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1895
Hot cornet player Buddy Bolden is born in uptown New Orleans, La. in 1868. Buddy
is considered by many to be the first person to play the Blues form of New Orleans
Jazz.
1897
Buddy Bolden organizes the first band to play the instrumental Blues (the fore-
runner of Jazz). The band's repertoire consists of Polkas, Quadrilles, Ragtime and
Blues.
1899
Piano player, band leader and Jazz composer Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington is
born on April 29 in Washington, D.C. to a moderately well-to-do butler/navy
blueprint man.
1900
July 4, 1900 is the day that Louis Armstrong always claims as his birthday.
Armstrong's nickname will be Satchmo. He will receive this nickname in England in
the early 1930's when the British hear his original nickname, Satchelmouth,
incorrectly. Armstrong will be recognized as the first genius of Jazz because the
entire concept of swinging will be attributed to him.
1900
New Orleans players are playing a mix of Blues, Ragtime, brass band music,
marches, Pop songs and dances. The Jazz stew is brewing. Some musicians are
beginning to improvise the Pop songs.
1900
Trumpeter Tommy Ladnier is born in Mandeville, LA on May 28. Ladnier will become
one of the important early Jazz trumpeters.
1902
Jelly Roll Morton is now seventeen years old. He is beginning to attract attention in
the New Orleans area as a brothel piano player. At this point he is playing primarily
Ragtime and a little Blues. He is one of the first to play this mix that is a forerunner
of Jazz. Jelly Roll will later claim to have invented Jazz in this year by combining
Ragtime, Quadrilles and Blues.
1904
Eddie Lang is born in Philadelphia, PA as Salvatore Massaro. Lang will become the
first jazz guitarist and will thus influence all to come.
1905
Earl "Fatha" Hines, one of the most important Jazz piano players of all times, is born
in Duquesne, PA on December 28.
1906
Clarinetist and Ellington band member Barney Bigard is born in New Orleans,
Lousiania on March 3. Bigard and Sidney Bechet will eventually introduce the Duke
to true Jazz.
1908
1908
Trumpeter Freddie Keppard and his Creoles were playing more powerful Jazz in New
Orleans than the Original Dixieland Jazz Band will play in 1917. Keppard was not
recorded until many years later because he was afraid of having his style stolen.
1910
1910
1910
Jazz and Blues proponent John Henry Hammond is born in New York City.
1911
Trumpeter Roy Eldridge is born in Pittsburgh, Pa. on January 30. Eldridge was an
excellent player and is viewed, maybe unfairly, as the link between Armstrong and
the Boppers. Roy will eventually get the nickname Little Jazz because of his
diminutive size.
1913
The stride pianists are still playing Ragtime as the New Orleans players did a
generation before. So we will see an interesting evolution in their playing over the
next few years that parallels the beginning of Jazz in New Orleans.
1914
Ralph Ellison is born in Oklahoma City on March 1. He will achieve critical acclaim
with his novel, Invisible Man, in 1952. Ellison, who attended Tusegee Institute with
the intention of pursuing a career in music, will write influential essays on jazz music
and on African American folk culture.
1915
1915
Pop/Jazz singing idol Frank Sinatra is born in Hoboken, N.J. on December 12.
1915
RCA offers to record Freddie Keppard. He turns them down and misses the chance
to be the first Jazz performer to record because he is afraid that his style will be
copied.
1915
At this point, Jean Goldkette dislikes pre-Jazz music so much that he quits Lamb's
Cafe in Chicago rather than share the stage with Tom Brown's Band from Dixieland.
1917
The history of recorded Jazz begins on February 26 when the white band the
Original Dixieland Jazz Band (originally, Original Dixieland Jass Band ) records Livery
Stable Blues at Victor Studios in New York City. The ODJB was from New Orleans
and consisted of Nick LaRocca on cornet, Larry Shields on clarinet, Eddie "Daddy"
Edwards on trombone, Henry Ragas on piano and Tony Sbarbaro on drums. Many
black bands of the time were probably producing far more authentic and better
music. Never the less, the Jazz Age begins. Trumpeter Freddie Keppard had refused
the chance to make the first Jazz record because he feared that his style would be
copied.
1917
New Orleans Jazz is a melting pot for the Blues, Ragtime, Marching Band music, etc.
It can be thought of as an impressionistic view of these forms, just as
Impressionistic painting gives a novel view of what we normally see.
1917
After Freddie Keppard declines to be recorded, Jazz gains first national exposure
with Victor's release of the Original Dixieland Band's "Livery Stable Blues. This
release outsells by many times over any 78s by the days recording stars like Enrico
Caruso, John Phillip Sousa or the US Marine Military Band. Sales estimates are
around 500K in the first year. The group consisted of cornetist Nick LaRocca,
clarinetist Larry Shields, trombonist Eddie Edwards, pianist Harry Ragas, and
drummer Tony Sbarbaro.
1918
Coleman Hawkins attends school in Chicago and gets to hear early Jazz players such
as Jimmy Noone there.
1919
After years of lynching and other mistreatment of blacks by whites, the NAACP
promotes the slogan "The new Negro has no fear". This type of thinking will further
the cause of Jazz.
1919
1919
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band visits England and triggers an interest in the new
music.
1919
Free Jazz pianist Herbie Nichols is born New York City on January 3.
1919
The Scrap Iron Jazz Band (from the Hellfighters) makes a series of records in Paris.
1920
Prohibition of alcohol begins. In many respects, prohibition has the opposite of its
intended effect. For example, before prohibition, few, if any women drank in bars.
However, women were very likely to drink in speakeasys. Prohibition indirectly
furthers the cause of Jazz.
1920
Armstrong drops in on a St. Louis dance and the band he is with blows away the
most popular band in town with New Orleans Jazz.
1920
Somebody discovers that the New York brownstone basement (being narrow and
running from mainstreet to back alley) is well suited to use as an speakeasy. In
time, the cellars of New York City will become riddled with speakeasys providing
numerous opportunities for Jazz musicians.
1920
The cabaret business begins in New York. This will eventually be the cause of the
shift of Jazz from Chicago to New York.
1920
This year marks the beginning of an age of great interest in black arts and music
(Jazz). The young future Bop players are being born. They will be raised in an era
which will allow them to want to rebel. Thus, Bop will begin in about twenty years.
1920
Adrian Rollini begins playing bass saxophone with the California Ramblers (a popular
New York City dance band). Rollini was one of the top Jazz saxophonist's in the
1920's. He will later play with Bix Beiderbecke.
1920
Paul Whiteman and his Band record the classic Whispering in New York City.
Whiteman's band does not play true Jazz but the so-called symphonic Jazz.
1921
Future Ellington trumpeter Bubber Miley sees King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band at the
Dreamland Cafe in Chicago and becomes interested in Jazz. Bubber will learn to play
blue notes and growls in imitation of Oliver. These growls and slurs will later become
a trademark of Ellington which are passed down to Cootie Williams and other future
trumpeters.
1921
Bix Beiderbecke begins attending the Lake Forest Academy near Chicago. He will get
the opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge of New Orleans and Chicago Jazz.
1921
James P. Johnson's "Worried and Lonesome Blues" and "Carolina Shout" begin to
approach Jazz. At any rate, Johnson becomes the pioneer of stride piano with these
recordings.
1921
1921
1922
Joe "King" Oliver's Creole Jazz Band is in Chicago at the Lincoln Gardens. Oliver
sends for Armstrong who is still in New Orleans.
1922
At this point, Coleman Hawkins is a well schooled musician, perhaps the best in Jazz.
He is asked to join Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds. This group will take him to New York
where Fletcher Henderson will eventually hire him.
1922
1922
1922
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band is now playing commercial music such as Fox Trots.
