The great trumpeter Miles Davis once said that the history of jazz can be summarized in four words: “Louis Armstrong. Charlie Parker.” There is no doubt that the former is held in the highest regard with respect to jazz and its origins in the 20th century. Parker was a much different figure, yet he is still known to be one of the greatest jazz improvisers and innovators of our time. Charlie Parker was a jazz alto saxophonist who, through his work in bebop and his immense talent as a musician, inspired many performers and composers throughout the years.
On August 29, 1920, Parker was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He got his start on the alto saxophone in 1933, and in 1935 he moved on to become a full-time musician. At the time, Kansas City thrived with African-American music, so Parker took advantage of this. For a few years he played in various semi-professional groups, developing his skill through experience. In 1939, he moved to
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Unlike the usual alto saxophone tone, Parker’s tone was more harsh with a more narrow vibrato, which he never really employed due to his rapid playing. His style of improvisation was his real claim to fame. Parker and his bop colleagues were known for playing pieces at really fast tempos, sometimes exceeding 300 beats per minute. Improvising over such quick tunes was already seemingly impossible, but Parker did it and he did it very well. At the first listen, it may appear as if he is just playing notes all over the place, but in an artistic manner. That is partially true. A look at his transcribed solos reveals that he used formulas in his improvisations, causing all the notes and rhythms and their articulation to have some sort of special relationship with one another. This is what makes Parker’s work so ingenious -- at the quickest tempos, he could effortlessly play long, thought out passages at the drop of a
Developed in the early 1940's, Bop had established itself as vogue by 1945. It's main innovators were alto saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. In this stage in jazz, improvisation differed immensely. Bebop soloists engaged in harmonic 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 chord structure. Popular and influential jazz artists include: Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, & Cannonball Adderley. Armstrong is most known for his involvement in hot jazz as a trumpeter, but is especially renowned for his improvisation capabilities. Louis Armstrong, born August 4, 1901 right in the beginning stages of the jazz movement, was originally from New Orleans. Armstrong was a bandleader, soloist, comedian/actor, and vocalist. Another famous, Miles Davis, is what some consider to be the best trumpeter of the era. Davis was born on May 26, 1926 in Alton, Illinois. One unique thing about Davis was that he was taught to play without vibrato, which was incredibly contrary to the popular way of
John Coltrane was a jazz saxophonist from 1955 to 1967. He was born in Hamlet, North Carolina on September 23, 1926. A few years later he moved to Highpoint, North Carolina.(D) As a child he was surrounded by a musical family. When he turned thirteen he started to play the alto saxophone. 1939 was a life changing year for Coltrane because his father, uncle, and grandparents died.(C) In the middle of that same year he graduated from grammar school.(D) Sadly when his family started to split and go to different states Coltrane moved to Philadelphia in 1943.(C)
His boisterous personality influenced many aspects of American culture, and his contributions and influence on Jazz are immeasurable. Nobody has done more for Jazz than Louis Armstrong, without question he is a Jazz legend (Friedwald). Armstrong excelled at everything he performed. A renaissance man of our time, his appreciation for music and life showed in his performances, and his talent showed his techniques and improvisation. Louis’s technique and improvisation on the trumpet set the standard for Jazz musicians (Friedwald). Fellow trumpeter Dizzie Gillespie credited Armstrong with this honor stating, “If it weren’t for him there wouldn’t be any of us.” This reputation would lend him to be referred to as Jazz royalty. With his trumpet and his scat singing he revolutionized Jazz. Though vocally limited, his understanding of how to use his voice beyond his natural abilities led to his perfection of scat (Edwards). Scatting allowed him to perfect his improvisational skill. Scatting, or scat singing would come to be known as the “House that Satch Built” and Armstrong the “Original Man of Scat.”
Louis Armstrong was the first great trumpet soloist in jazz. His unmistakable trumpet and vocals allowed him to continue doing what he loved most, making people happy. Armstrong was loved by many people, whether they were white, Africa...
Michael Brecker was born in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and grew up in the suburbs of Cheltenham Township. His father was an amateur jazz pianist, and Michael Brecker has touched with Jazz from his father since he was young. At that time, Jazz music was just in the early period of development which had not been seen opposite against rock but a different form of music. The first musical instrument Michael touched with and began to learn was the clarinet. When he started to go to school, he changed to learn alto saxophone and finally decided to learn it for the whole life.
...elopment of early jazz styles. Improvisation was his thing and he was very good at it. Armstrong also introduced scat singing to the jazz world by accident during a recording.
