History of Jazz

Duke Ellington's Influence on Jazz Music

Duke Ellington was born on April 29, 1899 in Washington D.C. to James Edward Ellington and Daisy Ellington, and was christened Edward Kennedy Ellington. Greatly known in history for his contribution to Jazz music, he has often been called one of the finest jazz composers and band leaders. Having been around for over half a century, he composed over a thousand works and one of the most unique sounds in Western music. Along with being an African jazz composer and band leader, he also played the piano. He passed away from cancer in the Presbyterian Hospital in New York on May 24, 1974.

Ellington grew up in a well to do family Washington D.C., starting school in 1904 where initially had an interest in baseball but an injury to his head convinced his mother that it was not a good idea. Three years later, he began his musical training of piano, harmony, and notation. He attended Armstrong High School, but studied most of music at a nearby High School with Harry Grant of Dunbar High School. He would also go to Grant’s house to learn more about music theory. Later in life, Duke was known to have said this in regards to his experience with Grant, “It ended up a hidden course in harmony that lighted the direction to more highly-developed composition. It was a music foundation and I jumped at the opportunity.”   He wrote his very first composition in 1914 called Soda Fountain Rag. Duke grew up listening to “Doc” Perry, Louis Brown, Lester Dishman, and Shorty Mac. The way he played the piano was greatly influenced by James P. Johnson and Willie “The Lion” Smith. He called what he picked up from these artists his “poolroom education.”

Duke Ellington played his first professional job on stage somewhere between 1915 and 1916 with a show that was of a magician and himself. He loved the composer James P. Johnson, and even performed one of his works titles The Carolina Shout. He married Edna Thompson on July 2, 1918 and began to organize bands around Washington. He went to New York in 1922 with Sonny Greer, the drummer, and Otto Hardwick, the reed player. His move there with the Wilbur Sweatman Orchestra wasn’t successful so he came back to Washington and began an informal study with Johnson and Willie Smith.

In 1923, he tries again a move to New York with the advice from Thomas “Fats” Waller. However, this time he took with him his regular quintet, which was completed by Arthur Whetsol, the trumpeter, and Elmer Snowden, the banjoist. The band was called the Washingtonians and they played at Barron’s Club in Harlem and at the Hollywood Club on Broadway, which was later renamed to Kentucky Club. He worked with Snowden for a while until there was an argument over missing money, which led to Ellington becoming the leader of the band. He was able to make his first recording in 1923 with the Kentucky Club Orchestra.

Next year he adds James “Bubber” Miley to his band who added what people called his “Jungle Sound” Sidney Bechet was a creole soprano saxophonist and clarinetist that played with the band for a short period, but never got the chance to record with them. The band made their first recording this year. They recorded Choo Choo (gotta hurry home) and Rainy Nights (rainy days) together. This band didn’t hit the big time until they picked up Irving Mills in 1926, who became their manager. In 1927, the band added the baritone saziphonist Harry Carney, the claritenist Barney Bigard, and Adelaide Hall.  Mood Indigo was the first big hit of Ellington’s career and the band also appeared in the 1930 film “Double Check” the very same year. The band played at the Cotton Club in New York successfully until 1932.

At the end of the decade, the band was one of the few successful bands in making the change in regards to what the public demanded. They were able to change from their Hot Jazz style of the 20s to Swing music in the 30s. Their hit It Don’t Mean a Thing actually came to define the new style of music of that decade. The band made their first European tour in 1933.

Duke Ellington continued to dominate the Jazz world until his death in 1974. He produced Jump for Joy in 1941, which had some comments on racism.He produced Take the A train, Perdido, The C Jam Blues, and Satin Doll” throughout the 1940s and 1950s. In the 1960s, Duke began producing more work related to religion such as The Far East Suite. At the end of his career, his music and style remained popular even though most of his band members had passed away. After Ellington’s death, the band continued to enjoy success under his son Mercer.

Tweet This Post Facebook MySpace Ping This Post

Charlie Parker Jazz Biography

Very few jazz musicians affected the history of their musical style as much as Charlie “Bird” Parker. And certainly no saxophonist was more important than Charlie Parker. His innovations in creating the style of “bebop” forever changed the jazz idiom and the minds of jazz musicians. Unfortunately, his career was cut short in 1955 when he died in Baroness Nica’s apartment. Had Bird lived longer, the impact he would have further had on jazz music would have been incredible. 

