Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer

From the choices provided below, select a jazz musician for your paper of 600 to 800 words. You will be writing about the historic jazz style represented by this musician, as well as his or her individual performance style.  An abundance of choices will allow you to write with genuine enthusiasm about one of your favorites.  (Please note that we have excluded Miles Davis and John Coltrane from the list--they are simply too popular to include on the list.)

For the musician:

discuss the general characteristics of the historic jazz style;
describe the individual stylistic characteristics for which the performer is known;
select one piece that features a notable performance and provide your observations from listening to the piece;
provide a conclusion that offers insight into the artistry and significance of the piece and performer you have selected.
This assignment is an extension of the work you have been doing on the discussion boards.  Topics questions can serve to guide your own investigation of the piece you have selected.

The one caveat is to make sure that you select a recording that is not assigned listening--be it recordings on the lesson pages, the discussion boards, or on the Unit listening lists.  As far as that goes, there are several more lessons before the end of the semester.  There is one remaining discussion board, and there are recordings on the Unit 5 Listening List (that will be presented in Lessons 13 and 14).  These recordings--and all recordings from Lessons 12, 13, and 14--are also off limits.  The remaining lessons are available to you, so that you can check to make sure that your selection is not a recording from the lesson pages.  In addition, here are the recordings on the remaining discussion board, along with those on the Unit 5 Listening List:

Discussion Board #10 recordings:

Miles Davis, “Bitches Brew” (Miles Davis), New York, August 19, 1969
Miles Davis, “Sivad” (Miles Davis), Live at The Cellar Door, Washington, DC, December 19, 1970
Weather Report, “Birdland” (Joe Zawinul), Hollywood, 1976
Weather Report, “This is This” (Josef Zawinul), Los Angeles, CA, 1986
Chick Corea, “Steps – What Was” (Chick Corea), New York, March 1968
Chick Corea, “Now He Sings, Now He Sobs” (Chick Corea), New York, March 14, 19 and 27, 1968
Return to Forever, “Spain” (Chick Corea), London, October 1972
Herbie Hancock, “Sly” (Herbie Hancock), San Francisco, CA, Fall, 1973
Keith Jarrett, “Landscape For Future Earth” (Keith Jarrett), Oslo, Norway, November, 1971
Keith Jarrett, “All The Things You Are” (J. Kern/O. Hammerstein), New York, January 1983

Unit 5 Listening List:

The Wynton Marsalis Quartet, “Knozz-Moe-King” (Wynton Marsalis), Washington, D.C., December 19 and 20, 1986
Wynton Marsalis, “Caravan” (D. Ellington/J. Tizol/Mills), New York, May 29-30 and September 24-25, 1986
Michael Brecker, “Slings and Arrows” (Michael Brecker), New York, 1996
Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet, “Cool Struttin’” (Sonny Clark), 1986
Tito Puente, “Royal ‘T’” (Tito Puente), San Francisco, January 18-19, 1993
Medeski Martin & Wood, “Hey-Hee-Hi-Ho” (MMW), New York, December 15-22, 1997
Roy Hargrove Quintet, “Mental Phrasing” (Roy Hargrove), New York, January 16 and 17, 1994
Brad Mehldau, “Monk’s Dream” (Thelonious Monk), Live at Village Vanguard, New York, July 29-August 3, 1997

Historic jazz recordings have become very easy to purchase online as mp3 downloads.  If you don't already have the recording you have selected, an mp3 purchase is a very reasonable and affordable way to obtain the recording.

In the header for your paper, be sure to include:

The artist you have selected
The title of the piece
The year of the original recording
Other performers on the recording

Note: This is not a research paper. Your online lessons provide ample information.  If quoting from these lessons, place the words in quotation marks and use a parenthetic citation, such as (Hopkins, Lesson 11).  You may use other sources, but be sure to document these sources and properly attribute quotations.


Select an artist from the choices provided: 

Pre-Swing (New Orleans/Chicago):

Trumpet/corinet                        
Joe Oliver                    
Louis Armstrong (before 1950)                  
Bix Beiderbecke                
                        
Clarinet/Sop.
Sydney Bechet    
Johnny Dodds
Jimmie Noone

Trombone                            
Edward “Kid” Ory

Saxophone
Frankie Trumbauer
        
Piano    
Lil Hardin Armstrong
Jelly Roll Morton
Fletcher Henderson (pre-swing, swing)
Earl Hines (pre-swing, swing)
Fats Waller (pre-swing, swing)
James P. Johnson (stride)
Willie “The Lion” Smith (stride)    

Guitar/banjo      
Johnny St. Cyr
Eddie Lang

Violin
Joe Venuti

Drums
Sid Catlett
Baby Dodds
  

Swing:

Trumpet
Bubber Miley 
Cootie Williams
Harry “Sweets” Edison
Buck Clayton
Roy Eldridge 

Trombone
Joe Nanton
Vic Dickenson

Clarinet
Benny Goodman
Barney Bigard
Jimmy Hamilton

Alto Sax
Johnny Hodges
Benny Carter
Earl Warren
Willie Smith 

Tenor Sax
Coleman Hawkins
Lester Young
Herchel Evans
Ben Webster

Baritone Sax
Harry Carney

Piano
Duke Ellington
Count Basie
Art Tatum
Teddy Wilson

Vibraphone
Lionel Hampton
Red Norvo

Guitar
Freddy Green
Django Reinhardt
Charlie Christian (swing, bop)

