Famous Jazz Singers- Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan

This week is focused on famous jazz singers. They helped add to the music with their singing through the emotions their voices could project. I will focus on two famous jazz singers, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan.

Billie Holiday was born in 1915. At birth she was given the name Eleanora Fagan, but adopted the name Billie from one of her favorite actresses. Her parents were unmarried at the time of her birth; even though they were married later he never lived with them. As a child Billie worked at a young age cleaning a house of prostitution. It was then she first heart Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith’s music floating out the open windows. She moved to New York with her mother and applied to sing in a Harlem night club. When she sang on a recording for someone and more recordings in the following years she hit it big. By the late 1930s she was internationally known. Some Billie’s best work was recorded with tenor saxophonist, Lester Young. Though they never married they were labeled to soul mates and their relationship “is the stuff of legends.” Billie was arrested for illegal drug abuse and one time she even requested to go into rehab where she remained for a year and a day. Both of Billie’s husbands had no effect on her and could not keep her away from illegal drugs. By the 1950s Billie’s phenomenal voice had be strained by all the alcohol and marijuana. Her voice was unnaturally deep now and would sometimes crack during a performance. She died in 1959 from congestion of lungs complicated by heart failure. At the time she was under arrest for possession of illegal drugs. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 as an early influence of rock and roll. Her life began terribly and when she had finally achieved greatness illegal drugs and alcohol destroyed what she had achieved. Her music is still listened to and loved today as the sad truth of Billie’s life reverberates throughout her music.

Sarah Vaughan was born in 1924 in New Jersey. Her parents were amateur musicians and she began learning the piano, organ, and singing in the church choir by the age of 7. After winning an amateur contest she was hired as a singer and back-up singer in an orchestra. A year later some of the group split to make their own group and Sarah went with them. In this new group she was greatly influenced by two of the musicians in the group, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Her singer began to imitate those of the instruments. She only stayed a year with them before leaving and starting her solo career, she was 21 at the time. In the following years she sang in many genres and with a wide expanse of groups and people. She had perfect pitch and her voice was that of legends. While her professional life was so successful her personal life was that of many other famous people. She was married and divorced 4 times. She also had a daughter. One of the many awards she received during her long and fruitful career was the 1982 Grammy for best Jazz Vocal Performance. A few months before her death she began working on another album. The last song she would ever record was called September. She died of lung cancer in her Los Angeles home in 1990 at the age of 66. Her voice some would describe as a gift from God. Over the years she shared her special gift with so many and her repertoire was vast. She will always be remembered by her phenomenal voice.

This week I listened to Billie Holiday music. My favorite is her singing Strange Fruit. Her singing is phenomenal and expresses so many emotions and feelings just by the way she enunciates the words or the way she sings it. We voice sounds so smoky and is just perfect for blues songs and jazz. She was so great at singing and will forever live on in music history. Her voice is not an everyday thing. I also listened to some of Sarah’s music. My favorite of her music is You’re Not the Kind. Her voice is almost complete opposite of Billie’s voice. It is not rough or smoky at all. Her voice is so warm and rich. I can see how people said her singing sounds almost like musical instruments. Her range is simply amazing, to sing three octaves is unheard of and impossible for most singers. These two women were amzing singers and I am glad I had a chance to listen some of their music. Listening to them makes me wish I could sing like that.

For more information see:

http://www.notablebiographies.com/He-Ho/Holiday-Billie.html

http://www.bookrags.com/biography/sarah-lois-vaughan/

Pictures from:

http://www.austinlindy.com/Sound_of_Jazz_Cover.jpg
http://api.ning.com/files/DpI9-ez3TiGL3fBTQGjH4tTLROZ4RWaK6j1yvJSceP3eC8gyQiAg3vGYwyhEEjtmdxR9tArMNAFxs6nyYIHptJI1PHfVSEWh/Sarah_Vaughn.jpg

The Pianists part 2- Count Basie and Bill Evans

This week there are even more jazz musicians. I focused on two famous pianists in the genre of jazz. They are Count Basie and Bill Evans.

