Join the mailing list for tools, resources & ideas - all free, Join the Jazzfuel newsletter and get the free PDF in your inbox today. His jazz career spanned almost 50 years. There are dozens of other classic Ella Fitzgerald albums, including Ella Swings Lightly (with arrangements by Marty Paich), Ella and Louis (her famous collaboration with Louis Armstrong), Ella Sings Gershwin (a duo set with the pianist Ellis Larkins) and Ella in Berlin (a live album with her famous rendition of ‘Mack The Knife’). Without George Benson this list is not completed . Jazz music is one of the most popular forms of music in many parts of the world. Crowley, Texas musicians are a wonderful way to personalize an event and set the tone for the festivities. This 1956 set features ‘St Thomas’, Rollins’ best-known composition. A relatively late bloomer amongst his fellow saxophone players, he did not make his first album as a leader until he was 30 years old. Jazzfuel is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. Famous for his velvety smooth voice and flawless dance moves, Usher is a Dallas native, and he started his music career in 1994 with his first album, Usher. Born in 1924, his career started (as with most jazz artists from that era) in the 40’s swinging big bands and orchestras – most notably Benny Carter and Count Basie. After growing up in extreme poverty in New Orleans, jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong broke down racial barriers and became a hugely famous mainstream celebrity at a time when this was unusual for African Americans. Benny Goodman Benny is a famous jazz musician known for his clarinet. To hear Armstrong’s later work and vocal stylings, try Ella and Louis, with Ella Fitzgerald. The music was also a resolutely intellectual affair, partially in response to the more populist Swing era that had dominated American music since the 1930s. He brought the hard-bop of his home town to Miami’s young jazz scene. Happy reading indeed. Perhaps the best known jazz trombonist of all time, J.J. Johnson was the first one of the earliest musicians on the instrument to play in the bebop style. – he made a number of great small group recordings, highlighting his folkloric yet surprisingly modern-sounding piano playing. One of the most important and influential jazz musicians of all time, Miles Davis was a relentless innovator who was a key player in numerous stylistic developments in jazz. He was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame in 1979. He was born in Kansas City in 1920. Birthdays in Music. Rolling Stone ranked him as the greatest guitarist and the sixth greatest artist of all time. The greatest gypsy jazz musician: check out Django Reinhardt’s Classic Early Recordings in Chronological Order. The late 50s saw him working with Miles Davis (Blue Moods, Sketches of Spain) and Sonny Rollins (the excellent Night at the Village Vanguard). One of her greatest achievements is her Song Book series, a selection of albums released between 1956 and 1964 that took detailed looks at individual songwriters and lyricists. Ira Sullivan is now in his 80’s and has lived in South Florida since the 1960’s. She was known best for a powerful and influential voice. Christian was one of the first performers to embrace the electric guitar during the mid-1930s, popularising it as a jazz instrument and finding national fame with Benny Goodman’s hugely popular swing outfit, which he joined in 1939. and, again, with McCoy Tyner. He is most known for his one of a kind voice. We’ve put together our list of the the most famous jazz musicians. You can find that – and several more – in our round up of the best books to learn jazz. Whilst the Ray Brown discography contains some of the best records made, bass players and fans should also check out his work from the 90s as part of Superbass, alongside Christian McBride and John Clayton. However, this spell with the saxophone great in the 60s was one of just several periods of jazz history to which Elvin Jones contributed on drums…. Born in 1924, his career started (as with most jazz artists from that era) in the 40’s swinging big bands and orchestras – … In the meantime, The History of Jazz by Ted Gioia (affiliate link) is a very good place to start! Azle, Texas musicians are a wonderful way to personalize an event and set the tone for the festivities. Find the top 100 most popular items in Amazon Books Best Sellers. Nina Simone was something of a prodigy as a classical pianist, and she combined a classical influence with the sounds of gospel, blues and folk to create a unique musical palette. Looking for more tips on some of the best jazz around, both old and new? Join the mailing list for more free content, or become a member of Jazzfuel Manager (members.jazzfuel.com) for 1-to-1 support & feedback. Born April 29th, 1899 as Edward Kennedy. He is the second most recorded composer in jazz, after Duke Ellington, and his angular tunes have inspired generations of