Jazz History @ Verve Music Group

Jazz History

@ Verve Music Group
Jazz covers a broad spectrum of diverse musical styles and searching for a particular type of jazz that you enjoy is often hit-or-miss. Verve Music Group has created this "Jazz History" section as a tool to help you learn about the various jazz styles and their historical significance. Jazz History offers a systematic guide to the evolution of jazz and important recordings that exemplify the periods and artists associated with each style. Categories have been selected to define musical, social, and political events important to the development of jazz. Clicking on the links highlighted in each section will bring you to artist discographies, specific album pages, and other features within the site.

Discovering recordings of new and classic jazz artists can be great fun. We hope you find this Jazz History section helpful in broadening your understanding of the music. Enjoy the journey! - Dr. David Schroeder Faculty, New York University and The New School Jazz Studies Departments.

Jazz History - The Blues
The genesis of most popular musical styles can be traced back to the "blues." Developed from an outgrowth of the early African-American experience, its earliest influences shaped the roots of American music ranging from gospel choirs and bar room singers in the deep South, to early jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and pop styles of today. Blues, passed down from generation to generation through an "oral" tradition, originally acted as a functional music offering African-Americans a vehicle to convey their daily experiences. Early forms of the blues include the "field holler," which allowed laborers in the fields to keep in contact with each other, while the "ring shout" was used for dancing. W.C. Handy, known as the "Father of the Blues," published his "Memphis Blues" in 1912, becoming the first song to include "blues" in the title. Handy went on to write other blues classics including "Beale Street Blues," "Yellow Dog Blues," and "St. Louis Blues." Blues gained commercial success in 1920 when vocalist Mamie Smith's recording of "The Crazy Blues" became an instant sensation. Another Smith — Bessie — (not related) was proclaimed the "Empress of the Blues" based on the prowess of her first recordings in 1923, which contributed some of the lasting masterpieces of the first blues craze. In the late 1920s and '30s, Lonnie Johnson became the first modern blues guitarist. His playing influenced the Delta Blues style of Robert Johnson, as well as T-Bone Walker, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, and B.B. King. Additionally, his work with jazz legends Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, as well as his duet recordings with guitarist Eddie Lang, influenced the jazz style of guitarists including Charlie Christian. Emerging during the 1940s, "jump blues" incorporated the upbeat boogie-woogie piano style, clever lyrics, and punchy horn riffs derived from the big band era. Artists like saxophonist and vocalist Louis Jordan broadened the popular appeal of the blues. Adding an emphasis on the vocal lead, jump blues eventually developed into the "rhythm and blues" (R&B) of the 1950s, which influenced the "rock and roll" style of Chuck Berry and Bill Haley. By the '60s, with its infusion of gospel roots, R&B developed into "soul" music with groups including James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone. The 1950s and '60s spawned the popularity of Chicago Blues with artists including Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, and Willie Dixon. Guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton fused the blues style with 1960s rock music, influencing future generations of pop and blues artists. Pivotal blues artists in the 1980s and '90s include Stevie Ray Vaughn, Robert Cray, Lucky Peterson, Robben Ford, Dr. John, Mighty Mo Rodgers, and Joe Louis Walker.

