Wes Montgomery Research Paper

American pianist and song writer, Dave Brubeck is best known for his unconventional meters that contributed to his appeal as a Jazz musician. Brubeck 's style ranged from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother 's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills. His music has been known for unusual time signatures, and superimposing contrasting rhythms, meters, and tonalities. Born in December of 1920, David Warren Brubeck was the youngest of three boys (Henry and Howard) born to cattle rancher, Peter Brubeck and piano teacher, Elizabeth Brubeck.

Who was Edward Kennedy Ellington? “Duke Ellington was the most important composer in the history of jazz as well as being a bandleader who held his large group together continuously for almost 50 years” (allmusic.com). Edward Kennedy Ellington was born in April 29, 1899, to a middle-classed neighborhood of Washington, D.C., also known as U Street. “Duke Ellington grew up in Washington, D.C. during one of the most difficult periods for African-Americans” (gwu.edu). When Ellington was 14, he received the nickname Duke.

Today in class we viewed the fifth episode of Ken Burns Jazz documentary, Swing Pure Pleasure. In the late 1930’s Swing became the new Jazz among the young teenage Americans. With its popularity came fame for band leaders and bands. Bands started touring, band leaders were seen as rock stars, and swing became the obsession of many young Americans. This new fame wasn’t all flashing lights many bands and band leaders faced hardships in their career.

Fans of Deadliest Catch were shocked to hear that Jake Harris was attacked this week and left on the side of the road. His brother Josh Harris has been doing a great job of updating fans on how he is doing and what is going on. Jake ended up in ICU, and his brother Josh Harris kept going to his Facebook page to talk about what went down. He was worried about his brother and shared that they knew who attacked Jake. He even went as far as to share pictures of them and their names.

“Feeling Good” is a song originally written by Leslie Bricusse and composed by Anthony Newley for the musical, The Roar of the Greasepaint-The Smell of the Crowd in 1964 (Denton 2002). It was made famous by the legendary jazz singer Nina Simone when she recorded it and put it on her album I Put a Spell on You in 1965. Since then there have been countless covers that offer unique styles and interpretations that seem to hold a similar feeling and emotional grip. In 1964, Cy Grant was the first person to perform “Feeling Good” in the musical The Roar of the Greasepaint-The Smell of the Crowd in the UK tour.

Herbert L.Clarke addresses in his autobiography the significance of his music atmosphere as a developing child and musician. Just as his environment helped him into the music world, Clarke’s method’s that he used himself and produced into studies became very helpful to developing musicians to this day. His experience and talent have made an influence in music history, and specifically, on trumpet players today. Clarke was one of the best cornet players of his time. Clarke was born on September 12th, 1867 in Woburn, Massachusetts (source 1).

Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was a phenomenal bandleader and composer, who rose to fame by pioneering jazz, a style of music that has stood the test of time today. It is evident that the theme of the biography, “Duke Ellington: Bandleader and Composer,” written by Ron Frankl, is that Duke Ellington has left behind with him a long lasting legacy on the musical style of jazz. For instance, text states, “Today, his majestic name still reigns over the jazz world as surely as it did a half century ago” (Frankl 105). It is obvious that the author means to state that Ellington has a fantastic legacy, even lasting today, thus supporting my thesis.

“Charlie Parker was a legendary Grammy Award–winning jazz saxophonist” . If there was a previous era of Jazz, due to the emergence of Louis Armstrong, a completely new and transformed Jazz Age came after and was created by Charlie Parker. Although Charlie Parker lived a short life, he accomplished a great achievement in jazz, as he still remains as a legendary figure to many people. Charlie Parker is one of the most famous and influential jazz alto saxophonist and composer that influenced the course of jazz with the creation of his unique Bebop style. Charlie Parker was born on August 29th 1920 in Kansas City.

There were many reasons why the Harlem Renaissance was an important time in American history. "The driving force behind the varied activities that made Harlem so vibrant in the twentieth century were sparked by the massive migration of black people from the rural South and the Caribbean.” (Bascom, Lionel C. A Renaissance in Harlem: Lost Voices of an American Community.) The Harlem Renaissance, which took place during the Great Depression, boosted the morale of African Americans. " Harlem in the 1920s was like nowhere else on Earth.

Jeff coffin is an internationally recognized saxophonist, bandleader, composer and educator. He is a three time Grammy Award winner with Bela Fleck and the Fleckstones. He was born in August 5,1965. Futureman is an inventor, scientist, musician and a composer. He is a two time Grammy Award winning performer with Bela Fleck and the Fleckstones.

Thelonious Monk was an absolute game changer in the society of jazz music. His exciting style often seemed erratic to the untrained ear, and caused some resentment of Monk in earlier years, due to how difficult he was to perform with. One of his songs, Brilliant Corners, was never actually fully recorded, it was spliced together from multiple takes, despite the band playing a four hour session with 25 takes. Despite how challenging is songs were to play, and how hard it was for the main stream to warm up to his music, Monk rose to jazz stardom and would ultimately alter the future of jazz music. Thelonious Monk was born on October 10th, 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina before his family relocated to Manhattan when he was five.

Frank Kimbrough is a fulfilling pianist, a precious element of the New York jazz scene, who deserves accolade for his musical capabilities, shown both as a bandleader and sideman. His influences range from Keith Jarrett and Bill Evans to Paul Bley and Andrew Hill. Recognized bandleaders such as Maria Schneider, Dewey Redman, Michael Blake, Ted Nash, and Ben Allison, with whom he co-led the Herbie Nichols Project, elevated his pianistic talents within their own projects. Solstice, Kimbrough’s first album on Pirouet after a longtime association with Palmetto, adopts the introspective moods of Bill Evans trio as it explores the music of composers such as Maria Schneider, Annette Peacock, Andrew Hill, George Gershwin, Carla Bley, Paul Motian, and

The History of Pioneer Black Musicians Music Influence on that of Michael Jackson Michael Jackson was a great singer in his time and one of Americas’ prolific singers to ever grace the music scene. From the time he graced the music scene, he would go on to become a great singer that inspired other great singers during his period and in the future generation. Music has got a unique element that is so unifying and touching depending on the type of music one could be listening. In the history of the United States, black musicians from way back in the early days of singers such as James Brown, Prince, and Smokey Robinson have had an influence on the music culture. There are many genres today that can be traced from black musicians who popularized