Charlie Parker was born on August 20th, 1920 in Kansas City, Kansas. His father, Charles, was a pianist and provided young Charlie with his first exposure to music. Charlie began to pick up the alto saxophone around age 11 and he began playing with his school band by age 14, although he was reportedly kick out because he was so bad. This incident was probably one of the reasons why, later in life, Bird would often spend the majority of his days practicing. Bird’s earliest exposure to professional jazz music was around the age of 15 when he began playing with jazz groups semi-professionally. His family had moved to Kansas City, Missouri which ad experienced growth in the jazz music field. Bird played with local jazz groups from 1935 until 1938 when he joined Jay McShann’s territory band.

Bird made his first record debuts with McShann’s group and he toured with the group between 1939 and 1940. In 1939 he had moved to New York City and began working odd jobs to make money during the day. He would attend jazz shows at night and start focusing more on his improvisational skills and form. In 1942 Bird left McShann’s group and joined Earl Hines’ group where he began working with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. It was Bird’s relationship with Dizzy along with pianist Thelonious Monk that would allow him to help create the style known as bebop.

After staying with Earl Hines’ group for roughly a year, Bird left and worked on developing bebop. The style of bebop was created by taking the basic form of jazz improvisation to the next level. Bird and Dizzy no longer focused on taking melodies already present in the music and developing them. Instead, they took the chord structure and used it, along with extended tones from each chord (such as 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths) to move from chord to chord, key to key, creating new melodic lines. Bird’s mastery of the alto saxophone allowed him to play very fast with little to no flaws, moving seamlessly from chord to chord, and key to key. 

Unfortunately, due to the 1942-1944 strike of the American Federation of Musicians, no commercial recordings of Charlie Parker in his early stages of bebop were released. Once the ban was listed however, Bird began heading his own records and he also began working on records with Dizzy. In November 1945 Bird led a recording that featured tracks such as “Koko” and “Now’s The Time”. This record would later become a jazz classic; it would solidify Bird’s status as a jazz legend and as a leading innovator. Later in 1945 Bird traveled with Dizzy to Los Angeles to play a string of gigs, which weren’t as successful as their east coast counterparts, and the group returned to New York with the exception of Bird. The group could not find Bird when it was time to leave California and eventually decided that Bird would find his was home. Unfortunately at this point in his life Bird was fighting an addiction to heroin, and his missing the flight was partly because he had cashed in his return plane ticket in order to buy heroin.

Charlie Parker had suffered from an addiction to heroin after being in a car accident while he was a teenager. He was actually addicted to morphine, but turned to heroin, which was more accessible. After several incidents involving Bird’s heroin addiction, he was sent to Camarillo State Hospital to be treated for his heroin addiction. After spending six months at Camarillo Bird was declared clean and was able to move back to New York, but not before recording “Relaxin’ at Camarillo”, a song describing his stay at the State Hospital. When Bird returned to New York he quickly got back into his music and recorded a series of records with his “classic quintet” (which included Miles Davis, and Max Roach), which are universally thought to be his absolute best recordings.

In November 1949 Bird finally achieved one of his dreams: recording with strings. Recording with strings in the jazz world meant that the musician had really become famous because the recordings were expensive, and for a record company to spend so much money on a jazz musician meant a lot. Bird had been interested in “classical” music for some time now, most notably his interest in the music of Igor Stravinsky. The chance to record with strings was something Bird had always wanted, and the recordings are classic. His improvisations are more subdued than in other Bird recordings, but they are no less expressive.

