. It was written by Valery Mysovsky and Vladimir Feyertag, called "Jazz" and was essentially a compilation of information that could be obtained from various sources at that time. In 2001, the St. Petersburg publishing house "Skifia" published an encyclopedia "Jazz. XX century. Encyclopedic reference book. The book was prepared by the authoritative jazz critic Vladimir Feiertag.
Jazz is a special kind of music that combines American music of previous centuries, African rhythms, secular, work and ritual songs. Fans of this kind of musical direction can download their favorite tunes using the site http://vkdj.org/.
Jazz Features
Jazz is distinguished by certain features:
- rhythm;
- improvisation;
- polyrhythm.
He received his harmony as a result of European influence. Jazz is based on a particular rhythm of African origin. This style covers instrumental and vocal directions. Jazz exists through the use of musical instruments, which are of secondary importance in ordinary music. Jazz musicians must have the ability to improvise in solo and orchestra.
Characteristic features of jazz music
The main sign of jazz is the freedom of rhythm, which awakens in performers a sense of lightness, relaxation, freedom and continuous movement forward. As in classical works, this kind of music has its own size, rhythm, which is called swing. For this direction, constant pulsation is very important.
Jazz has its own characteristic repertoire and unusual forms. The main ones are blues and ballad, which serve as a kind of basis for all kinds of musical versions.
This direction of music is the creativity of those who perform it. It is the specificity and originality of the musician that forms its basis. It is not possible to learn it only from the notes. This genre depends entirely on the creativity and inspiration of the performer at the time of the game, who puts his emotions and soul into the work.
The main characteristic features of this music include:
- harmony;
- melodiousness;
- rhythm.
Thanks to improvisation, a new work is created every time. Never in life will two pieces performed by different musicians sound the same. Otherwise the orchestras will try to copy each other.
This modern style has many features of African music. One of them is that each instrument can act as a percussion instrument. When performing jazz compositions, well-known colloquial tones are used. Another borrowed feature is that the playing of the instruments copies the conversation. This kind of professional musical art, which changes greatly over time, has no strict boundaries. It is completely open to the influence of performers.
As one of the most revered musical art forms in America, jazz laid the foundation for an entire industry, introducing numerous names of brilliant composers, instrumentalists and vocalists to the world and spawning a wide range of genres. The 15 most influential jazz musicians are responsible for a global phenomenon that has occurred over the last century in the history of the genre.
Jazz developed in the later years of the 19th century and early 20th century as a combination of classical European and American sounds with African folk motives. The songs were performed with a syncopated rhythm, giving impetus to the development, and later the formation of large orchestras to perform it. Music has taken a big step forward from ragtime to modern jazz.
The influence of West African musical culture is evident in the way music is written and how it is performed. Polyrhythm, improvisation and syncopation are what characterize jazz. Over the past century, this style has changed under the influence of contemporaries of the genre, who brought their own idea to the essence of improvisation. New directions began to appear - bebop, fusion, Latin American jazz, free jazz, funk, acid jazz, hard bop, smooth jazz, and so on.
15 Art Tatum
Art Tatum is a jazz pianist and virtuoso who was practically blind. He is known as one of the greatest pianists of all time who changed the role of the piano in the jazz ensemble. Tatum turned to the stride style to create his own unique style of playing, adding swing rhythms and fantastic improvisations to the rhythm. His attitude to jazz music fundamentally changed the importance of the piano in jazz as a musical instrument from its previous characteristics.
Tatum experimented with the harmonies of the melody, influencing the structure of the chord and expanding it. All this characterized the style of bebop, which, as you know, would become popular ten years later, when the first records in this genre appeared. Critics also noted his impeccable playing technique - Art Tatum was able to play the most difficult passages with such ease and speed that it seemed that his fingers barely touched the black and white keys.
