The Another Jazz Blog

Music is loved by one and all. In fact music is the part of almost everybody’s day to day life. Anywhere you go, be it the commuting process to work, be it as work, or at lunch break, in school or while watching your favorite soap opera, music is there somewhere in the background. People have different preferences of music and if they love a particular style of music such as pop, rock, country or jazz for that matter, then they start collecting CDs of such music or singers who render such music.

Jazz music is more instrumental than certain other kinds of musical styles. The essence of this style of music is that it is deeply rooted in music and rhythm. There is more emphasis here on the playing and the sound of original musical instruments rather than the bass guitars and the other electronic instruments which are popular in the rock and pop styles of music. Jazz music was initially sung by black artists as their vocal style went extremely well with the kind of instruments used in traditional jazz music.

New Orleans in one place which is known for jazz music. In fact the city is considered the birth place of jazz music. There are three styles of jazz music which are well known the world over They are the Harlem stride, White Jazz and New Orleans Jazz. One of the three styles of this kind of music is even named after the state which only goes to show the popularity of the style of music in the state. There are many clubs or jazz bars which are well known for playing exclusive jazz music and they are frequented by many lovers of this kind of music.

If you are looking for a nice, quiet jazz club in New Orleans then you will not be disappointed. The city is filled with pubs and bars which host jazz musical nights and they are mostly lively thanks to the jazz loving people of the state. Among the hugely popular jazz clubs in New Orleans are the Preservation Club which is located on St. Peter street and Fritzel’s which is on Bourbon street. Both these night clubs usually have singers render jazz music which is a crowd puller because they have the very soulful and electrifying jazz singers perform there. At Fritzel’s you can even dance to the beautiful rendition of the clarinet by a very popular Jazz musician; Ryan Burrage.

Among the other night clubs known for jazz music in the state is French Quarter Bar which is located in the Ritz Carlton on Canal Street. This very posh and sophisticated night club in one of the finest hotels of New Orleans is often visited by movie stars and celebrities. There are many other popular night spots which offer the listener beautiful and melodic jazz music which seems to put everything into perspective and also to make the whole world move in sync with the soulful music one is listening to.

When someone speaks about jazz music you cannot help but think this very serious jazz singer with a very melodic voice rendering a soft, mesmerizing and soulful tract in accompaniment with the guitar, the clarinet or soft drums. This kind of visual imagination suggests that jazz music is the music of the rich and sophisticated people or the people who hail from high society. The origins of this kind of music are quite opposite to this picture as jazz music originated and was conceptualized by the oppressed black people of America.

The African American expressed his feelings through this kind of music and the kinds of instruments which the American blacks played at that time went extremely well with this style of music as well as singing. New Orleans is considered the birth place of jazz music and this genre of music has a deep rooted connection to this city. Jazz music was developed into many other forms and it was reconstructed and integrated into many other forms in the city of New Orleans over the period of a few decades.

Jazz music was used by the musicians to express feelings which were not very easily explained or expressed. They used their music as a let out and that is what made it so endearing and soulful. Even today when you see a jazz musician displaying his talent in front of a crowd you get the feeling he is trying to tell you a story of his life or he is trying to find a form of expression for some pent up emotion.

Jazz music is part of the culture of New Orleans. Just like any art form has this rich, cultural background and history which sees it evolve and becoming a complete form, jazz music also has this rich, history and the place has seen this genre of music evolve to many other different forms and styles. The popularity of this vibrant style of music is evident from the innumerable jazz clubs and bars which form part of the city.

Just like any place has it’s share of tourist attractions and other popular places, New Orleans has great many jazz bars to offer it’s visitor. A visitor to the city will always make time to experience the vibrant night life of the place, the jazz music being an integral part of it. Jazz music is made popular the world over by many talented jazz artists and musicians and many of them hail from the great city of New Orleans.