Jazz History - Early Jazz
Jazz music prior to the popular swing era of the 1930s and '40s is often referred to as "early jazz." Through its origins before the turn of the 20th century, jazz had evolved from a regional music, central to New Orleans and its surroundings, to a musical style at the forefront of national and international popular music by the 1930s. The music of early jazz most often consisted of collective group improvisation. New Orleans, considered the birthplace of jazz, was a thriving international center of commerce at the turn of the century. Because of its location as a seaport on the Mississippi River, it became a melting pot for ethnically diverse cultures. Musical influences from Africa, Spain, Italy, South America, and French cultures combined with ragtime and other popular music of the day to create the New Orleans style. Key to its development was the combination of the aural tradition of the blues along with the imitation of the popular marching band style brought to national prominence by John Philip Sousa. The resultant music created a "ragging" effect or embellishment to the music by combining spontaneous melodic variations with syncopated rhythms. In 1917, the first recording to document this style of jazz, "Livery Stable Blues," was made by the all-white Original Dixieland Jazz Band (ODJB). This "New Orleans" style of jazz was primarily used as entertainment for the black working class, acting as functional music for dances, parades and funerals, and could also be heard in barrel houses, gambling joints and brothels found in the Storyville section of the city. By the 1920s, Chicago had become the new center for jazz due to the migration of a large Black population from the South looking for new job opportunities and a better lifestyle in the North. Along with this migration came the music and musicians that created the New Orleans style of jazz. Now in Chicago, these innovators including pianist/composer Jelly Roll Morton, cornetists Joe "King" Oliver, Freddie Keppard, and Louis Armstrong, soprano sax and clarinet player Sidney Bechet, clarinetist Jimmy Noone, pianist Earl Hines, and trombonist Kid Ory began to gain national recognition through their recordings and popularity in clubs. The music of these black musicians, and the early recordings of the ODJB, began attracting many young white players who would eventually form their own bands. These musicians included cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, C-melody saxophonist Frank Trumbauer, clarinetist Pee Wee Russell and a group of Chicago musicians known as the Austin High Gang, including saxophonist Bud Freeman, cornetist Jimmy McPartland, and drummer Dave Tough. As the popularity of jazz had expanded in Chicago, it would also find its way to Kansas City and finally New York. The jazz craze in New York, prior to the 1920s focused on polite and sophisticated music performed in hotels rather than the New Orleans style of jazz. It featured waltzes and popular Broadway show tunes, and eventually incorporated the new "stride" music developed from ragtime. The Harlem school of stride piano included such innovators as James P. Johnson and Willie "The Lion" Smith, eventually influencing other important pianists as Fats Waller, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington. The 1920s, known as the "Jazz Age," were filled with raucous excitement and reckless abandon. It was period of growth and prosperity for America, as well as a time of shifting social mores. Many Americans were ready to celebrate the new peace at the conclusion of World War I in 1918 and found jazz music the perfect complement. "Hot jazz," blues, and the music from the "Tin Pan Alley" pop songwriting industry created the excitement that America was looking for. The "Charleston" dance craze created by the dance team Vernon and Irene Castle and their musical counterpart James Reese Europe would sweep across the country by the early 1920s. Blues singer Mamie Smith's 1920 recording of "Crazy Blues" would sell 75,000 copies in Harlem within a month, turning the blues record industry into a million-dollar business. Tin Pan Alley and the recording companies would soon capitalize on the this new craze, propelling blues singers like Mamie Smith, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Alberta Hunter, and Ethel Waters to stardom. The expansion of jazz from the traditional New Orleans style of five musicians to larger "jazz age" groups of usually ten musicians ushered in the next wave in the development of jazz, the big band sound of the "swing era."

Jazz History - Swing
The 1930s ushered in a style of music that that became the most accessible and popular in jazz history. From 1935, when the U.S. was recovering from the Great Depression, big bands flourished as the dance craze swept the country. Nationwide exposure to "swing" music via radio broadcasts and recordings enabled the music to thrust into popular culture. Band leaders including Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford , Artie Shaw, Cab Calloway, Benny Carter, Earl Hines, Chick Webb, Tommy Dorsey, and Charlie Barnet became household names and popular music icons. At the onset of the swing era, jazz had begun to take on more standardized characteristics. Prior to the 1930s in New York, Chicago and the Southwest, bands began replacing the traditional small group New Orleans style of jazz, featuring collective improvisation, in favor of larger and more powerful groups consisting of twelve to sixteen musicians. One of the reasons for this change was the constraint of current technology. With the lack of microphones, or any form of electrical amplification, dance bands had to make other plans in order to be heard in large ballrooms and dance halls. By increasing the number of musicians, the volume also increased. No longer could the collective improvisation of the New Orleans style be sustained with a larger ensemble without sounding like chaos. New approaches to dealing with jazz on a grander scale had begun taking root by the early 1920s. The earliest musicians to create these big bands included pianist Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington and Benny Moten, as well as bandleaders Paul Whiteman, Jean Goldkette, and Ben Pollack. With the increase in ensemble size, arrangers became key to the success of these bands. Bandleaders like Duke Ellington became famous as composers and arrangers, while other leaders hired staff arrangers or commissioned music for their groups. The early New York big band style of the 1920s focused on the orchestration of commercial tunes from Tin Pan Alley and original compositions, eventually infusing "Hot" jazz soloists like Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Coleman Hawkins and Benny Goodman into the arrangements. The bands based in Kansas City, the Southwest and Midwest were known as territory bands and played blues-oriented music focusing on the steady swing groove emanating from the rhythm section. These bands included Andy Kirk's Clouds of Joy, Walter Page's Blue Devils, Jay McShann, Alphonse Trent, and Benny Moten. Arrangements were loosely constructed around the soloists. The horn sections riffing behind the soloists often improvised the arrangements, eventually formalizing their parts. Key to the success of these groups were the soloists who added the excitement and creativity to the music. Musicians like saxophonist Lester Young and trumpeter Buck Clayton gained early fame as star soloists with the Count Basie Orchestra. As World War II came to a close, so did the popularity and economic viability of the big bands. Musician union strikes, special taxes imposed in dance halls and the drafting of musicians into the military struck heavy blows to the swing era. Many bandleaders also performed and recorded in small group settings focusing on improvisation. These groups were often composed of the soloists made famous from their big band exposure. Such artists include tenor saxophonist Ben Webster with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Roy Eldridge with the Artie Shaw Orchestra, and Buddy Rich with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Benny Goodman's famous quartet featuring pianist Teddy Wilson, vibraphonist Lionel Hampton, and drummer Gene Krupa became the first inter-racial group to perform in public. As the swing style developed, musicians began to incorporate more technically and harmonically advanced approaches to the music. Such musicians as pianist Art Tatum, tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, and guitarist Charlie Christian became instrumental in influencing younger musicians who would create the "bebop" style. By the 1940s, bebop was being worked out at jam sessions and after hours clubs in Harlem. Clubs like Minton's Playhouse and Monroe's Uptown House offered a haven for the next generation of jazz musicians including Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, and Max Roach.