14 Thelonious Monk
Some of the most complex and varied sounds can be found in the repertoire of the pianist and composer, one of the most important representatives of the era of bebop and its subsequent development. His very personality as an eccentric musician contributed to the popularization of jazz. Monk, always dressed in a suit, hat and sunglasses, openly expressed his free attitude to improvisational music. He did not accept strict rules and formed his own approach to creating compositions. Some of his most brilliant and famous works are Epistrophy, Blue Monk, Straight, No Chaser, I Mean You and Well, You Needn't.
Monk's playing style was based on an innovative approach to improvisation. His works are distinguished by percussive passages and sharp pauses. Quite often, right during his performances, he jumped up from the piano and danced while the other members of the band continued to play the melody. Thelonious Monk remains one of the most influential jazz musicians in the history of the genre.
13 Charles Mingus
A recognized double bass virtuoso, composer and band leader, he was one of the most extraordinary musicians on the jazz scene. He developed a new musical style, combining gospel, hard bop, free jazz and classical music. Contemporaries called Mingus "the heir to Duke Ellington" for his fantastic ability to write works for small jazz ensembles. In his compositions, all the members of the band demonstrated their playing skills, each of which was also not only talented, but was characterized by a unique playing style.
Mingus carefully selected the musicians who made up his band. The legendary double bass player was known for his temper, and once he even punched trombonist Jimmy Knepper in the face, knocking out his tooth. Mingus suffered from a depressive disorder, but was not ready to put up with the fact that this somehow affected his creative activity. Despite this affliction, Charles Mingus is one of the most influential figures in jazz history.
12 Art Blakey
Art Blakey was a famous American drummer and bandleader who made a splash in the style and technique of playing the drum kit. He combined swing, blues, funk and hard bop - a style that is heard today in every modern jazz composition. Together with Max Roach and Kenny Clarke, he invented a new way to play bebop on drums. For over 30 years, his band, The Jazz Messengers, has given jazz to many jazz artists: Benny Golson, Wayne Shorter, Clifford Brown, Curtis Fuller, Horace Silver, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, and more.
The Jazz Messengers didn't just create phenomenal music - they were a kind of "musical testing ground" for young talented musicians, like the Miles Davis band. Art Blakey's style changed the very sound of jazz, becoming a new musical milestone.
11 Dizzy Gillespie (Dizzy Gillespie)
Jazz trumpeter, singer, songwriter and bandleader became a prominent figure in the days of bebop and modern jazz. His trumpet style influenced Miles Davis, Clifford Brown and Fats Navarro. After his time in Cuba, upon his return to the US, Gillespie was one of those musicians who actively promoted Afro-Cuban jazz. In addition to his inimitable performance on the characteristically curved trumpet, Gillespie was recognizable by his horn-rimmed glasses and impossibly large cheeks as he played.
The great jazz improviser Dizzy Gillespie, as well as Art Tatum, innovated in harmony. The compositions of Salt Peanuts and Goovin' High were rhythmically completely different from previous works. Faithful to bebop throughout his career, Gillespie is remembered as one of the most influential jazz trumpeters.
10 Max Roach
The top 15 most influential jazz musicians in the history of the genre include Max Roach, a drummer known as one of the pioneers of bebop. He, like few others, has influenced the modern style of playing the drum set. Roach was a civil rights activist and collaborated with Oscar Brown Jr. and Coleman Hawkins on the album We Insist! - Freedom Now ("We insist! - Freedom now"), dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Max Roach is a representative of an impeccable playing style, able to perform a long solo throughout the concert. Absolutely any audience was delighted with his unsurpassed skill.
9 Billie Holiday
Lady Day is the favorite of millions. Billie Holiday wrote only a few songs, but when she sang, she turned her voice from the first notes. Her performance is deep, personal and even intimate. Her style and intonation are inspired by the sound of musical instruments she has heard. Like almost all the musicians described above, she became the creator of a new, but already vocal style, based on long musical phrases and the tempo of singing them.