William “Count” Basie was born in New Jersey in 1904. He learned to play piano from his mother. In his younger years he played in some groups until he joined a group called the Walter Page Blue Devils. Basie was doing well in the group until he found himself stranded in Kansas City when the group broke up after a performance. After that Basie went from group to group, forming new ones when the old fell apart. He finally had his break when a wealthy jazz aficionado heard him and his band playing on a local Kansas City radio station. From there they added more members and moved to New York City and in January 1937 Count Basie recorded his first record. By the next year they were internationally famous! Over the following years members came and left and they toured the world. It was Basie’s simplistic piano style and the rhythm section that made them such a hit. In 1976 Basie suffered a heart attack and afterwards when seen performing on stage in an electric wheelchair. He died in 1979 from cancer. He received many awards during his life including numerous Grammy Awards. His music is still listened to and loved today.

Bill Evans was also born in New Jersey, but he was born in 1929. He was classically trained on the piano and also studied other instruments. He went to college and received multiple degrees. After serving in the army a short while he performed in dance halls. It was in the dance halls that he was discovered. After that day he recorded numerous albums, performed with other well known jazz musicians of the time, and toured the world. He gave performances to pack houses everywhere. Evans had found his niche in the jazz world by playing in trios with a bass player and drum player. It was in this setting that a lot of his music was composed. His last trio formed in 1978 helped to energize him since he seemed to be sick all the time. Even though his health was getting worse Evans refused to slow down and kept up a rigorous performance schedule. It wasn’t until he finally had to cancel an event. He was taken to the hospital on September 15, 1980. It was there that he died from a bleeding ulcer, cirrhosis of the liver and bronchial pneumonia. He “was a prolific and profoundly creative artist.” He also received a few Grammy Awards and will forever be remembered in the history of jazz.

I listened to both artists work this week, like normal. I listened to Count Basie’s Orchestra playing Every Day I Have the Blues. I like the groove of it, also the fact that there is a singer. Sometimes it is just easier to listen to music if there are words to follow and relate with. I like Basie’s music. It is nice and easy to listen to and has a good beat that makes my toes start tapping. His simplistic piano adds to the overall music in a positive way. I also listened to Bill Evans’s Waltz for Debby. It has a catchy melody to it. It is similar to classical music at points before the swing beat comes back and the jazz style reemerges. His music is also nice to listen to and relax. These pianists are very talented and their music is so great to listen to and I like them a lot.



For more information:

http://www.billevanswebpages.com/billbio.html

http://www.swingmusic.net/Count_Basie.html

Photos from:

http://library.umkc.edu/spec-col/ww2/PostWarWorld/images/basie.jpg

http://myromancemovie.com/images/Bill_Evans.JPG

The Pianist and the Bassist- Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus

Jazz musicians continue this week as I listened to music by some famous jazz pianists Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus.

Duke Ellington was born in 1899 in Washington D.C. to a secure middle-class family. His family encouraged Ellington to develop and express his musical side and he started playing the piano at the age of 7. During high school he became engrossed in his musical studies. He received an award to attend music school, but he decided not to go and instead went to New York and began performing in nightclubs. He began performing professionally at the age of 17. He led a sextet that grew into a 10-piece ensemble. Ellington had a gift for enthusing his performers to perform their best and showcasing his soloists’ special talents. The solos of his trombonists and trumpeter influenced his “jungle style” in Ellington’s early works. As Ellington’s group grew in fame he had the best of the best in his band and they traveled all over the world. They toured Europe, Asia, South America, West Africa, Australia and North America. Over the years Ellington produced a wide variety of music that was simply amazing. He led the band up until shortly before his death. He was such a great band leader that he had a member in his band for 47 years. He is one of the great jazz musicians and band leaders of all time.

