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=**"Ahhh - those Jazz guys are just makin' that stuff up!" - Homer Simpson**=

Welcome to the Frisch Jazz Wiki. Here you will be able to find some information to help you learn a little bit more about Jazz - America's Only Art Music.

The information here is divided into six section. 1) Definition of Jazz Jazz History 2) Jazz History 3) Improvisation 4) Jazz Styles 5) Biographies of Selected Jazz Musicians 6) Videos

=The Definition of Jazz= What is Jazz music? Jazz - an American art form and an international phenomenon! Jazz is not the result of choosing a tune, but an ideal that is created first in the mind, inspired by ones passion and willed next in playing music. Jazz music is not found in websites or books or even written down in sheet music. It is in the act of creating the form itself, that we truly find Jazz.

An academic definition of Jazz would be: A genre of American music that originated in New Orleans circa 1900 characterized by strong, prominent meter, improvisation, distinctive tone colors & performance techniques, and dotted or syncopated rhythmic patterns. But Jazz is so much more than that!

Art in general hosts an invitation for the viewer or listener to invest a personal attentiveness. Unlike other mediums, the nature of music is tipped toward the emotional rather than intellectual. It is this personal connection with music and all art that enables the patron to actually experience what is being communicated, rather than merely understanding the information. While all forms of music share this dynamic, Jazz, with it's unique characteristic of collective improvisation, exemplifies it.

Most genres of music involve the listener into the realm of the completed work as it was scored. Jazz draws the onlooker to a deeper league, that of a partnership so to speak, of being along when each new phrase is created, when each inspired motive is often the interactive result of audience involvement. Jazz music's dynamic is its "newness" which can be attributed to the defining component - improvisation.

While Classical music may strive to conform the musical tones to orchestral sonorities, Jazz music thrives on instrumental diversities; the player's individual "sound" becoming the desired proficiency. This is where the passion is, a kind found no where else.

Like the self-motivating, energetic solos that distinguish the genre, Jazz continues to evolve and seek new levels of artistic expression. In slightly over one hundred years, this evolution has given birth to approximately two dozen distinct Jazz styles. Jazz music draws from life experience and human emotion as the inspiration of the creative force, and through this discourse is chronicled the story of it's people. Jazz musicians and those that follow the genre closely, can indeed be thought of as an artistic community complete with it's leaders, spokesmen, innovators, aficionados, members and fans.

=Jazz History=

The history of Jazz music origins is attributed to the turn of the 20th century New Orleans, although this unique, artistic medium occurred almost simultaneously in other North American areas like Saint Louis, Kansas City and Chicago. Traits carried from West African black folk music developed in the Americas, joined with European popular and light classical music of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, became the syncopated rhythms of Ragtime and minor chord voicings characteristic of the Blues.

Jazz and Blues are among America's greatest cultural achievements and exports to the world community giving powerful voice to the American experience. Born of a multi-hued society, it unites people across the divides of race, region and national boundaries and Jazz music history has always made powerful statements about freedom, creativity and American identity at home and abroad.

Jazz is not the result of choosing a tune, but an ideal that is created first in the mind, inspired by one's passion, and willed next in playing music. Its unique expression draws from life experience and human emotion as the inspiration of the creative force, and through this discourse is chronicled the history of a people. Musicians and those that follow the genre closely, can indeed be thought of as an artistic community complete with its leaders, spokesmen, innovators, aficionados, members, supporters & fans.

Jazz Music emerged as as a recognizable musical form around the turn of the 20th century. The roots of jazz, however, extend backward over several centuries. Jazz music represents the "synthesis of many cultural influences...that was achieved through the institution of slavery." Jazz music combines elements of African music with elements of Western European music.
 * Beginnings - 1890-1932**

African music differs from European music both technically and sociologically. Technically, African rhythms are more complex than those used in Western European Music. Often, several drummers would play at the same time weaving a complex rhythm known as polyrhythms. Sociologically, African society emphasized mass participation in musical performances to a far greater extent than European society did. In an African performance there would be a leader, drummers, and possibly other instrumentalists. The audience would often participate by clapping in time and shouting a response to phrases sung by the musicians. Slaves in the New World used these "response-cries" in their work routines and social and religious activities. White Americans called them "field hollers. Jazz musicians would later apply the term "call-response" to these plantation songs.

