Mile End

Born Cabell Calloway III, on December 15, 1907, in Rochester, NY, Cab Calloway was a multitalented individual. Not only was he a big band leader during the swing era of jazz, but he was also an actor, author, drummer, and singer. With humble beginnings in a large family, Calloway was exposed to music at an early age. His parents expected him to follow his father’s footsteps into the world of law, but after some time at Chicago’s Crane College, Calloway realized his true passions were in the…

The Forest Acres community offers a number of opportunities to those who live in the area. As a city that has increased from two square miles to approximately five square miles in the area size, and from 375 to around 10, 500 in population size, it is understandable why this community appears to be becoming more upscale when compared to other local communities. After visiting different areas of this community, Forest Acres appears to be a community that is populated mostly by upper middle class…

Scott DeVeaux is a professor and an author who specialized in jazz and American music. He is currently teaching at the University of Virginia. His book The Birth of Bebop: A Social and Musical History that was published in 1997 had won the American Book Award, an ASCAP–Deems Taylor Award, the Otto Kinkeldey Award from the American Musicological Society, and the ARSC Award for Excellence in Historical Sound Research. His other published books and articles include Jazz, which was co-author with…

If you are a jazz guitar artist, or just enjoy jazz and play to some degree, you can create your own business teaching jazz guitar! There are many things you can do, from teaching guitar lessons to creating a guitar video, to writing jazz lyrics, to creating a book or CD or DVD teaching other people how to play jazz (or as some people refer to it, modern jazz). Let's say you already play or sing in a jazz guitar band or group of some kind. Start by handing out a few business cards at your…

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…

Duke Ellington’s Past: Duke Ellington was born on April 29, 1899 into a middle-class family that lived in Washington D.C. Growing up Duke was a very talented boy. He began learning the piano at the age of 7 age and he was also interested in art. Because of his gentlemanly ways he was nicknamed “Duke”. When he was 15 he wrote his first composition which was called “Soda Fountain Rag”. At the age of 17 Duke was awarded an art scholarship to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in New York but he denied…

Jessika Grindstaff October 3, 2014 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…

Sonny Sharrock Sonny recorded with Miles on the sound track of the film named A Tribute to Jack Johnson and on the album Yesternow. Interestingly enough, his participation in the sound track of A Tribute to Jack Johnson was not credited. The soundtrack also includes John McLaughlin as guitar player. His tenure with Miles was from 1970 to 1972 approximately. One of his greatest contribution to Miles's group can be seen in this quote from "The Sharrock way of knowledge" by Robert Palmer (1991),…

foundation after Fraser’s crisp diction of hi-hat and snare drum gets hooked to Herring’s insouciant bass drives. Without wasting time, Scott whips up playful phrases packed with hot patterns, having supportive sax-bass fills in the flank. All that jim-jam ends up in a bass soliloquy turned into odd-metered groove, which serves as a lush pavement for Hogg’s explorations.…

Duke Ellington was born on April 25, 1899 in Washington, D.C. Dukes parents were James Ellington and Daisey Ellington. They were both pianists. Duke Ellington’s inspiration was probably his parents because he was playing piano as a child and focused more on music than his education. Since his parents played piano he was playing piano. What made him famous was that he was pretty much the first one to conduct and make a big-band jazz group. He also led his band for more than a century. Every in…