Bird had reached a level of stardom by 1950, and jazz did not escape his realm of influence. A jazz club in New York City, called “Birdland”, had opened up and named itself after Charlie Parker. Bird was touring nightclubs in New York City, as well as touring in Europe. However, this return to New York also meant a return to Bird’s heroin addiction. While this had left him completely debilitated before, it was not wreaking such havoc on his life this time. He was able to perform coherently, and this period is considered to be a period of his best playing. Unfortunately his addiction to heroin cost him his cabaret license, which in turn kept him from performing in many of the major New York City nightclubs. Unfortunately it kept going downhill from there. In 1954 Charlie Parker’s two and a half year old daughter, Pree, had died of pneumonia. The news of his daughter’s death sent Bird into a depression and he attempted suicide, twice. He also admitted himself to a mental institution, but later released himself. On March 12th 1995, Bird died in Baroness Nica’s apartment, reportedly while watching Tommy Dorsey on television. The death certificate listed “pneumonia” as the cause of death, but it was obvious that several factors, such as drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and depression had played a bigger role in his death.

Charlie Parker influenced generations of jazz musicians, and will continue to influence generations of jazz musicians to come. His playing on the alto saxophone was unique in its tone, speed, ferocity, and expressivity. His innovations in bebop affected the outcome of jazz history forever. Bird’s work with musicians such as Miles Davis, Max Roach, and occasionally John Coltrane had an impact on the direction jazz history would take.

Tweet This Post Facebook MySpace Ping This Post

Bix Beiderbecke an American Jazz Composer

Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz musicians and trumpet players of the early 20th century, rivaled only by Louis Armstrong. Born in Davenport, Iowa, on March 10th 1903, Bix had an interest in music at an early age. Unfortunately, a long bout with alcoholism slowly began to deteriorate his health and Bix died on August 6th, 1931 from an alcoholic seizure.

When Bix was a boy he was sick often and he received poor grades in school. This led his parents to enroll him in a military boarding school just north of Chicago. While attending school Bix would often break curfew to go to Chicago and visit clubs and speakeasies to see jazz shows. He was highly influenced by the Original Dixieland Jass Band, and this is evidenced by the fact that he would later cover many of their songs. Eventually, skipping class and breaking curfew caught up to Bix and he was expelled from the boarding school. This allowed him to pursue a career in music. Bix didn’t have much formal training in music, but he had a good ear for music and was skilled on both the piano and trumpet. He would eventually gain much of his musical abilities, such as reading and writing music, while performing with various ensembles.

The first group that Bix joined and became known for being a part of was The Wolverines. It was with the Wolverines that Bix made his first recordings in 1924. The Wolverines played in many different venues, such as colleges, clubs, and bars. As the group gained popularity Bix became more sought after in big cities such as New York and Chicago. Bix soon joined Jean Goldkette’s Orchestra in 1924 and enjoyed some success with the group. Unfortunately, his poor sight-reading skills led to him losing his job with Jean Goldkette’s Orchestra.

Bix was never so much a band leader, but he was a very renowned soloist during his time. After leaving Jean Goldkette’s Orchestra, Bix joined Frankie Trumbauer’s Orchestra in 1926. It was during this time that Bix began to flourish and fine tune his musical abilities. It was during this time that Bix also recorded his first piano solo, “In a Mist”, and many pieces showcasing his abilities as a trumpet player. After playing with Trumbauer’s Orchestra Bix was finally able to sight-read well enough to re-join Jean Goldkette’s Orchestra. However, this didn’t last long, as Bix soon signed a contract with Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra, the most popular jazz ensemble of the time. During his time with Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra Bix began to develop a very smooth style of playing. His tone was soft and beautiful, and his solos were often more lyrical and introverted as opposed to the show-stopping solos of Louis Armstrong. Also during this time, Bix was paid a large salary and he began drinking very heavily. In 1929 Bix suffered from delirium tremens and left Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra and headed back home to Davenport. During this time Whiteman continued to pay Beiderbecke and remind him that his position in the orchestra would always be open. Bix returned to New York in 1930 and made a few recordings with a group he called Bix Beiderbecke and His Orchestra, the only group Bix would lead.

Bix Beiderbecke’s bout with alcohol and sickness finally caught up to him on August 6th 1931, and he died at the age of 28. His style and music became very popular after his death and he influenced many great musicians.

Tweet This Post Facebook MySpace Ping This Post

Jelly Roll Morton Changes the Face of Jazz Music

Ferdinand Joseph LaMenthe “Jelly Roll Morton” was one of the greatest pianist of all times.  Jelly Roll Morton may not have created jazz, as he claimed many times, he certainly made a permanent mark on the genre and helped take jazz to new heights.