Western European Music also influenced the development of jazz. European harmonies from church hymns, folk songs, dances, military marches and airs, and classical compositions all affected the development of jazz. Essentially Africa's principal contribution to jazz was rhythm, Europe's was harmony, and both helped to furnish melody; It was African Americans, however, who combined the three to produce jazz. The earliest "jazz bands" took root around New Orleans. Among these bands were those led by Joe "King" Oliver, Louis Armstrong, and Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton. These bands played a style of music that would come to be known as Dixieland. Dixieland bands included cornets (or trumpets), clarinets, "tailgate" trombones, tubas, banjos, and drums. Smaller Dixieland bands developed to play in small bars and bordellos that existed in the seamier parts of New Orleans. In these bands a string bass or a piano would often replace the tuba.

The essence of Dixieland lies in its use of "collective improvisation". Collective improvisation uses the three lead instruments, usually the horns, to improvise contrapuntal melodies above a steady beat from the rhythm section. Within the improvisation the players would follow certain patterns and formulas in order to produce the "dixieland sound." Although each instrument would be playing a slightly different melody they would all blend together harmonically.

One of the most important early jazz bands was The Original Dixieland Jazz Band. They made the first ever jazz recordings! Some of the most important "early jazz" artists were Joe Oliver, Bix Biederbecke, Louis Armstrong, Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton, and Fats Waller.

Jazz began to "swing" as musicians began to adopt swing eighths, the string bass, high hat cymbals, and a looser, more rhythmic feeling. This change occurred gradually starting in the twenties with musicians such as Louis Armstrong, and continued on into the 40's. A lot of the music that came out of this period was played by bands of ten musicians or more. Because of this the swing era is also often known as the big band era. Some big bands didn't include a lot of improvisation. Other big bands such as that of Count Basie placed great emphasis on improvisation. Jazz music had been played as a form as entertainment since its inception. During the swing era jazz music developed into tremendous music to dance to. Jazz groups seldom performed just for listening. Swing dancing was an extremely popular past time. During this era, jazz achieved wide popular appeal. One of Count Basie's recordings, One O'Clock Jump, sold over a million copies. The beginnings of the swing era can be traced to developments of larger bands by Fletcher Henderson in New York, and Bennie Moten in Kansas City. Fletcher Henderson along with his brother Horace and with Don Redman created the pattern for swing arrangements. Henderson helped establish the independent use of trumpet, trombone, saxophone, and rhythm sections with the use of soloists. A swing score generally has specific notes for each instrument to play in every measure. Then the music arranger decides which measures will be used for solo improvisation. The score is then taken to a music copyist who extracts the individual parts for the various instruments. When the depression hit the U.S. in 1929 the entire music business suddenly failed. Some players, such as Benny Goodman were able to find employment in staff radio jobs. Others, such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington left the United States for Europe. Some jazz authorities believe that the swing era was launched in 1934 when Benny Goodman left the radio business to form his own band. However, by 1934 Duke Ellington as well as Fletcher Henderson had already formed large swing bands that played in the Kansas City area. Swing bands started to play a large part in people's lives in the late 30's as people tried to shake off the depression by dancing. Large ballrooms were extremely common and therefore large bands were also needed. Bands of the swing era produced a much fuller sound than the sound produced by earlier dixieland jazz bands. The resulted from the use of two to three times as many players. Because there were more players, swing music was organized in a homophonic construction. This resulted in the music sounding less complex and more organized in its effect. Block chords used by swing bands are a prime example of homophonic construction. The swing era is dominated by the big bands that played to huge audiences during this period. Two of the largest big bands were Count Basie's and Duke Ellington's. Benny Goodman also led several influential swing bands. Within the big bands there were also many individuals who distinguished themselves. Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins were two extremely talented saxophone players who became well renowned for their improvisational prowess. Ella Fitzgerald wowed crowds with her silky smooth voice and upbeat scat singing.
 * The Swing Era - 1932-1944**

