Ee Suk Ahn
Instructor Matt Carr
Music 131B
22 November 2017
Evolution of Jazz Music By Miles Davis In the development of jazz, Miles Dewey Davis III is considered one of the most influential and commended figures from his era. As an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer, he was renowned as a master of musical self-restraint, just like Count Basie and Lester Young, and also as a musical genius who effectively evolved jazz through the many stylistic changes he made during his career. In this paper, we plan to observe how his musical styles have changed over time from 1940s to 1980s and compare his musics and musicians along with the backgrounds for each music and its group. Born on May 26, 1926, Miles Davis had been raised from
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Miles Davis organized a nonet, called The Miles Davis Nonet, with pianist and arranger Gil Evans and baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, taking an active role that soon became his own project. While still considered to be a bebop group, this band was unique in which it featured a more unusual line-up with a French horn, trombone, and tuba. In the compositions, it is also remarkable that the arrangements were “similar to human voice” through “carefully arranged compositions and by emphasizing a relaxed melodic approach to the improvisations” (Early 212). While recording sessions with the nonet for Capital Records lasted until April 1950, many of the recordings were not published until the launch of Birth of the Cool, a significant album which marked Davis’s brilliance and initiated the cool jazz …show more content…
Having reached the number 134 on the US Billboard Top LPs, Miles Davis kept producing a music of fusion jazz after a new formation of his new ensemble group. In 1971, Davis had signed a new contract with Columbia for three years including royalties (Carr 302). During the contract, Davis wanted to make music for the young African-American audiences, so he creates more commercial, groove-oriented style of popular music of the time. Having released Live-Evil, Davis’ ensemble, which includes drummer Leon “Ndugu” Chancler and percussionists James Mtume and Don Alias, had become much more funk-oriented. Later on he creates another fusion jazz group which includes guitarist Reggie Lucas, organist Lonnie Liston Smith, tabla player Badal Roy, and more. In contrast to previous eras, Davis continues to play more funk-oriented jazz or fusion jazz in this
Jazz music of the 1940’s and 1950’s was defined by a history of change since its beginning at the dawn of the 20th century. Almost every decade brought a new flavor to the movement, and by the 1940’s jazz had developed into a mature, complex form of music, with many nuances and avenues for continued change. It is important to trace the early movements in jazz to better understand the innovations of the Bebop and Cool jazz eras of the 40’s and 50’s.
Sammy Davis, Jr. was born in Harlem on December 8, 1925, to Elvera Sanchez, a chorus girl, and Sam Davis, a dancer. He was raised by his father and grandmother. His father was in an act with Will Mastin, who was a close friend of the family. At a young age, Sammy joined the act as a singer and dancer. They were known as the “Will Mastin Trio”. It was not the best job, but it put food on the table.
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
Mark C. Gridley. Jazz Styles (History and Analysis). Ninth Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006
Ciment, James. Encyclopedia of the Jazz Age: From the End of World War I to the Great Crash. Vol. 2. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2008. Print.
Teachout, Terry. "John Hammond's jazz." Commentary 122.3 (2006): 55+. Academic OneFile. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.
The cool jazz style arose after WW2. This new style of jazz was created by the great Miles Davis he is credit for this because of his Birth of Cool recording but in fact Lester Young is the face of cool Jazz. In spite of the fact that there were many other artists who made the cool jazz sound, a standout amongst the most compelling was Lester Young. This was a young saxophone player who had a more casual style than huge numbers compared to his peers, with an attention on smooth playing and an inclination to fall simply behind the beat as opposed to pushing it ahead. He was additionally more centered around investigating and creating tune, while bebop artists were more inspired by investigating and surprising rhythms. Another big standout amongst the most well-known figures in the early cool jazz development was trumpeter Miles Davis. Davis set the cool jazz kind via looking for a lighter, expressive, and more casual sound. He did a progression of recordings in 1949 and 1950 to explore different avenues regarding this sound, and these recordings, later
Born in Alton, Illinois, Miles Davis grew up in a middle-class family in East St. Louis. Miles Davis took up the trumpet at the age of 13 and was playing professionally two years later. Some of his first gigs included performances with his high school bandand playing with Eddie Randall and the blue Devils. Miles Davis has said that the greatest musical experience of his life was hearing the Billy Eckstine orchestra when it passed through St. Louis. In September 1944 Davis went to New York to study at Juilliard but spend much more time hanging out on 52nd Street and eventually dropped out of school. He moved from his home in East St. Louis to New York primarily to enter school but also to locate his musical idol, Charlie Parker. He played with Parker live and in recordings from the period of 1945 to 1948. Davis began leading his own group in 1948 as well as working with arranger Gil Evans. Davis’ career was briefly interrupted by a heroin addiction, although he continued to record with other popular bop musicians.