musicians and been the subject of dozens of Monk-themed albums. He is formerly from Chicago. Candy Dulfer is an internationally famous Dutch musician who has performed all kinds of songs from pop to jazz to funk and more. The First Lady of Jazz by Stuart Nicholson, the second most recorded composer in jazz, the greatest jazz piano trios of all time, 10 of the Best Jazz Guitarists of All Time, 10 of the Best Jazz Saxophone Players In History, Ornette Coleman | 10 Albums From The Free Jazz Legend. He spent his whole life making music and he performed for the first time when he was just four years old. He loved performing in church. From weddings to intimate dinner parties, musicians of all genres create a specific mood while also entertaining your guests. He contributed a lot to jazz music to make what it is today. The 1950’s saw him make his first Blue Note albums – both as a bandleader and with Miles Davis – followed by a highly successful double-trombone project with Kai Windig, for Savoy Records. Yes it’s certainly not a ‘complete’ list; there are more great players than hours in a week! Thanks for all of these suggestions. Let our team of jazz professionals send informative jazz-related content to your inbox each week... We respect your privacy. He featured on classic bebop sessions with Charlie Parker in the mid-1940s, fronted the nine-piece Birth of the Cool band, made some of the best hard bop records of the 1950s with his First Great Quintet and pioneered modal jazz on Milestones and Kind of Blue. Married to Ella Fitzgerald and performing in one of the greatest jazz piano trios of all time, Ray Brown is surely one of the most legendary bassists in the history of the music. In 1936 he helped Benny Goodman tear down the walls between white and black musicians in “live” performances. He died in September 1991. He composed over 1,000 songs in his life. In addition to his significant seven-decades-long career as a jazz musician, bandleader, vibes player, African-American Lionel Hampton (1908-2002) is also remembered for another undertaking. Before the invention of the amplifier, jazz guitarists largely played an accompanying role within groups, as their solos could not be heard clearly over the rest of the ensemble. Swing rhythms defy any narrower… With the singer accompanied by the Duke Ellington Orchestra, this is the only album in the Song Book series where the composer is also featured as a performer. He contributed a great deal in bebop and introduces many other techniques in Jazz. Born Nathaniel Adams Coles in 1919; he was a well-loved and admired musician and singer. Speaking of innovators, we must include Rahsaan Roland Kirk! ... Jazz musicians from Texas‎ (170 P) M He was born in 1909, and expressed interest in music from an early age. Today, people still remember his concerts for their breath-taking and enchanting qualities. His comeback album, The Bridge, is one of his finest. Still, Money Jungle has proved highly influential, and many consider it to contain some of Ellington’s most advanced jazz piano playing. Well, now the proverbial jazz cat is out of the proverbial jazz bag. No spam. Aside from this guide to some of the great jazz biographies, we actually have an article being written right now about some of the great jazz history books out there; I’ll drop you an email once it’s live. While other jazz trumpeters could play higher and faster than Miles, his ability to put together fabulous bands and create classic albums is virtually unmatched. It also includes ‘I Loves You Porgy’, which gave Simone her first hit, as well as three instrumental numbers, with Jimmy Bond on bass and Albert “Tootie” Heath on drums. He contributed greatly to bebop and made know many other techniques to jazz music. Listen out for the Gospel-inspired “Better Get It In Your Soul” which features an ecstatic band with the bassist driving a seething gospel hard bop feel. After first becoming one of the most famous jazz artists of the swing era with the Chick Webb Orchestra – “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” was her first major hit – she became a star bandleader herself, recording and performing extensively until the late 1980s and winning 13 Grammy Awards along the way. There are, though, a selection of jazz artists who appear as regular as clockwork when we talk about those players who’ve shaped the development of the music in a big way. Armstrong helped popularise scat singing, and his gravelly voice was later heard on hits like ‘What a Wonderful World’. Like Nat King Cole, her soulful singing became as popular as her instrumental work, but she continued to accompany herself at the piano, and was noted for her ability to improvise complex Bach-style counterpoint as part of her solos. The ultimate jazz band with no borders and no time-line. With a unique, almost childlike approach, critics and club owners initially dismissed this highly eccentric figure, but he has eventually come to be regarded as