A Birth of Jazz 7

A You Tube History of Music

Modern Jazz 4

Bass - Drums - Guitar - Harp - Theramin - Vibraphone - Violin

Other Instrumentation

 

Featured on this page loosely in order of first recording or record release (as possible):

Big Sid Catlett    Django Reinhardt    Stephane Grappelli    Les Paul     Machito    Desi Arnaz      Billy Bauer     George Duvivier

Oscar Pettiford    Les Baxter    Ray Brown    Chuck Wayne    Percy Heath    Tito Puente    Cal Tjader    Hank Garland

Kenny Burrell    Jimmy Cobb    Terry Gibbs    Grady Martin    Milt Jackson    Shelly Manne    Art Blakey    Elvin Jones

Charles Mingus    Red Mitchell    Paul Chambers    Chico Hamilton    Max Roach    Barney Kessel    Herb Ellis    Jim Hall

Nelson Riddle    Dorothy Ashby    Charlie Byrd    Philly Joe Jones    Art Taylor    Wes Montgomery    Joe Pass

Not on this page? See history tree below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Django Reinhardt

Django Reinhardt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Machito

Machito

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Billy Bauer

Billy Bauer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Oscar Pettiford

Oscar Pettiford

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Ray Brown

Ray Brown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Percy Heath

Percy Heath

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Cal Tjader

Cal Tjader

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Kenny Burrell

Kenny Burrell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Terry Gibbs

Terry Gibbs & Terry Pollard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Milt Jackson

Milt Jackson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Art Blakey

Art Blakey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Charles Mingus

Charles Mingus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Paul Chambers

Paul Chambers

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Max Roach

Max Roach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Herb Ellis

Herb Ellis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Nelson Riddle

Nelson Riddle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Charlie Byrd

Charlie Byrd

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Art Taylor

Arthur Taylor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Joe Pass

Joe Pass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One might think of the history of jazz a little like the ka-boom of string-theory cosmology (or one such version): in the beginning was the big bounce of small bands (Ka . . . call Buddy Bolden the elusive string), next the inflation of full swing orchestras (Boom . . . Hi!-de-ho!), then the jazz universe as we know it, of solo stars in small clusters of all variety. This page concerns the birth of modern jazz via various instruments, excluding horn and piano.

Drummer Big Sid Catlett began his professional career in 1928 with Darnell Howard and was a member of the Chocolate Dandies. Among his first recordings in 1928 was with the Creole Jazz Band. Though definitely a swing drummer, Catlett was quick to groove with the newer developments of early modern jazz.

Big Sid Catlett   1928

   Down By the Levee

Big Sid Catlett   1944

   Just a Riff

Big Sid Catlett   1945

   Guitar: Al Casey

   Love For Scale

Big Sid Catlett   1947

   Boff Boff

Big Sid Catlett   1947

   Film: 'Sepia Cinderella'

   Musicomania

Guitarist Django Reinhardt was a swing (era) musician. But he wasn't a big band musician, and song wasn't the thing with Reinhardt as were other factors (foreign influence and emphasis on individual virtuosity) for which reason we place him at the deep roots of modern jazz. Reinhardt first recorded with Jean Sablon in 1933 France. ('Parce Que Je Vous Aime', below, also features vocalist Eliane De Creus.) Burn injuries via candle as a boy left Reinhardt with two paralyzed fingers such that he could strum chords with four fingers but could play melody with only two, all the more phenomenal. Though known as a swing musician, Reinhardt mixed it with gypsy and Romani influence. In 1934 he founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with Stephane Grappelli. As Reinhardt and Grappelli are most famous for their collaborations together, several of the Reinhardt samples below feature Grappelli as well.

