Jazz Musicians, 1945 to the Present

Description

From its very beginnings, the nature of jazz has been to reinvent itself. As the musical genre evolved from its roots—blues, European music, Voodoo ceremonies, and brass bands that played at funerals, parades and celebrations—the sound reflected the tenor of the times, from the citified strains of the Roaring ’20s to the Big Band swing of pre–World War II to the bop revolution that grew out of the minimalist sound the war forced upon the art form. That the music continued to develop and evolve is a tribute to the power and creativity of its musicians. Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Sarah Vaughan, Art Blakey, Dave Brubeck, Sun Ra, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Diana Krall, Archie Shepp, Chick Corea, Branford Marsalis, Larry Coryell, and Kenny Kirkland are just some of the jazz greats profiled here. The five major periods of jazz—the bop revolution, hard bop and cool jazz, the avant-garde, fusion, and contemporary—form the basis for the sections in this reference work, with a brief history of each period provided. The artists who were integral to the evolution of each period are then profiled. Each biographical entry focuses on the artist’s life and his or her influence on jazz and on music as a whole. A complete discography for each musician is also provided. Cover Table of Contents Introduction Part One: The Bop Revolution Kenny Clarke (1914–1985) Klook’s Blues Dizzy Gillespie (1917–1993) The Bop Catalyst Thelonious Monk (1917–1982) Epistrophy Blues Charlie Parker (1920–1955) Bird’s Blues Oscar Pettiford (1922–1960) Deep Passion Barney Kessel (1923–2004) Guitar Goes Bop J. J. Johnson (1924–2001) Trombone Goes Bop Bud Powell (1924–1966) Hot House Blues Sarah Vaughan (1924–1990) The Divine Miss V Oscar Peterson (1925–) Canadian Suite Sonny Rollins (1930–) The Cutting Edge Part Two: Hard Bop and Cool Jazz Art Blakey (1919–1990) Freedom Rider Dave Brubeck (1920–) Take Five Charles Mingus (1922–1979) The Boss of the Bass Dexter Gordon (1923–1990) West Coast Tenorman Wes Montgomery (1923–1968) Little Brother Max Roach (1925–) Driva Man Jimmy Smith (1925–2005) Funky Cool Blues Miles Davis (1926–1991) The Cool One Horace Silver (1928–) Finger Poppin’ Jazz Herbie Mann (1930–2003) Flute Sou·é Jackie McLean (1932–) Jackie’s Bag Part Three: Free Jazz and the Avant-Garde Sun Ra (1914–1993) Cosmic Tones Yusef Lateef (1926–) An Eastern Taste John Coltrane (1926–1967) Giant Steps Elvin Jones (1927–2004) Heavy Sounds Eric Dolphy (1928–1964) Outward Bound Cecil Taylor (1929–) The Note Painter Ornette Coleman (1930–) Tone Dialing Rahsaan Roland Kirk (1936–1977) Saxophone Concerto Archie Shepp (1937–) The Articulate Spokesman Charlie Haden (1937–) Haunted Hearts Anthony Braxton (1945–) The Professor’s Approach Part Four: Jazz Fusion Wayne Shorter (1933–) Ju Ju’s Blues Herbie Hancock (1940–) The Chameleon Chick Corea (1941–) Man on a Mission John McLaughlin (1942–) Mahavishnu Blues Larry Coryell (1943–) The Electric Jazz Warrior Tony Williams (1945–1997) The Powerhouse Billy Cobham (1946–) The Panamanian Percussionist Stanley Clarke (1951–) Individual Strings Jaco Pastorius (1951–1987) The Brazilian Bass Man Part Five: Contemporary Jazz Kenny Kirkland (1955–1998) The New Piano Thing Jeff “Tain” Watts (1960– ) Citizen Tain Branford Marsalis (1960– ) The First Family of Jazz Wynton Marsalis (1961– ) The Young Lion John Medeski (1965– ) Acid Jazz Grooves Diana Krall (1965– ) Frim Fram Sauce Blues Mark Whitfield (1967– ) The Marksman Christian McBride (1972– ) Freewheeling Bass Bibliography Index