Jazz Age

influenced and dreamed to be a famous jazz musician like his idol Roy Eldridge. Dizzy was highly influenced by Roy after hearing him play his song on the radio and immediately wanted to become a jazz musician like Roy. Roy Eldridge John Birks Gillespie was born on October 21st 1917 in Cheraw, South Carolina. He is the youngest of nine children in his family and began playing Piano at the age of 4. At 10 years old his father passed away and not long after, by the age of 12 he had taught…

Miles Davis was an ordinary boy, born and raised in Illinois, United States who created one of the most complete jazz albums of all time called Kind of Blue. Davis’s parents were a big part of his early success, being that his father bought him his first trumpet at the age of 13 and his mother being a music teacher helped Davis express his love for music. By the age of 16 Davis was talented enough to play at local restaurants and bars around the city. Within one year a band called “Blue Devils”…

musician. Louis Armstrong was an outstanding jazz musician during the Harlem Renaissance Era. He was especially known for his spectacular trumpet playing, unmistakable voice, and exceptionally recognizable, broad smile. The beginning of his inspirational life set forth not how one might expect. Once he discovered music, his dedication and love for the trumpet, as well as singing, changed his life and the history of music. Louis Armstrong was a very influential jazz musician who used his talents…

Miles Dewey Davis III was born on May 26, 1926 in Alton Illinois. Miles Davis was the son of a music teacher and a dental surgeon. He grew up in a middle-class household. At the age of 13 his dad introduced the trumpet to him. Elwood Buchanan wanted to help develop Davis’s style, he was a friend of Davis’s father. Davis played professionally during high school. Dizzy Gillespie and Charles Parker liked Davis’s work and invited him onstage to perform when a band member was is and wasn’t able to…

conduct and make a big-band jazz group. He also led his band for more than a century. Every in the U-S of A loved his band. Duke Ellington had written a lot of really good original songs. Some of his popular songs were, “Sophisticated Lady”, “ Rocks in My Bed”, and “Satin Doll”. Some other really good songs were “Don’t Get Around Much Any More,” “Prelude to a Kiss,” “Solitude,” and “I Let a Song Go out of My Heart,” he made wide interval leaps an Ellington trademark. At the age of 19, Ellington…

History of Jazz The Evolution of Free Jazz Free Jazz is a form of jazz that involves collective improvisation without a set chord or rhythm structure. This type of jazz was born during the social, political and civil movements’ era, the sixties. There are many reasons that free jazz was formed, the main one being the limitations in other forms such as bebop, big band and swing. Free jazz was influenced by the works of Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane through their love of free…

Jazz is known as one of the most influential forms of music in the history of the United States. Jazz began when one of the most historical wars, World War I, had just ended. It has many origins, from New Orleans to Kansas City to Memphis. New Orleans is the main center from where many of the influential pieces and origins were located. A big part of the development of jazz came from a lot of people who went to many bars and warehouses. What had made jazz be seen as a different perspective of…

was Louis Armstrong. Imagine you’re walking through Chicago during the 1920s. You walk into the Lincoln Gardens to listen to Joe Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band. You begin to listen and look to see a man, barely 21, playing second cornet like nobody’s business. This is your first experience of Louis Armstrong. This is the man that will change the genre of Jazz and it will never be the same. Born on August 4, 1901, Louis Daniel Armstrong came into this world and was raised on the streets to fend for…

Although his life ended very early, Sonny Clark was still able to make his mark on the musical community. Sonny is known for his musical works as a hard bop, jazz pianist. But like many musicians, Clark may not have had such an impact on the musical world if not for the inspiration of the musicians before him. Sonny was inspired by several musicians, and therefore, spent much of his short life jumping from state to state gathering as much knowledge and experience as he could. Sonny Clark was…

famous jazz musician. In the story, both the narrator and Sonny (his younger brother), grow up the same way, yet have opposite views on what determines future success and how they get there. While the narrator seeks to find a lifestyle that fits the general idea of an American family, Sonny seeks to live a life led by his own ambitions in a field where there is only high risk with little reward. In “The Lost Years”, Paul Adams, gives insight to the history of jazz and how substance abuse and…