The famous Strange Fruit is the best not only in the career of Billie Holiday, but in the entire history of jazz because of the soulful performance of the singer. She was posthumously awarded prestigious awards and inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
8 John Coltrane
The name of John Coltrane is associated with virtuoso playing technique, excellent talent for composing music and a passion for learning new facets of the genre. On the threshold of the origins of hard bop, the saxophonist achieved tremendous success and became one of the most influential musicians in the history of the genre. Coltrane's music had a sharp sound, and he played with high intensity and dedication. He was able to both play alone and improvise in an ensemble, creating solo parts of unthinkable duration. Playing the tenor and soprano saxophone, Coltrane was also able to create melodic smooth jazz compositions.
John Coltrane is the author of a kind of "bebop reboot", incorporating modal harmonies into it. Remaining the main active figure in the avant-garde, he was a very prolific composer and did not stop releasing discs, recording about 50 albums as a band leader throughout his career.
7 Count Basie
The revolutionary pianist, organist, composer and bandleader Count Basie led one of the most successful bands in jazz history. Over the course of 50 years, the Count Basie Orchestra, including incredibly popular musicians such as Sweets Edison, Buck Clayton and Joe Williams, has earned a reputation as one of America's most in-demand big bands. Nine-time Grammy Award winner Count Basie has instilled a love of orchestral sound into generations of listeners.
Basie wrote many songs that have become jazz standards, such as April in Paris and One O'Clock Jump. Colleagues spoke of him as a tactful, modest and enthusiastic person. Had it not been for the Count Basie Orchestra in jazz history, the big band era would have sounded different and certainly not as influential as it became with this outstanding bandleader.
6 Coleman Hawkins
The tenor saxophone is the symbol of bebop and all jazz music in general. And for that we can be grateful to be Coleman Hawkins. The innovations that Hawkins brought were vital to the development of bebop in the mid-forties. His contribution to the popularity of this instrument may have determined the future careers of John Coltrane, and Dexter Gordon.
The composition Body and Soul (1939) became the benchmark for playing the tenor saxophone for many saxophonists. Other instrumentalists were also influenced by Hawkins - pianist Thelonious Monk, trumpeter Miles Davis, drummer Max Roach. His ability for extraordinary improvisations led to the discovery of new jazz sides of the genre that were not touched by his contemporaries. This partly explains why the tenor saxophone has become an integral part of the modern jazz ensemble.
5 Benny Goodman
The top five 15 most influential jazz musicians in the history of the genre opens. The famous King of Swing led almost the most popular orchestra of the early 20th century. His concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938 is recognized as one of the most important live concerts in the history of American music. This show demonstrates the advent of the jazz era, the recognition of this genre as an independent art form.
Despite the fact that Benny Goodman was the lead singer of a major swing orchestra, he also participated in the development of bebop. His orchestra became one of the first, which united musicians of different races in its composition. Goodman was a vocal opponent of the Jim Crow Act. He even turned down a tour of the southern states in support of racial equality. Benny Goodman was an active figure and reformer not only in jazz, but also in popular music.
4 Miles Davis
One of the central jazz figures of the 20th century, Miles Davis, stood at the origins of many musical events and watched them develop. He is credited with pioneering the genres of bebop, hard bop, cool jazz, free jazz, fusion, funk and techno music. In his constant search for a new musical style, he was always successful and was surrounded by brilliant musicians including John Coltrane, Cannoball Adderley, Keith Jarrett, JJ Johnson, Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea. During his lifetime, Davis was awarded 8 Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Miles Davis was one of the most active and influential jazz musicians of the last century.
3 Charlie Parker
When you think about jazz, you remember the name. Also known as Bird Parker, he was a jazz alto saxophone pioneer, bebop musician and composer. His fast playing, clear sound and talent as an improviser had a significant impact on the musicians of that time and our contemporaries. As a composer, he changed the standards of jazz music writing. Charlie Parker was the musician who cultivated the idea that jazzmen are artists and intellectuals, not just showmen. Many artists have tried to copy Parker's style. His famous playing techniques can also be traced in the manner of many current novice musicians, who take as a basis the composition Bird, consonant with the nickname of the alto-sakosophist.