Jazz History - Latin
Dating back to early jazz and the inception of the New Orleans style, Latin rhythms played an influential role in the development of jazz. The cultural melting pot that existed in New Orleans at the turn of the 20th Century created a mix of diverse musical influences including African, French, and Latin cultures. Early recordings by Jelly Roll Morton, W.C. Handy, and Scott Joplin all share "Spanish tinges," or elements of Hispanic dance music including tango rhythms. During the 1930s, Cuban bandleader Xavier Cugat introduced America to many Latin rhythms, popularizing "rhumba" dancing by 1935. Duke Ellington also made use of Latin rhythms influenced by his Puerto Rican trombonist Juan Tizol. By the 1940s, beboppers Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker began incorporating Afro-Cuban rhythms through their association with Cuban percussionists Chano Pozo and Machito. In the 1950s Cuban arrangers and composers including Chico O'Farrill and Perez Prado began influencing the big band styles of Woody Herman and Stan Kenton. The 1950s spawned important Latin jazz artists including percussionist Tito Puente and vibraphonist Cal Tjader, influencing younger generations of musicians including flutist Dave Valentin, pianist Hilton Ruiz, and vibes player Dave Samuels. The bossa nova fad of the 1960s gave a major boost to Latin music as well as to the careers of many established jazz musicians including saxophonists Stan Getz and flutist Herbie Mann. Musicians such as Chick Corea, vocalist Flora Purim, and percussionist Airto Moreira began infusing Latin rhythms with more electric fusion styles during the 1970s. By the 1980s, a newer generation of Latin jazz musicians began to develop including Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, trumpeter and percussionist Jerry Gonzalez, and pianist Danilo Perez.

Jazz History - Bebop
Developed between the early and mid-1940s, "bebop" expanded upon many of the improvisational elements of the swing era. Young musicians including Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, and Thelonious Monk, influenced by the innovative soloists of the swing era (e.g., Art Tatum, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young) began exploring more advanced harmonies, altered chords, and chord substitutions. A combination of social and economic events helped usher in the bebop era. As World War II ultimately drafted many of the veteran musicians needed to man the popular big bands of the swing era, many teenagers too young to be drafted were instead enlisted into the ranks of the touring road bands. Young musicians like Gillespie and Parker, as well as Stan Getz and Red Rodney, developed their craft at an early age by working with such swing masters as Jack Teagarden, Earl Hines, and Jay McShann. The war also forced cut backs in dance halls and cabarets due to imposed entertainment taxes, as well as a recording ban imposed by the musicians union between 1942 and 1944. In New York City, many clubs and after hours joints became the breeding ground for small group explorations, especially in Harlem. Clubs like Minton's Playhouse witnessed the development of this new music by bebop innovators including guitarist Charlie Christian, bassist Jimmy Blanton, and pianist Thelonious Monk. Disregarding elaborate big band arrangements central to the swing era style, bebop musicians streamlined their bands with four to six musicians, creating a vehicle specifically designed for exploring the improvisational elements of music. Using the blues and the harmonic framework of popular swing standards, beboppers replaced popular melodies with new, more complex bebop melodies. Staples of the bebop repertoire included such tunes as "Ornithology," "Donna Lee," "Groovin' High," and "Hot House." Their fast pulse and enriched harmonic vocabulary defined a new direction for jazz, no longer a dance music but a new art form unto itself. Rhythmically, the steady beat, or the quarter note pulse, was assigned to the bass player and the ride and hi-hat cymbals of the drummer. This new approach allowed drummers like Max Roach and Kenny Clarke to interact with the soloist by creating rhythmic accents with the snare and bass drum, often referred to as "dropping bombs." Initially, bebop received much criticism for its "break-neck" tempos that were too fast for dancers, and its melodies that lacked the simplicity of earlier styles. Complex harmonic sense was required to perform the music, leaving many swing musicians behind, who simply relied on their ears to guide them through the chord changes. As the popularity of bebop grew, critics and jazz fans came to view it as a challenging new art form. By the late 1940s and early 1950s musicians began to exhaust the standard structure and format of the bebop style. Looking to expand in new directions, beboppers including trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist John Lewis, as well as arranger Gil Evans and baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan began incorporating more orchestrated approaches to bebop. Eventually their first recordings became labeled "Birth of the Cool."

