Different Types of Jazz

Jazz music is considered the only truly original American type of music. Jazz began in the early part of the twentieth century, and has grown and updated with the times to go in many new and amazing directions.

Here are just a few of the different types of Jazz music:

* Bebop Jazz. Sometimes known only as "bop," this was the first modern sort of Jazz to come about after World War II. Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie "Bird" Parker were two of the best-known Bebop artists.

* Big Band Jazz. Big Band Jazz was especially popular from about 1935 to 1945. In fact, this form of Jazz was the dominant popular music of the day. Folks like Duke Ellington and Count Basie performed Big Band Jazz with large orchestras. Big Band Jazz was also known as "swing."

* Cool Jazz. This is a sort of Jazz that started in the 1950s, and is a very relaxed and melodic type of improvisation. Cool Jazz artists include Zoot Sims and Lester Young.

* Crossover Jazz. Crossover is Jazz that makes it into the pop world. Kenny G, for example, plays crossover Jazz. Some critics don't' consider crossover Jazz to be truly Jazz.

* Fusion Jazz. Fusion is what happens when rock music meets Jazz. Herbie Hancock, who started his career with Miles Davis, is known for Fusion Jazz.

* Mainstream Jazz. This term refers to contemporary musicians who use music from earlier eras of Jazz such as Big Band as a source of inspiration.

* Progressive Jazz. Progressive Jazz refers, usually, to modern Jazz. John Coltrane and Miles Davis are examples of progressive Jazz artists.

* Third Stream Jazz. Third stream combines classical music with Jazz. It is called "third stream" because it is the third stream of music that results when the first two types (streams) are combined.

* Traditional Jazz. This Jazz was the earliest type of Jazz, and includes a variety of subgenres including ragtime and boogie-woogie.

* Vocal Jazz. This category of Jazz encompasses a great many artists, from Louis Armstrong to Frank Sinatra. This is, essentially, music that uses Jazz vocal techniques with what is otherwise pop music.

As you can see, there is a rich and varied selection of Jazz music to which one can listen.

Thelonious Monk and his legacy

Thelonious Monk was one of the most significant jazz musicians ever. Monk was a pianist and he was a composer. His legacy to the world of jazz cannot easily be underestimated. There is even speculation that his works have been recorded more often than the works of any other jazz composer in history. Monk had a very distinct style of improvisation, and many of his recordings are staples of any good jazz collection. While he founded bebop, his later work took jazz in new and different directions.

Thelonious Monk's recording legacy includes a great number of jazz classics. In 1947 Monk recorded the album Blue Note, demonstrating to the entire jazz world just how talented a composer he really was. While this album did not do very well commercially, it is considered by some today to be the most prized of all of Monk's recordings. In 1956, Monk recorded Brilliant Corners. Brilliant Corners, the title track, featured Sonny Rollins on the tenor sax. This album was Monk's first truly successful album. This, however, would be just the beginning of Monk's legacy.

Perhaps the peak of Monk's jazz career came on February 28 of 1964, On that day, Monk was featured on the Time magazine cover. Also during the period surrounding the Time cover, he recorded three live albums, including "Live at the It Club," "Miles and Monk at Newport," (Recorded along with jazz legend Miles Davis) as well as "Live at the Jazz Workshop." By the end of the 1970s, however, Monk had virtually disappeared from public view.

Monk's life was not without controversy, however. Several times, Monk was arrested on drug charges. There has been speculation that Monk suffered from some form of mental illness, such as bipolar disorder.

Monk died on February 17, 1982 in New York. In recent years, Monk has been rediscovered. He has been given a rightful place in the jazz pantheon alongside jazz greats John Coltrane and Miles Davis. In fact, Thelonious Monk's work has enjoyed more commercial success since his death than it did while he was living.

Posthumously, Monk was give a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award and a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation for his contributions to jazz music.

Jazz concert etiquette

Jazz concert etiquette, for the most part, is not dissimilar from etiquette at a pop concert. While you aren't likely to see stage diving or a mosh pit at a jazz concert, it is completely acceptable to applaud between songs, or even after a solo in the middle of a song. You probably won't see lighters held up high during a jazz concert, and slam dancing is pretty much unheard of.

Unlike classical concerts, there isn't much of a dress code, spoken or unspoken, for jazz concerts. Also, unlike classical music comments, the musicians often won't wait for coughing to end, or to wait for the end of seat shifting, before starting their next piece. Jazz concerts tend to have a more relaxed atmosphere than classical concerts.

Part of jazz concert etiquette has to do with the venue in which the concert takes place. Jazz concerts often take place in bars or nightclubs. Jazz concerts are often a more intimate experience between the musicians and the audience. Contrast this to rock concerts. Rock concerts are geared towards large venues, such as stadiums. Often, these concerts may take place at outdoor music festivals, where many conventions of etiquette go right out the window. Classical music concerts, on the other hand, generally take place in an auditorium or a theatre specifically designed for music. These venues lend themselves to the more reserved behavior and etiquette of the classical music concert.

Here are some basic rules of etiquette you should follow at a jazz concert:

Don't talk during performances, as it may distract other patrons.

Applaud after a solo, as it is expected and encouraged.

If possible, stay in your seat during a song, and wait until the song is over to use the restroom or other facilities.

Don't approach the stage unless encouraged to do so.

Don't worry about a noise such as a cough or clearing your throat, as these are sometimes necessary bodily functions.

Sit back, relax, and let the waves of great music brush over you.

Standing ovations are acceptable etiquette at a jazz concert. Feel free to participate in or initiate one.