New Orleans is a wonderful place to visit, this especially when you are passionate about jazz music. The very scenic city gives the jazz lover many opportunities to soak in the jazz music culture present in every area of the place so much that people refer to this place as the home town of this genre of music. New Orleans- a great city which comes alive after dusk with some very heart touching and soulful renditions of some of the very best jazz music the world has to offer.

Jazz is a very popular style of music which is both traditional as well as contemporary. With its rich cultural history behind it, this style of music is very soulful and melodic and has many fans the world over. People of all age groups, young and old will find a place for jazz music in their hearts. This is because this kind of music is very original in form and the overall effect of the singer’s voice, the lyrics of the song and the accompanying musical instruments create is very serene and melodic.

New Orleans is a place which is filled with jazz lovers. This is evident by the many number of jazz bars and pubs which play this kind of music dotting almost every locality of the city. Visitors and tourists also are well aware about the popular jazz culture of the place and they make it a point to make a visit to such jazz bars to experience the very soulful and almost magnetic appeal of the music played in them.

If you want to get a list of the best and the most happening jazz bars in the city then the internet can come to your aid. You just have to search online for jazz bars in the city and you will be presented with a well researched out list of such places along with the exact location and even directions on how to get there. There are many websites which provide lots of information about the local attractions in the city and pubs and jazz bars form a huge part of the New Orleans culture. You are bound to find many names of these places and you can choose which one is the closest to your place of stay.

Some very popular places for jazz in the city include The Circle Bar, Café Beignet, and Club 300 Jazz bar restaurant. These places are alive with vibrant jazz music every night of the week and they have everything to offer from traditional jazz to acid jazz. Different musicians and artists look to showcase their talent and the jazz music lover gets a taste of the many different forms of this style of music.

A few jazz bars look for a different jazz artist every night so that they can offer their guests a different kind of jazz style every other night. Many young and upcoming jazz musicians get a great platform to showcase their talent and some of them even make it big after a lucky break. No matter which part of New Orleans you come from or are staying in, finding a nice and quaint jazz club will not be a problem thanks to the popular jazz culture of the place as well as lots of jazz music information available online.

Columns Hotel and Crescent city Brew House are two other jazz bars which are very busy as they are visited by many visitors to New Orleans. Most of the city’s top hotels own a jazz club which is often visited by the city bigwigs and also sometimes by celebrities and movie stars.

When you say jazz music the things that come to mind are soulful, melodic and swinging musical renditions which seem to fill your heart with joy and want to make you sway to the rhythm. Jazz is a very popular style of music which is considered quite original as no sound special effects, no bass and volume adding instruments and no electric musical instruments are used. When the musician sings the song he usually has an instrument like the violin, the guitar or the clarinet accompanying him and this is what makes jazz music so original and so classy.

Jazz music in New Orleans has a rich historical background and the city is even considered the birth place of this kind of music. Jazz music was the creative musical work of the black people who played many kinds of different musical instruments and who had deep, melodic voices to carry off singing the vocals which would go perfectly with this kind of music. These black people who experienced slavery and oppression used their music as a form of expression and rendered the most soulful and heart stopping kind of music. Jazz music is very deep rooted in the rhythm and the overall music of the piece and even though the black musicians would not play their instruments so great in the beginning, the end product would be absolutely amazing.

Initially when jazz music was starting out in the 18^th century in New Orleans, the spirit of this kind of music was towards freeing the African American from the binding shackles of oppressive and the repressive socio political scenario. The tone of their music, their vocals as well the entire demeanor of presenting jazz music was all towards freedom of themselves and also freedom of thought and expression.

Classic jazz and its forms such as polka, waltz and March were all empted from ragtime. Swing which came later on was nothing but a slight modification of ragtime. Free jazz was nothing but the bebop reconstructed. This was how jazz music slowly evolved in the city and also in many other parts of the country.