Django Reinhardt   1933

   With Jean Sablon

   Parce Que Je Vous Aime   (Because I Love You)

Django Reinhardt   1933

   With Jean Sablon

   Si J'Aime Suzy

Django Reinhardt   1936

   Georgia On My Mind

Django Reinhardt   1936

   Nagasaki

Django Reinhardt   1937

   In a Sentimental Mood

Django Reinhardt   1940

   Acoustic guitar

   Nuages

Django Reinhardt   1949

   Electric guitar

   Nuages

Django Reinhardt   1950

   Honeysuckle Rose

Though Stephane Grappelli was also a pianist (see Coleman Hawkins in Jazz 4) he is most famous for his skill with violin. Albeit one could well categorize Reinhardt and Grappelli as swing musicians, their sound is too unique for that period to not be placed on this page as forerunners of early modern jazz (which is exactly where they belong, even did we create a category under Swing Jazz which page would better accommodate them). Since Grappelli first recorded in Paris with Django Reinhardt, the guitar in a few of the samples below is by Reinhardt. The partnership between Grappelli and Reinhardt was the French version of the collaboration between guitarist Eddie Lang and violinist Joe Venuti in America that began some eight years earlier in 1926 (Jazz 1).

Stephane Grappelli   1937

   The Sheik of Araby

Stephane Grappelli   1939

   J'attendrai Swing

Stephane Grappelli   1949

   All the Things You Are

Stephane Grappelli   1956

   Someone to Watch Over Me

Stephane Grappelli   1973

   With Oscar Peterson

   Autumn Leaves

Stephane Grappelli   1990

   Live performance

   Blue Moon

Stephane Grappelli   1991

   Live performance

   How High the Moon

Guitarist Les Paul (Lester William Polsfuss) quit high school to play professionally at KMOX radio in St. Louis, Missouri. He first recorded in 1936. One of those recordings, with Georgia White, 'I'll Keep Sitting On It (If I Can't Sell It)', is available for purchase (remastered) but the original recording (very scratchy) can't be heard on the internet without invitation (perhaps a case of I'll keep sitting on it if I can't sell it). Paul next formed the Les Paul Trio and released his first album the next year under the name Rhubarb Red and His Rubes, unfound for this history. (Though Paul made a number of recordings in the years prior to his marriage and musical partnership with Mary Ford, the earliest examples we could find are not until 1944.) Les Paul's fame as a fabulous guitar player, as well as his collaborations with Mary Ford (Jazz 8), is overshadowed by his contribution to Orville Gibson's design of the Gibson Les Paul electric guitar. Paul had an innovative lean, from assembling a neck brace as a boy so he could play guitar and harmonica at once, to the invention of multi-track recording, overdubbing and the little black box attached to his guitars called the paulverizer (the effects of which can be heard in a few of the tracks below).

Les Paul   1944

   Begin the Beguine

Les Paul   1944

   Dark Eyes

Les Paul   1944

   Dream Dust

Les Paul   1950

   Nola

Les Paul   1950

   With Mary Ford

   Jealous

Les Paul   1955

   Caravan

Les Paul   1988

   Live performance

   Over the Rainbow

Hailing from Havana, Cuba, Machito (Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo) was a Latin jazz and salsa vocalist and band leader with a fondness for maracas. He first recorded in 1937 with Conjunto Moderno (unfound). Machito first recorded as a lead singer in 1941 with the Noro Morales Orquesta. Briefly afterward he formed his own orchestra. Though Machito was a swing era musician we place him on this page as a forerunner in the development of modern jazz.

Machito   1938

   Vocalist: Johnny Lopez

   Trabalengua

Machito   1939

   El Mondonguero

Machito   1940

   Oye Carbonero

Machito   1941

   Bim Bam Bum

Machito   1943

   Vocalist: Graciela

   Noche De Ronda

Machito   1958

   Cha Cha Loco

Rumba master, Desi Arnaz (Sr.), famous as Lucille Ball's husband on the television comedy, 'I Love Lucy', was sixteen when his family (of Bacardi Rum wealth) fled Cuba upon the revolution led by Batista in 1933. Though Arnaz sang and played guitar he is better known as a bandleader and conga player. His first recordings, with his first orchestra, in 1939 are unfound. Due to the draft and military service during World War II it would be seven years before Arnaz released another record with his second orchestra. (Arnaz actually was married to Lucille ball in 1940. They divorced twenty years later.)

