The Greatest Jazz Artists: Rating, Achievements and Interesting Facts

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Beginning with small bands playing a mixture of European music and African rhythms in the entertainment venues of New Orleans, jazz has grown into one of the most interesting trends in music. A complex rhythm and an abundance of improvisations make it difficult, but extremely captivating music.

But in order to talk about the greatest jazz performers, we should talk about jazz itself. And how to talk about it? Well, from the start.

History

From the very beginning there were blacks brought as slaves to the New World (mostly we are now talking about the territory of the States). They had a unique African musical culture. First of all, there was a very, very big emphasis on rhythms - they were varied, non-linear and very complex. Secondly, music in Africa is inextricably linked with everyday life: it is an obligatory accompaniment to various everyday moments, holidays, and often a way of communication. So it was music that became one of the unifying factors for many black slaves.

Jazz was formed from several relatively parallel developing genres of African American music. The most important, of course, is ragtime - dance, syncopated (strong beat is shifted), with a freemelody. Then more blues - with a classic 12-bar blues square and ample opportunities for improvisation. Jazz, which took shape at the beginning of the 20th century, reflected the features of both, and many more musical genres.

New Orleans Jazz, Chicago Jazz, Dixieland

The earliest, New Orleans jazz are ensembles that inherited the traditions of marching brass bands, consisting of an impressive rhythm section (2-3 drummers, percussion, double bass), a variety of wind instruments (trombone, trumpet, clarinet, cornet), well, and guitars, violins, banjos, if you're lucky. Later, almost all famous jazz performers left New Orleans for Chicago, where, having honed their skills, they became the founders of Chicago jazz - the earliest jazz. Dixieland is an imitation of white bands of their black comrades - the founders of the genre. Speaking about the outstanding jazz performers of that time, one cannot but mention entire jazz orchestras.

Charles "Buddy" Bolden and his "Ragtime Band". They are considered almost the first jazz orchestra of the New Orleans style. Records with their game have not been preserved, but experts are sure that the repertoire consisted of various classical compositions of ragtime, blues, as well as many marches, w altzes and pieces with a jazz character.

The New Orleans Jazz performers listed below are not assigned to a particular orchestra. At different times they played in different ensembles, converging and diverging with other famous musicians.

Freddie Keppard is on the list of the most influential jazz musicians of the time after Buddy Bolden. ATIn New Orleans he played with the Olympia Band, in Los Angeles he created the Original Creole Orchestra, in Chicago (at the decline of Dixieland's popularity) he also did not get bored and performed with the most famous musicians of his time.

Joseph "King" Oliver is also a cornetist and a great fellow. In New Orleans, he managed to play as part of five orchestras, and then, after the United States entered the First World War in 1917 and all the entertainment establishments of New Orleans were closed, along with many other musicians, he went north to Chicago.

Sidney Bechet is a clarinet and saxophonist. He started playing in ensembles very early and even managed to get into Ragtime with Buddy Bolden. He was noted both in Chicago jazz orchestras and in later swing orchestras, and even rode around Europe a lot, performing in the USSR as well (1926).

Original Dixieland Jass Band – this is already Dixieland, these are already white guys following in the footsteps of black Orleans bands. Known for having released the world's first gramophone record with a recording of a jazz composition. In general, they did a lot to popularize the genre. They say that it was with these guys that the very “Jazz Age” began. Many of their songs became famous jazz standards in the future.

Stride

Stride originated in New York City, in the Manhattan boroughs during World War I, completely separate from New Orleans jazz. This is a piano style that developed from ragtime by increasing the complexity of the rhythm, as well as increasing the virtuosity of the performers.

James Johnson is the "father of the stride". Hisconsidered an important figure in the transition from ragtime to jazz stride. He learned to play the piano mostly by himself, worked in various New York clubs. He himself composed a bunch of popular melodies in the 20s.

Fats Waller is another stride pianist who has become more famous as a composer than as a performer. Many of his compositions were then reworked and performed by other famous musicians. By the way, he also played the organ.

Art Tatum is one of the most famous figures in the stride. A wonderful virtuoso, who was distinguished by an unusual playing technique for the genre (he loved scales and arpeggios, he was one of the first to start flirting with musical harmonies and keys). Even in the days of swing and big bands, he drew attention to himself (a solo artist). Influenced many other jazz musicians, who often noted his extraordinary skill.

Swing

The most expansive and fertile field when it comes to the great jazz players of the 20th century. Swing appeared in the 1920s and remained extremely popular right up to the Second World War. It was played mainly by swing bands - hefty orchestras of ten or more people.

Benny Goodman is, without exaggeration, the king of swing and the founder of one of the most famous big bands, which had a resounding success not only in America but also abroad. The concert of his orchestra on August 21, 1935 in Los Angeles, which brought him stardom, is considered the beginning of the era of swing.

Duke Ellington – is also the leader of his own big band, as well as a famous composer, creator of numeroushits and jazz standards, including the well-known composition Caravan. Collaborated with many of the best jazz performers of that time, allowing everyone to bring their own unique style to the sound of the orchestra, which created an interesting and unusual "sound".