Jazz History - Cool
Along with the bebop movement developed during the 1940s, the 1950s ushered in a lighter, more romantic style of jazz called "cool." Developed mainly from the perspective of white West Coast jazz musicians, cool jazz combined the melodic and swinging aspects of the earlier swing era with the harmonic and rhythmic developments of bebop. The roots of cool jazz can be traced back to various earlier styles, as well as a direction that trumpet player Miles Davis pursued during the late 1940s. After leaving saxophonist Charlie Parker's group in 1948, Davis became intrigued with developing new directions in jazz. He became associated with other New York musicians intent on combining the excitement and spontaneity of bebop with lush orchestrated arrangements. A pool of musicians including pianist John Lewis, arranger Gil Evans, and baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, contributed to the creation of the Miles Davis Nonet recordings labeled "Birth of the Cool." Although these experimental recordings did not gain commercial success, they did help spawn the creation of the cool movement in the West coast. Davis's light tone and lyrical approach to melody was influential to cool trumpet players including Chet Baker, Shorty Rogers, and Jack Sheldon. Also influential to the cool style was tenor saxophonist Lester Young. Young's laid back melodic approach combined with his light airy tone offered cool musicians new directions to explore other than those of the hard driving bebop style. Saxophonists influenced by Young include Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, Jimmy Giuffre, and Art Pepper. Although many cool musicians have been pegged as limited to the West Coast style, musicians such as Stan Getz continued to explore other styles including bebop, and third stream. Most notable are his early 1960s collaborative Bossa Nova recordings with Brazilian musicians Antonio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto (see Bossa Nova). Cool also incorporated influences from 20th century classical music. Groups including Gerry Mulligan's pianoless quartet relied on counterpoint between Mulligan's baritone saxophone and Chet Baker's trumpet. Pianist Dave Brubeck often integrated odd meters and classical forms within his compositions including "Blue Rondo á la Turk." Pianist Lennie Tristano cited J.S. Bach and Bela Bartók as major influences. By the mid to late 1950s, the cool movement would spawn a more serious bridge between jazz and classical music called "third stream." Aside from cool, other strains of jazz began to evolve from the influences of bebop by the mid 1950s. Big bands held over from the swing era, including the Woody Herman and Stan Kenton Orchestras incorporated elements of the bebop and cool styles into their music. On the East Coast, musicians began developing a jazz style that contrasted the laid back cool approach. While remaining grounded in bebop, the "hard bop" style developed from a perspective of African American and urban lifestyles. Typically more blues based and rhythmically driven than the cool style, hard bop would dominate jazz by the end of the 1950s.

