20 people who have changed Jazz

[Lois Gilbert]

20 People Who Changed Black Music: Jazz Trumpeter Miles Davis, the Personification of Cool

http://BlackAmericaWeb.com


"It's always been a gift with me, hearing music the way I do. I don't know where it comes from, it's just there and I don't question it." – MILES DAVIS

It was 1966, and Keith Murphy was just 12 years old when Miles Davis, wearing his trademark dark shades, strolled into Ed Murphy's Supper Club in Washington, D.C.

"It was like seeing musical royalty," Keith Murphy recalled about meeting the famed trumpeter inside the popular Georgia Avenue nightspot once owned by Keith's father. "He moved through the club almost majestically, a sort of glide, like not touching the ground."

Davis was invited to the club's bandstand to sit in for a set, Murphy said, but Davis respectfully declined, preferring instead to sit in solitude and listen to live jazz. Murphy used one word to summarize Davis' impromptu presence: Cool.

For the past 40 years, Murphy has followed Davis' career, playing his music, analyzing Davis' musical evolution and appreciating his contribution to jazz through the world.

Today, Murphy is host and producer of Urban Journal, the XM Satellite radio show, and president of Milwaukee based Conceptz Communications. The XM station, Channel 169 The Power, is owned by Radio One, a black-owned radio conglomerate based in Maryland.

"Listening to Miles play, I was always conscious way before I met him of being that I was in the presence of a great poet, one who constructed great metaphors through the medium of sound," Murphy told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "He was known as a moody guy, but he had an air of confidence, a genius that made him not easy to understand."

Miles Dewey Davis III was born on May 26th, 1926, in Alton, Illinois to Miles and Cleota Henry Davis. Not long afterwards, the family moved to East Saint Louis, Missouri.

"Davis first picked up the trumpet at age 13 and made his recording debut in 1947. He was renowned for morphing his cool jazz into fusion and experimental sounds that later gave way to jazz funk and hip-hop grooves. His many many legendary albums include 'Round About Midnight,' 'Birth of the Cool' and 'Kind of Blue,'" according to the official Web site of Davis' estate.

"He quickly became enamored of jazz, particularly the new sounds being created by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie," the website said. "Davis' father sent him to Julliard to study music, but Miles didn't spend much time there, dropping out to play with Parker's quintet from 1946 to 1948."

Davis invented a more subtle style that became known as "cool jazz." This style influenced a large group of musicians who played primarily on the West Coast and further explored this style.

"I never thought that the music called 'jazz' was ever meant to reach just a small group of people, or become a museum thing, locked under glass like all other dead things that were once considered artistic," Davis once said.

Yanick Rice Lamb, editorial director of Heart & Soul magazine and a journalism professor at Howard University, said Davis was truly one of the world's most talented musicians and innovators.

"He was a perfectionist who studied all types of music and literally played by his own rules - sometimes with his back to us as he vibed with other artists on stage," Lamb told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

"He not only helped to shape the roots of jazz, but he also nurtured and grew with them. Miles was never content to stay in one place; he believed in changing with the times and leading the way," Lamb added.

Quincy Troupe, a poet and former professor of American and Caribbean Literature and Creative Writing at the University of California, San Diego, wrote "Miles: The Autobiography," the definitive life story of the legendary great, a book that won him the 1990 American Book Award. In the fall of 1998, "Miles and Me: A Memoir of Miles" was published by the University of California Press.

In an interview with African-American Review a few years ago, Troupe said of Davis:

"Miles was a very complex person. He didn't like anybody, black or white, invading his space. He felt that if he wanted to talk to you, he would talk to you. If he was having down time, relaxing at the bar, he didn't want people coming up to him. I remember people from St. Louis were just standing back observing him because we knew, but nobody told this white couple that Miles didn't want to meet them, so they got cursed out.

"Miles did that when I met him. I saw him curse a big black guy out on the street who had come up to him to talk about a movie he was making. He wanted Miles to be in it. That's how he responded to stuff because he didn't know how to navigate that kind of stuff intellectually. The first thing that came into his mind, a lot of the time, that's what he said.

"Miles was a beautiful guy. When you got to know him, he was soft. Not 'soft' soft. He was very sensitive. He was a very shy person. If he liked you a lot, he would do anything for you. He was generous. He would give you money. He was funny. He was a real guy, a human guy. He was always cracking on you, so you had to be ready.

"But I learned to crack back on him. He was childlike. He told me that great artists have to remain close to their childhood in order to let their imaginations flow because, as you grow older, you become victim to all of these rules and regulations. But young children are not encumbered by all that, so their imaginations are free. They can create whatever they want to at that moment."

After conquering years of heroin addiction and experiencing a sometimes violent relationship with his wife, actress Cicely Tyson, Davis died in Santa Monica, California on Sept. 28, 1991, but his music and style continues to influence jazz music and popular culture throughout the world.

"Miles made as much of an impact on the social climate of the late 1950s and early 1960s as he did on music," Murphy told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "Miles represented artistic independence, owning his music and having a clear vision to do so."

Known for maintaining a stage presence that could be aloof, for a while, Davis turned his back on audiences as he played and walked offstage when he was not soloing.

"I turn my back because I play better," he once explained to a writer. "Some notes you get better in a specific spot on the stage. If I play a high note, and don't hear it, I'll move."

Lamb said Davis certainly had issues.

"To say that he had a complex personality and a complicated personal life is putting it mildly," Lamb said. "A number of men and women had a love-hate relationship with him."

Those who knew Davis say he ranged from arrogant, to shy, to understated.