Violin
Stephane Grappelli
Stuff Smith

Bass
Walter Page
Jimmie Blanton

Drums
Jo Jones
Sonny Greer
Gene Krupa
Chick Webb
Buddy Rich (swing, bop)

Modern:  Bebop:

Trumpet
Dizzy Gillespie
Red Rodney

Trombone
J.J. Johnson
Kai Winding

Alto Sax
Charlie Parker

Tenor Sax
Dexter Gordon

Piano
Bud Powell
Thelonious Monk (bop, hard bop)
Duke Jordan
Al Haig

Vibraphone
Milt Jackson (bop, cool)

Bass
Curly Russell
Tommy Potter
Oscar Pettiford

Drums
Kenny Clarke
Max Roach (bop, hard bop)
Roy Haynes


Modern: Cool/West Coast:

Trumpet
Chet Baker

Clarinet
Jimmy Giuffre (clarinet/sax)

Alto Sax
Lee Konitz
Paul Desmond
Art Pepper

Tenor Sax
Stan Getz

Baritone Sax
Gerry Mulligan (bop, cool)

Piano
Lennie Tristano (cool, free)
Dave Brubeck

Guitar
Jim Hall

Bass
Ralph Pena
Bob Bates
Eugene Wright

Drums
Joe Morello
Chico Hamilton


Modern: Hard bop:

Trumpet
Clifford Brown
Lee Morgan
Freddie Hubbard

Trombone
Curtis Fuller

Alto Sax
Cannonball Adderley
Jackie Mclean
Phil Woods
Gigi Gryce

Tenor Sax
Sonny Rollins
Wayne Shorter (hard bop, fusion)

Piano
Wynton Kelly
Red Garland
Horace Silver
McCoy Tyner (hard bop, free)
Tommy Flanagan
John Lewis (third stream)
Oscar Peterson

Organ
Jimmy Smith
Groove Holmes

Guitar
Wes Montgomery
Kenny Burrell
Grant Green
Joe Pass

Bass
Charles Mingus (bop, hard bop, free)
Paul Chambers
Jimmy Garrison (hard bop, free)
Scott LaFaro
Ron Carter
Ray Brown

Drums
Philly Joe Jones
Art Blakey
Jimmy Cobb
Tony Williams (hard bop, fusion)
Billy Higgins (hard bop, free)


Pianists (Worked with Davis)
Bill Evans
Herbie Hancock (hard bop, fusion)
Chick Corea (hard bop, fusion)
Keith Jarrett (hard bop, free, fusion)

Vocalists
Ella Fitzgerald
Sarah Vaughan
Betty Carter
Cassandra Wilson
Diana Krall (1990’s)

Misc. Jazz Orchestras/Ensembles
Woody Herman Orchestra
Stan Kenton Orchestra
Carla Bley
Maria Schneider Big Band

Latin Jazz
Chano Pozo (congas-bebop)
Tito Puente (percussion)
Chucho Valdes (piano)
Arturo Sandoval (trumpet)
Paquito D’Rivera (alto sax, clarinet)


Free/Avant-Garde:

Trumpet
Don Cherry
Lester Bowie

Alto Sax
Ornette Coleman
Eric Dolphy
Anthony Braxton (woodwinds)
Marshall Allen (woodwinds)

Tenor Sax
Albert Ayler
Archie Shepp
Roland Kirk

Piano
Cecil Taylor
Sun Ra (keyboards)
Paul Bley

Bass
Charlie Haden
Dave Holland

Drums
Paul Motian


Fusion:

Trumpet
Randy Brecker

Piano/Keyboard
Joe Zawinul
Lyle Mays

Guitar
Pat Metheny
John Scofield
John McLaughlin
Mike Stern

Violin
Jean-Luc Ponty

Bass
Jaco Pastorius (electric)
Stanley Clarke (electric)

Drums
Billy Cobham
Steve Gadd


1980’s:

Trumpet
Wynton Marsalis

Alto Sax
Kenny Garrett
David Sanborn
John Zorn
Steve Coleman

Tenor Sax
Michael Brecker
David Liebman
Gary Thomas

Piano
Marcus Roberts

Bass
John Patitucci
Robert Hurst

Drums
Dave Weckl
Jeff “Tain” Watts


90’s and Beyond:

Trumpet
Roy Hargrove
Dave Douglas

Alto Sax
Greg Osby

Tenor Sax
Joshua Redman
James Carter
Chris Potter
Mark Turner

Piano
Cyrus Chestnut
Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Brad Mehldau
Jason Moran
John Medeski (keyboards)
Ethan Iverson
Esbjorn Svensson

Guitar
Bill Frisell
Russell Malone
Kurt Rosenwinkel

Violin
Regina Carter
Jenny Scheinman

Bass
Christian McBride
Larry Grenadier
Reid Anderson
Chris Wood

Drums
Brian Blade
Terri Lyne Carrington
Bill Stewart
Jorge Rossy
Jeff Ballard
Dave King
Billy Martin