Jazz History - Hard Bop
The term "hard bop" encompasses a variety of jazz styles developed through the mid-1950s and 1960s. While firmly rooted in the bebop tradition, hard bop began to develop a more intense rhythmic drive along with an infusion of blues and gospel influences. By the mid-1950s, hard boppers began breaking out of the standard bebop format using popular songs as vehicles for improvisation, played at torrid tempos with a straight ahead groove. They also created original compositions expressing a variety of tempos, grooves, and emotions. Such diversity led to the development of classic songs like Clifford Brown's "Joy Spring," Benny Golson's "Blues March," Bobby Timmons's "Moanin'," and Cannonball Adderley's "Work Song." Musicians including Sonny Stitt, Sonny Rollins, J.J. Johnson, Miles Davis and John Coltrane developed their hard bop styles from early experience as beboppers. Bassist Charles Mingus as well as pianist Horace Silver and organist Jimmy Smith were also inspired by the soul music of Ray Charles and gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, developing a "funky" side to hard bop. In contrast to the approach and attitude of mostly white "cool" players on the West Coast, hard bop evolved among African-American musicians and reflected the black experience in Eastern cities including New York, Philadelphia, and Detroit. Incorporating rhythms rooted in traditional African music, drummers like Max Roach and Art Blakey re-established the drums as the core for this style. Blakey's group, called the Jazz Messengers, fostered the early careers of many great musicians including Horace Silver, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Hank Mobley, Cedar Walton, and Curtis Fuller. Hard bop also encompasses modal jazz developed by trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Bill Evans, and saxophonist John Coltrane, as well as Coltrane's experiments with dense harmonic structures found in his compositions including "Giant Steps" and "Countdown." The hard bop period also spawned several approaches to the piano trio. The Oscar Peterson Trio featuring bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Herb Ellis exemplifies a traditional sound, sans drums. Other groups including the Ahmad Jamal and Bill Evans trios chose the format of piano, bass and drums. The term "post bop" became the label for the music that sprung out the hard bop period. Incorporating many of the characteristics of hard bop, post bop also included exploration within the avant garde realm. Charles Mingus combined the blues and gospel styles with avant garde improvisations by such musicians as alto saxophonist and bass clarinetist Eric Dolphy. The popularity of hard bop has continued to be an influential force in the direction of jazz since the 1950s. Today the tradition continues with musicians such as tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker and alto saxophonist Donald Harrison.

Jazz History - Third Stream
Throughout most of the 1950s, a handful of jazz composers began incorporating classical music techniques within the jazz idiom. Although the cool style experimented with fugues, rondos, and extended forms, exemplified by the work of pianist Dave Brubeck, "third stream" developed into a musical style with a deliberate intent to fuse jazz with western classical music. The two mainstreams combined to form a third stream. Earlier in the century, composers had pursued similar directions - George Gershwin with "Rhapsody in Blue," and Darius Milhaud with "The Creation of the World." Bandleader Paul Whiteman, whose motto was to "make a lady out of jazz," popularized what was to be labeled "symphonic jazz" during the 1920s and '30s. Duke Ellington began creating his extended works including "Reminiscing in Tempo," in 1935, and "Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue," in 1937. Intrigued by jazz rhythms, classical composer Igor Stravinsky created his "Ebony Concerto" in 1946 for clarinetist Woody Herman and his Orchestra. Other examples of classical explorations in jazz can be found in the late-1940s Miles Davis Nonet recordings referred to as the "Birth of the Cool," as well as the recordings of the Claude Thornhill Orchestra arranged by Gil Evans. Both groups incorporate the use of counterpoint and intricate harmonies, as well as flute, French horn, and tuba, adding a classical element to jazz. In 1955 composers John Lewis and Gunther Schuller formed an organization called the Jazz and Classical Music Society to present concert performances of rarely heard music. Emphasizing contemporary music, these concerts included jazz composers, offering them an opportunity to present their less conventional works under formal concert conditions. With the aim of bringing together jazz and classical composers to learn from each other, compositions were commissioned and recorded including works by Schuller, Lewis, Jimmy Giuffre, J.J. Johnson, George Russell, and Charles Mingus. Other approaches to third stream include pianist Bill Evans's recording with string orchestra featuring jazz treatments of classical works by Granados, Bach, Faure, and Chopin in 1965, as well as Stan Getz's Focus recording, featuring his improvisations over orchestral themes composed and arranged by Eddie Sauter.

