Music is something that everybody has a connection to. Sometimes it evokes memories of a childhood long ago or someone in your life that connected with you in your most vulnerable moment. However, music has an origin. It has been around since the time man began to express himself. It is the most organic of all art forms, and it continues to manifest itself in many different forms that seem to fit in all aspects of our lives, no matter how complicated or how trivial it may seem. At the core, music represents all that is good or bad in the world. It’s a way people from all over this globe can relate to one another without ever speaking a chosen language. As I begin this report on the iconic Count Basie, one must realize that he is a piece of …show more content…
With each lesson, he began to realize that this is something he wanted to pursue. He was also inspired by the touring carnivals that used to pass through his town with various musicians. School did not interest him much so he hung out at the Palace Theatre in Red Bank (which would later be names after him), doing occasional chores to gain admission into the establishment. This is where he learned how to improvise music to the artists that were performing and also the silent movies that also played at the theater. At the age of 15, Basie began to play with some local bands throughout New Jersey (Asbury Park, Red Bank). He even played a little while with a young Sonny Greer, a gifted drummer (who later toured with the great Duke Ellington and achieved World Wide fame). However, his time in New Jersey, as he headed to a place where Jazz was beginning to truly take shape, Harlem, …show more content…
This is the beginning of Basie’s honing his craft. He started to “make the scene” with Harlem musicians, including the great William “the Lion” Smith (stride pianist) and the master James P. Johnson (also a pianist and composer). Along with Fats Weller and Jolly Roll Morton, these were the greats who truly influenced him and his musical direction. He learned new piano techniques and when those early years were lean, he played at “house rent parties” and “gambling joints”, where he also learned how to play the organ and even the drums with other up and coming musicians in various bands touring the
After high school, from 1927-1934, Louis played throughout New Orleans and recorded more than 70 titles for various labels, and at the age of 24, he took his considerable talents as a trumpet player and bandleader to New York City. It was at around this time that Louis coined the expression "Swing," as well as many others, and once The Louis Prima Band played their version of Big Band inspired, Dixieland Jazz infused "Swing" music at the Famous Door Club, the entire 52nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Broadway was dubbed "Swing Street." Thus, a whole new era of music began. Even the "King Of Swing," Benny Goodman wouldn't have near the notoriety without the Prima penned "Sing Sing Sing," which is still considered a Swing Era classic.
Eventually in 1937, Dizzy Gillespie decided to head out to New York to carry out his dream of becoming a famous jazz player. During his time at New York he talked with many different bands and earned a job with Teddy Hill’s band. Hill was very impressed with Gillespie’s unique playing style. The group went on a tour from Great Britain to France shortly after Gillespie had joined the band. After getting back from the tour G...
The performance at the sands is vocal jazz but the music in itself is swing andpop combined. Even though it is not improvisation the artists do take liberties sneaking in embellishments here and there. When you think of Frank Sinatra you think of the songs that are on his performance at the Sands. The Basie Rhythm machine establishes a stable swing beat allows Sinatra to sing freely around the music making a one of a kind performance. A lot of the credit for the success of the performance goes to Count Basie’s arranger and conductor Quincy Jones. Jones created a groove that blended Sinatra’s strong voice, use of phrasing and his free embellishing with Basie’s Orchestra so well it that has the band, Sinatra, and the crowd all feeding off each other.
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, more commonly known as Jelly Roll Morton, was born to a creole family in a poor neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. Morton lived with several family members in different areas of New Orleans, exposing him to different musical worlds including European and classical music, dance music, and the blues (Gushee, 394). Morton tried to play several different instruments including the guitar; however, unsatisfied with the teachers’ lack of training, he decided to teach himself how to play instruments without formal training (Lomax, 8). ...
His “hot bop” style was heard in places like the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theatre. Everyone from all over the country would come to see him. Armstrong recorded such works as I’m in the Mood for Love, and You Rascal You (http://library.thinkquest.org/26656/english/music.html). Another famous person during this era was Coleman Hawkins, a saxophone player. Hawkins is recognized as the first great saxophonist of jazz.
The first instrument Robert played was the harmonica. Robert quit school as a teen and started working in the cotton fields. Robert left that life to travel and play his music. He began to play the guitar around the age of fifteen. Famous blues men; Charlie Patton and Willie Brown influenced Johnson when he was young. At age 17, Robert married Virginia Travis. She and their first baby died during childbirth. Johnson then went on the road. Robert traveled all over the Midwest and all the way down to Mississippi and Arkansas. He married Calletta Craft during his travels. She died only a few years later while Robert was on the road.
Edward Kennedy Ellington, American jazz composer, orchestrator, bandleader, and pianist, is considered to be the greatest composer in the history of jazz music and one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. He composed over 2000 works and performed numerous concerts during his musical career. A compilation of some of his most popular music is collected on a CD called "The Popular Duke Ellington." Ellington personally created most of the music played by his orchestra. He often wrote pieces for specific players with distinctive musical styles in his band, such as "Concerto for Cootie" (1940) for fellow musician and trumpeter, Cootie Williams. With the help of American trumpeter James "Bubber" Miley, Ellington often incorporated in his music the jungle effect.
