(Drums, 1914–85) Kenny ‘Klook’ Clarke was a native of Pittsburgh, but made his primary contribution to jazz in New York in the early flowerings of bebop. Clarke, who adopted the Muslim faith as Liaquat Ali Salaam in 1946, is widely credited with developing the new rhythmic concepts that fuelled bebop. His work with Dizzy Gillespie and especially ...
c. 1674–1707 English composer Clarke was a chorister of the Chapel Royal when he sang at the Coronation of James II in 1685. He became organist of St Paul’s Cathedral, then Gentleman Extraordinary and one of the organists of the Chapel Royal. In 1704 he succeeded Blow as Master of the Choristers at St Paul’s. He composed anthems, odes ...
(Trumpet, 1924–72) The star of fame never shone brightly enough upon trumpeter Kenny Dorham, who too often took a back seat to his peers. He played with Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Eckstine and Lionel Hampton before joining Charlie Parker’s bebop band in 1948. Dorham was a founding member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1954, then replaced Clifford ...
(Soprano and alto saxophones, b. 1956) Kenny Gorelick came up as a sideman in Jeff Lorber’s fusion band of the 1970s, before releasing his first R&B-flavoured recordings as a leader in the early 1980s. He hit pay dirt in 1986 with his phenomenally successful Duotones, which sold millions on the strength of his huge radioplay hit ‘Songbird’. His ...
(Fiddle, b. 1926) Bill Monroe often introduced Kenny Baker onstage as ‘the greatest fiddler in bluegrass music’. It was no exaggeration, for Baker, a third-generation fiddler from Kentucky, was capable of blistering breaks, elegant, long-bow phrases and swinging syncopation. He joined Monroe in 1956 and played with him off and on for more than 30 ...
(Vocals, b. 1938) In the early 1960s Rogers joined The New Christy Minstrels, and formed The First Edition in 1968. The following year, the group became Kenny Rogers And The First Edition. Their worldwide hit, ‘Ruby Don’t Take Your Love To Town’, was written by Mel Tillis. In 1973, Rogers went solo, and 1977 brought ...
Charlie Christian was the last great figure to emerge from the jazz scene of the 1930s. He not only brought a perfectly formed approach to his music, but also an entirely new musical platform – the electric guitar. His career in the big time was brief, but Christian was a lighthouse whose beam still illuminates anyone with serious intentions ...
Charlie Parker, also known as ‘Yardbird’ or ‘Bird’, was a largely self-taught musical genius with acute self-destructive tendencies. His career exemplified both the creative power and the destructive social ethos of bebop. His music burned as brightly as any in jazz, but his lifestyle sent out the wrong message to too many young musicians, despite his frequent warnings ...
(Trumpet, 1923–50) Theodore ‘Fats’ Navarro died prematurely and left a limited recorded legacy, most of it as a sideman. Nonetheless, he stood alongside Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis as one of the most significant trumpeters in bebop. He took over Gillespie’s chair in Billy Eckstine’s seminal big band in 1945, and enjoyed a brief but creative relationship ...
(Trombone, 1915–97) Scottish-born George Chisholm made his name as a top-class traditional jazz trombone player, but also played piano and several other brass instruments. He started out in Glasgow dance bands before moving to London, where he became an accomplished bandleader and arranger, and a successful television personality in comedy shows in the 1960s. Notable jazz associations ...
(Drums, b. 1924) Along with Kenny Clarke, Max Roach shares the credit for inventing bebop drumming. When Clarke found himself drafted in 1943, it was Roach who emerged as the leading activist in the search for a drum style to suit the emerging melodic and harmonic complexities of the new music. He developed an approach that was both ...
(Trumpet, flugelhorn, composer, 1944–89) A lyrical soloist, composer and bandleader, Shaw’s career was cut tragically short by illnesses, including deteriorating vision, and a subway accident that cost him an arm. After early work with Willie Bobo and Eric Dolphy, Shaw played extensively in Europe with US expatriates Bud Powell, Kenny Clarke and ...
Though it was often referred to as a musical revolution, bebop was actually a natural evolution of jazz, involving innovative approaches to harmony and rhythm that advanced the music forward to a modern era. Traces of bebop began to emerge during the early 1940s, in orchestras led by Earl Hines and Billy Eckstine. Those adventurous impulses were further ...
Hard bop evolved out of bebop during the early 1950s but its rhythms were more driving and syncopated. Hard bop also tended to have a more full-bodied sound, a bluesy feel with darker textures and shorter improvised lines, and its chord progressions were usually composed rather than borrowed from popular tunes. Although Miles Davis made an early foray into ...
The 1940s encompassed a wide range of musical art, reflecting extremes of economic hardship and recovery, global war and rebuilding. Empowered by necessarily full-tilt production, US industry recovered from the Depression, though the cream of its youth was siphoned off to fight on distant fronts, and returned to a strange new world. Great Britain suffered air ...
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David Bowie
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