Robert Shaw
Dr. Jeremy Brown
Music 108: http://www.rhapsody.com/playlist/mp.179990826
14 May 2014
Jazz Playlist
Oh! Baby, Sweet Baby - Fats Waller
Originally released in 1941 and written by Ed Kirkeby with Fats on Piano and vocals under the Bluebird label. Fats Waller was well on his way to success in just about everything he touched. His music included hits such as “Ain’t Misbehaven” and “Honeysuckle Rose.” Along with music Mr. Waller was a comedian and actor. One of his credits was Stormy Weather with Lena Horne. While his acting career started to excel Mr. Waller became ill with pneumonia and died on a train returning to Kansas City. Among the many talented artists of his time Mr. Waller played with Coleman Hawkins in a group called “The Chocolate Dandies.” Mr. Waller’s vocals tell a story and add character to the composition. Mainly a piano yet but adds a muted trumpet starting at 1:34 to accent his vocals.
Body And Soul - Coleman Hawkins
Having learned the piano and cello early as a child Coleman turned to the Saxophone at the age of nine. By the time he was fourteen he was playing in gigs all around Kansas. Coleman’s first band was with Mamie Smith’s Jazz Hounds and played fulltime for a year. While playing for Ms. Smith, Coleman met other notable musicians including Fletcher Henderson, Louis Armstrong, and Herb Flemming. Coleman introduced the tenor saxophone at a time when the sax was not popular among Jazz Musicians and was called the “Father of the Tenor Saxophone”. Coleman moved from Ms. Smith’s Jazz hounds to the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra until 1934. Mr. Coleman went on to establish his own big band and played with Thelonious Monk. Mr. Hawkins progressively moves the chords higher expanding the range then slowly m...
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... Milt Jackson Quartet and was a side project of Dizzy Gillespie’s band.
Midnight Walk - Arif Mardin
A Turkish-American record producer who also composed, arranged, and played with many legendary artists. There truly a genre that Mr. Mardin was not able to work with. In 1969 Midnight Walk was released by Atlantic records and written by Mr. Mardin. His other notable artists included: The Bee Gees, Roberta Flack, Chaka Khan, and Norah Jones to name a few.
Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
Written and sung by Ms. Jones in 2002 for her debut album of the same title. Arif Mardin set the string arrangement and produced Ms. Jones album. Ms. Jones is by the far the youngest of the artists listed above, yet, has earned her way into the jazz history books selling more than 50 million albums and receiving nine Grammy Awards. Ms. Jones vocals are reminiscent of Billie Holiday.
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)
Hemming, Roy. The Melody Lingers on. New York: Newmarket, 1986. 87-9, 98-101, 113-4, 115-8. Print.
The movie Lady Day: The Many Faces Of Billie Holiday paints an interesting, and thought provoking portrait of one of jazz and blues most charismatic, and influential artists. The incomparable talent of Billie Holiday, both truth and legend are immortalized in this one-hour documentary film. The film follows Holiday, also referred to as “Lady Day” or “Lady”, through the many triumphs and trials of her career, and does it’s very best to separate the facts from fiction. Her autobiography Lady Sings The Blues is used as a rough guide of how she desired her life story to be viewed by her public. Those who knew her, worked with her, and loved her paint a different picture than this popular, and mostly fictional autobiography.
Recognized as one of the greatest all time jazz figures Duke Ellington, whose career reached over a span of fifty years was mostly known for composing thousands of influential songs. As well as constituting into jazz an ensemble of western sounds which was referred to as “American Music”. This iconic figure has left a mark in the world of jazz for centuries to come.
The singer, Billie Holiday, had also shaped her career during the Harlem Renaissance. Holiday had actually performed with Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, in her teenage years. Holiday was said to have had an extremely unique sound to her voice. As Wisely and Copeland say, “she pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo.” Before her career had officially taken off, Billie Holiday often performed in small jazz clubs in cities. In 1930, Holiday performed with Laurence Jackson in many Harlem clubs. Just five years later, in 1935, Billie signed to Brunswick Records, and collaborated with Teddy Wilson. Billie had hits that would later become the building blocks to early American jass. It is hard to believe that she had gotten that far despite the fact that, unlike most artists, she had no professional training.
Miles Davis started his career at the age of fifteen and continued this work for the next fifty years. He is considered to be not only an important figure in the history of jazz, but also a pioneer as many of new jazz genres came into existence thanks to him. Being a solo
The song “Strangers in the Night” was composed by Bert Kaempfert and lyrics by Charles
Leaver, Robin A. "Luther, Martin." Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, 2007. Web. 3 Dec. 2011. .