Jazz History - Avant Garde
The 1960s in America were filled with social unrest, with protests against oppression and racial discrimination. The "avant garde," (translation: "advance group") as with other musical styles, reflected the social and political climate of the time. Avant garde, a term used synonymously in the 1960s with "free" jazz, first gained recognition in 1958 through saxophonist Ornette Coleman, as well as other pioneers including pianists Cecil Taylor and Sun Ra. The avant garde challenged the listener by allowing the musician to choose his own musical path rather than follow the traditional approaches to which jazz musicians had previously adhered. All aspects of the music were at the discretion of the improviser. The music often transcended recognizable pitches and musical shapes, allowing moans, shrieks, and cries to convey the energy and emotional discourse of the individual musician. In 1960 Ornette Coleman made his revolutionary "Free Jazz" recording featuring collective improvisation between double quartets. Although collective improvisation became a major component within the avant garde movement with recordings including Coltrane's "Ascension," and "Om," the concept of group improvisation dates back to early New Orleans jazz at the turn of the 20th Century. As early as the mid-1950s, jazz musicians including Charles Mingus with his recording "Pithecanthropus Erectus," began re-introducing collective improvisation into modern jazz. In 1959, Miles Davis introduced modal jazz into the mainstream with his composition "So What," allowing the soloist more freedom to explore new ideas by simplifying the chord changes. Saxophonist John Coltrane took on the role of "father figure" in the '60s, bringing exposure to younger avant garde musicians including saxophonists Eric Dolphy, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, and Albert Ayler. Coltrane would spend the rest of his short life expressing himself musically through the avant garde, also labeled the "new thing" movement. In the 1960s and '70s, Chicago developed an avant garde scene led by pianist/composer Muhal Richard Abrams. In 1965 he founded the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, whose members eventually included saxophonists Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, Chico Freeman, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Avant garde styles practiced today can be found in the work of musicians including saxophonists Steve Coleman and David S. Ware. New York City's "downtown" scene headquartered at the Knitting Factory is also a breeding ground for new and experimental music. The musicians in that sphere, such as saxophonists John Zorn and Tim Berne, trumpeter Dave Douglas, drummer Joey Baron, and violinist Mark Feldman, have helped to reshape new directions for the avant garde.

Jazz History - Bossa Nova
In the early 1950s, Brazilian musicians including Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, and Luíz Bonfa, were exposed to jazz records from the popular West Coast, or cool jazz style. By the late 1950s, these musicians had blended elements of the Brazilian samba rhythm, commonly heard in parades and street music, with the delicate sound and harmonic approach of cool jazz, creating a charming and subdued, but harmonically advanced "bossa nova" (translation: "new beat") style. The early 1960s was a period of transition for jazz and popular music. The impact of great American songwriters, including Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Hoagy Carmichael, and Jerome Kern, whose careers began in "Tin Pan Alley" at the turn of the century, was dissipating. The popularity of hard bop and other strains of jazz in the 1950s began to wane by the early 1960s with declining record sales and nightclub attendance. Prior to the British invasion by the Beatles and the development of the Motown sound that eventually swept the record industry, the bossa nova emerged as a new musical direction in both jazz and popular genres. In 1962, the bossa nova was introduced to America by guitarist Charlie Byrd, who had toured Brazil and became immersed in the idiom. His recording with saxophonist Stan Getz, Jazz Samba, became an immediate popular success, spawning the birth of the bossa nova style. Soon other jazz musicians, including saxophonists Coleman Hawkins and Sonny Rollins and flutist Herbie Mann, began making bossa nova recordings. By the mid-1960s, bossa nova compositions including Jobim's "Girl From Ipanema" and "Wave" had become standard within the jazz repertoire. Today, a new generation of Brazilian musicians continue to weave floating melodies and hypnotic grooves founded in the bossa nova style. Current artists include Vinicius Cantuária, Ivan Lins, Djavan, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, and Eliane Elias.

Jazz History - Groove Jazz
"Groove" is inclusive of various jazz styles ranging from the early 1960s to current musical trends. The singular musical characteristic that ties these styles together is the importance of the underlying and continuous funky backbeat. Included in this category may be elements of hard bop, soul jazz, R&B, funk, fusion, rap, hip-hop, and acid jazz. During the 1960s, groove styles were labeled soul jazz. The combination of popular soul and gospel tinged, dance-oriented music — fused with improvisation — offered an accessible approach to jazz, which broadened its appeal to a wider audience. Less cerebral than the avant garde and hard bop styles, soul jazz drew from and reacted to the rich cultural experience that defines the African-American culture. Soul music laid the rhythmic groove and emotional foundation for this style including influences by Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, James Brown, and Aretha Franklin. Musicians like saxophonist King Curtis and Hammond organist Jimmy Smith often portrayed the experiences of African-Americans by tying their music to cultural themes. Song titles alone could offer a context for the music. Smith's recordings including "Back at the Chicken Shack", "The Sermon", and Curtis's "Memphis Soul Stew" helped to convey earthy and down home images of the African-American lifestyle of the 1960s. Smith's grooving style has been influential to new generations of organ players including Barbara Dennerlein, Larry Goldings, and John Medeski. Jazz musicians spawned from hard bop styles often ventured into soul jazz. Artists including guitarist Wes Montgomery, multi-reed player Roland Kirk, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, and alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, developed styles based on the groove of soul music. In 1966 Eddie Harris developed a funky approach to jazz, incorporating the electrified tenor saxophone. Joining Les McCann's soul jazz group in 1969, Harris would later record with rock musicians Steve Winwood, Jeff Beck, and post-fusion guitarist John Scofield. Scofield has continued to explore funk in a recent collaboration with organ-groove trio Medeski, Martin & Wood. Influenced by funk groups including George Clinton and Parliament, keyboardist Herbie Hancock released the album Headhunters in 1973, marking the beginning of his exploration of more commercial types of music. This culminated in his 1980s MTV-driven video for the hit song "Rockit." The 1980s and '90s witnessed new approaches incorporating the groove style. Rap and hip-hop began influencing jazz artists including saxophonists Maceo Parker and Courtney Pine, while acid jazz combined "techno" aspects of the music controlled by DJs incorporating looped music samples along with live improvisations.