Bop, also known as bebop or rebop is a form of jazz that was created as a revolt against the restrictions on creative freedom that were typical of the big bands of the swing era. In many of the big bands the solos were typically very short. This upset many soloists as there wasn't room for experimentation. Bebop was a natural response to this. Most bebop players turned to small combos where there was a lot more room for innovative improvisation. There is no defining moment when bop was born. Rather, many unrelated events helped with the birth of bop. Bop developed in many locals including Kansas City and St. Louis. It solidified as a jazz form in New York in the early 1940's. Bop first made its appearances in the playing of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk. These three musicians played together and refined a very complex kind of music. Bebop improvisations are composed mostly of eighth-note and sixteenth-note figures which seem jumpy and include many twists and turns of melody. Also, it often includes large intervals between notes and abrupt changes of direction with regards to the melody. Bebop musicians based their improvisation around chord changes rather than just embelishing a melody. Often they enriched a piece by adding chords to the chord progression. This is known as substitution. Sometimes they would also alter the existing chords of a piece by flatting the 5 of the chord, or adding the 9 and 13 to the chord. This added to the complexity of bebop improvisation. One popular method of writing bebop tunes, utilized by Charlie Parker and many others, was to take the chord changes from an existing piece and write or improvise a new melody over those changes. This allowed a rhythm section to play a tune that they might have never heard before. Bebop was not nearly as popular as swing had been. There are several explanations for this fact. One explanation is that bop music was a lot more complicated than swing and therefore made it a hard music for the general public to appreciate. Where as swing musicians pieces would sound the same in concert as in recordings a bop musician might never play a piece the same way twice. Another argument is that bop lacked popularity because there weren't that many bop singers. The argument is that people relate more to music with lyrics. Related to this argument is the fact that swing was popular dance music while bop was not. All this resulted in the fact that when Charlie Parker died in 1955 he was no where near as well known as Benny Goodman or Duke Ellington. In the long run, however, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk, the three main figures in bop played a very significant part in the development of jazz.
 * The 'Bop Era**

Just as bebop was a response to the limits of the swing era, cool jazz was a response to the complexities of bebop jazz. In the "cool era" jazz musicians moved jazz closer to classical music. Much more emphasis was placed on arrangement and composition rather than complex improvised solos. The term "cool" was actually invented by record companies and journalists. Musicians of this era disliked any labeling of their music and especially this one as they thought that it made out that their style of music was boring. One of the defining elements of cool jazz was the different tone qualities that musicians aimed for. The tonal qualities of cool jazz can be described as calm, subdued, soft, or light. One of the most obvious tonal differences in this era from the eras preceding it was the use of a much more delicate attack. Cool players also played with little or no vibrato. Unlike bop musicians who utilized the whole range of the instrument and often focused on the extremes fo the instrument, cool jazz musicians tended to use the middle registers. Cool jazz ensembles were usually composed of three to eight players. These ensembles often utilized instruments that had not previously been used in jazz ensembles. These instruments included the flute, the French horn, the oboe, and the cello. Another important instrument that worked its way into jazz was the flugelhorn. The flugelhorn was used quite often by Miles Davis, one of the leaders of the swing movement. In addition to introducing new instruments to jazz, the cool era also introduced new formats for compositions and new meter signatures. Musicians no longer only played in 4/4 or 2/4 time. Meters such as 3/4, 5/4, and 9/4 became more common. Some musicians even adopted some classical forms such as rondos and fugues. These musicians moved even closer to traditional classical music and their type of jazz has been categorized as "third-stream music." Some important artists of the cool era, and beyond, include Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus.
 * Cool and Beyond**