Desi Arnaz   1946

   Babalu

Desi Arnaz   1946

   Cuban Pete

Desi Arnaz   1946

   Guadalajara

Modern jazz is initially conceived via three main forces:  bebop (in which the majority of musicians in the Birth of Modern Jazz had engaged at one time or another in their careers), emphasis upon individual solo performance, and exploration of international musical styles. As for cool, some say it developed out of bebop, others say it was unique to itself. Casting no vote either way, let's but say that Billy Bauer was a guitarist in whom some hear bebop moving toward cool jazz. It is thought he first appeared in recordings in 1941 as a member of the Carl Hoff Orchestra (unfound). But he certainly was a member of Woody Herman's First Herd which he joined in 1944 (see Woody Herman in Jazz 2.) And he certainly recorded 'Groovin' High' in 1947 with saxophonist Allen Eager, though he is perhaps better known in association with pianist Lennie Tristano (a sample of his guitar in that partnership under Tristano in Jazz 6).

Billy Bauer   1947  

   Sax: Allen Eager

   Groovin' High

Billy Bauer   1949  

   Lennie Tristano Sextet

   Cross Current

George Duvivier, bassist, first recorded with pianist Bud Powell in 1943.

George Duvivier   1943

   Piano: Bud Powell

   Autumn In New York

George Duvivier   1984

   Guitar: Johnny Smith

   Blues for Harry Carney

Double bassist and cello player Oscar Pettiford first worked with Milt Hinton, double bassist alike. He made his debut recording, 'The Man I Love', in 1943 with Coleman Hawkins.

Oscar Pettiford   1943

   With Coleman Hawkins

   The Man I Love

Oscar Pettiford   1959

   Drums: Jimmy Pratt   Guitar: Attila Zoller   Sax: Hans Koller

   All the Things You Are

Oscar Pettiford   1959

   Drums: Jimmy Pratt   Guitar: Attila Zoller   Sax: Hans Koller

   Blues In the Closet

Oscar Pettiford   1959

   Drums: Jimmy Pratt   Guitar: Attila Zoller   Sax: Hans Koller

   The Gentle Art of Love

Oscar Pettiford   1959

   Tenor Sax: Stan Getz

   Laverne Walk

Arranger, composer, conductor and pianist Les Baxter began his jazz career by joining Mel Tormé and the Mel-tones in 1945 (age 23), switching from classical piano to singing. Baxter is famous for exotica, as well as conducting with one of rarer musical instruments, the theramin. The theramin is featured below with tracks from Baxter's first two albums, 'Music Out Of the Moon' and 'Perfume Set to Music', released in 1947 and 1948.

Les Baxter  1947

   Composition: Harry Revel   Theramin: Samuel Hoffman

   Lunar Rhapsody

Les Baxter  1947

   Composition: Harry Revel   Theramin: Samuel Hoffman

   Lunette

Les Baxter  1948

   Composition: Harry Revel   Theramin: Samuel Hoffman

   Tzigane/Jet

Les Baxter  1951

   Jungle Flower

Les Baxter  1951

   Quiet Village

Les Baxter  1952

   Blue Tango

Les Baxter  1953

   Vocalist: Bill Kennedy

   Suddenly

Les Baxter  1956

   Vocalist: Will Hart

   Sinner Man

Les Baxter  1957

   Tahiti: A Summer Night At Sea

Les Baxter  1970

   Amazonas

Les Baxter  1970

   Boca Chica

Bassist Ray Brown released his first album, 'New Sounds in Modern Music', in 1946.