They've sold out.
1922
Paul Whiteman controls twenty-eight bands on the east coast. In this year, he will
gross over $1,000,000 (a tidy sum for producing pseudo-Jazz in the early 20's).
1923
King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band with Louis Armstrong on second cornet makes their
first recordings. Armstrong is first recorded on March 31 on the Gennet recording of
Chimes Blues. Other members of the band were Warren "Baby" Dodds on drums,
Honore Dutrey on trombone, Bill Johnson on bass, Johnny Dodds on clarinet, and Lil
Hardin on piano. The most notable recording was the legendary Dippermouth Blues
which was written by Oliver.
1923
1923
1923
The Lois Deppe band with Earl Hines on piano cuts a few records. Hines winds up in
Chicago as a result of the popularity gained. He plays as a single using a portable
piano in a cafe. At this time, the combination Stride/Blues piano style which Hines
pioneered was already well formed. Hines will become the most influential early
pianist in Jazz.
1923
April 6, 1923 - Gennett records and releases King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. This
would be the first recordings to feature Louis Armstrong and the incredible two
coronet leads. Recordings from this session include "Canal Street Blues,' "Chimes
Blues," "Weather Bird Rag," "Dippermouth Blues," "Froggie More," "Just Gone" and a
few others. Member of King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band include: King Oliver & Louis
Armstrong on coronet, Honore Dutrey on trombone, Johnny Dodds on clarinet, Lil
Hardin Armstrong on piano, Bill Johnson on piano and Baby Dodds on drums.
1923
June 1923 - Jelly Roll Morton begins to record with Gennett, including a session with
New Orleans Rhythm Kings ("Mr. Jelly Lord"), often considered the first inter-racial
jazz recording.
1924
Ellington writes first revue score for Chocolate Kiddies and records the novelty song
"Choo Choo" for Blue Disc label. Ellington is still not doing Jazz at this time.
1924
1924
Kansas City bands are beginning to play a style with a four even beat ground beat
(New Orleans Jazz had a distinct two beat ground beat behind a 4/4 melody). This
paved the way for more modern forms of Jazz. Charlie Parker as a child growing up
in K.C. heard this music. Count Basie is later quoted as saying "I can't dig that two-
beat jive the New Orleans cats play; cause my boys and I got to have four heavy
beats to a bar and no cheating."
1924
Paul Whiteman makes Jazz "respectable" with his February 21 concert at Aeolian
Hall in New York City. The first song is an authentic version of ODJB's "Livery Stable
Blues" which is merely meant to show how crude the real thing is, but most fans like
it better than the "Symphonic Jazz" which follows.
1925
New Orleans giants Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet are now playing together in
the Red Onion Jazz Babies with Blues singer Alberta Hunter. At this point, Bechet is
the superior Jazz player. Recordings can be found on Classic CD - The Chronological
Sidney Bechet 1923-1926 and EPM Musique CD - The Complete 1923-1926 Clarence
Williams Sessions.
1925
1925
The Ellington band is still not a Jazz band, but a commercial orchestra playing Pop
tunes and dance numbers. However, the addition of New Orleans players Sidney
Bechet on clarinet and Bubber Miley on trumpet begin to turn the band around.
Miley's signature mutes and growls (borrowed from Oliver) become Ellington's
signature passed on to a number of horn players in the band throughout the
decades.
1925
Lyrical trumpeter Joe Smith begins to play with the Fletcher Henderson band. Joe is
one of the most underrated trumpeters in early Jazz. Joe is often compared to Bix.
1925
Red Norvo who is the first important mallet instrument player in Jazz begins on the
xylophone.
1926
In September, Jelly Roll Morton cuts his first band recordings with his Red Hot
Peppers group. Jelly Roll had acquired Lester and Walter Montrose as publishers.
Notable songs are "Deep Creek", "The Pearls", "Wolverine Blues", "Dead Man Blues"
and King Oliver's "Doctor Jazz".
1926
The Ellington band has finally taken shape. They are now playing bonafide New York
Jazz. Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton on trombone and Harry Carney on clarinet join
Ellington. Ellington forms a significant partnership with music publisher and band
booker Irving Mills.
1926
Kansas City, Missouri becomes the wildest city in America (a perfect match for Jazz)
when Tom "Boss" Pendergast (the Democratic boss of Jackson county) begins his
reign over the city.
1926
Until now, Bechet was the only black saxophonist of importance. Coleman Hawkins
is beginning to change that. Currently, most Jazz saxophonist's are white (not many
used saxophones, only whites could afford them). Hawkins admires Adrian Rollini.
1926
1926
Tommy Ladnier is playing trumpet for Fletcher Henderson. Tommy is one of the
most underrated trumpeters of early Jazz.
1926
1927
Armstrong makes the greatest of the hot fives and sevens. He is now setting whole
phrases ahead or behind the beat, not just pulling single notes. This will set the
stage for Swing. Armstrong is now a star and because of him, New Orleans style
ensemble playing is disappearing and is being replaced by Chicago and New York
style solos. In short Jazz is becoming a soloist art primarily because of Armstrong. A
few songs of significance include "Struttin' with Some Barbecue", "Big Butter and
Egg Man" and "Hotter than That". In May, Warren "Baby" Dodds on drums and Pete
Briggs on tuba are added to hot fives to make hot sevens.
1927
Coleman Hawkins drops his "slap tongue" style of playing tenor saxophone and
begins improvising by playing the notes of the chords of a song. He'd heard a
teenaged Art Tatum do this and was quite impressed. Up to this time all
improvisation had been based on a song's melody. At first, this new style seemed
somewhat incoherent but it will eventually lead to modern forms of Jazz.
1927
James P. Johnson is now playing Jazz with his release of "Snowy Morning Blues".
The stride style at this point is analogous to the former rag players swinging the
rags like Jelly Roll did about a decade earlier.
1927
The first talking movie is released. It is The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson in black
face. It opens on October 6.
1927
October 1927 - Hoagy Carmichael records two versions of his composition "Star
Dust," one with lyrics (which get edited a year later), one instrumental - Gennett
releases the instrumental version which is a poor seller, when Gennett is approached
to release the vocal version, Fred Wiggins head of Gennett writes on the master:
"Reject. Already on Gennett. Poor Seller." "Star Dust" would soon become one of the
most recorded songs in pop and jazz.
1928
On February 7, federal agents raid a dozen of Chicago's North Side nightclubs. They
take names of everybody that is caught with alcohol. They had already closed a
number of the South Side black-and-tans. This is all part of a "get tough on booze"
policy of the new Republican mayor William Dever (Big Bill Thompson's successor).
Chicago will soon fall as the Jazz capital.
1928
Armstrong drops the New Orleans style completely and with it, he drops the New
Orleans players except for Zutty Singleton. Landmark recordings are made by
Armstrong with Earl Hines on piano. Hines is almost the equal of Armstrong in terms
of Jazz talent and the result is such memorable recordings as "West End Blues"
(many believe this to be the top Jazz recording of all times) and "Weather Bird Rag",
both Joe Oliver tunes. These and others can be found on Columbia CD Louis
Armstrong Vol 4. - Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines or the Classics CD Louis
Armstrong and His Orchestra 1928-1929.
1928
Django meets violinist Staphane Grapelli and makes his first records which have no
Jazz value.
1928
1928
Bing Crosby, an early Jazz fan, visits Harlem to hear Ellington and other authentic
Jazz players.
1929
Armstrong shifts base from Chicago to New York. This coincides with a general shift
of the Jazz mainstream from Chicago to New York. Bigger Swing type orchestras will
begin to dominate.
1929
Armstrong begins fronting big Swing bands such as Les Hite and Luis Russell. He is
becoming more commercial. This will cause later Jazz artists to say that he sold out.