Top jazz records of all time

Jazz music has been called the only true American art form. Whether that is entirely true or not, a look at some of the top jazz records of all time certainly demonstrates just how enthralling jazz can be. Below, in no particular order, are three of the top jazz records of all time. These albums may not necessarily have been the top selling jazz records of all time, but they are at the top of the heap in the profound effect they had on the jazz music industry and in the way that they demonstrate the true essence of jazz music.

• Giant Steps, by John Coltrane. Giant Steps was released in 1960 by Atlantic records. This was the first John Coltrane album where everything on the album had been composed by Coltrane. This album is where we first see Coltrane's "sheets of sound," which is Coltrane's signature approach to improvisation and phrasing. This is most profoundly demonstrated in the "Countdown" solo. Giant Steps is, more than any other album, the quintessential John Coltrane.
• Bird & Diz, by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Really, this album should also mention Thelonious Monk, Curly Russell and Buddy Rich. This powerful quintet recorded this album in New York in 1950. This was the last collaborative effort between Gillespie and Parker. In addition, it is the only time that the two recorded an album with Monk. This version of the recording includes every bit of dialogue that occurred in the recording session, from false starts to mistakes to studio chatter. This album provides an insight into Jazz music that just listening to the music itself can't provide.
• E.S.P. by Davis, Miles. Miles Davis recorded E.S.P. in January of 1965. Really, E.S.P. featured the Miles Davis Quintet, which included Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and future Jazz soloist Herbie Hancock. E.S.P. was composed entirely by the Miles Davis Quintet, and only one of the songs, Agitation, appears on any of the Miles Davis Quintet's live albums. E.S.P. was one of the longest of all of the jazz albums of its days, coming in at 48 minutes. This would signal a change, as later Miles Davis recordings would surpass this number. E.S.P. proved to be a bellwether album, as well as a harbinger of things to come.

The different types of jazz music

Jazz music is considered the only truly original American type of music. Jazz began in the early part of the twentieth century, and has grown and updated

with the times to go in many new and amazing directions.

Here are just a few of the different types of Jazz music:

• Bebop Jazz. Sometimes known only as "bop," this was the first modern sort of Jazz to come about after World War II. Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie "Bird" Parker were two of the best-known Bebop artists.
• Big Band Jazz. Big Band Jazz was especially popular from about 1935 to 1945. In fact, this form Jazz was the dominant popular music of the day. Folks like Duke Ellington and Count Basie performed Big Band Jazz with large orchestras. Big Band Jazz was also known as "swing."
• Cool Jazz. This is a sort of Jazz that started in the 1950s, and is a very relaxed and melodic type of improvisation. Cool Jazz artists include Zoot Sims and Lester Young.
• Crossover Jazz. Crossover is Jazz that makes it into the pop world. Kenny G, for example, plays crossover Jazz. Some critics don't' consider crossover Jazz to be truly Jazz.
• Fusion Jazz. Fusion is what happens when rock music meets Jazz. Herbie Hancock, who started his career with Miles Davis, is known for Fusion Jazz.
• Mainstream Jazz. This term refers to contemporary musicians who use music from earlier eras of Jazz such as Big Band as a source of inspiration.
• Progressive Jazz. Progressive Jazz refers, usually, to modern Jazz. John Coltrane and Miles Davis are examples of progressive Jazz artists.
• Third Stream Jazz. Third stream combines classical music with Jazz. It is called "third stream" because it is the third stream of music that results when the first two types (streams) are combined.
• Traditional Jazz. This Jazz was the earliest type of Jazz, and includes a variety of subgenres including ragtime and boogie-woogie.
• Vocal Jazz. This category of Jazz encompasses a great many artists, from Louis Armstrong to Frank Sinatra. This is, essentially, music that uses Jazz vocal techniques with what is otherwise pop music.

As you can see, there is a rich and varied selection of Jazz music to which one can listen.

The evolution of big band jazz music

Big band Jazz music emerged precisely on August 26, 1935, and ended on February 2, 1945, at 3:46 in the afternoon.

Obviously, the above statement isn't true. Big band jazz developed as a natural progression of tr form of music in America. The Big Band era lasted roughly a decade, from 1935 to 1945. The Big Band era appealed uniquely to the problems of Americans during the Great Depression, and Americans involved in the Second World War.

Many people mark the beginning of the Big Band era with the appearance of Benny Goodman and his orchestra in Los Angeles during the summer of 1935. This view neglects, to a degree, all of the great Big Band music that had preceded Goodman, of course. In fact, many believe that Benny Goodman, while certainly one of the most talented Big Band musicians, did very little in the way of originality. Rather, he reflected a momentum that had already been building up in the jazz community.

The Big Band era hit just as radio was spreading like wildfire across the country. It is estimated that the audience for radio in 1935 was around 91 million listeners. Most of them were listening to Big Band music, too, along with radio shows such as "The Shadow" and "The Lone Ranger." It was the radio and the RCA 77A microphone, designed specifically for live performances, that helped to push Big Band music out across the entire nation.

There were a number of factors that brought the Big Band era to an end. The companies that licensed music at the time, BMI and ASCAP, demanded more money from the radio networks to play popular songs. This caused many of the headliners to fade from publish consciousness. In addition, the networks made a rule that there could be no improvisation on broadcasts, meaning that these jazz musicians, who had been using improvisation for years, had to write out their solos ahead of the time and to be approved by the networks. This caused a great deal of damage, as the quality of big band music, at least in the broadcast area, fell like a rock. Finally, when the AFM recording ban hit in 1945, it put the final nail in the coffin of the Big Band era.