The 1960s was a period for the total reconstruction of classical jazz giving way to what we call free jazz or post-modern jazz. The reconstruction included many of the changes along with its characters for the evolvement of free jazz or jazz as we know it today. These characters of change included disintegration of meter, free tonality, symmetry and beat and the inclusion of world music such as ethnic music and other music such as jungle music.

Free jazz went on to become the foundation of Classicism in the years 1980s and 90s. Jazz no longer was known just as the musical style of ragtime, bebop and swing. Jazz came to be recognized as an entire genre of music which was highly sophisticated and pluralistic in nature. Jazz was born and then redefined in the entire history of the style in New Orleans.

Charles Parker Jr. (1920 – 1955) was a composer and saxophonist from America. He was more commonly known as ‘Yardbird’ or simply ‘Bird’. These nick names proved to be the inspiration for titles such as “Bird of Paradise”, “Yardbird Suite” and “Ornithology”. He received Grammy Award in 1974 for “First Recordings!”. His recordings “Billie’s Bounce, “Charlie Parker with Strings” and “Ornithology” were inducted in Grammy Hall of Fame Awards. Parker has worked with some of the best artists of the jazz world like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington.

He mostly played be-bop, however also experimented with fusion jazz by mixing jazz with Latin music and other classical styles. With his musical techniques and inventions he set standard for others especially in “Billie’s Bounce”, “Anthropology”, and “Confirmation”. He played great on the blues. His works like “Leap Frog”, “Kim” and “Ko-Ko” shows signs of complex melody. One of the Parkers most influential recordings was “Parker’s Mood”. His beat generation and hipster subculture motivated various jazz artists of the time.

Parker started playing saxophone at the age of 11. In 1936 Parker participated in a cutting contest. Later he improved on his skill in blues and started playing for club bands in the Kansas City. In 1938 Parker joined Jay McShann’s territory band and performed as touring member. They toured Southwest Chicago and New York. He left for New York in 1939 to explore more opportunities. In 1940 Parker made his first recording with McShann’s band. Then started the series of many solo recordings with the same band such as “Sepian Bounce”, “Hootie Blues” and “Confessing the Blues”. In 1942 Parker played at Monroe’s and Minto’s Playhouse where his sessions were mostly jam. In the same year he started his performance with Earl Hines.

Parker was addicted to drugs which had a negative impact on his career. He was often found borrowing and asking loans from his peers to satisfy his drug needs.

In 1945 Parker formed his own band and also worked with Gillespie. They took a six week tour to Hollywood. In 1946 Parker suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized. After that he returned back to New York and formed a quintet. He continued to perform in night clubs and gave performances for radio stations meanwhile also did many recordings. In 1949 Parker did recording for Norman Granz ballad album. The album comprised of “Bird with Strings”, “Just Friends”, “April in Paris”, “Summertime” and “Everything Happened to Me”. In 1953 Parker performed a concert at Massey Hall in Toronto. The album that was recorded “Jazz at Massey Hall” is considered as one of the finest live jazz recordings. This album has also been inducted to The Grammy Hall of Fame. Parker’s last public appearance was on 5^th march 1955 at Birdland night club in New York. Parker died on March 12^th 1955 at a friends place in New York.

Charles Parker is often remembered as Yardbird for his remarkable contribution as a saxophonist to the world of jazz. He is an inspiration to the jazz musicians for his excellent improvisations and solo performances

Louis Daniel Armstrong (1901 – 1971) was the greatest trumpeter and singer of jazz from New Orleans. He gave new heights and definition to jazz. His creativeness and spontaneity has contributed so much to jazz that his work is still remembered. His gravelly voice made him a renowned jazz singer. Armstrong received Grammy lifetime Achievement award in 1972. His recordings like “St Louis Blues”, “Weather Bird”, “All of me” and others were inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame Award.