Ray Brown   1946

   Drums: Max Roach   Piano: Hank Jones   Saxophone: Stan Getz

   Opus De Bop

Ray Brown   1977

   Drums: Elvin Jones   Piano: Cedar Walton

   Love Walked In

Ray Brown   1992

   Piano: Gene Harris   Trumpet: James Morrison

   Honeysuckle Rose

Ray Brown   1992

   Piano: Gene Harris

   Summertime

Ray Brown   2001

   Black Orpheus

Ray Brown   2001

   Violin: Regina Carter

   Lady Be Good

Guitarist Chuck Wayne released his debut album, 'The Jazz Guitarist', in 1946 (unfound). He is also the guitarist on the tracks of Tony Bennett below.

Chuck Wayne   1950

   Conception

Chuck Wayne  1957

   Along with Me/Rockabye Bay

Bassist Percy Heath first recorded in 1948 as a member of the Howard McGhee Sextet. Unfortunately no earlier recording that features his abilities could be found than 'I'll Remember April', released in 1955, also with the Howard McGhee Sextet.

Percy Heath   1948

   Howard McGhee Sextet   Drums: Philly Joe Jones

   I'll Remember April

Like Machito, Tito Puente, born of Puerto Rican heritage in New York City, was a Latin jazz and salsa band leader, but famous playing the timbales. Puente had graduated from Julliard in the latter forties, first recorded in 1948, and eventually released his first album as a band leader, 'Puente In Percussion', in 1956.

Tito Puente   1948

   Abaniquito

Tito Puente   1956

   Elegua Chango

Tito Puente   1956

   Stick On Bongo

Tito Puente   1985

   Spain

Tito Puente   1997

   Caravan

Tito Puente   1999

   Four Beat Mambo

Though Cal Tjader is better known as a vibraphonist, he began his career playing a variety of percussion. He was at San Francisco State when he met Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond. Among his first recordings with the Dave Brubeck Octet in 1949 he plays bongos in the sample below. He was a member of the Dave Brubeck Trio below, later playing vibraphone with George Shearing (Jazz 6).

Cal Tjader   1949

    Dave Brubeck Trio

   That Old Black Magic

Cal Tjader   1964

   Soul Sauce

Cal Tjader   1966

   Piano: Eddie Palmieri

   Picadillo

Jazz guitarist Hank Garland got his start in country music at age fourteen, joining Paul Howard's Georgia Cotton Pickers with whom he played at the Grand Ole Opry. At age nineteen Garland's career got a major boost upon composing 'Sugarfoot Rag' and recording it with Red Foley for release in 1950. (Two versions at A Birth Of Country Western.) Garland was a popular session guitarist, perhaps most notably with Elvis Presley. In 1961 he released his first two (jazz) albums: 'Jazz Winds From a New Direction' and 'Velvet Guitar'.

Hank Garland   1961

   From 'Velvet Guitar'

   Autumn Leaves

Hank Garland   1961

   From 'Velvet Guitar'

   Blame It On My Youth

Hank Garland   1961

   From 'Velvet Guitar'

   Ed's Place

Hank Garland   1961

   From 'Jazz Winds From a New Direction'

   Riot Chous

Guitarist Kenny Burrell began his recording career in 1951 with Dizzy Gillespie. Some five years later he released his first album, 'Introducing Kenny Burrell'.

Kenny Burrell   1956

   Piano: Tommy Flanagan

   Delilah

Kenny Burrell   1956

   Piano: Tommy Flanagan

   This Time the Dream's On Me

Jimmy Cobb, drummer, is well known for his work with Miles Davis. Cobb began is professional career in 1950, first recording in 1951 with bandleader Earl Bostic. (More Bostic in Jazz 4.)

