If you have ever heard the original versions of “Take The “A” Train”, “It Don’t Mean A Thing…”, “Satin Doll”, or “Stompin At The Savoy”, and the long list of jazz hits goes on and on, then you have undoubtedly had the pleasure of listening to one of the greatest composers and musicians that has ever lived. If you have heard those works performed live by the originator, then you have sat amongst greatness. Many great names come to mind when jazz is mentioned but there is one that leads the crowd and has left a legacy that will not soon be forgotten. While his birth certificate may read Edward Kennedy Ellington, he is more commonly known through out the world as “Duke”. He was born on 29 April 1899 to mother Daisy Kennedy Ellington and
By 1943 he began a series of annual concerts at Carnegie Hall, which was an indication of how much jazz was now accepted in prestigious western classical concert venues. Ellington used this opportunity to write longer and more ambitious works in several movements, like the epic musical history of African-American life, Black, Brown and Beige. Between 1927 and 1931 the Ellington Orchestra played its most famous residency. At the Cotton Club in Harlem, the band backed ‘jungle’ dance-theatre routines in a variety of shows, part of a new popular interest in African-American culture later known as the Harlem Renaissance. During the Cotton Club years, the Ellington band
Danielle Boykin Duke Ellington is known as one of the greatest jazz composers ever lived. He was born Edward Kennedy Ellington in Washington D.C. in 1899. By the age of 17 was playing professionally. In 1923 he moved to New York City where he started recruiting people for his orchestra. He started off with an average jazz band of ten people but through the thirties and forties that number greatly expanded.
Born in the country. blues was the original influencer of jazz and continued to be popular long after jazz took off. Blues music, along with jazz, continued to influence and inspire musicians for decades to come to continue playing blues as well as to create new styles of music. Musicians such as Ma Rainey, “The Mother of Blues” and Jimmie Rodgers “The Father of Blues” made blues the success it was in the 1920s and the foundation for new music later on. Guitarists such as Blind Blake and banjo players like Charlie Poole inspired musicians with their styles and techniques (“1920s Jazz, Blues, Radio”).
“The King of Swing: Benny Goodman and his Lasting Influences” Known as the “King of Swing”, Benny Goodman used his love of jazz and classical music to propel a career that spanned nearly six decades and drove jazz varieties to unprecedented levels of popularity. His influences on music included the introduction of the Swing Era, the propulsion of Bebop, and the commission of some of the greatest classical clarinet compositions of all time. Yet Goodman was more than a musician, and his desire to achieve perfection led him to break racial barriers in the music scene at a time when the nation was deeply divided by color. Born to a large, poverty stricken family in 1909, Benny Goodman first discovered the clarinet at age 10 (“Benny Goodman”, 2011). Two years later, while playing onstage at a small regional show, he caught the ear of bandleader Ben Pollack and was given a spot in Pollack’s band.
Practice Final Exam for RDG 028 Name: Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) If the most influential musician in the entire span of jazz had to be chosen, the choice might be Louis Armstrong. “His heritage permeates all of jazz to this day . . . all that we may hear today has been touched by his genius.” The myth has always been that Daniel Louis Armstrong was born on July 4, 1900.
However, in The Soloist, Steve Lopez shows a different side of homeless people and that all stereotypes heard are not always true. For example, the book shows that homeless people can be gifted. Nathaniel Ayers does have schizophrenia but he also has an exceptional musical intelligence. Mr. Barnoff, from the Cleveland Music School Settlement, taught Nathaniel how to play. He describes how brilliant of a student Nathaniel really was, “…Barnoff had never seen a student go months without practice, as Nathaniel sometimes did, then pick up an instrument and get such a great sound out of it” (19).
Scott Joplin had played in New York, and other great musicians followed in his footsteps. After The Original Dixieland Jazz Band played on Broadway, jazz musicians imitated the New Orleans sound. While not attaining the undisciplined and wildly erratic beat of New Orleans jazz, the popularity of jazz in New York increased drastically. The 1920s proved to be a Golden Age of jazz in New York. Jazz was diverse and appealed to people from every echelon of society.
Aidan Ford Jazz Music Jazz music first began in the late 1880’s and is a mix of African music and modern day European music of that time. Jazz music was originally started by the African Americans of New Orleans, which is why New Orleans is infamous for its jazz artists. As time went on new jazz artists formed rose up out of New Orleans. As the news of jazz spread throughout America, the people began to love it and it became one of the most famous genres of music in the 1920’s and 30’s. Jazz became so popular during these times, because life in America back than was rough for a lot of people.
The premiere of Black, Brown and Beige represented the highest profile example of Ellington's lifelong efforts to advance the politics of race through music, lifestyle, and image, but rarely words. What are two things that happened at the cotton club in New York City while Ellington was appearing there that helped his musical growth and popularity? A new phase of Ellington's career began late in 1927 when his orchestra landed a job at the New York Cotton Club. At the Cotton Club, some of New York's top black performers