Armstrong was passionate about music from his early days and listened to club bands. Joe Oliver was his favorite. Later in 1917 he performed at dive bars in New Orleans. In 1919 he joined Fate Marbles band which performed on the boat liners in Strekfus Mississippi river. Until 1921 Louis played with Marbles and later joined Zutty Singleton’s band. He also played with Papa Celestin’s Orchestra at bandstand. In 1922 Joe Oliver offered Armstrong to join his Creole Jazz Band in Chicago. This opportunity acted as a launch pad for Armstrong. His outstanding music became very popular in Chicago in no time. In 1924 Armstrong met Lillian Hardy a piano player and they both got married. Armstrong now moved to New York where he started playing in Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestra. He started with his recording sessions also at this time which includes his all time classic hit “St Louis Blue” with Bessie Smith. He also had recording sessions with Red Onions and Jazz Babies.

In 1925 he moved back to Chicago and played with Erskine Tate’s Vendome Orchestra. In the same year Armstrong recorded his “Hot Five” which was the first recording by his name. The “Hot Five” and “Hot Seven” recorded by Armstrong are the best jazz classics till date and shows Armstrong’s inventive talent. At this time he was playing in Carrol Dickenson’s band at Sunset café. He now also introduced his own band under the name ‘Louis Armstrong and his Stompers’. By 1929, Armstrong has grown as a star. He started touring with a show ‘Hot Chocolate’. In 1930 he moved to Los Angeles and led a band ‘Louis Armstrong and his Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra. Due to racism his one of the on air concert was cancelled on the last minute in New Orleans. In 1932 Louis left for Europe, he played in Sweden, Holland, Denmark, Norway and England. Louis was back in US in 1935 and appointed Glaser as his manager. Glaser was his manager until he died in 1969. Glaser formed a band ‘Luis Russell Orchestra’ which acted as a back up band for Armstrong in New Orleans. This band was then renamed ‘Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra’. Louis divorced Lil in 1938. Until 1940 Armstrong was busy in his recordings and touring. With the decline of swing era Glaser formed a new band ‘Louis Armstrong Allstars’. The band was a great success worldwide. In 1963 his version of “Hello Dolly” was scored as a grand international hit. His other master piece was the recording of “What a Wonderful World” in 1968.

Armstrong was not keeping well in the last three years of his life and died on 6^th of July 1971 of the heart failure. He was undoubtedly the king of jazz of his time

Miles Dewey Davis III, popularly known as Miles Davis (1926 – 1991) was a prominent jazz artist of the 20^th century in America. Being a trumpeter himself he played a very influential role in developing various jazz genres like be-bop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz and jazz fusion. Miles Davis album “kind of blue” released in 1959 sold 4 million copies and received fourth platinum certification by RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America). He started with his music lessons from the age of 13 with a trumpet. His signature tone was seen in his work throughout his career. At the age of 16, Davis started his professional playing by joining The Blue Devils band.

In 1944, after completing high school Davis joined the Julliard School of music in New York but only for some time then he started performing in 52^nd street clubs. In 1945 Davis joined Charlie parker’s quintet. With Parker’s quintet, Davis got a chance to enter the studio frequently where his growing talent was not hidden anymore. His music showed the hints of cool jazz. In 1948 Davis was friends with then composer Gil Evans. He formed a nonet and had several recording sessions in the year 1949 and 1950 but the album was released only in 1956 called “Birth of the Cool”. This album played a crucial role in the foundation of the cool jazz. Davis also had recording session with Prestige records from 1951-1954. Some important recordings were done here like “Dig”, “Blue Haze”, “Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants”. By now Davis had become featured artist of hardbop. During this time Davis was suffered from depression which made him loose his temper every time.

It was in the year 1955 that Miles Davis was back in his style at Newport Jazz festival. His performance was admired by many. Now was the time when Davis recruited artists and formed his first great quintet. The quintet signed a contract with Columbia Records, their creation “Round about Midnight” gained the public admiration. In 1958 the quintet was formed in to a sextet. Now Davis recorded the “Milestones”.