Jimmy Cobb   1951

   Flamingo

Jimmy Cobb   1957

   Bass: Sam Jones   Piano: Junior Mance

    Alto Sax: Cannonball Adderley   Trumpet: Nat Adderley

   Another Kind Of Soul

Jimmy Cobb   1957

   Bass: Sam Jones   Piano: Junior Mance

     Alto Sax: Cannonball Adderley   Trumpet: Nat Adderley

   Spectacular

Terry Gibbs, vibraphone, released his first album, 'Good Vibes', in 1951 (unfound). His second album, titled simply 'Terry Gibbs', followed two years later. Gibbs can be found under Buddy DeFranco in Jazz 5 as well.

Terry Gibbs   1953

   Pianist: Terry Pollard

   Nutty Notes

Terry Gibbs   1982

   Cottontail

Terry Gibbs 1982

   Opus One

Phenomenal jazz guitarist Grady Martin was also a country western musician who liked to mix the two genres together. Martin got his professional break early, performing regularly for WLAC radio in Nashville at age fifteen. Several years later he put together a band called the Slew Foot Five and made his first recordings (1951), 'Bully Of the Town', below, among them. Most of the tenor sax on the recordings below is by Dutch McMillin. (More Grady Martin in A Birth of Country Western and A Birth of Rock & Roll.)

Grady Martin   1951

   Bully Of the Town

Grady Martin   1956

   Hot Lips

Grady Martin   1957

   Nagasaki

Grady Martin   1959

   Composition: William Handy

   St. Louis Blues

Milt Jackson first pursued music as a pianist, later switching to the vibraphone. Discovered by Dizzy Gillespie in 1946, he produced his first album in 1952.

Milt Jackson   1952

   Tahiti

Milt Jackson   1952

   Live performance 1986

   Bag's Groove

Milt Jackson   1955

   Trumpet: Miles Davis

   Dr. Jackle (McLean)

Milt Jackson   1955

   Piano: Hank Jones

   Opus de Funk

Milt Jackson   1956

   So In Love

Milt Jackson   1959

   Bass: Paul Chambers   Drums: Connie Kay

    Piano: Tommy Flanagan

   Sax: Benny Golson   Trumpet: Art Farmer

   Afternoon In Paris

Milt Jackson   1970

   Enchanted Lady

Milt Jackson   1974

   Olinga

Milt Jackson   1977

   Once I Loved

Milt Jackson   1984

   Performance with Percy Heath

   Django

Milt Jackson   1990

   Live performance

   Bolivia

Milt Jackson   1990

   Live performance

   Lament

Milt Jackson   1990

   Live performance

   Round Midnight

Milt Jackson   1994

   Live performance

   Take the 'A' Train

Drummer Shelly Manne got his first professional job at age twenty (1940) with the Bobby Byrne Orchestra. Largely associated with West Coast jazz, Manne began recording for his first album in 1953.

Shelly Manne   1953

   You and the Night and the Music

Shelly Manne   1958

   Frankly

Shelly Manne   1958

   Bass: Monty Budwig   Piano: Russ Freeman

    Sax: Richie Kamuca   Trumpet: Conte Candoli

   Straight No Chaser

Shelly Manne   1959

   Double Bass: Monty Budwig   Piano: Victor Feldman

     Tenor Sax: Richie Kamuca   Trumpet: Joe Gordon

   Summertime

Shelly Manne   1962

   Bass: George Duvivier   Piano: Hank Jones   Sax: Coleman Hawkins

   Take the 'A' Train

Art Blakey was a drummer whose career in jazz began in 1942, playing swing with various musicians, his big break with Billy Eckstine. Five years later he formed the Seventeen, which would become the Jazz Messengers. Later that year he formed the Art Blakey Quintet, joined by Clifford Brown. (Each sample of both formations below feature Horace Silver on piano as well.)

Art Blakey   1954

   Jazz Messengers   Piano: Horace Silver

   Doodlin'

Art Blakey   1954

   Art Blakey Quintet   Piano: Horace Silver

   Split Kick

Drummer Elvin Jones first recorded the album, 'J Is For Jazz', with Charles Mingus in 1955 (unfound). Unfortunately the earliest recording of Jones for this history isn't until 1960, ('Afro Blue'), the same year he began working with John Coltrane.