Charles Mingus was also a pianist, but was also a bassist. His musical taste was influenced by church music. He was trained in classical music and composition. His other great influence was listening to the greats of jazz. He toured with some of the greats in the jazz world. He settled in New York and played in some of the up and coming jazz bands and he developed into a great bandleader as well as a phenomenal pianist. He also founded the “Jazz Workshop” which was a group that let young musicians record and perform their music. Over the years Mingus composed over 300 scores and recorded over 100 albums. Mingus traveled extensively throughout Europe, Japan, South America, Canada, and the United States. He stopped touring 1977 when he was diagnosed with a rare nerve disease and was confined to a wheelchair for the final years of his life. He still composed music up until the end even though he couldn’t write or compose at a piano. His final works were sung into a recording device. When Mingus died he was mourned by many. His music is still listened and admired today.

This week I listened to Duke Ellington’s C Jam Blues and Take the “A” Train. In C Jam Blues I like the way the soloist all jive together and they fit together very well. It is great to hear good musicians jive together. In Take the “A” Train I love how well he plays. It sounds great and is nice to listen to when you are trying to relax. He is a great musician to listen him just soloing and it is also great to listen to his groups performing because of how he brings outs the best in all his soloists.

I also listened to some Mingus music to go along with this post. I listened to a solo done by Mingus. He has a good groove and sounds so cool. He also plays well in a big band setting. His playing is so cool, the things he can do just surprise me. It makes me wish I could play a bass at all and as well as Mingus. All of his music I listened to was phenomenal.

Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus are two greats in the jazz world. If you like jazz at all I would recommend listening to these two artists.

For more info please see:
http://www.biography.com/articles/Duke-Ellington-9286338
http://www.mingusmingusmingus.com/Mingus/index.html
Pictures from:
http://rhapsodyinbooks.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/duke_ellington_03.jpg
http://www.africanafrican.com/negroartist/JAZZ%20IMAGES3/slides/charles%20mingus.jpg

The Saxophonists- Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane

So, this week I am continuing with famous jazz musicians. This week’s musicians are saxophonists, Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane.

Ornette Coleman was born on March 9, 1930 in Forth Worth, Texas. He started playing alto and tenor sax as a teenager and had gigs “in dance bands and rhythm-and-blues groups.” His style was unorthodox and was rejected in Los Angeles. He kept working on his unorthodox sense of harmony while working as an elevator operator and playing on a plastic saxophone. In the late 1950s Coleman formed his own quartet so he could solo as he wished. After recording two albums he moved to New York where his radical style for improvisation was still not accepted. In the 1960s Colman taught himself to play violin and trumpet in unorthodox ways. By the 1970s he was performing erratically and preferred to spend his time composing music. He continued to play in many different groups in the coming years and traveled the world giving performances. In 2005 Coleman recorded a live performance in Italy of a song called Sound Grammar. It was said to reflect back on his music of the 1960s and he was “awarded the Pulitzer Prize for music in 2007.” Coleman influenced other saxophonists and other jazz soloists. His music still influences young musicians today.

John Coltrane was born on September 23, 1926 in Hamlet, North Carolina. His father played several instruments, so Coltrane learned to play the clarinet and E-flat horn. In high school his music interests changed and he learned to play the alto sax because of his change in music. He continued his music education in Philadelphia while he went to school and worked at a record company. He was called to service during World War II and served in Hawaii in the U.S. Navy Band. After the war he played tenor sax in a band. He played with different groups, but it wasn’t until he performed with Miles Davis in 1958 that his own musical awakening began. By 1960 he had formed his own quartet. It was with his group that his musical brilliance came out. He recorded many of his most famous songs during this period of time. John Coltrane died in 1967 after liver disease claimed his life, still years and years after his death his music still lives on in motion pictures and TV shows. His music is referenced in many film projects, such as Mr. Holland’s Opus. I still remember watched that movie in 9th grade Life and Careers class. Even though he died at the age of 41 his music lives on and on. Good musicians who have the talent to influence others decades after their death are the best of the best. John Coltrane is one of the best of the best. His music received many awards after his death, including Grammy Award for Best Jazz Soloist Performance for his album “Bye Bye Blackbird” and in 1997 was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.

