Jazz Appreciation
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Bessie Smith |
Dizzy Gillespie |
Chick Webb |
(Photographs retrieved from the Federal Resources for Academic Excellence, April 10, 2008)
The Federal Resources for Academic Excellence is a great resource for information on Jazz music and artists.
In Jazz, composed music and improvised music merge in a unique fashion. It has been said that the best improvised music sounds composed, and that the best composed music sounds improvised.
(Retrieved from the Federal Resources for Academic Excellence)
Interesting Facts:
- Louis Armstrong's masterful solos revolutionized Jazz. Prior to his arrival in the Jazz world, emphasis was on the band as a whole, not individuals in the band. Armstrong's harmonic superiority and original melodies paved the way for the solo to move to the forefront of jazz.
- Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, Jazz King of the "roaring twenties," began playing the piano at seven years old. He moved to Harlem in 1923, where he played at the Cotton Club and other speakeasies. The Duke's unique style helped to place him in the history books as one of the greatest musical masters of all time.
- Calloway's lasting influence on popular music stems from his minting and mastery of scat-jive vocals. His signature style was to improvise nonsense (but incredibly inventive) lyrics on the spot, often incorporating snippets of Harlem street slang in his monologues and songs.
- Although Fletcher Henderson moved to New York intending to become a chemist, he wound up mixing sounds, not compounds. Chemistry work was hard to come by, so Henderson took piano-playing gigs with various big bands.
(Interesting Facts retrieved from The Kennedy Center and ArtsEdge website, April 11, 2008)
The Smithsonian Institute website has information and pictures about Jazz artists and Music.
Learn about the Harlem Renaissance from the Kennedy Center and ArtsEdge multimedia presentation “Drop Me off in Harlem”.
PBS.org has compiled information and links that will take you all over in your quest for Jazz knowledge.
- Saxophonist/arranger Fud Livingstone was born this month in 1906 in Charleston, SC.
- Pianist Denny Zeitlin was born this month in 1938 in Chicago, IL.
- Pianist Count Basie’s band featured tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins on Feedin’ The Bean, 1941.
(Retrieved from the Smithsonian Institute, April 10, 2008 )