Elvin Jones   1962

   Pianist: McCoy Tyner

   Afro Blue

Elvin Jones   1965

   Pian0: McCoy Tyner   Sax: John Coltrane

   Vigil

Another musician at the avant-garde of modern jazz was phenomenal bassist Charles Mingus who studied classical before touring with Louis Armstrong in 1943, after which he played with all the big names from Ellington to Parker.

Charles Mingus   1955

   Drums: Max Roach

   Lady Bird

Bassist Red Mitchell produced his first album, titled simply, 'Red Mitchell', in 1955.

Red Mitchell   1955

   Drums: Chuck Thompson   Piano: Hampton Hawes

     Sax: Joe Maini   Trumpet: Conte Candoli

   Ornithology

Red Mitchell   1961

   Drums: Leon Petties   Piano: Frank Strazzeri

    Sax: Harold Land   Trumpet: Carmell Jones

   Somara

Red Mitchell   1974

   Composition: Cole Porter   Alto Sax: Lee Konitz

   Just One Of Those Things

Bassist Paul Chambers made a giant step in his career upon recording numbers such as 'A Little Taste' and 'Flamingo' with Cannonball Adderley in 1955 (under Adderley in Jazz 3). He released his first album, 'Chamber's Music', the next year.

Paul Chambers   1956

   Saxophone: John Coltrane

   John Paul Jones

Paul Chambers   1956

   Saxophone: John Coltrane

   Stablemates

Paul Chambers   1956

   Confessin'

Paul Chambers   1956

   Yesterdays

Drummer and band leader Chico Hamilton began his professional career with Dexter Gordon and Charles Mingus. He put together his own trio in 1956 with bassist George Duvivier and guitarist Howard Roberts. Unfortunately that first album is unfound. (Hamilton also plays drums on selections for Buddy Collette in Jazz 4.)

Chico Hamilton   1958

   Bass: Wyatt Ruther    Cello: Nathan Gershman

     Guitar: Dennis Budimir   Alto Sax: Eric Dolphy

   Tuesday At Two

Max Roach was a seriously gifted drummer who studied classical percussion before beginning his jazz career in 1942. He played with such as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie before starting his own band (Max Roach + Four) in 1956, recording 'Ezz-Thetic' the same year (released 1957).

Max Roach   1957

   Saxophone: Sonny Rollins   Released 1957

   Ezz-Thetic

Guitarist Barney Kessel began recording with other musicians like Charlie Parker in the forties. He largely worked as a Hollywood sessions guitarist, likely getting his start via Chico Marx of the Marx Brothers (Marx a pianist). Kessel appeared in his first film, 'Jammin' the Blues' with Lester Young in 1944. He began recording his first album, 'Easy Like', in 1953, and released it in 1955 with two others, 'Kessel Plays Standards' and 'To Swing or Not to Swing'.

Barney Kessel   1955

   Recorded 1953   Bass: Red Mitchell   Piano: Claude Williamson

   That's All

Barney Kessel   1955

   Recorded 1954

   A Foggy Day

Barney Kessel   1955

   Recorded 1954

   Jeepers Creepers

Barney Kessel   1955

   Recorded 1954

   You Stepped Out Of a Dream

Barney Kessel   1959

   Jersey Bounce

Like novelist, Henry Miller, who wrote because he was too poor to pursue anything else, so it was with guitarist Herb Ellis. Unable to finish college, Ellis nevertheless got a break from Glen Gray (Jazz 2) not long later. His first recorded solos (unfound) were with Jimmy Dorsey (Jazz 2). In 1956 Ellis released his first album, 'Ellis in Wonderland' (unfound), then became a member of the group, Soft Winds, with Coleman Hawkins and Stan Getz (both in Jazz 4), in 1957.

