... swing era and big-band era. Two of the more famous Swing Band leaders were Tommy Dorsey and Harry James. Journalists and jazz fans drew distinctions between bands that conveyed the hardest driving rhythmic qualities and extensive solo improvisations and those that conveyed less swing feeling ... music was generally fast. Demanding execution on individual instruments was seldom required by previous styles. Today Bop is considered the mainstream of jazz style, yet the jazz community did not enthusiastically accept it at the time of its coming out. "Anyone who attempts to sing extemporaneou...

• Word Count: 1576
• Approx Pages: 6

... agreed to take the lessons, he had no idea into what he was getting into. This single event in his life changed the course of Jazz forever. Of the many events that inspired Ellington one in particular stands out, the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was an era full of ... change was driven by the deep, persuasive shift in the American spirit. The country was anxious to recover what it lost during the Depression. Ellington's jazz creations were unknown and alien to the world; however, Ellington received the chance to succeed at the Cotton Club. The Cotton Club was a " glamorous ....

• Word Count: 2286
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... and New York that experienced the biggest immigration of musicians and it was these two cities that would have the most influence on Jazz in this new Jazz Era. Chicago created a good home for these migrating musicians for several reasons. In Chicago, there was a growing African-American population ... 1922, Armstrong rode the train from New Orleans to Chicago to join his mentor Joe Oliver and play in the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band. The Creole Jazz Band was busy playing the popular Lincoln Gardens Cafe, which catered to the growing African-American population in Chicago. During this ti...

• Word Count: 1708
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... and singing styles. These four characteristics bled into the Americas, and in the U.S, resulted in a chain of unique music genres including blues, jazz, ragtime, bebop, and rock. This evolution of American music is rooted in the application of African esthetic, notably the use of polyrhythms, an ... Handy was responsible for bringing blues into the mainstream, blues was also being combined with another African influenced genre, ragtime, to create early jazz style in New Orleans. Primarily instrumental, ragtime was commonly performed on piano or arranged for brass bands. Making use of th...

• Word Count: 1710
• Approx Pages: 7

... was driven by the deep, persuasive shift in the American spirit. The country was anxious to recover what it lost during the Depression. Ellington's jazz creations were unknown and alien to the world, however, Ellington received the chance to succeed at the Cotton Club. The results of Ellington's achievements ... to national fame. The reasons for his outcome need to be revealed because Ellington was one of the most important figures in the era of jazz. During the Harlem Renaissance, some of the clubs were segregated and some mixed. The Cotton Club's patrons were mostly whites and the club...

• Word Count: 1488
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... mother Sadie moved from Baltimore, Maryland to Harlem, New York. Once the arrived to the big city, they found that the popularity of the Jazz Era had increased tremendously and had been taking over. Billie loved singing and so she would spend her time at different public and private parties ... the latter being her first hit. Because of her unique expressive and sorrowful and melonchiily singing style, she also got an opportunity to sing with well-known jazz pianist Teddy Wilson and other artists in 1935, recording many singles such as "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" and "Miss Brown to ...

• Word Count: 2313
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

... become an art form in America. It places particular importance on inventive self interpretation. Rather than relying on a written piece, the artist improvises. Jazz has taken many forms over the past seventy years; there is almost always a single person who can be credited with the evolution of that sound ... was reduced to "walking the bar- at in sleazy clubs. He experienced another episode of depression, which caused his addiction to grow. Again a jazz icon came to the rescue. This time it was Miles Davis. In the mid-fifties, he was invited to play with Miles Davis and his ... quintet....

• Word Count: 1680
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... change his life and his musical approach. Davis was named the rising star of the new avant-garde movement, cool jazz. Cool jazz was a completely different style of jazz than that of the bop of the forties. It was more laid back and subtle. It emphasized experimentation with chords, ... , and modes, improvising on scales rather than on sequences of chords, producing music that at times was very peculiar (like most styles of jazz are considered at first appearance, i.e. bebop.) Like all other musicians that played with Miles Davis, the partnership with him proved to be an ... incredible le...

• Word Count: 1528
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... was totally committed to becoming a professional musician. Coltrane worked a variety of jobs through the late forties until in 1947 he joined Eddie Vinson's jazz band, switching reluctantly to play the tenor sax to do so. The group toured extensively, particularly in the South and southwest. It is at ... . He came to national prominence as a member. Coltrane moved to New York in 1956. New York was the home of not only many jazz musicians including Miles Davis, but also record companies and recording studios. But disaster struck, Coltrane was kicked out by Miles because of heroin addiction...

• Word Count: 1847
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... has been an influence for American culture for over a century. It has influenced all musicians in some way or another. Whether the style is swing, latin, or funk, jazz is a part of life. Originating in the deep south of Louisiana, it soon became a hit. Duke Ellington is among the many musicians who fall in love with this style, but ... it was perhaps a waste of money to pay for lessons that he had no interest in. Duke preferred music to ring, not be mechanical (Turkell 81). Duke's first attempt at jazz was imitation. J.P. Johnson, a ragtime pianist, had recorded "Carolina Shout-. Duke ...

• Word Count: 1581
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... liquor, witch drew wealthy whites into the neighborhood. Speakeasies covered the community. Harlem became so fashionable that everybody wanted to be part of the action. Jazz, witch was all the craze at the time centered in Harlem. Jazz witch was decidedly southern came to New York with the great migration, which brought many southern traditions north. The Charleston was a popular dance developed ... ...

• Word Count: 1365
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... Rolle, Alvin Ailey, Roscoe Lee Brown, Calvin Lockhart and Glynn Turman, among others. By the mid to late 1920's, the Harlem Renaissance was in full swing in New York City. Jazz clubs, theaters, and cafes were abundant in Harlem's neighborhoods, side by side the poverty stricken areas. Harlem became the ideal hot spot for blacks and whites alike. Man historians describe ... . Harlem became a fad for middle class, whit, New York. Musicals and plays about blacks became popular as well. The musical "Shuffle Along" became an important hit on Broadway. Music, especially jazz was another very i...

• Word Count: 2437
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School