Dizzy Gillespie

The saxophone proved to gain acceptance when it came to America. Oddly enough, a woman by the name Elise Boyer Hall (1853-1924) was the first to perform on and let the United States know how truly incredible the saxophone is. She began learning the saxophone while she was recovering from typhoid fever. She commissioned many solo works from world renowned composer that had written for this new instrument. A few of these composers include Richard Strauss, Claude Debussy and Georges Bizet.…

Louis Armstrong is an American icon in the jazz industry because of his unique voice. Armstrong was born in 1901 and lived in New Orleans, Louisiana. His most famous song, “What a Wonderful World,” put his career in the record books for the greatest jazz singer of all time. When I was younger, my grandmother would play “What a Wonderful World” every day I visited for lunch. Personally, this song has impacted and taught me to look at the world we live in with a positive attitude. Through…

Both Edison and Young attained their fame from one thing that they had in common, 'Originality'. On Edison's appearance at Riverwalk Jazz, in 1993, Edison mentioned that "All the musicians used to say they'd rather be the world’s worst 'originator' than the world’s best 'imitator'" as he knew the importance of being original. Lester Young's fame came from the similar reason. Rather than adopting the normal 'forceful' approach, he came up with a completely new concept in which to play his horn,…

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue One of the greatest albums in jazz - Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue has received innumerable commendations ever since its release in 1959 and has been admired by jazz fans far and wide. Miles Davis and his sterling band that consisted of top performers at that time together brought this masterpiece to the world. This album features Miles Davis on trumpet, Julian "Cannonball" Adderley on alto saxophone, John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Wynton Kelly and Bill Evans on piano,…

Count Basie was a swing big band leader who began playing piano in the 1920s. He was born in New Jersey, and took stylistic influences from New York musicians such as Fats Waller (Yanow 155). He rose to prominence as a part of the Bennie Moten Orchestra, and then led his own orchestra after Moten’s death in 1935 (Yanow 155). As a bandleader, Count Basie was able to develop his own innovative style that significantly influenced the way jazz developed past the 1940s. His band was one of the top…

In Lovecraft’s “The Music of Erich Zann,” the viol that Erich Zann loves to play is a symbol for a drug because Zann becomes addicted to playing his viol. The story begins with a university student, who is the narrator, telling of the time he visited Paris and had to stay in lodging that he could afford, which is where he met Erich Zann, the protagonist, who plays otherworldly music with his viol. The college student stays in an apartment on Rue d’Auseil street, which is in a part of the city he…

English saxophonist Paul Dunmall has built strong reputation in the European free jazz scene throughout the years. From soliloquies to large ensembles, Dunmall never ceases to surprise through his dashing improvised statements and writing skills. Among his successful past collaborations, saxophonist Elton Dean and drummer Tony Bianco come first in the list, while the improvising quartet Mujician with pianist Keith Tippett, bassist Paul Rogers, and percussionist Tony Levin will be always…

Nate Parker Nate Parker is an American actor in movies and a director for his movies. He also produces movies as well as write them. Some movies that he starred in were Beyond the Lights, Red Tails, The Secret Life of Bees, The Great Debaters, Arbitrage, Non-Stop, Felon and Pride. He was born on November 18, 1979 and is 37 years old. He was born in Norfolk Virginia. Parker wasn’t always an actor, in his earlier days he was a wrestler. He wrestled at Great Bridge High School and also went…

Occasionally, musicians become “crossover artists” whom can per- form good in more than one field of music. For example, Wynton and Branford Marsalis was train in jazz by their father, the great pianist Ellis Marsalis. Both of the sons has became successful classical artists. Bran- ford’s saxophone captures the richness of pieces by Ravel and Stravinsky. Wynton’s albums of classical trumpet music from the Baroque period has brung him many awards. Still, if he was to choose which kind of music he…

Lucky Thompson. Yusef became proficient at the tenor saxophone in high school and by the time he was eighteen he was touring with swings bands. Yusef was asked to join swing bands ran by two jazz masters Harley Toots and the man the myth the legend Dizzy Gillespie's orchestra in 1949. He then went back to Detroit in 1950 and started attending Wayne State University where he studied music composition and flute. Yusef Lateef has won many awards in music in 2007 he achieved an award from…