Jazz History - Jazz Fusion
"Fusion" has often been described as the melding of jazz with rock styles, although most fusion music initially drew from the rhythmic and harmonic aspects of soul music, particularly the music of James Brown and Sly Stone. Such harmonic material found in soul music was also similar to the modal improvisation developed by Miles Davis, Bill Evans, and John Coltrane in the late 1950s and '60s. Improvisations based on these modal structures rather than relying on the blues, (the main structure for rock music), created the mold for the fusion style. Other defining characteristics of fusion music include the use of funk backbeats, electric instruments, loud volumes, rock textures, and intricate ensemble compositions. During the 1960s, popular music in America began changing directions. Younger audiences often chose the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, or the politically oriented folk music of Bob Dylan over the more complex and demanding jazz styles. With rock and soul appealing to a younger generation, jazz musicians were torn between following conventional approaches to their music or pursuing the avant garde. Miles Davis chose another direction, one that incorporated the influences of rock and soul music as well as modal and contemporary approaches to jazz. This music became known as fusion. Miles's earliest experiment with fusion was documented on his 1968 recording Miles In The Sky, with the song "Stuff." Featuring Herbie Hancock on electric piano and Tony Williams playing a funky back beat, "Stuff" illustrated the genesis of this musical style. By 1969, Davis's albums In a Silent Way and the commercially successful Bitches Brew led the way for this new direction in jazz. Many musicians felt threatened by this new music, and lashed out against the direction that Miles, saxophonist Charles Lloyd, and others including began to pursue. Fusion groups led by Davis and Lloyd began performing alongside successful rock acts including Blood, Sweat and Tears, and singer Laura Nyro at major venues. The exposure from these new venues helped fusion gain new acceptance from the younger Woodstock generation of rock fans. The '70s fusion "supergroups" were led by Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul (Weather Report), Chick Corea (Return To Forever), John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra), Herbie Hancock, and Michael Brecker (Brecker Brothers). By no coincidence, most of the leaders of the fusion movement had spent time in the '60s or '70s Miles Davis groups. During these years, fusion became increasingly innovative and adventurous, melding the wild energy of rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix with the advanced technical proficiency of the most evolved jazz musicians. Fusion often incorporated elements of world music — Latin, African, Indian, and Caribbean influences. The fusion style with its very accessible rock-oriented textures gained widespread popularity but declined by the end of the decade. In its place rose a somewhat less aggressive form of electric music called "contemporary" jazz, as well as the "neo-classic" period of the 1980s.

Jazz History - Smooth & Contemporary Jazz
Instrumental pop music that emerged in the 1970s is often labeled "contemporary" jazz and reflects some of the same influences found in fusion music. Artists including saxophonists Grover Washington Jr. and David Sanborn developed a lighter, funkier approach, with a radio-friendly style that was even more accessible than the fusion movement's supergroups. Chuck Mangione, John Klemmer, Earl Klugh, Spyro Gyra, and George Benson each had commercial success on pop radio. Benson's hit, "Breezin'", produced by Tommy LiPuma, became a landmark recording, creating widespread acceptance of contemporary jazz and selling millions. The '70s was a period of major transition in jazz. Prior to this time, many jazz recordings focused on capturing live performances created in clubs. Musicians like Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, and Horace Silver preferred recording in the club setting in an attempt to capture the spontaneity and excitement of performing before live audiences. By the late 1960s, Creed Taylor began creating highly produced jazz records within the controlled environment of the recording studio. No longer attempting to recreate the club scene, Taylor's approach was to record jazz artists within a studio setting while retaining the elements of improvisation. By combining jazz artists like guitarist George Benson and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard with arrangers Don Sebesky and Bob James, Taylor's concept proved commercially successful. In 1982, Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen launched GRP Records. With Grusin's formidable background as a composer and arranger and Rosen's interest in developing recording technology, GRP created an approach to record production similar to Creed Taylor's studio recordings. In the '80s, with the post-disco record industry in a slump, many major record labels dropped their jazz rosters, creating opportunities for GRP to sign artists including keyboardist Chick Corea, and guitarist Lee Ritenour. By combining contemporary jazz artists with digital recording technology, GRP gained widespread acceptance as one of the first labels to release recordings in the CD format. Open to the concept of integrating elements of pop music with jazz, Grusin and Rosen reacted to popular musical trends and successfully broadened the appeal of jazz to a wider audience. Vocalists Patti Austin, Angela Bofill, and Diane Schuur rounded out what later became known as the "GRP sound." In the '90s, a commercial radio format evolved under the name "smooth jazz" which continues to feature many of the innovators of contemporary jazz.