a jazz genius who was ahead of his time. Your email address will not be published. Cornetist and trumpeter LaRocca was the leader of the Original Dixieland Jass Band (later changed to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band) which made the first jazz recordings in 1917. Benny Goodman? After beginning his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd in the early 1960s, Hancock released 1962’s Takin’ Off, which includes his famous hit ‘Watermelon Man’ and is surely one of the most impressive debuts of any musician in jazz history. Looking forward to hear about which of them you would put together as a band. What I really need is a more up to date buying guide. From pioneers like Parker’s playing was complex and virtuosic, yet bluesy and fabulously swinging. Thanks. Such is his legacy, the Mingus Big Band still tours and performs and fans can attend the annual Charles Mingus Festival in New York. Charlie Parker is another very influential Jazz singer. Regularly named as the best jazz album ever, Kind of Blue features Miles at his cool, considered best. He immediately decamped to New York to play in small group line ups with some of the best jazz artists of the time, including Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, Bud Powell & Charlie Parker. The programme has a nautical theme and includes tunes like ‘Dolphin Dance’ and ‘Maiden Voyage’, which have gone on to become jazz standards. Ooh yes, there’s a question you could spend several weeks on! His 2007 album of Joni Mitchell covers (River: The Joni Letters) won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, as his extremely varied career showed no sign of stopping. 10 Famous Blues Musicians The largest catalogue in the world with over 25,000 tracks of vintage blues, gospel, spirituals, jazz, boogie-woogie, and old-timey country music. In the mid-1950s and early ‘60s his own compositions – ‘Giant Steps’, ‘Countdown’ and ’26-2’ – explored new harmonic territory, with highly challenging harmonic sequences based on key centres moving quickly in thirds. Minger passed away in 2000 at the age of 57. Born Miles Dewery Davis on May 26th, 1926. Born in a poor area of New Orleans, Armstrong began playing music at age 12 at the Waif’s Home for Boys, and he later took cornet lessons from Joe “King” Oliver and played in … Do you agree with our list? This 1920s material contains classic tracks like ‘Struttin’ With Some Barbecue’, ‘Potato Head Blues’ and ‘Cornet Chop Suey’, which all feature incredible improvisations, and ‘West End Blues’, with its famous solo introduction. She was one of the few jazz musicians to be accepted by the classical world, and even played in Carnegie Hall with an orchestra. Contemporary Jazz is essentially a catch-all term for the various permutations of popular, mainstream jazz of the 1980s and '90s. Jazz musicians have taken uniquely American music and made it a major global phenomenon. Given the nickname “Satchmo,” the artist was characterized by his instantly recognizable, gravelly voice and his ability to improvise on the spot. You can find talented many singers and musicians close to Azle, Texas who would be perfect for your party. we hope you’ll agree that this list represents some inspirational music and some brilliant jazz musicians…. Charlie parker is among the world’s best jazz musician, without him Jazz music would not have been where it is today. Discover the best Jazz Musician Biographies in Best Sellers. All About Jazz & Jazz Near You were built to promote jazz music: both recorded albums and live events. Swing Era standards make up most of the repertoire, plus a few of Django’s original compositions, including future Gypsy jazz standards ‘Swing 39’ and ‘Hungaria’. Placing Ellington in a trio setting with bassist Charles Mingus and drummer Max Roach, Money Jungle is an intriguing, cross-generational meeting of three gigantic personalities, who were all great bandleaders in their own right. He was involved with the birth of bebop, jamming with Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke and Don Byas at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem. The legendary jazz artist was also present for the birth of modal jazz, appearing on Davis’ seminal Kind of Blue. Your email address will not be published. For this article we’ve rounded up our pick of the jazz greats which, we hope, will give you a great starting point to discover more about this amazing style of music…. Some of the famous jazz artists who owe their success to Miles include John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, J.J. Johnson, Cannonball Adderley, Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea. I realize they are both 40 years old. While those years were certainly not devoid of complex, cerebral jazz recordings, music referred to as contemporary jazz does not usually share those sensibilities, nor is the term generally used to describe music centered around hard bop or the avant-garde.