Following the trend of experimentation that was so evident with bebop and cool jazz, jazz musicians continued to experiment with new forms and new sounds. Their experimentation evolved into several different forms of jazz including free jazz, acid jazz, and avant-garde jazz. It is hard to call this period any one particular name. In this summary I would like to talk mainly about the hard bop and free jazz styles that were part of the new things in jazz that developed from 1959 to 1970. The hard bop style obtained its name because it was more driving and less relaxed than cool jazz. In addition hard bop was also called funky due to it's rollicking, rhythmic feeling. The funky style had many ties to gospel music and during the period was often called soul. Funky was a style that utilized highly rhythmical melodies and less complex harmonies than were used during the preceding era. Musicians created a style that can be described as happy or lacking tension. Funky jazz used bop elements, but they were much simplified. The playing style of funky jazz musicians stands in strong contrast to the measured and controlled expression of cool jazz artists. Funky jazz borrowed elements from the African American churches of the day. The scale used in funky jazz was very similar to the scale which had been used in early blues and had been refined through it's use in church music. The predominance of blues notes during this period resulted in many players actually playing pieces in minor keys. Important artists in the genre included Sonny Rollins and Cannonball Adderly. The other style of music that developed during this period was free jazz. Free form jazz developed as a conscious effort to break away from its musical predecessors. The main difference between free jazz and what had come before was that free jazz efforts operate in a medium that is not defined by the same harmonic and rhythmic forms used by earlier jazz styles. The essence of free form jazz is that it doesn't use a strict structure for playing a piece and improvising. Rather it allows the musicians to react to one another during their performance. In a sense artists in a free jazz performance talk to one another through their instruments. With free jazz, the finished song was important, but so was the way in which it was created. Free form jazz, out of all jazz genres, proves to be the most spontaneous and thus include the most improvisation. Two very important members of the free jazz movement were John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman.
 * New Things 1959-1970**

Today, jazz is alive and well. Pop groups such as Squirrel Nut Zippers have helped jazz reenter the main pop scene. There are many artists who continue the tradition left to them by the likes of Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Lester Young, and John Coltrane. As jazz musicians of the 90's have looked back to the heroes of the past, particularly from the bop era, a new generation of jazz stars has emerged. Many of these artists aren't interested in creating a new genre of jazz, but rather they want to support a revival of an earlier jazz era. The main difference between the current jazz stars and those of yesteryear are that today's jazz stars are mainly the trained at formal music schools such as Berkelee. Some of today's stars include Joshua Redman, Terrance Blanchard, and Joe Lovano. One of the most influential jazz musicians today, and a leader in the jazz world through his work at the Lincoln center, is Wynton Marsalis.
 * Jazz Today**

= = = =

=__**Improvisation**__=

By Loren Schoenberg, Conductor and Saxophonist

To many, composed music and improvised music seem to be opposites, but in jazz, they merge in a unique fashion. It has been said that the best improvised music sounds composed, and that the best composed music sounds improvised. Think about it — when you hear a great classical pianist play Chopin, or a superlative actor recite Shakespeare, they give the impression that they are actually inventing these ideas in front of you. In the same sense, a master improviser will occasionally hit upon a series of phrases that seem to have been preordained — you know where they are going, even though it is being created at the instant you are hearing it. The composer Arnold Schoenberg [no relation to the author] once wrote, "Composition is slowed down improvisation," and both disciplines deal with the same challenge — how to organize and present ideas in a coherent fashion.