Herb Ellis   1958   Trumpet: Dizzy Gillespie

   From the album 'Nothing But the Blues'

   Soft Winds

Herb Ellis   1969   Piano: Oscar Peterson

     Bass: Sam Jones   Drums: Bob Durham

   Blues For H.G.

Herb Ellis   1969   Piano: Oscar Peterson

     Bass: Sam Jones   Drums: Bob Durham

   Naptown Blues

Herb Ellis   1979  

   Duet with Barney Kessel

   A Slow Burn

Herb Ellis   1986

   Live performance with Dave Maslow

   Medley

Herb Ellis   1986

   Live performance with Dave Maslow

   Sweet Georgia Brown

The earliest recording found on which Jim Hall plays guitar is 'The Wind' in 1956. Hall was educated at the Cleveland Institute of Music and released his first album, 'Jazz Guitar', in 1957. The pianist in tracks from that album below is Carl Perkins.

Jim Hall   1956

   Chico Hamilton Quintet

     Bass: Carson Smith   Cello: Fred Katz   Alto Sax: Buddy Collette

   The Wind

Jim Hall   1957

   Bass: Red Mitchell   Piano: Carl Perkins

   Stompin' At the Savoy

Jim Hall   1957

   Bass: Red Mitchell   Piano: Carl Perkins

   Thanks For the Memory

Jim Hall   1957

   Bass: Red Mitchell   Piano: Carl Perkins

   Too Close For Comfort

Arranger, composer, conductor and pianist Nelson Riddle began playing trombone for Tommy Dorsey in 1944. Not a year later he was drafted into the army, after which he began arranging, his first big success, 'Mona Lisa', for Nat King Cole in 1950. He released his first single as a bandleader in 1956 ('Lisbon Antigua', below).

Nelson Riddle   1956

   Lisbon Antigua

Nelson Riddle   1958

   Shooting Star

Nelson Riddle   1960

   Can Can

Nelson Riddle   1960

   Montmarte

Nelson Riddle   1962

   Theme From Route 66

Dorothy Ashby made a transition from piano to harp upon graduating from college in 1952. She initially found resistance to the notion that harp could be a jazz instrument, especially bebop, but was too talented to long despise, soon recording with big names. She released her first album, 'The Jazz Harpist', in 1957.

Dorothy Ashby   1957

   Thou Swell

Dorothy Ashby   1958

   Alone Together

Dorothy Ashby   1958

   There's a Small Hotel

Guitarist Charlie Byrd, perhaps most famous for his contributions to 'Jazz Samba' with Stan Getz (Jazz 4), released his first album, 'First Flight', in 1957, which was a compilation of two other albums released the same year ('Jazz Recital' and 'Blues for Night People').

Charlie Byrd   1957

   Blues For Night People

Charlie Byrd   1957

   Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me

Charlie Byrd   1957

   Jive At Five

Charlie Byrd   1961

   Jordu

Charlie Byrd   1974

   El Catire

Charlie Byrd   1980

   Favela

Philly Joe Jones got his major start in jazz in 1947 as a house drummer at Café Society in New York City. His first album, 'The Joe Jones Special', released in 1957, is unfound for this history. But he released his second album, 'Blues for Dracula', the next year.

Philly Joe Jones   1958

   Bass: Jimmy Garrison   Piano: Tommy Flanagan

   Blues For Dracula

Philly Joe Jones   1960

   Two Bass Hit

Arthur Taylor, drummer, began his professional career in 1948, playing with such as Howard McGhee, Coleman Hawkins, Buddy DeFranco and Bud Powell before forming his own band, Taylor's Wailers, in 1956, releasing his first name album the next year with that group.

Art Taylor   1957

   Piano: Ray Bryant

   Batland

Guitarist Wes Montgomery's first big break came in 1948, touring with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra for a couple years. The examples below for year 1965 are from the release 'Smokin' At the Half Note'.