Miles Davis was a key player in the evolution of modern jazz. In the 1940’s he participated in the bebop craze, then initiated the cool jazz era in the 1950’s. Bebop involved a higher register and note fueled playing while Miles favored the middle register, with longer and less frequency of notes, and a
This generation is severely lacking cultural diversity. The United States school system feeds its students “American History,” but some believe it has only educated them on a few main points in history, and most of them have been from the view point of Euro-Centric America, and not the Melting Pot America is. There is so much to American history that even Americans are not aware of, however this generation is so consumed with celebrities, technological advancements, and up-to-date fashion. There is so much technology and access to the past, and yet most people do not take advantage of it. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to open those of this generation up to a culture rarely discussed unless in a detailed study specifically catered to it.
Jazz music prospered in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Jazz was created by African Americans to represent pain and suffering and also represented the adversity that racial tension brought. (Scholastic) African American performers like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie “Bird” Parker came to be recognized for their ability to overcome “race relati...
Jazz is referred as “America’s classical music,” and is one of North America’s and most celebrated genres. The history of Jazz can be traced back to the early era of the 20th century of the U.S. “A History of Jazz” presents From Ragtime and Blues to Big Band and Bebop, jazz has been a part of a proud African American tradition for over 100 years. A strong rhythmic under-structure, blue notes, solos, “call-and response” patterns, and
In the 1950s, the growth of cool jazz stemmed a blend of white musicians, such as Chet baker and Gerry Mulligan, but major African-American groups, such as the Modern Jazz Quartet, were also expressing this style. However, it would take until the late-1950s for “cool jazz” masterpieces, such as Mile Davis’ The Birth of Cool, to become a dominant mainstream style of jazz. These musical trends define the origins of “cool jazz” within the context of the etymological use of cool as a musical style in the early 1950s. Certainly, the merger of “cool pose” culture in African-American culture had crossed over in white jazz music as a way to merge these two cultural phenomenon into a single musical
Jazz comprises of a wide range of music from the ragtime to the present music listened to by many people. The music evolution has taken roughly 100 years and jazz has been put in this particular evolution as one of the music styles today. In the definition of jazz, there is no actual definition of jazz because it a composition of very many music styles hence making it hard to get the required definition that would describe it fully. Attempts being made to define jazz have a basis of traditional music that have similar characteristics as jazz but not real jazz. Using the American or African music examples, the researchers argue that the definition is very broad and wide. Ernest Berendt one of the researchers says that jazz originated from America in the process of confronting Negros with Europeans in terms of music. This can then be termed as a tool of identity between the two groups of people due to the racist and discrimination aspects that faced America. This was now a tool that could identify the two groups to bring about national integration and understanding among the members of America. In America jazz has incorporated time as a special factor and is now referred to as swing. Swing means spontaneity and vitality of the production of music which has an improvisation role to play to the listeners. This particular jazz music contains a particular manner of phrasing which acts as a mirror to an individual and the personality of the musician performing that particular jazz music on stage. The early jazz musicians include Double Bassist Reggie Workman, saxophone player Pharaoh Sanders, and drummer Idris Muhammad who were performing in 1978 hence dating back to early jazz performance and presentation.
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, more commonly known as Jelly Roll Morton, was born to a creole family in a poor neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. Morton lived with several family members in different areas of New Orleans, exposing him to different musical worlds including European and classical music, dance music, and the blues (Gushee, 394). Morton tried to play several different instruments including the guitar; however, unsatisfied with the teachers’ lack of training, he decided to teach himself how to play instruments without formal training (Lomax, 8). ...