1929
Drummer Dave Tough and clarinetist Mezz Mezzrow get together a Jazz band in
Place Pigalle in Paris. The music is spreading. Dave Tough will later become one of
the few players to successfully switch from Swing to Bop - most could not.
1930
Jelly Roll Morton and His Red Hot Peppers recorded four numbers at this session:
Each Day
If Someone Would Only Love Me
That'll Never Do
I'm Looking For A Little Bluebird
"If Someone Would Only Love Me" features a bass clarinet solo by an unknown
player--an early example of this instrument in a jazz setting.
1930
With Coleman Hawkins and his followers Ben Webster and the young Chu Berry and
his only competitor at the time Lester Young, the saxophone, in general, and the
tenor saxophone, in particular, becomes a major competitor of the trumpet/cornet in
Jazz. Recall that the cornet was king in New Orleans Jazz. The faster changes which
a sax allows begins to push the trombone out of Jazz.
1930
1930
Future alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman (Free Jazz) is born in Fort Worth, Texas.
He will be reared in poverty.
1931
Ellington records the first extended Jazz piece called Creole Rhapsody this piece
covers two full 78 sides. He will also record Mood Indigo and Rockin' in Rhythm
(there's that word rock). Duke is by now very famous.
1931
On November 4, cornet player Buddy Bolden (who many people think was the first
person to play Jazz) dies in a Louisiana state hospital. He was never recorded.
1931
Bix Beiderbecke dies in Sunnyside Queens, New York City from pneumonia which
was brought on by acute alcoholism. Jazz has lost a disproportionate number of
artists to drug and alcohol addiction.
1932
English trumpet player Nat Gonella establishes himself with the English by playing
Jazz. He cuts I Can't Believe that You're in Love with Me and I Heard a Don Redman
song.
1933
Eddie Lang dies at the height of his powers at twenty-nine from complications
following a tonsillectomy. This was a great loss to Jazz.
1933
Django Reinhardt on guitar and Stephane Grapelli on violin begin to play together in
Louis Vola's Hotel Claridge orchestra. This was the start of what might have been
the greatest duo in Jazz. Django makes a recording of Si J'aime Suzy with
L'Orchestra du Theatre Daunon. Lang's influences are showing.
1933
Art Tatum makes his first solo records including Tiger Rag and Tea for Two. The
stride is very evident on Tea for Two. Art is currently the biggest draw on 52nd
Street. Tatum who has a better grasp of harmony than anyone currently in Jazz
claims Fats Waller as his inspiration.
1933
Future Free Jazz pianist Cecil Taylor is born in Corona, Long Island, New York where
he grew up.
1933
The Hot Club of France gives its first Jazz Concert with a group of lesser known
black American musicians living in France at the time.
1933
Prohibition is repealed. Jazz moves out of the speakeasys. Speakeasys become legal
bars. Joe Helbock's Onyx on 52nd Street in N.Y. becomes a very good draw.
However, much competition moves in. 52nd Street will become legendary in Jazz
annals.
1933
The depression has taken its toll on most early Jazz musicians. A new breed is
emerging. This new breed is the Swing musician.
1934
Benny Goodman has his own orchestra which supplies the Jazz portion of a popular
radio show Let's Dance sponsored by Nabisco to advertise the Ritz Cracker.
1934
Coleman Hawkins (now one of the premier Jazz players) leaves Fletcher Henderson
and goes to Europe to work with Jack Hylton. He is replaced by Lester Young. The
band members do not like Lester's light style. They prefer the bigger sound of
Coleman Hawkins or even Ben Webster. Lester soon leaves Henderson for Andy
Kirk's Clouds of Joy.
1934
1935
The Swing band era opens with the sudden rise of Benny Goodman. Benny's band
toured the U.S. from the east to the west with little success until August 21 when
the band played the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles where much to his and his
dejected band's surprise, they were a huge success and their fortune was sealed.
The band had played the late night Jazz portion of Nabisco's radio show from New
York and had developed a wide following among young adults on the west coast.
But when they played elsewhere they flopped in front an older audience. They
became confused and tried to play popular dance music. When they played this Pop
music at the Palomar, they were flopping and Benny said, "If we're going to flop, at
least we'll do it playing Jazz". They switched to Jazz and the rest is history.
1935
There is a lot of Jazz action going on in England, more than in the rest of Europe.
1935
Django and the Quintet of the Hot Club of Paris record Hoagy Carmichael's Stardust
with Coleman Hawkins. It is clear the Django understands Jazz rhythm.
1935
By now, a number of blacks have not only succeeded in Jazz, but some have
become "legitimate" actors and singers too. For instance, Paul Robeson has become
a well-respected actor and Marion Anderson a well-respected opera singer. This will
set the stage for the "Bop Rebellion".
1935
Acclaimed Jazz writer, arranger, composer, performer and critic Leonard Feather
comes to the U.S. from England for the first time. Leonard will eventually settle here.
1935
Jazz Hot is created in France by Charles Delaunay. This is the first Jazz journal in the
world.
1935
Swing has developed a language of its own. Some examples of Jazz related slang at
this time follow:
1936
Billie Holiday (Lester's good friend) begins to record with various small bands
(usually lead by Teddy Wilson and usually containing Lester Young). These
recordings which will be done over the next six years until the recording ban of 1942
will be the work on which her reputation rests. She has already discovered the two
secrets which will make her the greatest Jazz singer of all with Did I Remember?, No
Regrets and Billies Blues. They are 1) lift the melody away from the beat like
Armstrong and 2) employ great balance.
1936
1936
1937
By Joel Simpson
Origins
Meade Anderson Lewis was born September 4, 1905, in Chicago and died June 7,
1964 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in a car accident. He came from a musical family.
He acquired the nickname "Lux" because as a child he would imitate the excessively
polite comic strip characters Alphonse and Gaston, calling himself the Duke of
Luxembourg. His father, a Pullman car porter, insisted he play the violin as a child.
At age 16, when his father died, Lewis switched to the piano after hearing local
boogie-woogie pianist Jimmy Yancey. Lewis was entirely self-taught on piano. He
was a boyhood friend of Albert Ammons. Together they studied the music of Jimmy
Yancey and other Chicago blues pianists. They also drove taxis together around
1924.
In 1927, Lewis recorded his boogie "Honky-Tonk Train Blues," a driving boogie
based on the sounds of the trains that rumbled past his boyhood home on South La
Salle Street in Chicago as many as a hundred times a day. The record was released
18 months later in 1929, but attracted little attention. The recording company,
Paramount, went out of business, and the record became almost impossible to
obtain. Lewis did various things to survive at the time, the beginning of the
Depression: he dug ditches for the Works Progress Administration and he returned
to taxicab driving.
Discovery
In 1933, jazz promoter/producer and record collector John Hammond (heir to the
Hammond organ fortune) obtained a beat-up copy of Lewis's recording. He was so
impressed with it that he embarked on a two-year search for the pianist. Hammond
found Lewis in 1935, through Albert Ammons. Ammons was playing in Chicago's
Club De Lisa, and he was the first person Hammond met who had ever heard of
Lewis. Hammond found Lewis washing cars in a Chicago garage. After a few days
practice Lewis got "Honkey Tonk Train Blues" back up to speed, and Hammond
arranged a recording session to rerecorded it. The following year Hammond
recorded Lewis's other classic, "Yancey Special" and booked him in a concert in New
York. Following the concert Lewis performed at Nick's in Greenwich Village for six
weeks, then returned to Chicago and applied for relief as an unemployed car
washer.
Then in 1938 Hammond invited Lewis back to New York to perform in his legendary
Carnegie Hall concert From Spirituals to Swing along with boogie-woogie pianists
Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson. The performance was an enormous hit, setting
off a minor riot among the fans and spawning a flood of boogie-woogie imitators.