Influenced by his early life in New Orleans and later by music he heard during his broad travels, Morton joined well designed composition with improvisation. Morton was considered by many to be the first true jazz composer, and he put together the traditionally black, Latino and white musical styles into his own.

The three major genres of Jelly Roll’s style include his Blues, Stomps, and Spanish Tinge pieces. Ferdinand Joseph Lamothe known as the famous “Jelly Roll Morton” was a gifted composer, arranger, bandleader, and a pianist.  Jelly Roll Morton was one of the most widely recorded and respected pianist of his time.  He was a colorful personality who was inspired by rag time to play the piano. 

Jelly Roll Morton was born into a Creole community in the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana in October 20th, 1890.  The name “Jelly Roll” was intended to have a sexual connotations and he later got the reputation as a lady’s man.  Jelly Roll Morton had enjoyed a successful career in which he received astonishing recognition and respect for his work in the genre of jazz.  Unfortunately, Jelly Roll fell seriously ill shortly after moving to Los Angeles, California and died July 10th 1941 at age 50 in a  Los Angeles County hospital. 

Jelly Roll Morton was a creative and artistic individual from a very young age.  Morton studied with a series of teachers but he didn’t really study or learn much because he was never a good sight reader and never acquired the great techniques.  His father was a Creole carpenter and a trombonist schooled in the classical music but left Jelly Roll Morton at a young age.  At age fourteen his mother passed away and was raised by his religious church going grandmother. 

By age 14 Jelly Roll found employment working in a whorehouse in Storyville where he played the piano and made some money.  From the start his employment was a secret from his grandmother telling her he was a night watchman.  But once she found out the truth Jelly Roll was thrown out of the house and became homeless. Morton started traveling and worked as a card hustler, pimp and as a musician.  He had composed his first blues at age seventeen named “New Orleans Blues” which became popular and well liked in the city bands.  Jelly Roll Morton was taught and inspired by Tony Jackson the composer of song “Pretty Boy.”  Tony Jackson is among the few musicians whom Morton admired and respected. He called Jackson the greatest single handed entertainers in the world.

Morton had spent quite some time playing in the clubs of New Orleans’ Storyville district, before moving out to other parts of America.  After leaving New Orleans, Jelly Roll traveled widely in America, spending time in West Coast specifically Los Angeles, California from 1917 to 1922.  In Los Angeles Morton received a good deal of success, but ended up moving in 1923 to Chicago where most musicians were going.  In 1923, Morton released his first commercial recordings as a piano soloist and with various jazz bands.  Then in 1924 Morton was called back to do more recordings because his records sold very well.  The same year he recorded two songs with King Oliver. 

Finally in 1926 he got a contract to do recordings with one of the most prestigious company Victor.  From 1923 to 1927 Jelly Roll was in his golden years.  Morton had worked with various recordings companies including Gennette, Paramount, and Victor, with whom he create songs like King Porter- A Stomp, Mamamita, and Grandpa’s Spell.  Jelly Roll had put together his musical group and called it “Jelly Roll and his Red Hot Peppers” playing the New Orleans jazz.  Here he had demonstrated himself has a bandleader and went about creating numerous successful records.  Members of the group included Johnny Dodds, Omer Simeon, Kid Ory, Barney Bigard, and Baby Dodds.  With the Victor Company Jelly Roll & his Red Hot Peppers created songs such as Beale Street Blues, Black Bottom Stomp, Blue Blood Blues and many more. 

In 1928 Morton have relocated to New York City where he continued to work with Victor.  Morton got a job at the Rose Danceland which was a small club where he led the house band.  In New York he faced some difficulty finding musicians that wanted to play his jazz style but managed to work with Victor until 1930 before facing a decline in popularity for his small New Orleans ensemble style band.  The stock market crash in 1929 brought about financial hardships among American and declined much business for record companies.  In 1930 Victor Records decided not to renew its contract with Jelly Roll Morton.  