Jazz History - Neo-Classic Jazz
The idea of recreating classic jazz first came to fruition in 1985 with the American Jazz Orchestra, created by critic Gary Giddins. Under the musical direction of pianist John Lewis, the Orchestra functioned as a repertory ensemble recreating classic works seminal to the rich history of jazz. In 1991 Lincoln Center made a major commitment, appointing Wynton Marsalis as artistic director of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Soon other organizations including the Smithsonian Institution and Carnegie Hall created their own repertory jazz orchestras. The efforts of these groups have helped to revitalize music from earlier jazz periods including the works of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, among others. During the mid 1980s and '90s, many younger musicians began to explore earlier jazz styles, incorporating them into their music. Musicians rooted in bebop and hard bop styles also began developing a repertoire incorporating influences from early jazz and the swing era. Deemed "Young Lions," they began gaining a popular following through record sales and widespread media attention, including the soundtrack to the motion picture "Kansas City" in 1997. Today, the seminal musicians within this style include trumpeters Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, and Nicholas Payton; pianists Stephen Scott, Eric Reed, and Marcus Roberts; saxophonist Donald Harrison, guitarist Russell Malone, and bassist Christian McBride. By returning to these earlier styles and reevaluating the significance of classic jazz, these "neo-classic" musicians offer new direction, and the revitalization of historically important music.

Jazz History - The Jazz Vocalists
Early jazz owes its improvisational approach to the vocal style of the blues. By 1920, blues vocalists like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith had an impact on other performers including the early trumpet styles of Joe "King" Oliver and Louis Armstrong. Influenced in turn by both Armstrong's trumpet and vocal style, singers including Bing Crosby and Connie Boswell developed distinctive vocal styles as early as 1926. During the swing era of the 1930s and '40s, every band included a "girl" or "boy" singer. While the era of the big bands focused mainly on instrumental music, occasionally vocalists were featured on ballads or novelty songs. Vocalists who began their early careers as band singers include Frank Sinatra with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Ella Fitzgerald with the Chick Webb Orchestra, and Anita O'Day with the Gene Krupa Orchestra. World War II wrought economic demise on the big bands, creating new opportunities for vocalists as leaders. A recording ban was imposed by the American Federation of Musicians during the war but vocalists were excluded, since the union did not recognize them as musicians. This opportunity allowed vocalists to record freely, gaining widespread popularity in the commercial market. Through the late 1940s, '50s, and '60s, a variety of male jazz vocalists ascended to great commercial success. The vibrant and strong baritone voices of Nat King Cole, Billy Eckstine, Arthur Prysock, Joe Williams, and Johnny Hartman epitomized popular music, especially romantic ballads and love songs. By the 1950s, blues and R&B music began influencing the jazz vocal style. Crossover artists Dinah Washington and Etta James became influential to younger singers including Nancy Wilson and Abbey Lincoln. The vocal styles of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald continued to influence singers into the 1990s. From the 1940s on, vocalists including Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Shirley Horn, Betty Carter, and Teri Thornton, developed their individual vocal styles and influenced future generations of singers. Throughout the 1970s and '80s, jazz musicians were often influenced by the popular appeal of commercial music. Vocalists like Patti Austin, Mark Murphy, Diane Schuur, and Dee Dee Bridgewater developed their musical directions often infusing jazz with pop, R&B, gospel, and other commercial styles. By the 1990s, a new generation of vocalists had developed. Well-versed in the jazz tradition, singers including Diana Krall, Cassandra Wilson, and Kevin Mahogany continue to draw from the innovators of vocal and instrumental jazz, as well as pursue new musical frontiers. =>>>>>>>>>>>

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