Davis with Gil Evans recorded a series of albums in late 1950’s and early 1960’s. The albums created at this time were “Miles Ahead”, “Porgy and Bess”, “Sketches of Spain” and “Quiet Nights”. They were much of a success. In 1959 Davis recorded his magnum opus “Kind of Blue” which is considered as the best selling Jazz Album. Other popular albums released in late 1960’s were by Davis were “Miles Smiles”, “Sorcerer”, “Nefertiti”, “Miles in the Sky” and “Filles de Kiliminjaro”. The last two albums had a touch of fusion jazz in them.

Davis introduced electrical instruments in his recordings and performance from 1968. “In a Silent Way” was recorded in February 1969. “Bitches Brew” recorded in 1976 was the best seller of the time. The last decade of Davis showed his many new creations. In 1990 Davis received Grammy lifetime achievement award for his dedication to the world of music. He received many Grammy Awards for different works and Down Beat Reader’s Poll best trumpeter award in 1955, 1957 and 1961 respectively. Davis died on 28^th of September 1991 from a stroke. He was a legend for jazz music

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (1925 -2007) was a Canadian Jazz artist. He was a composer and a pianist. He received great honors and awards including seven Grammy Awards, Praemium Imperiale (Japanese award equivalent to Nobel Prize), The UNESCO International Music Prize and Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award. More than 200 recordings were released by him. His career lasted for over 65 years in which he conducted innumerous live performances and concerts.

Peterson began to play piano at the age of nine and won the national music competition at the age of fourteen. Peterson’s career’s crucial step was when he joined Norman Granz project “Jazz at the Philharmonic”. He was exposed to major jazz artists of the time through this project. He now became the member of JATP touring group. Peterson was innovative and inventive which made him popular in United States and Canada and his performances were frequently broadcasted over radio. Peterson performed many Duo and trio performances in public and in studios. His most popular trio was with Barney Kessel who played as guitarist and Ray Brown who was the bassist. Barney Kessel was then succeeded by Herb Ellis in the Trio. His album “Oscar Peterson’s trio at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival” is one of the greatest achievements of his musical career. His most liked Duo was with guitarist Joe Pass in 1970’s. Downbeat Readers Poll voted Peterson as Pianist of the Year in 1950.

In the early 1960’s Peterson laid the foundation of the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto. He took lessons in the school when not touring. Oscar Peterson also by now started his career as a composer. His ‘Hymn to Freedom’ is still largely performed world wide. His composition ‘Canadiana Suite’ is probably the best known. He also composed music for “Big North” which was a Canadian film, and “The Silent Partner” which was a feature film. He also bagged Canadian Oscar award for his work in “The Silent Partner”. His work for the film “Begone Dull Care” was acclaimed all over the world. He also composed an Easter Suite which was broadcasted live in London on Good Friday in 1984. During his career he had done recordings with Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldridge, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Ben Webster, Joe Pass, and Coleman Hawkins. Peterson also made appearances on the television on the series of a talk show. With the promotion of human rights cause in Canada he was the given the highest honor of as a civilian in Canada. He was titled “Officer of the Order” of Canada in 1972.

Peterson experimented with all type of settings like bands, quartets, trios, duos and solo. His solo album was “Exclusively for my Friends” and was introduced to compete with the emerging jazz artists such as Mc Coy Tyner and Bill Evans. In 1978 he was nominated for the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

Peterson suffered from the problem of arthritis since 1990. There was a serious stroke in 1993 and his health kept declining after that. On 23^rd of December 2007 Peterson died as a result of kidney failure. Duke Ellington used to address him as “Maharaja of the Keyboard”.

Dixieland music that is also known some time as new Orleans jazz, Early jazz or Hot Jazz Music is a new style of music which was invented in the beginning of twentieth century in the place of New Orleans. This new shape of music then rapidly spread to New York and Chicago by the band of New Orleans. At the time of their birth this group did brand marches combined with ragtime, quadrilles and blues with polyphonic improvisation by trombone, trumpet and clarinet for a rhythm section of banjo, piano, drums, double bass, tuba and guitar.

