Jazz Musicians
Miles Davis
-trumpet virtuoso
-Helped launch the cool jazz movement
-First quintet included Paul Chambers and John Coletrane
-Second quintet included Ron Hancock, Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, and Herbie Hancock
-Performed Sorcerer and Nefertiti albums
● Kind of Blue (album) Modal Jazz
○ Blue in Green
○ Flamenco Sketches
○ Freddie Freeloader
○ So What
○ All Blues
● Birth of the Cool (album)
○ Boplicity
○ Godchild
○ Darn that Dream
● Bitches Brew (album) Jazz and Rock blend
○ Pharaoh’s Dance
● Sketches of Spain (album)
○ Collaboration with Gil Evans
○ Sambled Rodrigo and Manuel de Falla
○ Will o’ the Wisp
● In a Silent Way
○ Collaborated with John McLaughlin
● Cookin’
● Nefertiti (album)
○ Pinnoccio
Dizzy Gillespie
-part of the “classic quintet,” called the best jazz group ever
- used a “bent trumpet”
- collaborated with Earl Hines
- “A Night in Tunisia”
-Interlude
- early performer of be-bop
- “Groovin’ High”
- “Salt Peanuts”
- “Woody N’ You”
-had a falling out with bandleader Cab Calloway
-Fight caused by his “Chinese Music”
- was shown in the short documentary “The Spitball Story”
-Afro-Cuban Music
- “Manteca”
Other Works:
-Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac
-Kush
-contains James Moody flute solo
-Jazz at Massey Hall
-Cognac Blues
-Opus X
John Coltrane
o Saxophonist
o Giant Steps
§ Coltrane’s fifth album
§ Includes the “Naima” ballad
§ Includes “Countdown”
o My Favorite Things
o A Love Supreme
§ Movements
·
Acknowledgement
·
Resolution
·
Pursuance
·
Psalm
o Meditations album
o Ascension album
§ called the “torch that lit the free jazz thing”
o his improvisational music was described as “sheets of sound” by jazz critic Ira
Gitler
Charlie Parker
● Sometimes known as “the Bird”
○ Originally known as Yardbird
● Pioneered bepop with Dizzy Gillespie
● Played the alto sax
● Part of a “classic quintet”
○ Other members were Duke Jordan, Tommy Potter, Max Roach, and
Miles Davis
●
Known for his use of higher intervals in his compositions
○ Used in Moose the Mooch and Confirmation
Notable Works:
Savoy Sessions: (w/ Dizzy Gillespie)
● Koko
○ Inspired by Ray Noble’s Cherokee
● Billie’s Bounce
● Now’s the Time
Other:
● Ornithology
○ Pun of his nickname
● Anthropology
● Yardbird Suite
● Bird of Paradise
Louis Armstrong
­"The Lord Don't play Favorites" (TV Show)
­Won Grammy for Male Vocal Performance ("Hey, Dolly!", 1964)
● Lifetime Achievement Grammy given in 1972 posthumously (died 1971)
­"What a Wonderful World"
● "trees of green, red roses too"
● "I hear babies crying, I watch them grow, they'll learn much more, than I'll never know"
­"Blueberry Hill"
­"Heebie Jeebies" (scat song)
­Performed Porgy and Bess songs with Ella Fitzgerald
­First Performer of "Jeepers Creepers" (made more famous by Sinatra and Crosby)
­Was in King Oliver's Band (had Earl Hines on piano)
­His bands performed "Struttin' with Barbeque" (bands included Hot 5, Hot 7, and All Stars)
­Jazz trumpeter from New Orleans
­Popularized "When the Saints Go Marching In"
­Nicknamed Satchmo
­Misread pp (pianissimo) on sheet music while playing with the Henderson band and joked that
he thought it meant pound plenty
­Was a Freemason, an advocate of Medical Marijuana, and used laxatives to control weight
­The Great Summit, The Real Ambassadors (albums)
Duke Ellington
­ Performed at the Cotton Club
­[best­known collaborator was Billy Strayhorn]
­Take the “A” Train
­It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)
­Cocktails for Two
­Such Sweet Thunder (album)
­East St. Louis Toodle­oo
­Black, Brown, and Beige
­ Rose Room
­ The Telacasters
­Sonnet for Sister Kate
­Mood Indigo