The boogie-woogie craze was on. The three pianists got together with blues singer
Joe Turner and held down a long-term engagement at the Cafe Society Downtown.
Style
Lewis had the most pianistically complex style of the three major boogie pianists. He
had a vast repertoire of bass patterns and right hand riffs and figures. He was more
intense and quicker than his mentor Jimmy Yancey, and he frequently varied his left
hand by going into stride. He had a fertile musical imagination and technique to
match. He could keep a single boogie going for 20 or 30 minutes by careful use of
his material: each chorus would be based on a single technical idea, which he would
conclude with an unexpected twist. He used the whole range of the piano.
Sometimes choruses would be linked developmental and sometimes by dramatic
contrast. He utilized dynamic variety and cross-rhythms much more than the other
boogie pianists.
Lewis was an excellent whistler and could whistle the blues with the ease of a
trumpet-like style. He recorded "Whistlin' Blues" in 1937. He also recorded blues
played on the celesta and the harpsichord.
In 1941 Lewis moved to Los Angeles, where most of his appearances were relatively
low-paying solo gigs. He made a number of short films in 1944 (an excerpt from one
is included with this program) and appeared with Louis Armstrong in the 1947 film
New Orleans. He made frequent appearances on television during its early years. In
1952, along with Pete Johnson, Erroll Garner and Art Tatum he did a series of
concerts on a U. S. tour entitled "Piano Parade." In his later years he became
frustrated at being identified purely as a boogie-woogie pianist, and his playing was
frequently rushed and perfunctory.
Lewis's weight hovered around 290 pounds until he underwent medical treatments,
gave up alcohol and restricted his diet. He died in a car accident June 6, 1964, in
Minneapolis after a performance. Rear-ended at 80 miles per hour, his car was
thrown into a tree, and he was crushed to death. The driver of the other car was
seriously injured but survived.
1937
Pittsburgh drum innovator Kenny Clarke moves the ground beat from the Bass/Hi-
hat combination (previously innovated by Walter Johnson and Jo Jones) to the large
ride cymbal. This moves the ground beat completely away from the bass drum and
makes faster Bop-type rhythms possible. Clarke found that he could get pitch and
timbre variations and produce an airy sound. He also was then free to use the bass
drum in a new manner, to "drop bombs". He said that he simply got tired of playing
like Jo Jones, but this was an important innovation in the development of modern
Jazz (maybe as important as later innovations by Parker and Gillespie).
1937
Bessie Smith dies in a car accident in Clarksdale, Mississippi on September 26. The
old is dying in Jazz and the new is coming on strong.
1937
Archie Shepp (future Free Jazz giant) is born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He will
grow up in Philadelphia, Pa.
1938
Future piano player Cecil Taylor is taking piano lessons from the wife of a timpani
player who played with Toscanini. She lived across the street. Taylor will become big
in the Free Jazz movement.
1938
1938 - John Hammond produces the 'From Spirituals to Swing' concert at Carnegie
Hall (then again in 1939). This would be the first time race music and an integrated
band would be presented on a major US Stage. Vanguard would eventually release a
multi-LP collection and then a CD boxset with these recordings. Hammond intends to
answer "Where did jazz come from" with his choice of styles and artists. Artists on
the bill included: Count Basie (with Lips Page, Lester Young, Jo Jones and Walter
Page) Helen Humes Kansas City Five, Six Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons
Meade Lux Lewis/Albert Ammons/Pete Johnson/Walter Page/Jo Jones Joe Turner
Sister Rosetta Tharpe New Orleans Feetwarmers Jimmy Rushing Benny Goodman
Sextet (with Fletcher Henderson, Charlie Christian and Lionel Hampton) Ida Cox
Sonny Terry Big Bill Broonzy
1939
At this point in time, we have the Swing players who are king and the Dixieland
players who are trying to revive what they think of as "real" Jazz but ... what's this
up on the horizon? It's Charlie Christian, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie who are
sowing the seeds of what will take Jazz over in the next few years!
1939
By now, there are hundreds of Swing bands, but the Bop rebellion is beginning
because many excellent young black players are getting irritated that the whites are
making most of the money in Jazz.
1939
52nd Street is by now called "Swing Street". It all started with The Onyx. Now, in
the block between 5th and 6th Avenues, six Jazz clubs offer a high level of Jazz.
Four of these are The Famous Door, Jimmy Ryan's, The Onyx and The Three
Dueces. Because of space limitations, the small house band with one major soloist
like Coleman Hawkins is the thing at these clubs.
1939
Clubs also flourish in Greenwich Village, Harlem and in Chicago's south side, but
52nd Street is the symbolic headquarters of Jazz.
1939
The first formal books on Jazz appear. They are Wilder Hobson's American Jazz
Music and Frederick Ramsey and Charles Edward Smith's Jazzmen. These books
tend to paint a storybook picture of New Orleans Jazz and help to promote the
Dixieland Revival. It must be remembered that New Orleans Jazz and Dixieland Jazz
have some fundamental differences.
1939
Alan Lomax does the famous Jelly Roll Morton recordings for the Library of
Congress. This presents as close as we can get to a realistic view of the early days
of Jazz.
1939
Teddy Wilson leaves the Benny Goodman small groups and Jess Stacy leaves the
Benny Goodman big band. At this point the Earl Hines influenced Wilson is the most
influential pianist in Jazz. Jess Stacy is also of the Hines school.
1939
Coleman Hawkins does a version of Body and Soul which many feel is among the
finest masterpieces of Jazz. It is virtually an exercise in chromatic chord movement.
This is a precursor to Bop harmonics. Coleman understands harmonics very well and
he will have no problem with Bop harmonics. The Bop rhythm will however elude
him.
1940
Big band Swing is about to be done in by the war and economics. Small band Jazz is
evolving along two distinct and opposing movements. The first is the New Orleans
Revival or Dixieland. This produced little that was new musically. It was a white
movement to revive and exploit the black New Orleans music of the 1920's. Some
notable legends resurface including Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, Kid Ory and
Bunk Johnson. Some memorable records result. The other movement is distinctly
new musically and sociologically. This movement is called Bebop, Rebop or simply
Bop.
1940
In addition, the small band Swing is still there and a new big band trend is afoot.
This trend is called Progressive. Its proponents are Stan Kenton, Boyd Raeburn and
Earle Spencer. This will eventually influence what will become Cool Jazz.
1940
Claude Thornhill organizes a Swing band that, while not successful, presages Cool
Jazz.
1940
Meanwhile, the most successful of the early Cuban bands is formed by a man named
Machito. They are called Machito and his Afro-Cubans. They start as a completely
Cuban band and slowly assimilate Jazz into their repertoire. They introduce more
complex rhythms to the world of Jazz, however, they are primarily successful due to
their trumpet player/arranger Mario Banza (Machito's brother-in-law and former Cab
Calloway trumpet player).
1940
There is a Trad Jazz revival in Europe. The Europeans discover Joe Oliver and Jelly
Roll Morton.
1940
All of Europe except England is under Hitler's control and thus Europe will remain in
the Dixieland revival and Trad Jazz phase.
1940
The Yerba-Beuna Jazz Band featuring Lu Watters begins to play at the Dawn Club in
San Francisco. It played the music of Oliver and Armstrong.
1940
Sister Rosetta Tharpe is the leading gospel singer and is popular in Jazz as well.
1941
Future piano innovator Bill Evans is asked to sit in for a missing pianist in his
brother's Jazz group.
1942
It is becoming very clear to musicians that Bop is indeed a new music. A number of
Jazz musicians are now playing Bop.
1942
Future Free Jazz pianist, Cecil Taylor (only 9) is already interested in Jazz, especially
Swing.