When he was seven, Duke Ellington began piano lessons with Marietta Clinkscales. His mother wanted to surround him with respectable women to strengthen his manners, and teach him how to be a gentleman. Thus, he earned the nickname, “Duke”. During his younger years, Duke Ellington preferred to play baseball over piano, but he later developed his love for music by sneaking into pool rooms to listen to the pool room pianists play. He then began listening and imitating ragtime pianists in Washington D.C, Atlantic City, and Philadelphia with private lessons from Henry Lee Grant, a music teacher at Dunbar High School. He also got additional guidance from the numerous pianists of his hometown as well as the band leader, Oliver "Doc" Perry, one of his many musical influences. Some of his other influences include Lester Dishman, Louis Brown, Turner Layton, Gertie Wells, Clarence Bowser, Sticky Mack, Blind Johnny, Cliff Jackson, Claude Hopkins, Phil Wurd, Caroline Thornton, Luckey Roberts, Eubie Blake, Joe Rochester, and Harvey Brooks. Duke worked hard on perfecting his music all through high school as he attended Armstrong Technical High in Washington D.C. In February 1917, three months before graduating, Ellington left high school to kickstart his career as a professional musician. To make money during the day, he made use of his artistic abilities by painting signs and posters at a sign painting business. Then at night, he lived a double life as a musician. This was just the start of his grand musical career and
Since the earliest days of human civilization music has been a key tool for communication of stories which carried emotions through them. If we think back to our youngest years of life music has surrounded us whether it was from our parents singing us lullabies or from some sort of toy that played music we can say that musical melodies have helped shape or lives one way or another. Once we start growing up and figuring out who we are our musical preferences change; some people like classical and some like punk. We start to befriend people who like the same music as us and eventually we may attend a musical event. Our lives somewhat revolve around the music that we listen to.
During the “Swing” era of jazz in the 1920’s to the 1930’s was dominated by the big band movement. Artists such a Duke Ellington and Count Basie were popular for their great arrangements and riffs. Although these artists were successful, their white counterparts such as Benny Goodman were increasingly more popular. Out of a desire to remove themselves from the repetitive riffs and lack of solo opportunities for the young African-American musicians in swing bands under white bandleaders, many musicians began experimenting with different types of music. A story often told in the in the jazz lore is “How Bebop was born a Minton’s Playhouse.” (Rosenthal, 10)
The. Waller informally taught Basie the intricacies of the organ and introduced him to other stride luminaries James P. Johnson and Willie "The Lion" Smith (Dance 9). These early influences would have a lasting impact on Basie, contributing a great deal to his distinctive minimalist style. Basie began his professional music career in the vaudeville circuit within New York (Carattini, par.... ...
A man with the “big noise” saw playing from the soul and heart. The place is New Orleans and the starting point of the wonderful world of jazz. New Orleans is where people are creative and not judged by the way they play their music. Buddy Bolden was one such of a person.
Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941), was the very first important Jazz composer, who contributed a lot to the development of Jazz. Jelly Roll Morton was a composer, arranger and also a performer, a piano player. He learned to play piano when he was ten years old. Within a few years, he was already began playing piano at the brothels in Storyville. Storyville would later on be called the birthplace of Jazz， although it was not entirely true because Jazz was created and recreated by a lot of people around the cities in America, but Storyville was an important place that affected the development of Jazz.
Music is one of the most fantastical forms of entertainment. Its history stretches all the way from the primitive polyrhythmic drums in Africa to our modern day pop music we listen to on our phones. It has the ability to amaze us, to capture our attention and leave us in awe. It soothes the hearts of billions, and it is so deeply rooted in my life that it has touched my heart as well. Everyday I walk to the beat of the song stuck in my head and hum along to the melody. For me, to listen to music be lifted into the air by the hands of your imagination and float around for a while. You forget about your worries, your troubles and find peace within the sound. Every chapter in my life is attached with a song. Every time I listen to a certain song, thoughts of my past come flooding back
George Gershwin was born on September 26, 1898 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the second oldest of four children. Growing up New York he was influenced early by the music around him. Some genres included the early jazz of African Americans and the Eastern European sounds of his Jewish heritage. (Macmillan/McGraw-Hill) Some would say that George was a hyper child. George's father once predicted the trouble-prone boy would "grow up to be a bum." (Saturday Evening Post. 80-80) He would later go on to prove everyone wrong. In 1910 when Gershwin was 12, his family acquired an upright piano at their home on the lower east side of New York City. (Saturday Evening Post.80-80) He began his musical training at thirteen. At fifteen he left high school to work as a pianist and song-plugger for musical publishers. (George Gershwin) Many people would go by the store to buy sheet music. He would play the newest tunes for the costumers. (Macmillan/McGraw-Hill) At the age of sixteen, he began working for a publishing house of Remick in New York. He played the piano f...