Chick Webb. It was in his orchestra that one of the most famous jazz singers, Ella Fitzgerald, began her career. Webb himself was a drummer, and his playing style influenced many other jazz percussion legends (such as Buddy Rich and Louis Bellson). He died of tuberculosis in 1939, before he was forty.

Glenn Miller is the creator of the big band of the same name, which in the period 1939-1943 was practically unparalleled in popularity. Before that, Miller played, recorded with other orchestras, and also composed music with other great jazz artists of his time - Benny Goodman, Pee Wee Russell, Gene Krupa and others.

Louis Armstrong

It so happened that the interests of this greatest jazz performer turned out to be so diverse, and the “experience” is so great that it is not possible to attribute it unambiguously to any style. During his career, Armstrong has played in well-known orchestras, and solo, and as the leader of his own jazz band. His style of playing has always been distinguished by a bright personality and unconventional, original improvisations.

Jazz singers

These guys deserve a chapter,perhaps, they did not write jazz standards with their own hands, but did a lot for the development of this direction of music. The unique timbres, the sensuality of the voice, the emotionality of the performance - much of this comes from African-American "folk" spirituals and gospels.

Ella Fitzgerald is the "First Lady of Jazz", one of the greatest jazz performers of the entire era of this music. The owner of a unique soft and "light" mezzo-soprano timbre, she could take three octaves without visible effort. In addition to the perfect sense of rhythm and intonation, she owned such a “trick” as scat - imitation of the voice of musical instruments of a jazz band.

Billie Holiday - had an unusual hoarse voice, giving a special sensuality to the manner of performance. The so-called instrumental timbre of her voice and the ability for rhythmic interpretation successfully combined on stage with the sound of a jazz band.

Be-bop

By the 1940s, danceable and slightly frivolous swing began to become obsolete, and young guys, eager for experiments, began to develop a style of playing later called be-bop. It is distinguished by higher demands on the skill of musicians, a fast pace of play, complex improvisations and, in general, an “intellectual” style compared to swing.

Dizzy Gillespie is one of the founders of be-bop. He first played the trumpet in many popular swing bands, but then he budded, formed his own combo - a small ensemble - and began to promote be-bop, which he succeeded insimply wonderful, partly due to the eccentric demeanor. Masterfully played classical jazz themes with extraordinary virtuosity.

Charlie Parker is also the founder of be-bop. As part of the young supporters of this direction, he literally turned all traditional jazz upside down. B-boopers laid the foundation for modern jazz. Parker also played a large role in the development of Afro-Cuban jazz. Despite all the successes, the musician suffered from a severe heroin addiction, from which he later died at the age of 35.

Fusion

Appeared in the sixties and is really a fusion of a wide variety of musical genres: rock, pop, soul and funk. Compared to other styles of jazz, it can seem rather "crazy" - fusion has lost its characteristic swing beat, but retained improvisation and an emphasis on beating a certain melody (standard).

The Tony Williams Lifetime is the band that released in 1969 an album that is now considered a fusion classic. In the wake of the popularity of rock music, they used electric guitar, bass guitar (classical instruments of rock bands) and electric piano in their recordings, creating a characteristic heavy sound combined with a typical jazz character.

Miles Davis is a versatile musician, deservedly one of the greatest jazz performers. In addition to jazz-rock, he was fond of a bunch of other styles, but even here he managed to create many classical compositions that determined his sound for several years.

Neoswing

This is an attempt to revive the good old swing bands of the early XX century. Keeping the general mood and character of the performance of classical jazz, neoswing bands moved away from improvisation. They are not shy about a modern set of musical instruments and the structure of their compositions is much more reminiscent of modern music. In the bottom line, we have the original stylization of the old, much more accessible to the ears of a listener unfamiliar with jazz.

Other interesting artists include Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Royal Crown Revue (sounds in the movie "The Mask"), Squirrel Nut Zippers and Diablo Swing Orchestra, who mixed swing with metal in an original way.

Bossa nova

An unusual mix of jazz and Latin American samba rhythms. It originated, obviously, in Brazil and gained great popularity all over the world. Juan and Astrud Gilberto, António Carlos Jobim, and saxophonist Stan Getz are considered to be the founders of the style.

Best Lists

The article talked about iconic musicians who played a significant role in the development of jazz. However, there are incomparably more famous jazzmen, and it is not possible to tell about all of them at once. Nevertheless, the list of the best jazz performers must include:

• Charles Mingus;
• John Coltrane;
• Mary Lou Williams;
• Herbie Hancock;
• Nat King Cole;
• Miles Davis;
• Keith Jarrett;
• Kurt Elling;
• Thelonius Monk;
• Wynton Marsalis.

And this andmusicians, and singers, and even those who are better known as composers. Each of them has a bright personality and a long creative career. Although, as you can see, mostly people of the "sixties" were chosen, who spoke for a significant part of the entire 20th century, and some of them even in the 21st.