10 Jazz Artists You Should Be Listening To | The Odyssey Online
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10 Jazz Artists You Should Be Listening To

Because nothing screams (or rather, smoothly discloses) class and sophistication quite like jazz.

Natalie Korssjoen
Aug 18, 2015
University of Washington
173
10 Jazz Artists You Should Be Listening To
Hans Bernard

Do you like rock and roll music? How about pop music? If you answered yes to either of those questions, you should know that the earliest moments in the history of these genres were inspired by popular jazz music. R&B music, hip hop, funk, and even country music all have their roots in different offshoots of the jazz movement. If you’ve never explored the genre before, I highly recommend that you do, since it will likely bring about a new appreciation and understanding of the popular music that we all know and love today. To get started, I’ve compiled a list of ten artists (in no particular order) that are considered essential to a beginner’s jazz repertoire.

  • John Coltrane (1926-1967)
    • Nickname: Trane
    • Style: Bebop
    • Instrument: Saxophone
    • Fun Fact: There is a church in San Francisco that worshipped Coltrane as a god incarnate until their assimilation with the African Orthodox Church, at which point they changed his status from a god to a saint.
  • Miles Davis (1926-1991)
    • Nickname: N/A
    • Instrument: Trumpet
    • Style: Bebop
    • Fun Fact: In 2009, the US House of Representatives voted unanimously to recognize Davis’s album "Kind of Blue" as a national treasure.
  • Louis Armstrong (1901-1971)
    • [Author’s Note: If you’ve never heard Louis Armstrong before, what have you been doing with your life up to this point? What rock have you been living under and can I escape the onslaught of news about the Kardashians there?]
    • Nickname: Pops, Satchmo
    • Instrument: Trumpet, Voice
    • Style: Swing
    • Fun Fact: Due to his outspokenness about desegregation and vocal criticism of the U.S. government, the FBI kept a file on Armstrong.
  • Charlie Parker (1920-1955)
    • Nickname: Yardbird, Bird
    • Instrument: Saxophone
    • Style: Bebop
    • Fun Fact: Parker’s home in Manhattan is registered as a New York City landmark.
  • Duke Ellington (1899-1974)
    • Nickname: N/A
    • Instrument: Piano
    • Style: Swing
    • Fun Fact: Both of Ellington’s parents were pianists and taught him how to play at a young age, but as a child, he was more interested in baseball.
  • Thelonious Monk (1917-1982)
    • Nickname: N/A
    • Instrument: Piano
    • Style: Bebop
    • Fun Fact: When Monk would perform with his band, he would often get up from his piano in the middle of a song, walk around, dance a little bit, and then return to playing music.
  • Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996)
    • Nickname: The First Lady of Song, Lady Ella, Queen of Jazz
    • Instrument: Voice
    • Style: Swing, Blues
    • Fun Fact: When she was in high school, Fitzgerald was placed in a girls’ asylum and then a reformatory school before running away.
  • Dave Brubeck (1920-2012)
    • Nickname: N/A
    • Instrument: Piano
    • Style: Cool Jazz
    • Fun Fact: Brubeck was expelled from his college music program, upon the department’s discovery that he could not actually read music.
  • Count Basie (1904-1984)
    • Nickname: N/A
    • Instrument: Piano
    • Style: Swing, Blues
    • Fun Fact: In 1985, Ronald Reagan awarded Basie with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
  • Glenn Miller (1904-1944)
    • Nickname: N/A
    • Instrument: Trombone
    • Style: Swing
    • [Not So] Fun Fact: In 1944, Miller’s plane went missing over the English Channel on his way to perform in France.
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