I listened to some of Ornette Coleman’s music. It is interesting to say the least. His style is not something I would want to listen to all the time. It sounds like a bunch of annoying squawks and there is so much dissidence that I had to stop listening to it before I ripped my hair out. It sounds like a bunch of chaos as they all solo at the same time. I guess I just prefer musicians who play the correct chord changes and solo one at a time with a good groove going in the background.

I also listened to some of John Coltrane’s music. He is so much better after listening to Coleman. His music is more structured and actually has a melody instead of random notes and runs everywhere. I listened to one of his more famous pieces May Favorite Things. This song was used in the movie The Sound of Music. I like the jazzy feel of it while I follow the melody and words I learned from the movie. His music is nice to listen to. Plus saxophones are bomb. Yeah, I play the alto saxophone.

These two men changed the way jazz was played, listened to. In brief they helped to revolutionize jazz music.



For more info see:
http://www.biography.com/articles/Ornette-Coleman-9253139
http://www.johncoltrane.com/biography.html

Pictures from:
http://www.born-today.com/btpix/coltrane_john.jpg
http://home.att.net/~dawild/oc.gif

Jazz Trumpeters- Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis

The next few weeks I'm going jazz. This week is dedicated to two phenomenal trumpeters, Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis.

Miles Davis grew up in well to-do East St. Louis. He made a trip to New York saying he was attending Julliard Music School, but his real purpose was to hook up with other jazz musicians. Over the years he formed many different groups and help to revolutionize jazz. He was always trying something new and always had the best up-and-coming young artists. He went through his own trial and tribulations of drug abuse and other things. He was always up to trying something new and formed the first professional nonet, a group of nine musicians. He did not discriminate when choosing musicians for his group, as long as they could play well that was all that mattered. He had a skill for meshing many different styled musicians and making it work. His solos are not fast licks in the upper octaves, but rather lower notes at a slower pace and with the spacing of his solos. Also, many members of his bands went off to form their own groups. One blogger comments that very “few trumpet players could match the quality of his tone and no one has changed jazz as many times or spawned as many jazz leaders as Miles Davis.” I agree wholeheartedly with that statement.

The next trumpeter is Louis Armstrong. He grew up poor in New Orleans. He first learned to play the cornet while in reform school after shooting a gun in the air on New Year’s Eve at the age of 12. After he was done with that he was back to selling stuff and working to survive. It wasn’t until he met Joe “King” Oliver, who acted as his mentor and taught his how to play the cornet better. Over the years he played in numerous groups, went through numerous wives and traveled the world. When he went to Chicago as a young man early in his career his New Orleans style of playing was all the rage and other bands from New Orleans traveled to Chicago to bask in the craze. Louis Armstrong was known as “America's Ambassador” since he traveled across the country and the world wowing audiences with his band. Because of his great influence of the jazz work ever since 1974 high school jazz bands throughout the country have been honoring their most outstanding jazz students with the Armstrong Jazz Award. Every year, at my high school and many others, at the final band concert of the year the Armstrong Jazz Award is given to a senior who has displayed their love of jazz music and their skill at playing. Louis Armstrong lives on with this award and through his music.

I listened to both of these artists this week. Davis likes to have silence when he solos instead of playing as many notes as he can as fast as he can and as high as he can. Just listening to some on his pieces I am awed at his skill and love of the music. I love to listen to jazz music, but failed at the playing part and was terrified of soloing.

Louis Armstrong’s music also is quite phenomenal. One of his most famous songs is What a Wonderful World. I had heard this song many times, but had no idea that the great Louis Armstrong was its creator.



For more information:

http://www.redhotjazz.com/louie.html

http://www.miles-davis.com/timeline

http://airjudden.tripod.com/jazz/milesdavis.html

Pictures from:

http://eleetmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/miles_davis1.jpg

http://alexpantarei.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/louisarmstrong.jpg