The word Dixieland became very popular after the launching of first music album of Dixieland music band. The album was named as original Dixieland jazz band. This album was launched in 1917. Louis Armstrong was the leading member of the band and was the most popular guy of the band and had a unique identification.

The Dixieland became outstanding and different when they invented a new type of sound that was played by an instrument called trumpet. This instrument was usually used to play some kind of melody with different variations. The variations in sound created by this instrument became the reason in the popularity of the band. The decade of 1930 was not good for most of the musicians of the Dixieland, as their careers led to end. Some of the musicians were lucky and they remained in the field of music. But most of them were retired.

Then there came a new style in 1940 named as bebop. It grabbed the attention of most of the new young musicians towards itself and became popular. But still there were old musicians who were not grabbed by this new comer.

Then the world saw again the revival of Dixieland in the beginning of 1950. This revival became the reason of their coming back in the field of music. Thus they earned fame before a successful retirement. Many Dixieland music bands earned also fame and money even by doing copy of the original recordings of the Dixieland. But the true musicians of Dixieland didn’t stop to create innovative melodies and tunes. In 1950 the Dixieland original band created a new style that was called as progressive Dixieland. This new invention merged the traditional bebop, melody and rhythm of Dixieland with many of the new bands of the market. This helps the new comers in making their career. That new style was also called as Dixie bop.

Dixieland is also implemented today as many of the bands are still playing the traditional style of music. There are many critics who called this label wrong to those musicians. It is of their opinion that anybody that is playing old and traditional music cannot be declared as Dixieland. After 1930 the many black and white music bands started their career by playing that traditional music in very impressive and new style. Some of such bands were Condon, Eddie and Muggy Spinier. These are the bands that were called as Dixieland but criticized by the many of the critics.

Jazz history has always an outstanding charm and new horizons still for the historians and researchers. They are still learning from the history of jazz New Orleans. Let’s take a brief look at the history of the jazz New Orleans.

The jazz New Orleans originated before 1895. The unique culture and distinctive history of jazz rooted in the colonial period. This helps us to understand the very complex environment of that time that became the reason in the creation of the jazz New Orleans. In 1718, French Louisiana Colony system founded a new city. The areas of French Louisiana were in the custody of Spain in 1763 but then they were returned to France in round about 1803.

The culture of the New Orleans was very much different from the other new states of the United States of America. The natives of this city were catholic and spoke French but the natives of the other states were protestant and spoke English. The people of the New Orleans were liberal and they liked dancing, music, win and festivals. The first Governor of the United States at New Orleans said this state is unforgivable. The culture of this city was enriched with not only the Europe but it has also a look of Africa. This is because of the reason that in early 1700, most of the West African people were brought to this area as slaves. So this culture has two types of culture. Those different cultures have their own styles of music and dancing. But when they were combined and started to live together there came a new culture of music into existence that then revolutionized the world of music, dance and art.

When the Anglo and the African American people came to the New Orleans, then as stated above a birth of new culture came into existence. The new comers were settled down in the upriver and canal side of the city.  This settlement began to extend to the boundaries of the New Orleans. The arrival of African people as slave in the city and then their freedom birth a new spirituals and blue type of music. The distinction of the culture increased in the beginning of 1900 when Irish and Germen people came to this area in the time to World War 1. This rich mixture of cultures in the city result a new combined culture that was resulted in the exchange of different cultures.

Then the communities began to existence. One of them was Creole of color community that was composed of musicians from all of the cultures of the New Orleans. The music that was created in the New Orleans was very popular musical form because that was continuously reformed by the musicians of this multi culture area. In 1890, the piano compositions those were called as ragtime became music sensation for the young society of this multi culture.

Hence in this way the new type of music came into existence that gave many outstanding melodies to the music world.