One of the most common misconceptions about jazz is that it is spun out of the air in a totally impromptu manner. This notion exists because many small jazz groups do not read music when they play. The truth of the matter is that what those musicians are actually doing is spontaneously creating a very sophisticated form of theme and variations. Imagine that you and a group of friends decided to do your own version of a favorite story — one that you know from a book or from a film, say, //The Wizard of Oz.// You decide who is going to play whom. It is understood that Dorothy is going to start in Kansas, there's going to be a tornado, she's going to encounter a gaggle of crazy characters in the Land of Oz, and by the end, she will wake up in her own bed at home. The way that you get from scene to scene will be up to the actors at the moment, but they are all so familiar with the progression of events and the underlying theme/story that the improvisation adds a special kind of intensity and calls for a higher level of engagement. This frequently results in a new sense of excitement and the possibility of understanding in a new fashion this well-known story.

That, in essence, is what a jazz band does. They all know the tune beforehand, and the responsibilities of their chosen instruments. The piano, guitar, bass and drums, while all able to fill the role of soloist, are essentially there as accompaniment, and provide the rhythmic and harmonic basis over which the other soloists will invent their own melodic variations. The framework is flexible so that the soloists may shorten or lengthen their improvisations depending on the inspiration of the moment. The other players, then, have a responsibility to react to what has preceded them. Even when they are not soloing, members of a jazz band have to be intimately attuned to the music at all times because they never know what direction it might take. If you don't, you may, as John Coltrane once put it, feel as though you stepped into an empty elevator shaft. It's worth noting that Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms were all renowned for their improvisational abilities. They could spin off a dazzling series of developing variations at a moment's notice, and this undoubtedly influenced the way they composed. Jazz players are their true heirs in the way that composition and improvisation merge in their creativity. One way to follow a jazz improvisation is to hear the melody of the song in your head while listening to the solo.

But improvisation is not the be all and end all of jazz. Composers such as Duke Ellington and Eddie Sauter wrote, on occasion, jazz compositions practically devoid of improvisation. But the real challenge comes when a composer integrates improvisation into a piece. When playing orchestral jazz compositions, the improviser has to use all of his or her faculties to weave a statement into the context that the composer created. This is why all jazz musicians are composers. Jazz improvisers do not necessarily sit down with pen in hand and write out their solos on a piece of score paper, but those solos nonetheless require the same discipline as the written works of a composer. One of the great pleasures to be found in listening to players who are both great composers and soloists, such as Benny Carter and Wynton Marsalis, is hearing them improvise on their own material. And if you ever have the chance to listen to a classic jazz improvisation over and over again — Coleman Hawkins' //Body and Soul//, or Thelonious Monk's //Straight, No Chaser//, for example — you will find that they are compositions of the highest magnitude. Indeed, there is a good case to be made that these musicians should be able to copyright their solos as original compositions or variations.

Improvisation is a big part of everyday life. We improvise in the way we get dressed, cook our meals, go to work, and speak. There is no mystery to it, and there is certainly no mystery to jazz improvisation. It is, simply put, just another way of spontaneously confronting a challenge. To hear the purest and most sublime example of jazz improvisation, listen to Louis Armstrong. As the writer Stanley Crouch has observed: "In Armstrong's work there is a new kind of confidence that had never existed in Western music, an aural proof that man can master time through improvisation, that contemplation and action needn't be at odds." Armstrong's lessons still reverberate at the core of the music.

=Jazz Styles=


 * 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.


 * 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.

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.
 * 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.


 * Bebop** - Developed in the early 1940's, Bop had established itself as vogue by 1945. It's main innovators were alto saxophonist <span class="wiki_link_ext">Charlie Parker and trumpeter <span class="wiki_link_ext">Dizzy Gillespie. Until then, <span class="wiki_link_ext">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 <span class="wiki_link_ext">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.


 * 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.

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.
 * 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 <span class="wiki_link_ext">Ornette Coleman was considered the prophet of Free Jazz, then <span class="wiki_link_ext">John Coltrane would surely be it's leading disciple.