2 Duke Ellington
He was a grandiose pianist, composer and one of the most outstanding orchestra leaders. Although he is known as a jazz pioneer, he excelled in other genres as well, including gospel, blues, classical and popular music. It is Ellington who is credited with establishing jazz as a distinct art form. With countless awards and prizes, the first great jazz composer never stopped improving. He was the inspiration for the next generation of musicians including Sonny Stitt, Oscar Peterson, Earl Hines, Joe Pass. Duke Ellington remains a recognized jazz piano genius - instrumentalist and composer.
1 Louis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong
Arguably the most influential jazz musician in the history of the genre, aka Satchmo is a trumpeter and singer from New Orleans. He is known as the creator of jazz, who played a key role in its development. The amazing abilities of this performer made it possible to build a trumpet into a solo jazz instrument. He is the first musician to sing and popularize the scat style. It was impossible not to recognize his low "thundering" timbre of voice.
Armstrong's commitment to his own ideals influenced the work of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. Louis Armstrong influenced not only jazz, but the entire musical culture, giving the world a new genre, a unique manner of singing and playing the trumpet.
Jazz is music filled with passion and ingenuity, music that knows no boundaries and limits. Compiling such a list is incredibly difficult. This list was written, rewritten, and then rewritten again. Ten is too limiting a number for a musical genre like jazz. However, regardless of the amount, this music is able to breathe life and energy, awaken from hibernation. What could be better than bold, tireless, warming jazz!
1. Louis Armstrong
1901 - 1971
Trumpeter Louis Armstrong is revered for his lively style, ingenuity, virtuosity, musical expression and dynamic spectacle. Known for his raspy voice and a career spanning over five decades. Armstrong's influence on music is invaluable. Generally, Louis Armstrong is considered the greatest jazz musician of all time.
Louis Armstrong with Velma Middleton & His All Stars - Saint Louis Blues
2. Duke Ellington
1899 - 1974
Duke Ellington is a pianist and composer who has been a jazz bandleader for almost 50 years. Ellington used his band as a musical laboratory for his experiments, in which he demonstrated the talents of the band members, many of whom stayed with him for a long time. Ellington is an incredibly gifted and prolific musician. During his fifty-year career, he has written thousands of compositions, including film and musical scores, as well as many well-known standards such as "Cotton Tail" and "It Don't Mean a Thing".
Duke Ellington and John Coltrane
3. Miles Davis
1926 - 1991
Miles Davis is one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Along with his bands, Davis has been a central figure in jazz music since the mid-1940s, including be-bop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, and jazz fusion. Davis has relentlessly pushed the boundaries of artistic expression, which is why he is often identified as one of the most innovative and respected performers in the history of music.
Miles Davis Quintet
4. Charlie Parker
1920 - 1955
Saxophonist virtuoso Charlie Parker was an influential jazz soloist and a leading figure in the development of be-bop, a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos, virtuosic technique, and improvisation. In his complex melodic lines, Parker combines jazz with other musical genres, including blues, Latin and classical music. Parker was an iconic figure in the beat subculture, but he transcended his generation to become the epitome of an uncompromising, intellectual musician.
Charlie Parker
5. Nat King Cole
1919 - 1965
Known for his silky baritone voice, Nat King Cole brought the emotionality of jazz to popular American music. Cole was one of the first African Americans to host a television program that was attended by jazz artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Eartha Kitt. A phenomenal pianist and prominent improviser, Cole was one of the first jazz artists to become a pop icon.
Nat King Cole
6. John Coltrane
1926 - 1967
Despite a relatively short career (first accompanying at the age of 29 in 1955, officially starting a solo career at 33 in 1960, and dying at the age of 40 in 1967), saxophonist John Coltrane is the most important and controversial figure in jazz. Despite his short career, thanks to his fame, Coltrane had the opportunity to record in abundance and many of his recordings were published posthumously. Coltrane has radically changed his style over the course of his career, yet he retains a cult following of both his early, traditional sound and his more experimental sound. And no one, almost with a religious commitment, doubts his significance in the history of music.