1942
Belgian Robert Goffin and Englishman Leonard Feather act on Goffin's idea to have a
formal class on Jazz history and analysis. The class consists of fifteen lectures by
Feather and Goffin which are augmented by recordings and musical demonstrations
by such artists as Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman. The class which attracted
almost one hundred serious Jazz students was given at the New School for Social
Research in New York. It was repeated later in the year.
1943
1943
Robert Goffin convinces Esquire editor Arnold Gingrich that a "real" Jazz poll, one in
which Coleman Hawkins could win for tenor sax instead of Tex Beneke, is needed.
Thus is born the Esquire Jazz Band Poll. At Esquire publisher David Smart's
suggestion, a concert performed by the winners will be given at the Metropolitan
Opera House on January 18, 1944.
1943
Louis Armstrong wins the first Esquire Jazz Band Poll for trumpet. Other winners
include Coleman Hawkins for tenor sax and Billie Holiday for vocals.
1944
The winners of Esquire magazine's first Jazz poll perform in the first Jazz concert
ever to be given at the Metropolitan Opera House. The concert date is January 18.
The concert is recorded but never released in America. A Japanese release becomes
available years later.
1944
Carlo Loffredo forms the Roman New Orleans Jazz Band in Italy.
1945
The clarinet has nearly disappeared from Jazz at this point courtesy of the
saxophone. By now, the sax is king even forcing trumpeters to take notice.
1945
Jazz is becoming the preferred music of white renegades (will be until the mid 60's).
1945
Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie become known as partners and the co-founders of
Bebop. Diz and Bird and Bird and Miles Davis record a number of tunes in Feb, May
and Nov which establish Bebop. These tunes which are the most influential sides
since the Hot Fives and Sevens include Groovin' High, Salt Peanuts, Hot House,
Koko, Billie's Bounce and Now's the Time. These and other tunes which mark the
beginning of recorded Bebop can be found on several Savoy Jazz CD's including The
Charlie Parker Story and The Genius of Charlie Parker as well the Stash CD The
Legendary Dial Sessions: Vol 1.
1945
Lenny Tristano is currently one of the most thoroughly schooled musicians in Jazz.
1945
The term "Moldy Fig" (sometimes "Mouldy Figge") appears for the first time in
reference to the old school Jazz players in the Esquire letters column in a letter from
a Navy man named Sam Platt.
1945
Eddie Condon opens his Dixieland oriented Jazz club called Eddie Condon's in the
Greenwich Village section of New York City.
1946
Parker does his first Dial recordings. These are some of the landmark recordings of
Jazz. They are available on the Stash CD series The Legendary Dial Masters - Vol 1
and Vol 2.
1946
During 1946 Parker will also start with Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic. His
sidemen include Miles Davis on trumpet, Red Rodney on trumpet, Kenny Dorham on
trumpet, Duke Jordan on piano, Al Haig on piano, Tommy Potter on bass, Max
Roach on drums, Roy Haynes on drums, Lester Young on tenor sax and Coleman
Hawkins on tenor sax.
1946
In December, eight of the biggest Swing bands break up. The list includes Benny
Goodman, Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden, Benny Carter and 3 more.
The Swing era is truly over. Big band Jazz will not die out entirely though.
1946
Lenny Tristano (Mr. Cool on the piano) arrives in NYC and takes Jazz into more
coolness and complexity. His primary source of income is teaching. He quickly
develops a reputation as a crazy genius among musicians. He has a lot of new
musical ideas. He is consciously trying to weld Jazz and Classical.
1947
1947
With Bebop well established at this point, it is clear that the mainstream of Jazz is
from New Orleans through Swing to Bebop. Bop currently rules.
1947
Dizzy and George Russell's Cubana Be, Cubana Bop contains Modal Jazz elements
way before its time.
1947
The University of North Texas in Denton, Texas offers a Jazz degree. This is the first
Jazz degree to be offered in the United States.
1948
Ornette Coleman graduates high school and goes on the road with a traveling
variety show. Ornette gets fired in Natchez for trying to interest other players in
Jazz.
1948
Armstrong forms the first version of the Jazz All Stars with Jack Teagarden on
trombone, Barney Bigard on clarinet, Dick Carey on piano, Sid Catlett on drums and
Arvell Shaw on bass. Their music fits in with New Orleans revival.
1948
1948
1949
1949
1949
Charlie Parker takes his first trip overseas. He takes part in the Paris Jazz festival.
The new Parker quintet features Parker on alto sax, Al Haig on piano and Red
Rodney on trumpet. Listen to the CD's Bird at the Roost - Vol 2 and Vol 4 on
Savoy/Vogue.
1949
John Coltrane first appears on record as a member of Dizzy Gillespie's big band,
playing alto saxophone. He will stay with Gillespie until 1951, later doubling on tenor
sax. During his tenure with Gillespie, Coltrane plays on George Russell's "Cubana-Be,
Cubana-Bop," one of the first modal recordings and also a landmark Latin jazz
composition.
1949
Ben Webster leaves Ellington again. He moves back to Kansas City to work in the
Jay McShann band. In addition, he begins work at this time in pioneering Rhythm
and Blues bands playing a new music which might easily be called Rock and Roll. He
will eventually work with Johnny Otis and others. An interesting thing appears to be
happening, it seems as if many Swing musicians displaced by Bop are working in
small bands pioneering Rock and Roll which will eventually totally eclipse Jazz. Talk
about irony. See the EmArcy CD The Complete Ben Webster on EmArcy for some
examples.
1949
1949
Art Blakey returns from Africa. His name is now Abdullah Ibn Buhaina and his work
becomes some of the most imaginative in Jazz.
1949
Lenny Tristano group records some unique sides that are closely listened to by Jazz
musicians...even musicians that don't like the music. The tunes are Intuition and
Digression. The players are Lee Konitz on alto sax, Warne Marsh on tenor sax, Billy
Bauer on guitar, a drummer and a bassist. The drummer and bassist are not given
much latitude. Tristano is interested in complicated systems of chord changes and
he wants to create pure melodic lines with shifting meters or without meter. This
music is close to Free Jazz and is 5 to 10 years early.
1949
At the end of the Tristano session above, in May 1949, Tristano tells engineers to
leave the mike open. Each instrumentalist plays in a melodic system of his own
choice. The Tristano group is playing Free Jazz about ten years before its time and
musicians and record company execs are puzzled. The record is not issued for quite
some time.
1949
Coleman Hawkins is now out of the vanguard of Jazz. Hawkins was another
displaced Swing idol. He was as capable as anyone of understanding Bop harmonics.
Since he had been improvising on the chord structure longer than anyone at this
point. However, like many Swing musicians, the Bop rhythms completely escaped
him.
1949
Cuban bandleader Luis del Campo becomes enamored with Jazz and begins to hire
Jazzmen. This is a switch. Usually, it was the Jazz bands which hired cuban
musicians. The del Campo band had five rhythm men including three drummers, a
piano and a bass.
1949
Norman Granz persuades Oscar Peterson to join the Jazz at the Philharmonic(JATP).
The popular style pianist is an instant success.
1950
By this time, it is possible for a Jazz star to get rich without compromising. A
competent Jazz musician can make a good living without compromise. Audiences are
finally somewhat indifferent to a mixed black and white band.
1950
Charlie Parker becomes the first modern Jazz soloist to perform with strings and
woodwinds in a symphony style group.
1950
The Del Campo band is playing Jazz numbers with a rolling rhumba rhythm that
attracts large dance audiences. Del Campo is inclined to turn the band loose and
then dance with the ladies. He very dramatically dies on the dance floor while doing
this very thing. The cause is a bad heart.