Armstrong could also start improvising while the tune was still playing. This opened many doors for musicians everywhere and it is still going on today. During 1925 to 1928 Louis made some recordings with many musicians. He called the group Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five. These recording prepared the art of solo improvisation. A lot of people viewed this as the start of traditional Jazz. They also laid the groundwork for the swing era. Some of these recording were Muskrat Ramble, Sweet Little Papa, The King of Zulus, and Fireworks.
Looking for a new sound, he started to work with the arranger Gil Evans, and this cooperation gave birth to a new wave of “cool jazz”. Later, this genre called West Coast cool jazz brought many other new sub-genres. During the same year, Miles formed his own band with a nine members in it where he combined in addition to himself a trombone, a baritone saxophone, an alto saxophone a tuba, and a French horn. At that time, the band included such musicians as John Lewis, Kenny Clarke, Kai Winding, Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz and J. J. Johnson. All of them have brought into music relaxing notes.
A single artist can have a very strong impact on a whole genre of Music. We have seen this time and time again through artists such as Charlie Parker, David Brubeck, John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Miles Davis, and various others. All of these artists had tremendous influences on the different eras that evolved throughout the history of Jazz. Bill Evans, and American jazz pianist, was no different. Just as Charlie Parker had started the evolution of Bebop and influenced the subsequent generations of Jazz Artists, Bill Evans has influenced Modern Jazz and the generations of artists that followed him. Throughout his career and his works with various other artists, Bill Evans has cemented himself as one of the great influences on modern day Jazz.
Davis then attended the Institute of Musical Art in New York City in September of 1944. Once Davis was in New York, he knew he had to meet up with Charlie Parker, whom he had met in 1943. In Manhattan of 1945, Davis started to play with Parker and his quintet, and as a result, quit going to school altogether and focused on becoming a full-time musician (Macnie; Ruhlmann). Davis ended up playing the bebop style that Charlie’s group followed, and played with several other musicians including Benny Carter, Billy Eckstine, Charles Mingus, and Oscar Pettiford. Miles Davis’s musical strengths included “his ear for ensemble sound, unique phrasing, and a distinctively fragile tone” (Macnie).
This is in contrast to hip-hop, where improvisation will pretty much only be used in freestyle. Witty, poetic words along with the use of rhyming stanzas is focused more on by hip-hop artists. Part of jazz music is the melody, where the song begins, and then improvisation will be used. All types of notes such as high, low, long, short, gravelly, and clear are played by the musicians. This is what sets the music off and makes each song different whenever it is played on the radio. What is known as syncopation is used to be played around the melody. “Swing note” is used by Jazz musicians as a way of changing the lengths of notes, whether it be making them longer or shorter.
“West End Blues” begins with a 12-second trumpet solo that displayed Armstrong’s wonderful range and demonstrated the syncopated styling unique
“His relaxed phrasing was a major change from the staccato style of the early 20’s and helped to set the stage for the Swing Era” (“Life & Legacy”). And as such a prominent artist, and in particular, jazz artist, Armstrong did not only change the perception of jazz and swing, but the views on African Americans and their culture. Armstrong and the Harlem Renaissance reflected black history and culture, and it became popular, even in white communities and clubs. Jazz as a whole genre helped further society’s views through the universal language of music, where any ethnicity could partake in it. And the revolution of jazz was lead by the stylings of Louis Armstrong. The duration of the jazz and swing era, lasting decades past the 1920s, symbolized the civil rights movement directly through the lyrics, sounds, and artists
Bill Evans was an impressionist piano player, influenced by his earlier age of classical music. He learned piano when he was a child and also attended Southeastern Louisiana University majoring in music (Pettinger 14). His educational background on classical music allowed him to improvised and explored the depth of jazz. As Leonard Feather's Encyclopedia of Jazz suggested, "The most personal characteristics of his work were his uniquely delicate articulation, his oblique harmonic approaches and manner of voicing chords, his occasional use of the left hand in rhythmic duplication of the right-hand line, and the ability to create a warm, beautiful mood within the framework of a popular song, a jazz standard or an original work". According to Professor Harrison’s lectur...
In conclusion, I think the art of improvision and scat singing played a major role in building up a beautiful jazz music. Louis Armstrong did a great job on his improvising music where he create swing feeling and slow bluesy in doing so. I also think that Louis Armstrong also has a god gifted vocal and he was able to use it to make his music melody more attractive. I really like the scat sing, even without words he was able to create beautiful melody and warm rhythm for his song. The song “my heart” itself was a beautiful song that Armstrong and his friends play. The band was able to use improvision technique and play very logic at every chorus and repeat chorus.