Jazz

39 articles related to Jazz:

Saxophone
Take Five: the jazz standard built in five

Take Five became the signature piece of the Dave Brubeck Quartet after appearing on the 1959 album Time Out. Written by…

July 17, 2026
Big band
Begin the Beguine: meaning and origin of Cole Porter's song

Begin the Beguine takes its title from the beguine, a slow Caribbean dance and music style related to rumba. Cole…

June 17, 2023
Film
Jumpin' Jive: a celebration of swing and scat singing

Jumpin' Jive is a notable jazz hit that was originally recorded by the Cab Calloway Orchestra in 1939. The song…

April 29, 2023
Songwriter
Big Noise from Winnetka: timeless jazz melody born in a drum and bass jam

Big Noise from Winnetka is one of the best-known jazz tunes of the 1930s, first recorded by the Chicago-based band The…

October 14, 2021
Songwriter
Flat Foot Floogie: vulgar meaning of the swing hit song

Flat Foot Floogie (with a Floy Floy) is a jazz swing song that became a nationwide hit when it was released in the US…

July 1, 2021
Songwriter
Minnie the Moocher: essential step in the history of scat singing by Cab Calloway

Minnie the Moocher is an iconic jazz composition showcasing essential examples of scat singing—a vocal technique for…

November 15, 2020
Music Theory
Popular songs featuring Phrygian mode and Neapolitan chord

Western music theory describes seven diatonic scales that are the basis of corresponding musical modes, among which the…

April 29, 2020
Collaboration
Marius Neset and London Sinfonietta: saxophone accompanied by world-class orchestra acquainted classical harmony with jazz rhythms

The intriguing cross-genre collaboration between the Norwegian jazz saxophonist Marius Neset and the London Sinfonietta…

November 13, 2019
Saxophone
Pixinguinha: Brazilian saxophonist who established choro music as a pop genre

Pixinguinha, born Alfredo da Rocha Viana, Jr., was an iconic figure in Brazilian popular music who defined its new…

September 26, 2019
Choir
Gershwin's Summertime: the most recorded song draws inspiration from Ukrainian lullaby and African American spiritual

Written by the American composer George Gershwin in 1934, Summertime aria is now the most recorded song in the history…

July 3, 20193 comments
Vinyl
The Original Dixieland Jass Band made the first-ever jazz recording over 100 years ago

The Original Dixieland Jass Band, also known as the ODJB, were among the pioneers of the new genre that originated in…

April 13, 2019
Piano
Zawinul incited his electric piano to report the jazz weather

European jazz pianist Joe Zawinul is best known for his founding the iconic band Weather Report which is highly…

March 8, 2019
Piano
Billy Strayhorn redefined jazz with a touch of classical

A versatile composer and pianist Billy Strayhorn was among the most grandiose personalities in American jazz,…

February 5, 2019
Big band
Great Depression cut short the extraordinary dance life of McKinney’s Cotton Pickers

Since the very start of the prohibition during the Roaring Twenties, many Americans sought refuge in entertainment…

January 4, 2019
Piano
Sgt. Pepper's inspiration behind Carla Bley's revolutionary jazz album

Born in Oakland, California, Carla Bley was raised in a Christian fundamentalist household and received remarkably…

November 20, 2018
Electric Guitar
Monnette Sudler: the first lady of jazz guitar

Grammy-nominated jazz guitarist Monnette Sudler is known as the “First Lady of Jazz Guitar,” among other titles. Her…

October 30, 2018
Songwriter
The three acts of Lonnie Johnson' blues

Lonnie Johnson (1889—1970) was a prolific American musician, singer, and songwriter, and one of the first major blues…

October 18, 2018
Flute
Incredible stunts by the blind virtuoso influenced a whole generation

Rahsaan Roland Kirk (1936-1977) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who played saxophone, flute, and over 40…

September 10, 2018
Songwriter
La Mer poem became an international hit after years of searching for a melody

Charles Trenet was one of the most influential popular French songwriters in the mid-20th century. A performer of…

September 4, 2018
Collaboration
Literary recital for fiddle and harmonium with British flavour

A rare duo that brings together two of Britain's foremost folk and jazz artists was formed by a Scottish fiddler Aidan…

August 31, 2018
Piano
To study academic theory, superb pianist Wynton Kelly took up bass

Wynton Kelly was born in Brooklyn, NYC in 1931 to Jamaican parents. His blues-based piano playing made him one of the…

August 29, 2018
Trumpet
Jazz dinosaur of the new generation

Rising English trumpeter Laura Jurd has garnered an armful of awards in her relatively brief career, including both for…

August 24, 2018
Trombone
Moonlight Serenade got its name to contrast the sun

Glenn Miller, American big band leader, composer, and trombonist, is considered the primary musical symbol of the World…

August 8, 2018
OUD
Endless possibilities for one of the world’s oldest instruments

Joseph Tawadros was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1983 and moved to Australia three years later. Several members of his…

August 5, 2018
Piano
Abdullah Ibrahim created his African music of peace in exile

The works of South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, born Adolph Johannes Brand, fuse the melodic sounds of his…

August 3, 2018
Hang
Electronic jazz achieves ambiance with exotic Swiss-made drum

The Portico Quartet is a contemporary jazz and ethnic fusion ensemble from South London. The band is known for their…

July 25, 2018
Saxophone
Chu Berry: finest tenor sax voice of the '30s silenced by fatal car crash

Leon 'Chu' Berry (1908-1941), perhaps one of the most brilliant American tenor sax players, found interest in music at…

July 21, 2018
Modern Jazz Quartet
Bebop meets baroque in memorable Collaboration

Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) is an American musical ensemble noted for their innovations in jazz forms and consistently…

July 13, 2018
Vibraphone
Cal Tjader: the inception of Latin jazz in the Bay Area

Vibraphonist Cal Tjader was a fruitful composer who combined Afro-Cuban and Brazilian rhythms with jazz harmonies,…

June 26, 2018
Songwriter
Peggy Lee's sensual version of Fever replaced the original

Fever, one of the biggest songs to define a generation, is a passionate love proclamation that spoke to listeners of…

June 18, 2018