JAZZ

LOUIS ARMSTRONG
"Pops", "Dippermouth", "Satchmo" or just Louis, his birthdate is traditionally July 4, 1900. One of the most familiar and beloved jazz musicians of all time, he was that genres first soloist and its first true singer. He left his mark on not only Jazz, but the entire world. Around the age of seven, he began to sing with various street bands in his hometown, New Orleans. In 1912, he was arrested for firing a gun into the air on New Year's Eve. He was taken to the city's Colored Waif's Home where he received his musical education. After his release he began to perform in the city's cabarets and soon fell under the wing of Joe "King" Oliver, the leader of the city's best jazz band. He played in Chicago with Oliver, electrifying audiences with his talent as he grew more confident in his abilities. In 1924, he moved to New York where he set the pace that all other musicians at the time had to struggle to keep up with. Throughout his career he was continually striving to innovate, never failing to push himself as far and as hard as he could. He died in 1971.
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DUKE ELLINGTON
Born Edward Kennedy Ellington in 1899, "Duke" was a tour de force in the world of big band jazz. Pianist-composer-bandleader, he used his band like an instrument and the sounds he made with it were revolutionary to jazz. He studied music theory and harmony at an early age and he wrote his first composition "The Soda Fountain Rag" when he was 17. During the 20s he spent 4 years at the famous Cotton Club, building his popularity. Ellington used only the very best musicians and understood completely that it was their talent that focused his. In the 50s when money problems closed down many of the big jazz bands, he used his composing royalties to keep his own afloat. More than most bandleaders, Duke wrote with his musicians in mind. It was part of his genius and it was the reason that many of his musicians stayed with him for over 20 years. His sound characterized the big band jazz sound until he died in 1974.
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DIZZY GILLESPIE
Born in 1917, John Birks Gillespie began playing the trumpet as a child. He formed his own band at the age of 14. He garnered a music scholarship to Laurinburg Institute, but he left before his senior year. He moved to Philadelphia and began his professional career. He began developing bebop while jamming with such names as Charlie Parker and Thelonius Monk. After playing for different bands for several years, he formed his own label, Dee Gee Records. When the company folded he continued to play with other jazz greats including Charles Mingus, Max Roach and Charlie Parker. In 1953, someone fell on his trumpet, bending it skyward. He kept it that way, liking the sound it produced. After winning several Grammy Awards and writing his autobiography, Gillespie died in 1993..still touted as one of the greatest jazz musicians ever.
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CHARLIE PARKER
Born in 1920, one of the greatest soloists in the history of jazz, Charlie "Bird" Parker got his first sax at the age of 11. He dropped out of school after going to see Count Basie's band and being blown away by Lester Young's sax work. When he was 16 he began to work professionally, meeting Dizzy Gillespie and later moving to New York. He began to jam with local jazz musicians and was instrumental in helping Dizzy Gillespie create the jazz genre of Bebop. He and Gillespie took it west where he stayed after recording Jazz at the Philharmonic shows. In 1947 he returned to New York and continued to record and play. At the age of 34, suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, he died of heart failure in 1955. The Rhino Works

CHARLES MINGUS
Born in 1922, Charles Mingus was one of the most powerful forces in modern jazz. He took up the bass at the age of 16, studied piano and music theory, and got his first gig with Buddy Collette. By 1942 he had worked with Louis Armstrong and he formed his own band in 1944. It was the '50s that saw him emerge as a leading innovator in the avant-garde jazz movement. A great student of jazz, he used his broad knowledge to shape his compositions..mixing it with his childhood. Mingus said: "This was based on a form of music I heard as a kid. My mother used to go to church on Wednesday night. There was always clapping of hands and shouting. Methodist or Holiness Church. Holiness was a little louder, in order to stir up the spirits, the dead spirits." In the '60s, he experimented with large bands, but by 1977, MS had taken his body. He died in 1979.
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JOHN COLTRANE
Born in 1926, John William Coltrane moved to Philadelphia after graduating from high school. He mastered the alto, tenor and sprano sax and began playing in local venues. In 1945 he joined the US Navy band. A few years later, he joined Dizzy Gillespie's big band where he stayed until 1951. He underwent a "spiritual awakening" of sorts in 1957 and as a result he kicked his drug and alcohol habits. Coltrane was a jazz explorer, he was perhaps one of the greatest innovators of modern music. Interested in free jazz and Indian scales, he was always forging new paths into unknown territory.
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ORNETTE COLEMAN
Born in 1930, Ornette Coleman started playing the alto sax at the age of 14. His first gigs were backing up musicians like Big Joe Turner and Pee Wee Crayton. His first LP was with Don Cherry in 1958 and he later signed with Atlantic Records. By 1959 and for the next five years, he toured clubs around the country. Unhappy with the money, he returned to New York and in 1971 he opened his own club, Artist House. He was the master of free jazz, which was more abstract and had fewer musical boundaries than any other form of avant garde jazz. It was not thought of in the beginning as a true art form and Ornette was one of the main shapers in its acceptance. It slowly made its way into the hearts of jazz fans and by 1959 it was an accepted art form.
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