1951
1951
The first American Jazz festival occurs in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. in the autumn. This
festival precedes the first Newport Jazz Festival by almost three years.
1951
Lars became a member of such groups as: the Arild Andersen Quartet, Radka
Toneff, Bjrn Alke's quartet, Egba, Hawk On Flight, Equinox, Red Mitchell, Tolvan
Bigband, Jukkis Uotila with Bob Berg and Mike Stern, Ulf Wakenius, Lew Sollof, and
Bohusln Big Band, among others. He also played with Danish musicians like Cecile
Norby, Hans Ulrik, and Klyvers Bigband. Lars was also a member of The Jan
Garbarek Group in 1987.
1952
Personnel includes: Johnny Smith (guitar); Stan Getz (saxophone); Stanford Gold
(piano); Bob Carter (bass); Don Lamond (drums)
1952
1952
Classically trained pianist John Lewis forms the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) with
vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Kenny Clarke. Lewis
insists that group members wear tuxedos to dignify Jazz.
1953
Not only is the foregoing among the most myopic viewpoints ever shared by
musicians, but it is equally mistaken to assume Brubeck's music is not a force to be
reckoned with until the Time Out recordings. Let the Oberlin record speak for itself:
it represents improvisation of the highest order by two musicians at the very peak of
their creative powers.
Take Paul's solo on "Just the Way You Look Tonight": He quotes from Prokofief,
Stravinsky, and at least three American composers while building an emotional,
pyrotechnical, beautifully structured solo spurred on by the audible vocal
encouragements of Brubeck himself. Who could follow that? Brubeck does, not only
matching but possibly topping it, with thunderous, wildly inventive yet boldly
assertive, polyrhythmic melodic statements played in octaves in the left hand.
There's a widespread myth, proven wrong time and again, that the best music
occurs when great soloists are accompanied by equally heralded drummers and bass
players. To the contrary, the most spirited and swinging jazz always happens when
players know their roles and listen to each other.
Before your jazz collection numbers more than 10 albums, make certain that this is
one of them.
1953
George Russell has worked out his Lydian Concept of Tonal Organization, a
landmark treatise on modal theory. Modal jazz will become a major movement over
the course of the next decade.
1953
Parker, Gillespie, Max Roach, Charlie Mingus and Bud Powell are recorded in concert
at Massey Hall in Toronto. A good LP results. Listen to The Quintet: Jazz at Massey
Hall on Original Jazz Classics(OJC). Also check out Charlie Parker at Storyville on
Blue Note.
1953
Armstrong wins Downbeat International Critic's poll, Downbeat Hall of Fame award,
Melody Maker's Reader's poll, Melody Maker's Critic's poll, Jazz Hot poll in France
and Jazz Echo poll in Germany.
1953
1954
1954
Horace Silver initiates the first version of the Jazz Messengers to record for Blue
Note.
1954
Horace Silver is currently one of the most sought after pianists in Jazz.
1954
Cecil Taylor begins to abandon the standard Jazz piano approaches. He begins to
use chords, not as building blocks, but as swatches of color like the French
Impressionists.
1954
The first Newport Jazz festival occurs in Newport, Rhode Island. Pianist George Wein
is responsible for inviting the musicians.
1955
The Chet Baker Quartet records six tracks for Pacific Jazz, all of which feature Chet's
vocal style: Daybreak, Just Friends, I Remember You, Let's Get Lost, Long Ago And
Far Away, You Don't Know What Love Is.
1955
1955
The Hard Bop style is emerging via people like drummer Art
Blakey and piano player Horace Silver. Blue notes are disappearing from Jazz. They
are being replaced by minor notes. For instance, the blue seventh becomes the
minor seventh, etc.
1955
Cool Jazz hits its last peak as saxman Jimmy Giuffre eliminates drums and strong
bass altogether giving an implicit beat rather than an explicit beat.
1955
Art Blakey puts together the first of his Jazz Messenger groups featuring Kenny
Dorham on trumpet, Hank Mobley on tenor sax, Doug Watkins on bass, Horace
Silver on piano and Blakey on drums. The sound will continue to define Hard Bop.
1955
Jimmy Smith debuts the Hammond B-3 organ as a Jazz instrument in an organ-
guitar-drum trio in Atlantic City. Smith's Hammond will become a Jazz force.
1955
Pianist Cecil Taylor becomes a major Free Jazz figure way before the time of Free
Jazz.
1955
Sonny Rollins joins the Max Roach-Clifford Brown Quintet. Rollins says that Clifford
showed him that it is possible to lead a good clean life and still be a good Jazz
musician.
1955
Piano player Herbie Nichols records the first of four sessions for Blue Note. Free Jazz
is not far off.
1955
1955
Downbeat becomes the most widely read jazz periodical in the U.S. (until 1965).
1956
1956
Art Tatum, who set the standard for jazz piano and inspired the young Oscar
Peterson, died from uremia.
1956
1956
1956
Clifford Brown plays an informal gig at a Music City store in Philadelphia on June 25.
Later that night Clifford Brown, Richie Powell (Bud's brother) and Richie's wife Nancy
head west on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. In the early hours of June 26, their car
veers off the road killing all three. It was a great loss for Jazz.
1956
Clifford Brown takes his place beside Jazz greats such as Charlie Parker and Louis
Armstrong.
1956
1956
1956
Piano player Cecil Taylor records for Transition with Steve Lacy on soprano
saxophone, Buell Neidlinger on bass and Dennis Charles on drums. The record which
they make is not a commercial success, but musicians take notice. The music
exhibits most of the devices that would later become Free Jazz.
1956
Pianist Horace Silver leaves the Jazz Messengers and drummer Art Blakey becomes
the leader.
1956
Duke Ellington's band performs at the Newport Jazz Festival. Duke's band devises a
landmark performance which is capped by an amazing tenor saxophone solo by Paul
Gonsalves on Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue. Duke gets a new record contract
with Columbia.
1956
1957
Bop still rules. All future Jazz should follow from it. But...will this happen?
1957
Monk appears on the CBS Television Show The Sound of Jazz in December. Monk is
rapidly becoming a leading figure in the world of Jazz.
1957
Cecil Taylor is invited to play the Newport Jazz Festival. His detractors are most Bop
musicians who are afraid of being pushed aside as they pushed aside the Swingers
only a decade or so before.
1958
This was a very busy day regarding jazz recordings. Some memorable sessions were
played:
The Miles Davis Sextet (Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Red
Garland, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones) recorded three tracks (Dr. Jeckyll;
Sid's Ahead; Little Melonae) for Columbia Records at Columbia 30th Street
Studios, NYC. The first two tracks were released on Milestones.
Cannonball Adderley recorded with his own quintet (Cannonball & Nat
Adderley, Junior Mance, Sam Jones, Jimmy Cobb) that very same day for
EmArcy Records at the Bell Sound Studios, NYC. The tracks (Our Delight;
Jubilation; What's New?; Straight, No Chaser) were released on Cannonball's
Sharpshooters. The remaining tracks for the album were recorded two days
later.
After that, this first Adderley quintet broke up. Nat Adderley: "Miles offered to
pay Cannonball two hundred dollars more per week than both of us took out
of the band, it was time to call it quits"(cited from the liner notes of Verve's
'The EmArcy Small Group Sessions').
Meanwhile at the Universal Studios in Chicago, the Count Basie Orchestra
recorded two songs for the Chairman Of The Board album (Blues In Hoss'
Flat; H.R.H).
At the Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield, California, the Duke Ellington Orchestra
played a dance that was recorded and released as Volumes 2 & 6 of The
Private Collection.
1958
The new Miles Davis group, featuring Coltrane, records Milestones in April. This
recording represents a significant shift toward modal jazz.