 * Fusion** - By the early 1970's, the term "Fusion" had come to identity a mixture of <span class="wiki_link_ext">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 <span class="wiki_link_ext">Mario Bauza and percussionist <span class="wiki_link_ext">Chano Pozo who had a significant influence on <span class="wiki_link_ext">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. <span class="wiki_link_ext">Arturo Sandoval, <span class="wiki_link_ext">Pancho Sanchez and <span class="wiki_link_ext">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.


 * 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 "<span class="wiki_link_ext">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.

=**Biographies**=

**Louis Armstrong**
(August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971)

Louis Daniel Armstrong, nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an jazz trumpeter and singer and one of the most influential jazz musicians of all time.

Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an innovative cornet and trumpet virtuoso, Armstrong was a foundational influence on jazz, shifting the music's focus from collective improvisation to solo performers. With his distinctive gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also greatly skilled at scat singing, or wordless vocalizing. Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and deep, instantly recognizable voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extended well beyond jazz, and by the end of his career in the '60s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general: critic Steve Leggett describes Armstrong as "perhaps the most important American musician of the 20th century."

**John Coltrane**
(September 23, 1926 - July 17, 1967)

John Coltrane was, after Charlie Parker, the most revolutionary and widely imitated saxophonist in jazz. Coltrane grew up in High Point, North Carolina, where he learned to play E-flat alto horn, clarinet, and (at about the age of 15) alto saxophone. After moving to Philadelphia he enrolled at the Ornstein School of Music and the Granoff Studios; service in a navy band in Hawaii (1945-46) interrupted these studies. He played alto saxophone in the bands led by Joe Webb and King Kolax, then changed to the tenor to work with Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (1947-48). He performed on either instrument as circumstances demanded while in groups led by Jimmy Heath, Howard McGhee, Dizzy Gillespie (with whom he made his first recording in 1949), Earl Bostic, and lesser-known rhythm-and-blues musicians, but by the time of his membership in Johnny Hodges's septet (1953-54) he was firmly committed to the tenor instrument. He performed infrequently for about a year, then leaped to fame in Miles Davis' quintet with Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones (1955-57).

Throughout his career he reshaped modern jazz and influenced generations of other musicians. He was astonishingly prolific: he made about fifty recordings as a leader in these twelve years, and appeared on many more led by other musicians. Throughout his career Coltrane's music took on an increasingly spiritual dimension that would color his legacy.

**Miles Davis**
(May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991)

In the 1940s, Miles Davis went off to New York City to study music at Julliard. He ended up playing jazz with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie instead, soon playing trumpet behind some of the biggest bandleaders of the era. As a bandleader himself during the 1950s and '60s, his influence led to "cool" jazz and the emergence of the musician as composer and arranger. He recorded many classic albums, including //Relaxin' With Miles Davis//, //Birth of the Cool,// and, with compositional help from Bill Evans, //Kind of Blue//; his 1969 //Bitches Brew//, merging jazz with rock and free-form improvisation, made the top 40 pop charts.

As a trumpeter, Davis had a pure, round sound but also an unusual freedom of articulation and pitch. He was known for favoring a low register and for a minimalist less-is-more playing style, but Davis was also capable of highly complex and technically demanding trumpet work. Unlike many trumpeters of his era, Davis relied on tone rather than speed, often using a mute with his horn. He is considered one of the most influential musicians of the past century. In terms of importance to the history of jazz, few knowledgeable critics would balk at describing him as an innovative genius with an unmistakeable style and an unmatched musical range. Stylistically, his vast catalogue encompasses bebop, cool jazz, modal jazz and jazz-rock fusion, and he was a pivotal figure in the evolution of the latter three. His recordings, along with the live performances of his many seminal bands, were vital in jazz's increased artistic acceptance and, as well as an innovator, he was a populariser, with a languid, melodic style that was more readily comprehensible to non-jazz fans than the hard bebop that had preceded it.

On March 13, 2006 Davis was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He has also been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame, Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame, and //Down Beat'//s Jazz Hall of Fame.