John Coltrane
7 Thelonious Monk
1917 - 1982
Thelonious Monk is a musician with a unique improvisational style, the second most recognizable jazz performer after Duke Ellington. His style was characterized by energetic, percussive lines interspersed with harsh, dramatic silences. During his performances, while the rest of the musicians played, Thelonious got up from the keyboard and danced for several minutes. After creating the classic jazz compositions "Round Midnight", "Straight, No Chaser," Monk ended his days in relative obscurity, but his influence on modern jazz is noticeable to this day.
Thelonious Monk - Round Midnight
8. Oscar Peterson
1925 - 2007
Oscar Peterson is an innovative musician who has performed everything from Bach's classical ode to one of the first jazz ballets. Peterson opened one of the first jazz schools in Canada. His "Hymn to Freedom" became the anthem of the civil rights movement. Oscar Peterson was one of the most talented and important jazz pianists of his generation.
Oscar Peterson - C Jam Blues
9. Billie Holiday
1915 - 1959
Billie Holiday is one of the most important figures in jazz, although she never wrote her own music. Holiday turned "Embraceable You", "I'll Be Seeing You" and "I Cover the Waterfront" into famous jazz standards, and her performance of "Strange Fruit" is considered one of the best in American music history. Although her life was full of tragedy, Holiday's improvisational genius, combined with her fragile, somewhat raspy voice, demonstrated an unprecedented depth of emotion unparalleled by other jazz singers.
Billie Holiday
10. Dizzy Gillespie
1917 - 1993
Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie is a bebop innovator and master of improvisation, as well as a pioneer of Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz. Gillespie has collaborated with various South American and Caribbean musicians. With a deep passion, he treated the traditional music of African countries. All this allowed him to bring unprecedented innovations to modern jazz interpretations. Throughout his long career, Gillespie toured relentlessly and captivated audiences with his beret, horn-rimmed glasses, puffy cheeks, lightheartedness and his incredible music.
Dizzy Gillespie feat. Charlie Parker
11. Dave Brubeck
1920 – 2012
Dave Brubeck is a composer and pianist, jazz promoter, civil rights activist, and music researcher. An iconoclastic performer recognizable from a single chord, a restless composer who pushes the boundaries of the genre and builds a bridge between the past and the future of music. Brubeck collaborated with Louis Armstrong and many other famous jazz musicians, and also influenced avant-garde pianist Cecil Taylor and saxophonist Anthony Braxton.
Dave Brubeck
12. Benny Goodman
1909 – 1986
Benny Goodman is a jazz musician better known as the "King of Swing". He became a popularizer of jazz among white youth. His appearance marked the beginning of an era. Goodman was a controversial personality. He relentlessly strived for perfection and this was reflected in his approach to music. Goodman was not just a virtuoso player - he was a creative clarinetist and innovator of the pre-bebop jazz era.
Benny Goodman
13. Charles Mingus
1922 – 1979
Charles Mingus is an influential jazz double bassist, composer and jazz bandleader. Mingus' music is a mixture of hot and soulful hard bop, gospel, classical music and free jazz. His ambitious music and formidable temperament earned Mingus the nickname "angry man of jazz". If he were just a string player, few people would know his name today. He was most likely the greatest double bass player ever, one who always kept his fingers on the pulse of jazz's ferocious expressive power.
Charles Mingus
14. Herbie Hancock
1940 –
Herbie Hancock will always be one of the most revered and controversial musicians in jazz - as will his employer/mentor Miles Davis. Unlike Davis, who steadily moved forward and never looked back, Hancock zigzags between almost electronic and acoustic jazz and even r "n" b. Despite his electronic experimentation, Hancock's love of the piano has not waned, and his piano playing style continues to evolve into ever more rigid and complex forms.
Herbie Hancock
15. Wynton Marsalis
1961 –
The most famous jazz musician since 1980. In the early 80s, Wynton Marsalis became a revelation as a young and very talented musician decided to make a living playing acoustic jazz rather than funk or R"n"B. Since the 1970s, there has been a huge shortage of new trumpeters in jazz, but the unexpected fame of Marsalis inspired a new interest in jazz music.
Wynton Marsalis - Rustiques (E. Bozza)