1958
On December 15, pianist Bill Evans records the unaccompanied piano solo Peace
Piece on which he improvises two repeated chords. What makes this recording
significant is that Evans draws heavily on George Russell's modal theory. It's one of
the first examples of modes in modern Jazz.
1958
Pianist Bill Evans records Everybody Digs Bill Evans with Sam Jones on bass and
Philly Joe Jones on drums. This album, which contains the innovative Peace Piece, is
available on Original Jazz Classics. I hope that Bill didn't come up with this title! ...
Just kidding. Riverside came up with the title to promote Bill in the ranks of Jazz.
The cover is a unique "all quotes" design featuring complimentary blurbs from
various people including Miles Davis, the first time the trumpeter allowed himself to
be quoted in such a manner about a fellow musician.
1958
Bill Evans is chosen "New Star" pianist in the Downbeat International Jazz Critics
Poll.
1958
Trumpeter Lee Morgan is now with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.
1958
Sax player Benny Golson is now with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers for a short
while.
1958
Pianist Cecil Taylor plays the Great South Bay Festival with a group that includes
Buell Neidlinger on bass, Steve Lacy on soprano saxophone and Dennis Charles on
drums. Nat Hentoff gives them a good review. The resulting publicity gets Taylor a
recording date with United Artists which results in the LP Love for Sale. Taylor will
later go completely into Free Jazz and will gradually decline.
1958
Art Kane's photo of 57 Jazz greats on the steps of a Harlem Brownstone appears in
Esquire magazine. Some of the legendary musicians who showed up for the 10:00
a.m. photo shoot were: Thelonious Monk, Lester Young, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie,
Roy Eldridge, Gerry Mulligan, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Milt Hinton and Art Farmer.
1958
1958
1959
This is the one jazz record owned by people who don't listen to jazz, and with good
reason. The band itself is extraordinary (proof of Miles Davis's masterful casting
skills, if not of God's existence), listing John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball"
Adderley on saxophones, Bill Evans (or, on "Freddie Freeloader," Wynton Kelly) on
piano, and the crack rhythm unit of Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on
drums. Coltrane's astringency on tenor is counterpoised to Adderley's funky self on
alto, with Davis moderating between them as Bill Evans conjures up a still lake of
sound on which they walk. Meanwhile, the rhythm partnership of Cobb and
Chambers is prepared to click off time until eternity. It was the key recording of
what became modal jazz, a music free of the fixed harmonies and forms of pop
songs. In Davis's men's hands it was a weightless music, but one that refused to
fade into the background. In retrospect every note seems perfect, and each piece
moves inexorably towards its destiny. --John Szwed
On the March 2 session the following tracks were recorded: 'So What', 'Freddie
Freeloader', and 'Blue In Green'. The remaining two tracks ('All Blues', 'Flamenco
Sketches') were recorded on April 22.
1959
1959
George Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept is written about use of the modes in
Jazz. This is probably the first important text on Jazz theory. Modal Jazz will soon
emerge in full force.
1959
1959
In September, Coltrane plays on George Russell's big band recording New York, New
York (Decca) along with some of the biggest names in jazz.
1959
Coltrane also records Coltrane Jazz (Atlantic), which experiments with tone
polytonality. Polytonality involves playing a melody in one key over a chord sequence
in another.
1959
Influential tenor sax player Sonny Rollins takes another sabbatical from Jazz. People
think that he's off inventing a new kind of Jazz. At this point in time most people
believe Sonny to be as important to Jazz as Coltrane.
1959
The Ornette Coleman Quartet's stint at the Five Spot splits the Jazz world.
1959
1959
Bill Evans forms trio with brilliant young bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul
Motian. Their work can be found on the excellent Portrait In Jazz on OJC.
1959
AAJ Building a Jazz Library: Masterpieces
1959
1959
Armstrong finishes fifth in the Music USA all-time great Jazz musician poll.
1959
1960
1960
1960
1960
Free Jazz and Modal Jazz are pushing Bop forms aside.
1960
In Free Jazz, it is as if the musicians have blown apart the older forms (New Orleans,
Swing and Bop) and represented them in a form that is musically analogous to the
Abstract Art of Jackson Pollock.
1960
Bop is becoming passe. In fact, Dixieland players at this point may be producing
more interesting music because the Dixieland form is more varied than Hard Bop.
The mainstream of Jazz (New Orleans > Swing > Bop) is drying up.
1960
1960
Ornette Coleman finishes The Shape Of Jazz To Come in July after starting it in
October of 1959. The album features Ornette on alto sax, Don Cherry on pocket
trumpet, Charlie Haden on bass and Billy Higgins on drums, and can be found on
Atlantic CD.
1960
Ornette releases the anthem LP Free Jazz in December. This album can be found on
Atlantic CD. The players include Ornette on alto sax, Don Cherry on pocket trumpet,
Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Eric Dolphy on bass clarinet, Charlie Haden and Scott
LaFaro on bass and Ed Blackwell and Billy Higgins on drums. The original album
cover featured an appropriate Jackson Pollock painting. This was one of the most
important albums in the Free Jazz movement.
1960
Over six days in October, Coltrane records material for three albums. The first one
released, My Favorite Things, features his recorded debut on the soprano
saxophone. "My Favorite Things," a highly modal piece, will become a Jazz
favorite. Coltrane's quartet on this date includes pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Steve
Davis, and drummer Elvin Jones.
1960
Coltrane's The Avant-Garde, which delves into Free Jazz, was also released during
1960.
1960
Pianist Barry Harris moves to New York City. Barry records Barry Harris at the Jazz
Workshop with Sam Jones and Louis Hayes.
1960
1960
At what is first scheduled to be just another "blowing date," tenor saxophonist Hank
Mobley records the classic Soul Jazz album Soul Station. The rhythm section includes
Art Blakey, Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers. How could you go wrong with these
four first-rate musicians?
1960
Poll results printed in Leonard Feather's Encyclopedia of Jazz list Duke Ellington,
Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Lester Young and Count Basie as top Jazz figures in
that order. This points out the lag between fan and musician appeal.
1961
Possession of previous editions of this singular set simply won't do. After the
Ellington at Newport and The Complete Lady Day reissues, the engineers at
Columbia/Sony command respect as experts when it comes to authoritative,
definitive, faithfully represented remasters of indispensable jazz recordings.
This transitional group, between Miles' first great quintet with Coltrane and his
second with Wayne Shorter, is the equal of the first ensemble and more satisfying
than the second. Miles' chops were never better, and as if to make up for the
absence of Coltrane, he was playing with uncharacteristic fire and pyrotechnical
flare. Jimmy Cobb had practically erased the memory of Philly Joe Jones as the ideal
complement to Paul Chambers and Wynton Kelly. No rhythm section ever achieved a
greater sense of vitality and vibrancy within the conventional 4/4 walking-bass
pattern of mainstream modern jazz. (Many drummers would do well to listen just to
Cobb's ride cymbal, noting how little else is required to keep the music fresh and
flowing.)
Continue...
1961
Free Jazz is currently becoming more popular and it is making a number of waves in
the pool of Hard Bop.
1961
Bill Evans - Waltz for Debby & Live at the Village Vanguard
The laid-back character of Bill Evans's piano playing here
masks a serenely beautiful touch and wonderfully innovative
ideas. His inhumanly intuitive interactions with bassist Scott
LaFaro remain legendary. This is the best piano trio music
ever recorded (and it's all live).
1961
Coltrane records Impressions and Live at the Village Vanguard (Impulse!) during
1961 Vanguard performances. The personnel on Impressions, released in November,
include Eric Dolphy on bass clarinet, McCoy Tyner on piano, Reggie Workman and
Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums. The title tune is modal, but other
pieces, such as "India," approach Free Jazz.