**Duke Ellington**
(April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974)

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was the most prolific composer of the twentieth century in terms of both number of compositions and variety of forms. His development was one of the most spectacular in the history of music, underscored by more than fifty years of sustained achievement as an artist and an entertainer. He is considered by many to be America's greatest composer, bandleader, and recording artist. The extent of Ellington's innovations helped to redefine the various forms in which he worked. He synthesized many of the elements of American music — the minstrel song, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley tunes, the blues, and American appropriations of the European music tradition — into a consistent style with which, though technically complex, has a directness and a simplicity of expression largely absent from the purported art music of the twentieth century. Ellington's first great achievements came in the three-minute song form, and he later wrote music for all kinds of settings: the ballroom, the comedy stage, the nightclub, the movie house, the theater, the concert hall, and the cathedral. His blues writing resulted in new conceptions of form, harmony, and melody, and he became the master of the romantic ballad and created numerous works that featured the great soloists in his jazz orchestra.

Ellington often composed specifically for the style and skills of the individual musicians in his orchestra, such as "Jeep's Blues" for Johnny Hodges, "Concerto for Cootie" (" Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me ") for Cootie Williams and "The Mooche" for Tricky Sam Nanton. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's "Caravan" and " Perdido " which brought the "Spanish Tinge" to big-band jazz. After 1941, he frequently collaborated with composer-arranger Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his alter-ego.

**Dizzy Gillespie**
(October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993)

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was a jazz trumpeter, bandleader, singer, and composer. He was born in Cheraw, South Carolina and was the youngest of nine children. Dizzy's father was a local bandleader, so instruments were made available to Dizzy. He started to play the piano at the age of 4. Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz.

In addition to featuring in these epochal moments in bebop, he was instrumental in founding Afro-Cuban jazz, the modern jazz version of what early-jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton referred to as the "Spanish Tinge". Gillespie was a trumpet virtuoso and gifted improviser, building on the virtuoso style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of harmonic complexity previously unknown in jazz. In addition to his instrumental skills, Dizzy's beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, his scat singing, his bent horn, pouched cheeks and his light-hearted personality were essential in popularizing bebop, which was originally regarded as threatening and frightening music by many listeners raised on older styles of jazz. He had an enormous impact on virtually every subsequent trumpeter, both by the example of his playing and as a mentor to younger musicians.

**Benny Goodman**
(May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986)

Born into a large, poverty stricken family, Benny began playing the clarinet at an early age. He was associated with the Austin High School Gang, having gone to school with drummer Dave Tough. By the time he was twelve, Goodman appeared onstage imitating famous bandleader/clarinetist Ted Lewis. It was at this concert that Ben Pollack heard the young clarinetist and Benny was soon playing in Pollack’s band. Goodman’s first recordings were made with the Pollack group in 1926, and give a strong example of Benny’s influences at the time including Jimmie Noone, who was then with Doc Cook and His Dreamland Orchestra and Leon Roppolo of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings. During this period Goodman recorded his first sides as a leader with members of the Pollack band including one 1928 date which features the only known recording of Benny on alto and baritone saxophones.

Following the musical migration out of Chicago and into New York, Goodman became a very successful and popular free-lancer, joining the likes of Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey in New York studios. In 1934 Benny put together his first big band, featuring Bunny Berigan on trumpet, Jess Stacey on piano and Gene Krupa on drums. With the addition of some excellent, sophisticated arrangements by Fletcher Henderson, the “Swing Era” was born.

Goodman spent the next fifty years recording and touring with various groups big and small, including some very successful trips to Russia and the Far East. He also played many concerts on a classical format that received mixed reviews.

Known by musicians for his stand-offish and “cheap” nature, many sidemen had a love/hate relationship with Goodman. Many musicians claimed that Benny was dishonest when it came time to pay off the band and many more recalled the Goodman “ray”, the dirtiest of looks received when a mistake was made. That aside, its clear that without Goodman the “Swing Era” would have been nowhere near as strong when it came, if it came at all.

