Wynton Marsalis As the 1970s came to a close, many musicians searching for alternatives to jazz-rock fusion or free jazz found a home in straight-ahead acoustic jazz. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, whose Blue Note contract was not renewed in 1964, had spent a decade in relative obscurity, when he came roaring back with […]
Art Blakey
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Jazz at 100 Hour 60: The Jazz Messengers Continued
Freddie Hubbard – Curtis Fuller As the 1960s began Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers were fueled by the compositions of Wayne Shorter with the front line of Shorter and Lee Morgan. In 1961, this transitioned to the last great Messengers lineup of the 1960s – and it was one of the best ever – Freddie Hubbard on […]
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Jazz at 100 Hour 46: The Songbooks
Ella Fitzgerald Songs from what came to be known as the Great American Songbook, have been part of jazz perhaps since The Original Dixieland Jazz Band began recording Irving Berlin compositions. In the 1940s, singer Lee Wiley recorded several collections of 78s, known as “albums” – a name that stuck into the LP era, focused […]
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Jazz at 100 Hour 40: Sons of the Jazz Messengers
Wayne Shorter – Art Blakey – Lee Morgan In 1956, with Horace Silver’s departure, Art Blakey inherited the Jazz Messengers. Over the next five years, the Jazz Messengers took part in recording sessions that have resulted in almost 40 live and studio recordings. Also in this period, Blakey collaborated with players who became the stars […]
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Jazz at 100 Hour 39: The Birth of Hard Bop
Horace Silver While the “Cool School” was emerging on the West Coast from its roots in Bix and Pres as codified by Miles in “The Birth of the Cool” sessions of 1949 – 1950, what became known as Hard Bop, a gospel- and blues-influenced variant was growing from Bebop in the east. “If cool jazz […]
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Jazz at 100 Hour 28: The Genius of Modern Music – Thelonious Monk on Blue Note
Thelonious Monk In 1940, Minton’s Playhouse on West 118th Street hired drummer Kenny Clarke as a bandleader. For the house band, Clarke hired trumpeter Joe Guy, bassist Nick Fenton, and an eccentric pianist named Thelonious Monk. Although Monk recorded with Coleman Hawkins in 1944, he didn’t record with his own group until 1947. Despite these […]