Wes Montgomery   1959

   Old Folks

Wes Montgomery   1959

   Satin Doll

Wes Montgomery   1959

   Summertime

Wes Montgomery   1965   Piano: Wynton Kelly

   Bass: Paul Chambers   Drums: Jimmy Cobb

   No Blues

Wes Montgomery   1965   Piano: Wynton Kelly

     Bass: Paul Chambers   Drums: Jimmy Cobb

   Surrey With Fringe on Top

Wes Montgomery   1965   Piano: Wynton Kelly

     Bass: Paul Chambers   Drums: Jimmy Cobb

   Unit 7

Wes Montgomery   1965   Piano: Wynton Kelly

     Bass: Paul Chambers   Drums: Jimmy Cobb

   Willow Weep For Me

Wes Montgomery   1965   Piano: Wynton Kelly

     Bass: Paul Chambers   Drums: Jimmy Cobb

   What's New

Wes Montgomery   1967

   A Day In the Life

Wes Montgomery   1968   Piano: Herbie Hancock

   Bass: Richard Davis Drums: Ed Shaughnessy

   My Favorite Things

We suspend this Birth of Modern Jazz with guitarist Joe Pass. By the time Pass lands his first recording contract in 1961 jazz is well developed beyond the big swing orchestra, largely via the introduction of sounds from without the United States in the thirties, then bebop and individualists such as Nat King Cole in the forties. The fifties will have commenced with "cool" jazz ('Birth of the Cool', released by Miles Davis in 1950 representative of such) and be a decade of experiment giving passage to prominent compositions in the sixties announcing that modern jazz has arrived (such as 'Desafinado' in Jazz 4 or 'Take Five' in Jazz 6). By the time Joe Pass records his first album drummers such as Louie Bellson, Ed Thigpen and Louis Hayes are poised to take jazz through the sixties along with bassists like Jimmy Garrison, Ron Carter and Sam Jones. As for orchestration, such as Henry Mancini will emerge in the sixties as well. Joe Pass, however, had largely dropped out of the jazz scene in the fifties. Though he had begun playing gigs at age fourteen (1944) and had spent the forties traveling with various bands, he met with drugs for several years. It was during two and a half years of rehabilitation, begun in the latter fifties, that he resumed guitar, with concentration sufficient to reemerge in 1961 with 'The Sounds of Synanon', from which the tracks below are taken.

Joe Pass   1961

   Hang Tough

Joe Pass   1961

   Hoop La

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Big Sid Catlett

Big Sid Catlett

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Stephane Grappelli

Stephane Grappelli

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Mary Ford with Les Paul

Mary Ford & Les Paul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Desi Arnaz

Desi Arnaz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: George Duvivier

George Duvivier

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Les Baxter

Les Baxter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Chuck Wayne

Chuck Wayne

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Tito Puente

Tito Puente

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Hank Garland

Hank Garland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Jimmy Cobb

Jimmy Cobb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Grady Martin

Grady Martin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Shelly Manne

Shelly Manne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Elvin Jones

Elvin Jones

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Red Mitchell

Red Mitchell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Chico Hamilton

Chico Hamilton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Barney Kessel

Barney Kessel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Jim Hall

Jim Hall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Dorothy Ashby

Dorothy Ashby

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Philly Joe Jones

Philly Joe Jones

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birth of Modern Jazz: Wes Montgomery

Wes Montgomery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Birth of the Blues

A Birth of Country 1: Bluegrass

A Birth of Country 2: Folk

A Birth of Country 3: Country Western

A Birth of Jazz 1: Early Jazz

A Birth of Jazz 2: Swing Era 1: Big Bands

A Birth of Jazz 3: Swing Era 2: Song

A Birth of Jazz 4: Modern 1: Saxophone

A Birth of Jazz 5: Modern 2: Trumpet - Other Horn

A Birth of Jazz 6: Modern 3: Piano

A Birth of Jazz 7: Modern 4: Other Instrumentation

A Birth of Jazz 8: Modern 5: Song

A Birth of Rock & Roll

 

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