This album was performed by the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet released in 1954. This group also included tenor-saxophonist Harold Land, pianist Richie Powell and bassist George Morrow. It shows Brown's fast pace and full rounded tones, Roach's classic bop drumming, soulful solos by Harold Land, and the work done by Ritchie Powell and George Morrow. Roach helps the album really stand out. Land and Brown complement each other massively.
All types of music require musicians. In the H.R (Harlem Renaissance), there were many who contributed to this new style of music known as jazz. These musicians all have their own style and form. Each of these styles has in some way influenced the evolution of jazz. Louis “Sachmo” Armstrong is recognized as the most famous trumpet player of this time. His “hot bop” style was heard in places like the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theatre. Everyone from all over the country would come to see him. Armstrong recorded such works as I’m in the Mood for Love, and You Rascal you (http://library.thinkquest.org/26656/english/music.html). Another famous person during this era was Coleman Hawkins, a saxophone player. Hawkins is recognized as the first great saxophonists of Jazz. His most famous work was a piece named Body and Soul (http://library.thinkquest.org…). Hawkins has also recorded with artists such as Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington. Other people such as Bessie Smith, Josephine Baker, Duke Ellington, and “Dizzie” Gillespie have also made many contributions to the development of Jazz.
Constance Meyer states in the Los Angeles Times, “It [the saxophone] was invented in the 1840s by the Belgian Adolphe Sax for military bands and orchestral use.” Although the saxophone is still used in orchestras and military bands, today most people associate the saxophone with jazz music. The saxophone is one of the many symbols of jazz and has become popular through jazz. Players such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane became famous playing jazz music on the saxophone. Saxophones are used in many types of music because they produce a sound that goes well with other instruments and can be played with any style of music. Saxophonist and composer Tommy Smith states in his own words the extent of a saxophone’s musical range. “The saxophone's sonic possibilities are limitless, like an aural kaleidoscope. Its sound inspires sensuality but it but [sic] can rock out and scream with anger and frustration.”
When it comes to jazz music, there is one name that everyone knows, whether they’ve never listened to jazz before or if they’ve listened to it their whole lives. That name is Louis Armstrong. Armstrong was one of the pioneers of jazz music, from his humble beginnings in one of New Orleans roughest districts, “the Battlefield”, to playing concerts for sold out crowds in Chicago and New York City, Louis left a massive impact on the way America listened to music for a long time. One of his premier tracks, “West End Blues”, left an impact on jazz music, which other musicians would try to emulate for years.
The music of jazz became an important aspect of American culture in the early 20th century. The crisp syncopation of ragtime and the smooth tunes of the blues seeped into American mainstream music through dance halls and saloons and later through ballrooms. Instruments like the piano, trumpet, trombone and clarinet became important and symbolized the “swing-feel” of jazz because of their capability to syncopate and improvise precisely. With the help of the booming recording industry, musical geniuses were discovered and their talent and contributions to the emergence of jazz spread throughout the entire country. Such musicians include composer, arranger and pianist Jelly Roll Morton who heavily influenced the development of early jazz by his unique piano style, his “invention” of musical notation for jazz, and his compositions that have become the core in the jazz repertory. Because the style was new and different and so successful in drawing in large audiences, musicians around the world tried to mimic it. Furthermore, Morton’s masterpieces were the first to show notation for complicated jazz music and thus, formed the basis for standard notation in jazz compositions today.
William Howland Kenney provides an in depth look at the Chicago jazz as a cultural movement that shaped the 1920’s. His new interpretation of the Chicago Jazz life reveals the role of race, cultural, and politics in the growth of this new musical style. This in depth look focuses on the rise of jazz from 1904 until its end in 1930. This book covers a lot of areas in Jazz that were fundamental in its development. My overall impression is that this book is well written, it is expansive in its overview of jazz. Kenney is knowledgeable in this area of cultural history, and his book is well researched. The purpose of this book is to
The blues emerged as a distinct African-American musical form in the early twentieth century. It typically employed a twelve-bar framework and three-lined stanzas; its roots are based in early African-American songs, such as field hollers and work songs, and generally have a melancholy mood. The blues can be divided into many sub-genres, including Classical, Country, and Urban. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the careers of two of Classical blues most influential and legendary singers: Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith.