Modal Jazz
   HOME



picture info

Modal Jazz
Modal jazz is jazz that makes use of musical modes, often modulating among them to accompany the chords instead of relying on one tonal center used across the piece. Though exerting influence to the present, modal jazz was most popular in the 1950s and 1960s, as evidenced by the success of Miles Davis's 1958 composition "Milestones" and 1959 album '' Kind of Blue'', and John Coltrane's quartet from 1960 to 1965. Other performers of modal jazz include Chick Corea, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Pharoah Sanders, Woody Shaw, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, and Larry Young.Henry Martin, Keith Waters (2008). ''Essential Jazz: The First 100 Years'', pp. 178-79. . History In bebop as well as in hard bop, musicians use chords to provide the background for solos. A piece starts out with a theme that introduces a series of chords for the solos. These chords repeat throughout the whole piece, while the soloists play new, improvised themes over the repeated cho ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Clarinet
The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. The clarinet family is the largest woodwind family, ranging from the contrabass clarinet, BB♭ contrabass to the A-flat clarinet, A♭ piccolo. The B soprano clarinet is the most common type, and is the instrument usually indicated by the word "clarinet". German instrument maker Johann Christoph Denner is generally credited with inventing the clarinet sometime around 1700 by adding a register key to the chalumeau, an earlier single-reed instrument. Over time, additional keywork and airtight pads were added to improve the tone and playability. Today the clarinet is a standard fixture of the orchestra and concert band and is used in classical music, military bands, klezmer, jazz, and other styles. Etymol ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Kind Of Blue
''Kind of Blue'' is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released on August17,1959, by Columbia Records. For this album, Davis led a sextet featuring saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, pianist Bill Evans, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb, with new band pianist Wynton Kelly replacing Evans on " Freddie Freeloader". The album was recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City in two sessions on March2 and April22,1959. Influenced in part by Evans, who had been a member of the ensemble in 1958 and was called back for this album, Davis departed further from his early hard bop style in favor of greater experimentation with musical modes, as on the title track of his previous album, ''Milestones'' (1958). Basing ''Kind of Blue'' entirely on modality, Davis gave each performer a set of scales that encompassed the parameters of their improvisation and style and consequently more creative freedom with melodies; Coltra ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Hard Bop
Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in saxophone and piano playing. David H. Rosenthal contends in his book ''Hard Bop'' that the genre is, to a large degree, the natural creation of a generation of African-American musicians who grew up at a time when bop and rhythm and blues were the dominant forms of black American music. Prominent hard bop musicians included Horace Silver, Clifford Brown, Charles Mingus, Art Blakey, Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Hank Mobley, Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan, Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino and others. Characteristics Hard bop is sometimes referred to as "funky hard bop". The "funky" label refers to the rollicking, rhythmic feeling associated with the style. The descriptor is also used to de ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Bebop
Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early to mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous Modulation (music), changes of key, instrumental virtuosity, and Jazz improvisation, improvisation based on a combination of harmonic structure, the use of scales, and occasional references to the melody. Bebop developed as the younger generation of jazz musicians expanded the creative possibilities of jazz beyond the popular, dance-oriented swing music-style to a new "musician's music" that was not as danceable and demanded close listening.Lott, Eric. Double V, Double-Time: Bebop's Politics of Style. Callaloo, No. 36 (Summer, 1988), pp. 597–605 As bebop was not intended for dancing, it enabled the musicians to play at faster tempos. Bebop musicians explored advanced harmonies, complex syncopation, altered chords, extended chords, cho ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Larry Young (musician)
Larry Young (also known as Khalid Yasin [Abdul Aziz]; October 7, 1940 – March 30, 1978) was an American jazz organist and occasional pianist. Young's early work was strongly influenced by the soul jazz of Jimmy Smith (musician), Jimmy Smith, but he later pioneered a more experimental, modal jazz, modal approach to the Hammond B-3. Biography Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, United States, Young attended Newark Arts High School, where he began performing with a vocal group and a jazz band. He was also the cousin of the drummer Jimmie Smith. Young played with various Rhythm and blues, R&B bands in the 1950s, before gaining jazz experience with Jimmy Forrest (musician), Jimmy Forrest, Lou Donaldson, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley and Tommy Turrentine. Recording as a leader for Prestige Records, Prestige from 1960, Young made a number of soul jazz discs, ''Testifying (album), Testifying'', ''Young Blues'' and ''Groove Street''. When Young signed with Blue Note Records, Blue Note ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

McCoy Tyner
Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet from 1960 to 1965, and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Masters, NEA Jazz Master and five-time Grammy Award winner. Tyner has been widely imitated, and is one of the most recognizable and influential jazz pianists of all time. Early life and education Tyner was born on December 11, 1938, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the eldest of Jarvis and Beatrice (née Stevenson) Tyner's three children. Tyner was encouraged to study piano by his mother, who had installed a piano at her beauty salon. When he was 13, Tyner began piano lessons at Granoff School of Music, where he also studied music theory and harmony. By the time he was 15, music had become the focus of his life. Tyner's decision to study piano was reinforced when he encountered bebop pianist Bud Powell, a neighbor of the Tyner family. Another major infl ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter (August 25, 1933 – March 2, 2023) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Shorter came to mainstream prominence in 1959 upon joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, for whom he eventually became the primary composer. In 1964 he joined Miles Davis' Second Great Quintet, and then co-founded the jazz fusion band Weather Report in 1970. He recorded more than 20 albums as a bandleader. Many Shorter compositions have become jazz standards. His music earned worldwide recognition, critical praise, universal commendation, and 12 Grammy Awards. He was acclaimed for his mastery of the soprano saxophone since switching his focus from the tenor in the late 1960s, and began an extended reign in 1970 as ''DownBeat''s annual poll-winner on that instrument, winning the critics' poll for 10 consecutive years and the readers' for 18. ''The New York Times'' music critic Ben Ratliff described Shorter in 2008 as "probably jazz's greatest living small-group composer ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Woody Shaw
Woody Herman Shaw Jr. (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the 20th century's most important and influential jazz trumpeters and composers. He is often credited with revolutionizing the technical and harmonic language of modern jazz trumpet playing, and is regarded by many as one of the major innovators of the instrument. He was an acclaimed virtuoso, mentor, and spokesperson for jazz and worked and recorded alongside many of the leading musicians of his time. Biography Early life and background Woody Shaw was born in Laurinburg, North Carolina. When Shaw was a year old, his parents, Rosalie Pegues and Woody Shaw Sr., took their son to Newark, New Jersey,. Shaw's father was a member of the African American gospel group, The Diamond Jubilee Singers. Both parents attended the same secondary private school as Dizzy Gillespie: Laurinburg Institu ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", Sanders played a prominent role in the development of free jazz and spiritual jazz through his work as a member of John Coltrane's groups in the mid-1960s, and later through his solo work. He released more than thirty albums as a leader and collaborated extensively with vocalist Leon Thomas and pianist Alice Coltrane, among many others. Fellow saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor sax, tenor player in the world". Sanders' take on spiritual jazz was rooted in his inspiration from religious concepts such as ''karma'' and ''tawhid'', and his rich, meditative performance aesthetic. This style was seen as a continuation of Coltrane's work on albums such as ''A Love Supreme''. As a result, Sanders was considered ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Bobby Hutcherson
Robert Hutcherson (January 27, 1941 – August 15, 2016) was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. "Little B's Poem", from the 1966 Blue Note Records, Blue Note album ''Components (album), Components'', is one of his best-known compositions.Huey, Steve. "Components – Bobby Hutcherson." ''AllMusic.'' Web. March 17, 2014. Hutcherson influenced younger vibraphonists including Steve Nelson (vibraphonist), Steve Nelson, Joe Locke (musician), Joe Locke, and Stefon Harris.Hamlin, Jesse.Bobby Hutcherson Passionate about Music, Life" ''SFGate.'' Hearst Communications, Inc., January 15, 2012. Web. March 17, 2014.Musto, Russ. "Steve Nelson: Vibing." ''All About Jazz.'' August 1, 2006. Web. May 23, 2014.Henderson, Alex. "Joe Locke , Biography." ''AllMusic.'' Web. February 27, 2014.Ross, David. "Bobby Hutcherson: Master of the Vibes." ''KALW.'' March 27, 2012. Web. March 17, 2014. Biography Early life and career Bobby Hutcherson was born in Los Angeles, California, to Eli, a mas ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and very occasional flute player. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent labels, including Blue Note, Milestone, and Verve. Biography Early life Born in Lima, Ohio, Henderson was one of 14 children. He was encouraged by his parents, Dennis and Irene (née Farley) and older brother James T. to study music. He dedicated his first album to them "for being so understanding and tolerant" during his formative years. Early musical interests included drums, piano, saxophone and composition. According to trumpeter Kenny Dorham, two local piano teachers who went to school with Henderson's brothers and sisters, Richard Patterson and Don Hurless, gave him a knowledge of the piano.Original liner notes to '' Page One'' by Kenny Dorham He was particularly enamored of his brother's record c ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the post-bop sound. In the 1970s, he experimented with jazz fusion, funk, and electro-funk, electro styles using a wide array of synthesizers and electronics. It was during this time that he released one of his best-known and most influential albums, ''Head Hunters''. Hancock's best-known compositions include "Cantaloupe Island", "Watermelon Man (composition), Watermelon Man", "Maiden Voyage (composition), Maiden Voyage", and "Chameleon (composition), Chameleon", all of which are jazz standards. During the 1980s, he had a hit single with the electronic instrumental "Rockit (song), Rockit", a collaboration with bassist/producer Bill Laswell. Hancock has won an Academy Awards, Ac ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]