After his death, the Yale University library received the bulk of Goodman’s personal collection including many private never-before-heard recordings and rare unpublished photos.

**Thelonious Monk**
(October 10, 1917 - February 17, 1982)

Although he remained long misunderstood and little known, both his playing and his compositions had a formative influence on modern jazz. When Monk was four his family moved to New York, which was his home until he retired. In the early 1940s he worked as a sideman in jazz groups and became house pianist at Minton's Playhouse in Harlem. Here he encouraged the young jazz pianist Bud Powell (who achieved success far earlier than Monk himself) and was first recorded in 1941 in Minton's house quartet, when Charlie Christian was making a guest appearance.

Widely considered one of the most important musicians in jazz, Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy," "'Round Midnight," "Blue Monk," "Straight No Chaser" and "Well, You Needn't." Often regarded as a founder of bebop, Monk's playing style later evolved away from that form. His compositions and improvisations are full of dissonant harmonies and angular melodic twists, and are impossible to separate from Monk's unorthodox approach to the piano, which combined a highly percussive attack with abrupt, dramatic use of silences and hesitations; a style nicknamed "Melodious Thunk" by his wife Nellie.

**Charlie Parker**
(August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955)

Parker is widely considered one of the most influential of jazz musicians, along with Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Parker acquired the nickname "Yardbird" early in his career, and the shortened form "Bird" remained Parker's sobriquet for the rest of his life, inspiring the titles of a number of Parker compositions, such as "Yardbird Suite" and "Ornithology."

Parker played a leading role in the development of bebop, a form of jazz characterized by fast tempos, virtuoso technique, and improvisation based on harmonic structure. Parker's innovative approaches to melody, rhythm, and harmony exercised enormous influence on his contemporaries. Several of Parker's songs have become standards, including "Billie's Bounce", "Anthropology", "Ornithology", and "Confirmation". He introduced revolutionary harmonic ideas including a tonal vocabulary employing 9ths, 11ths and 13ths of chords, rapidly implied passing chords, and new variants of altered chords and chord substitutions. His tone was clean and penetrating, but sweet and plaintive on ballads. Although many Parker recordings demonstrate dazzling virtuoso technique and complex melodic lines – such as "Koko", "Kim", and "Leap Frog" – he was also one of the great blues players. His themeless blues improvisation "Parker's Mood" represents one of the most deeply affecting recordings in jazz. At various times, Parker fused jazz with other musical styles, from classical to Latin music, blazing paths followed later by others.

Parker also became an icon for the hipster subculture and later the Beat generation, personifying the conception of the jazz musician as an uncompromising artist and intellectual, rather than just a popular entertainer. His style – from a rhythmic, harmonic and soloing perspective – influenced countless peers on every instrument. Like Louis Armstrong before him, Parker changed the sound of jazz music forever.

=__Videos__=

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 * Miles Davis - So What**

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 * Joshua Redman - Straight Ahead**

**Dizzy Gillespie - "Salt Peanuts"**
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 * Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis - "A" Train**

**Thelonious Monk Quartet - Straight, No Chaser**
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 * Horace Silver - Song For My Father**

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 * Louis Armstrong - Hello Dolly**

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 * Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World**

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 * Duke Ellington - Satin Doll

Stan Getz - Desafinado, Girl from Ipanema media type="custom" key="3025140"

Benny Goodman - Sing, Sing, Sing media type="custom" key="3024944"

John Coltrane - Afro Blue media type="custom" key="3024958"

Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie - Hot House media type="custom" key="3024964"

Charles Mingus - Better Get In Your Sould media type="custom" key="3025016"

Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five media type="custom" key="3025148"

Milt Jackson - Bag's Groove media type="custom" key="3025036"

Russell Malone Quartet media type="custom" key="3025122"**