8 Most Influential Jazz Musicians by Daniel Kammerer

T H E RO C K A N D ROLL H A LL OF FA M E P R E SE N T S

The 8 Most INFLUENTIAL JAZZ MUSICIANS of All Time

THELONIOUS

MONK

Thelonous Monk was born October 10, 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, but moved with his family to New York City at four. Showing natural aptitude for piano, thirteen year old Monk won the amateur competition at the Apollo Theater so many times he was banned from entry by management. In 1941 Monk, with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, would pioneer the dynamic, sometimes dissonant style of jazz known as Bebop. He gained notoriety as an incredibly inventive songwriter among the inner jazz circle and critics, but popular fame would elude him until in 1956 when he created his album Brilliant Corners, following up with the also successful Thelonious Himself and Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane. He toured overseas until the early ‘70s, when Monk was ready to step out of the proverbial limelight. He battled illness for years until succumbing to a stroke in 1982. Monk was a performer whose work influenced those around him even if they didn’t realize it, with his music’s playful nuances and untraditional percussive playing surviving today as mainstay jazz tools for improvisation and songwriting.

LOUIS ARMSTRONG Louis Armstrong is still remembered as a trumpeter, banndleader, soloist, singer, and even as actor and comedian. Songs such as “What a Wonderful World”, “Star Dust”, and “La Via En Rose” continue to permeate the consciousness of western media for their charm and brilliance. Louis Armstrong was born August 3, 1901, in New Orleans. Armstrong in his young adulthood rose to prominence as a triple talent, possessing undoubtable skill at trumpet playing, vocal performance, and songwriting. Counter to the positive aura that surrounded Armstrong throughout his life, his early life was rocky and unpredictable. His father left the family at an early age, and his mother often left him in the care of his grandmother. He left school after fifth grade to help support the family. Starting in 1919, Armstrong spent time playing trumpet and cornet on riverboats, eventually meeting other legends of jazz, such as Bix Beiderbecke and Jack Teagarden. Outgrowing the smaller scene of New Orleans, Armstrong eventually made his way to New York, where he would create a littany of records backing notable blues singers, including Bessie Smith. From 1925 to 1928, Armstrong’s label greenlit him to assemble a sextet, Louis Armstrong and the Hot Five, recording a series of albums now regarded as perhaps the most important recordings in the history of jazz. 4

His popularity reached such meteoric heights that he came to be known as “Ambassador Satch” after performing in Europe, Asia, and Africa with a CBS news crew in tow. Throughout the 50’s and 60’s Armstrong took on a relentless tour schedule, eventually suffering a heart attack in Spoleto, Italy. Despite that, he was back on the road merely weeks later, and would average 300 performances a year throughout the 1960s. In 1967, Armstrong recorded the track that has forever engraved him into the lore of popular culture, “What a Wonderful World.” Though it featured no trumpets, Armstrong’s gravelly tones amongst a chorus of strings and choir voices proved to be one of the pieces that would most exemplify what he stood for; harmony between all peoples through love and music. Louis Armstrong died in his sleep in 1971, though unlike some of his contemporaries his prominence has only continued to swell since his departure. Numerous biographies were written on Armstrong, expounding on his role in civil rights activism and the form of jazz as it developed through the twentieth century. 5

BENNY GOODMA N

Benny Goodman’s wide spanning career is most characterized by his influential role in creating the swing style of jazz. Benjamin David Goodman was born on May 30, 1909, in Chicago, Illinois, the ninth-born son of Russian immigrants in a family that would include eleven siblings. At the age of fourteen, Goodman joined the American Federation of Musicians. From an early age he was noted for his skill as a clarinetist, and would rise to fame playing with legends including Bessie Smith, Fats Waller, and Ted Lewis. In 1935, he and his orchestra would shape jazz forever as they astonished the audience with what is now considered the first ever swing performance. Goodman was also an instrumental figure in breaking down racial barriers, as his band was one of the first to be racially mixed. Through the ‘50s and ’60s, Goodman toured many parts of Europe and East Asia, even performing in the Soviet Union in 1962 for a U.S. State Department cultural exchange program. In the face of flagging health, Goodman still performed throughout much of the 1980s. Not long before his death in 1986, he received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy as well as honorary degrees from Brandeis University and Bard College. He is still remembered today as one of jazz’s most inventive and influential artists.

DUKE ELLINGTON

Duke Ellington, born in 1899, is responsible for much of the shape of jazz, and indeed, western song as we know it. His career spans five decades, and includes thousands of songs. He wrote his first composition at 15, and at 17 was offered a scholarship to the Pratt Institute in New York. However, Ellington elected to pursue a career of professional music artistry and would make himself known throughout the 1920s in Broadway nightclubs. He was well known for his musical outfit featuring unique members including Bubber Miley, known for utilizing a plunger to create the distinctive “wa-wa” sound, and Joe Nanton, who pioneered the “growling” trombone. Ellington created some of his most legendary work in the 1940s, including “It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That Swing”, “Sophisticated Lady”, and “Satin Doll”. The Duke’s music has reigned for nigh on a century due to his incredible sense of tempo and drama, offering sophisticated but accessible jazz that stirs the soul. His final words as he passed in 1974 were, “Music is how I live, why I live, and how I will be remembered.”