From 1931 to 1937 Jelly Roll Morton was in Washington D.C. working at a club called the Jungle Inn. It was a small club that Jelly tried to promote and manage.  While he was at the Jungle Inn, Jelly Roll was discovered by Alan Lomax, who recorded his oral history for the Library of Congress.

Tweet This Post Facebook MySpace Ping This Post

Duke Ellington – An American Jazz Icon

Duke Ellington was born on April 29, 1899 in Washington D.C. to James Edward Ellington and Daisy Ellington, and was christened Edward Kennedy Ellington. Greatly known in history for his contribution to Jazz music, he has often been called one of the finest jazz composers and band leaders. Having been around for over half a century, he composed over a thousand works and one of the most unique sounds in Western music. Along with being an African jazz composer and band leader, he also played the piano. He passed away from cancer in the Presbyterian Hospital in New York on May 24, 1974.

Ellington grew up in a well to do family Washington D.C., starting school in 1904 where initially had an interest in baseball but an injury to his head convinced his mother that it was not a good idea. Three years later, he began his musical training of piano, harmony, and notation. He attended Armstrong High School, but studied most of music at a nearby High School with Harry Grant of Dunbar High School. He would also go to Grant’s house to learn more about music theory. Later in life, Duke was known to have said this in regards to his experience with Grant, “It ended up a hidden course in harmony that lighted the direction to more highly-developed composition. It was a music foundation and I jumped at the opportunity.” He wrote his very first composition in 1914 called Soda Fountain Rag. Duke grew up listening to “Doc” Perry, Louis Brown, Lester Dishman, and Shorty Mac. The way he played the piano was greatly influenced by James P. Johnson and Willie “The Lion” Smith. He called what he picked up from these artists his “poolroom education.”

Duke Ellington played his first professional job on stage somewhere between 1915 and 1916 with a show that was of a magician and himself. He loved the composer James P. Johnson, and even performed one of his works titles The Carolina Shout. He married Edna Thompson on July 2, 1918 and began to organize bands around Washington. He went to New York in 1922 with Sonny Greer, the drummer, and Otto Hardwick, the reed player. His move there with the Wilbur Sweatman Orchestra wasn’t successful so he came back to Washington and began an informal study with Johnson and Willie Smith.

In 1923, he tries again a move to New York with the advice from Thomas “Fats” Waller. However, this time he took with him his regular quintet, which was completed by Arthur Whetsol, the trumpeter, and Elmer Snowden, the banjoist. The band was called the Washingtonians and they played at Barron’s Club in Harlem and at the Hollywood Club on Broadway, which was later renamed to Kentucky Club. He worked with Snowden for a while until there was an argument over missing money, which led to Ellington becoming the leader of the band. He was able to make his first recording in 1923 with the Kentucky Club Orchestra.

Next year he adds James “Bubber” Miley to his band who added what people called his “Jungle Sound” Sidney Bechet was a Creole soprano saxophonist and clarinetist that played with the band for a short period, but never got the chance to record with them. The band made their first recording this year. They recorded Choo Choo (gotta hurry home) and Rainy Nights (rainy days) together. This band didn’t hit the big time until they picked up Irving Mills in 1926, who became their manager. In 1927, the band added the baritone saxophonist Harry Carney, the clarinetist Barney Bigard, and Adelaide Hall.  Mood Indigo was the first big hit of Ellington’s career and the band also appeared in the 1930 film “Double Check” the very same year. The band played at the Cotton Club in New York successfully until 1932.

At the end of the decade, the band was one of the few successful bands in making the change in regards to what the public demanded. They were able to change from their Hot Jazz style of the 20s to Swing music in the 30s. Their hit It Don’t Mean a Thing actually came to define the new style of music of that decade. The band made their first European tour in 1933.

Duke Ellington continued to dominate the Jazz world until his death in 1974. He produced Jump for Joy in 1941, which had some comments on racism. He produced Take the A train, Perdido, The C Jam Blues, and Satin Doll” throughout the 1940s and 1950s. In the 1960s, Duke began producing more work related to religion such as The Far East Suite. At the end of his career, his music and style remained popular even though most of his band members had passed away. After Ellington’s death, the band continued to enjoy success under his son Mercer.

Tweet This Post Facebook MySpace Ping This Post