1961
Ornette Coleman records a few albums which are far less important than his
landmark Free Jazz albums.
1961
Pop Jazz singer Nancy Wilson and British Jazz pianist George Shearing team up on
The Swingin's Mutual. Critic Leonard Feather characterized it as "one of the most
logical and successful collaborations of the year."
1961
A Dixieland revival or Trad Jazz movement with a modified New Orleans style is
currently popular in Britain.
1961
1962
1962
Sonny Rollins puts together a band with Don Cherry on trumpet and Billy Higgins on
drums. This group will make the album Our Man in Jazz.
1962
Tenor saxophonist Stan Getz records the album Jazz Samba. This is a major
commercial success. The music here represents variations on Latin dance music.
This type of music becomes popular in nightclubs.
1962
The Latin Dance Jazz boom has begun. The first hit to break the charts wide open is
Desafinado followed by The Girl from Ipanema.
1962
Saxophonist Curtis Amy and his band record the album Tippin' On Through at the
famous jazz club The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, CA.
1963
1963
AAJ Building a Jazz Library: Masterpieces
1963
1963
Grant Green records his classic album Idle Moments. The guitarist gets ample
support from saxophonist Joe Henderson and vibist Bobby Hutcherson. This
landmark release earns Green the reputation as one of Jazz's most versatile
guitarists.
1963
Cast Your Fate to the Wind by Vince Guaraldi becomes a Gold Record winner and
earns the Grammy as Best Instrumental Jazz Composition. Guaraldi was best known
for his work on the "Peanuts" television specials.
1963
Asian and Middle Eastern instruments are added to Jazz by flutist Yusef Lateef.
Lateef also adds techniques to accommodate these new Jazz instruments.
1963
Pioneer Free Jazz pianist Herbie Nichols dies of Leukemia at age 44.
1963
Trumpeter Lee Morgan records The Sidewinder (Blue Note), which will rise to
number 25 on the Billboard pop album chart, impressive for a Jazz LP. Most of the
record is Hard Bop, though the title track has crossover appeal.
1964
1964
In October, trumpeter Bill Dixon organizes a series of Free Jazz concerts called the
October Revolution at the Cellar Cafe in New York, featuring John Coltrane, Cecil
Taylor, Ornette Coleman and others. Out of this festival grows the Jazz Composer's
Guild, which includes Dixon, Archie Shepp, Roswell Rudd, Cecil Taylor, Paul Bley and
Carla Bley, among others.
1964
1964
1964
Japanese impresario Tokutara Honda stages the World Jazz Festival in Japan. Miles
Davis is the biggest draw.
1965
1965
The classic fuzz box assumes popularity among rock guitarists, including Jimmy
Page, Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, and Keith Richards (who uses a Gibson Fuzz Box
on "Satisfaction" in 1965). As effects technology develops, jazz players (and even
horn players like Miles Davis) will pick it up for use.
1967
The Beatles record the tremendously influential Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club
Band album. This album is not only influential on the Rock front. It will influence all
types of music including Jazz.
1970
1970
Pianist Chick Corea, reedist/percussionist Anthony Braxton, bassist Dave Holland and
drummer Barry Altschul form the free jazz group Circle. They record Early Circle and
Circulus (Blue Note). The rhythm section of the group also records Song of Singing
(Blue Note) under Corea's name.
1971
In September, Thelonious Monk and a band including Art Blakey on drums and Dizzy
Gillespie on trumpet begins "The Giants of Jazz" world tour in New Zealand. They
would record at several venues in Europe. Shortly after the tour's conclusion,
Thelonious Monk records three Black Lion sessions (The London Collection, Vol. 1-3)
solo and with drummer Art Blakey and bassist Al McKibbon.
1972
Hard bop trumpeter Lee Morgan is shot dead at 33 by his common-law wife, Helen
More, at Slug's, a New York City jazz club, on February 19.
1973
1974
Jazz-rock trumpeter Bill Chase, leader of the group Chase, dies on August 9.
1975
The Thelonious Monk Quartet plays the Newport in New York Jazz Festival. The
Quartet, which includes Thelonious Jr., Larry Gales and Paul Jeffrey, appears at the
Lincoln Center.
1975
Pianist Keith Jarrett's K�ln Concert (ECM) is one of the most successful solo piano
efforts in the history of jazz.
1975
Sax player Art Pepper returns to jazz after 15 years with Living Legend (OJC) and
brings with him an interest in classic bop.
1975
Quirky pop jazz vocalist Michael Franks records his first major label release, The Art
of Tea (Warner), with Joe Sample, Michael Brecker, David Sanborn and Larry
Carlton.
1976
Thelonious Monk's quartet appears at Carnegie Hall with guest trumpeter Lonnie
Hillyer in March, four months before his final public appearance at the Newport Jazz
Festival in July.
1977
Free Jazz drummer Sunny Murray states (Jazz Magazine, June) that "the music (Free
Jazz) didn't stop a decade ago."
1978
President Jimmy Carter hosts the First Annual White House Jazz Festival in honor of
Charles Mingus. Many prominent jazz musicians come to the event, including Roy
Eldridge, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, and Cecil Taylor.
1978
Toshiko Akiyoshi's jazz orchestra places first in Downbeat magazine's readers' poll.
This is a first time accomplishment for a Japanese woman.
1978
Woody Shaw is rated top jazz trumpeter in a Downbeat magazine poll. His record
Rosewood (Columbia) is the number one jazz album in the same poll.
1980
Miles Davis begins to get back into jazz by playing his horn after four years of
abstinence.
1980
1980
Drummer and keyboard player Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition fuses world music,
free jazz, bop and funk on Tin Can Alley (ECM).
1981
Guitarist Melvin Sparks made his name as a solid soul jazz player with the likes of
Charles Earland and Lou Donaldson. Another of his associates was drummer Idris
Muhammed, who appears on this, Sparks last album as a leader until a 1997
comeback, along with pianist Neal Creque and bassist Buster Williams. Sparks wrote
two of the tunes and Creque one, with the remaining two pieces the standards
"Misty" and "Speak Low." Certainly a period piece firmly in the Muse aesthetic, it
admirably carries on the soul jazz tradition.
1981
Trumpeter Miles Davis returns to jazz after a six year retirement. He is the featured
artist at the Kool Jazz Festival.
1982
The Kool Jazz Festival features Wynton and Branford Marsalis along with Bobby
McFerrin.
1982
Saxophonist Michael Brecker states (in an interview with Jazz Hot, Sept-Oct) that his
models were guitar players like Jimi Hendrix, not sax players.
1983
The CD is introduced to the general public. This new digital technology will
eventually spawn a huge nostalgia market for all types of music, including jazz. One
reason for this is that, even though CD's appear to be expensive, they are virtually
indestructible compared to vinyl.
1984
Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis wins a jazz Grammy for the bop album Think of One.
Marsalis also wins a Grammy for classical music this same year. Later he would state
that it is harder to play jazz than classical.
1984
Miles Davis wins the Sonning Prize, an award from the Danish government which
normally goes to a non-jazz composer. This would result in the 1989 release Aura,
composed by Palle Mikkelborg.
1984
1985
On Cobra, recorded in 1985-86, alto sax player John Zorn combines many styles of
jazz in a novel "game piece" form of composition.
1986
The British label Acid Jazz is recording groups with names like the Brand New
Heavies who play Jazz with a driving dance beat.
1989
Claude Barthelemy becomes director of the French Orchestre National de Jazz (ONJ).
1990
British Acid Jazz band The Brand New Heavies break through with their self-entitled
release. N'Dea Davenport adds vocal support to the pop-oriented tunes.
1990
Gunther Schuller reconstructs and records Charles Mingus' Epitaph for jazz
orchestra.
2008