NAT

KING COLE Born 1919 in Montgomery, Alabama, Nat King Cole first was known for his skill as a jazz pianist, but would eventually host television series, act, and sing professionally. In his youth, Cole underwent formal training in classical piano, but would abandon that style for what he would become best known for—jazz. He dropped out of school at 15 and became a full time pianist, first recording professionally with his brother Eddie in 1936. In the 1950s, Nat King Cole saw success as he achieved top radio hits with songs including “Nature Boy”, “Unforgettable”, and “Too Young”. He would also experience controversy as he saw firsthand the tendrils of racism still prominent in the South. After being attacked by white supremacists during a mixed race performance, he was criticized by other African Americans for not taking a harder public stance against bigotry. Ironically, Cole made history in the world of American entertainment when in 1956 he became the first AfricanAmerican to host a variety TV show. The Nat King Cole Show in it’s short-lived run featured notable performers of the era including Peffy Lee, Sammy Davis Jr. and Tony Bennett. He died young of lung cancer in 1964, but made a bright mark on American pop culture and racial equality.

BILLIE HOLIDAY

Billie Holiday is remembered for her intense, emotioncharged vocal performances, as well as for writing notable songs that criticized the racial status quo. Born Eleanora Fagan, Billie Holiday’s early life was marked by instability and at times, tragedy. Due to truancy, Holiday was sent to a home for wayward African American girls, the House of the Good Shepherd, at a mere 9 years of age. Throughout her young adulthood, she worked in brothels and clubs in Harlem, until at 18 when she was discovered at one of her performances by producer John Hammond. With his direction, Holiday collaborated with noted artists of the day such as Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington, using her voice to weave passionate and melancholy melodies. She wrote several singles of her own, including “Miss Brown to You,” and “What a Little Moonlight Can Do.” With success came struggle, as Holiday battled with heroin and alcohol addiction, increasing in severity after her mother’s death in 1945. She would continue to see success in the world of jazz, but had many rocky relationships and more than one arrest for drug possession. Her last recorded work, released a year before her death, was the album Lady in Satin, bringing with it a rougher voice affected by years of mental and physical hardship. Despite all, she was and has continued to be praised for her era-spanning ability to impart intense emotion in her performances. 12

MILES DAV IS

Miles Davis, above all, was never afraid of change. His adaptability as a songwriter was also augmented by sheer technical skill and imagination, cementing him as one of music’s longest standing legends. Davis was born Miles Dewey Davis III on May 26, 1926 in Alton, Illinois. His father was a dental surgeon and music teacher, and Davis’s pursuit of music was supported from the age of 13, when his father introduced him to the trumpet. Even while in high school, Davis played professionally. At 17, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker requested him to fill in for a sick bandmate. Not long afterwards, Davis enrolled and was accepted to the Institute of Musical Art in New York, now known as the Juilliard School. Throughout the mid to late ‘40s, Davis continued to craft his signature style of intensely creative improvisation. In 1949, he assembled a band with several unusual members, including players of the French horn, tuba, and trombone. He would pioneer the style of Jazz Fusion, inspired by the work of Jimi Hendrix and Sly and the Family Stone. His resulting album, Bitches Brew, became a chart-topper. This effort was met with criticism by fans of his original style, but his willingness to experiment and change was as large a part of Davis as his incredible ability to improvise. He continued to write, perform and tour for his entire life. A year before his death in 1991, Miles Davis received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy.

ELLA

FITZGER ALD Ella Fitzgerald’s stunning vocal range and style paved the way for unexplored methods of interpretive singing. She was the first African-American woman to win a Grammy, and would eventually win 13 in total, selling more than 40 million albums worldwide.

Near the end of a rough-and-tumble childhood on the streets of Harlem, Fitzgerald was discovered at the Apollo Theater’s Amateur Contest. This would lead to her fateful encounter with bandleader Chick Webb, who took her on as a singer. After a career with Webb’s band, which she took over after his death, Fitzgerald embarked on a new endeavor with the Ink Spots as well as Louis Jordan in the early 1940s. In the 1950s and ‘60s, Fitzgerald’s commercial and critical success earned her the title ”First Lady of Song”. She was most praised for her signature vocal style, inspired by the sonics of other instruments in the band. 1958 was the year when she had the distinction of being the first African-American female to win not one, but two Grammys; one for best individual jazz performance and the other for best female vocal performance. She remained a prominent figure in music, staying high in the charts and touring the globe throughout the 1970s. She engaged in

numerous well-known collaborations, including projects with Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, and many others. After a drawn-out battle with diabetes, Ella Fitzgerald died in her home June 15, 1996. She is still renowned for her critical success, a total of more than 200 recorded albums and 40 million sales, and received the NAACP Image Award for Lifetime Achievement as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She is never far away from the top slot of any critic’s choice for most influential vocalist of all time. Bing Crosby once stated, “Man, woman or child, Ella is the greatest of them all.”

DANIEL.B.KAMMERER@GMAIL.COM

DANIEL KAMMERER