"I know what I've done for music, but don't call me a legend," Davis once told a writer. "Just call me Miles Davis."

http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site..../milesdavis619

[Lois Gilbert]

So this article comments on 20 people who changed Black Music and I was thinking how about the 20 people who have changed Jazz. Off the top of my head

1. Charlie Parker
2. Miles Davis
3. Norman Granz
4. Thelonious Monk
5. Louis Armstrong
6. Dizzy Gillespie
7. Wynton Marsalis
8. Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff
9. MJQ
10. George Wein
11. John Coltrane
12. Ken Burns
13. Sonny Rollins
14. Quincy Jones
15. Billie Holiday
16. Ornette Coleman
17. Ella Fitgerald
18. Max Roach
19. Lester Young
20. Duke Ellington

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Ok, here's my list off the top of my head. I've included one group (AEC), one arranger (Gil Evans) and one artist with a brief career (Colin Walcott, because of his huge influence on future world/ jazz fusion):

Louis Armstrong
Jelly Roll Morton
Duke Ellington
Lester Young
Billie Holiday
Charie Parker
Dizzy Gillespie
Miles Davis
Gil Evans
Jimmy Giuffre
Art Blakey
Art Ensemble of Chicago
Sun Ra
John Coltrane
Ornette Coleman
Cecil Taylor
Charles Mingus
Colin Walcott
Anthony Braxton
John Zorn

[John L]

Originally Posted by Lois Gilbert

So this article comments on 20 people who changed Black Music and I was thinking how about the 20 people who have changed Jazz. Off the top of my head

1. Charlie Parker
2. Miles Davis
3. Norman Granz
4. Thelonious Monk
5. Louis Armstrong
6. Dizzy Gillespie
7. Wynton Marsalis
8. Michael Cuscuna
9. MJQ
10. George Wein
11. John Coltrane
12. Ken Burns
13. Sonny Rollins
14. Quincy Jones
15. Billie Holiday
16. Ornette Coleman
17. Max Gordon
18. Max Roach
19. Lester Young
20. Duke Ellington

Ken Burns changed jazz? And more than Jelly Roll Morton, Buddy Bolden, King Oliver, ODJB, Sidney Bechet, Count Basie, James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, Coleman Hawkins, Benny Goodman, Charlie Christian, Art Tatum, Stan Kenton, Don Redman, Lennie Tristano, Charles Mingus, Albert Ayler, Gerry Mulligan, Jimmy Smith, Lionel Hampton, Gil Evans, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor...

Excuse me, but I am a bit skeptical.

[Gary Sisco]

Ken Burns -- change for the better or worse? ;-0

This is a twenty, not the twenty:

Miles changed jazz several times (one could say also that he changed music itself).
Louis Armstrong
Earl "Fatha" Hines
Art Tatum
Duke Ellington
Lester Young
Coleman Hawkins
Thelonious Monk
Charlie Parker
Dizzy Gillespie
Gil Evans
John Coltrane
Bill Evans
Charlie Christian
Jimmy Smith
Blanton
Kenny Clarke
Eric Dolphy
Charles Mingus
Cecil Taylor

[stonemonkts]

Originally Posted by Lois Gilbert

So this article comments on 20 people who changed Black Music and I was thinking how about the 20 people who have changed Jazz. Off the top of my head

1. Charlie Parker
2. Miles Davis
3. Norman Granz
4. Thelonious Monk
5. Louis Armstrong
6. Dizzy Gillespie
7. Wynton Marsalis
8. Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff
9. MJQ
10. George Wein
11. John Coltrane
12. Ken Burns
13. Sonny Rollins
14. Quincy Jones
15. Billie Holiday
16. Ornette Coleman
17. Ella Fitgerald
18. Max Roach
19. Lester Young
20. Duke Ellington

I would remove Quincy Jones, Ella, Burns (he didn't change jazz, he just pissed it off), Roach, Wein (I don't think his concert productions changed anything), and Rollins, who played it really well, but didn't change it.

I would add Albert Ayler, AACM, Braxton, Evan Parker, Cecil Taylor, and Bill Evans.

[olie brice]

my tuppence worth:
1-Jelly Roll Morton
2-Louis Armstrong
3-Coleman Hawkins
4-Lester Young
5-Count Basie
6-Duke Ellington
7-Billie Holliday
8-Charlie Parker (who would easily be in 1st place if this wasn't roughly chronological)
9-Dizzy Gillespie
10-Thelonious Monk
11-Charles Mingus
12-Miles Davis
13-Max Roach
14-John Coltrane
15-Sonny Rollins
16-Ornette Coleman
17-Bill Evans
18-Wayne Shorter
19-Kenny Wheeler
20-Steve Coleman

from the 70s onwards, there is much less of an obvious 'mainstream' in jazz. Kenny Wheeler and Steve Coleman seem to sum up a lot of the harmonic and rhythmic advances between them, but the likes of Julius Hemphill, Tim Berne, the Marsalises, Jan Garabeck, Jarrett, etc could all have had a look-in. My list is very light on free players, despite them often being my favourites, because improv is only a part of jazz history, and as a tradition is quite traceable to Ornette.
I do struggle to see how the likes of Norman Granz, Michael Cuscuna, George Wein or Ken Burns could replace any of the above....

[Gary Sisco]

They can't. That's why you're struggling.

[Pete C]

I think you have to acknowledge that Granz and Wein, by changing the way jazz was presented, changed public perceptions and performance practices (like the public jam session). The jazz festival model had major international impact.

The people who "changed" jazz are not necessarily synonymous with the most significant musicians. Also, some innovators changed the jazz language in general while others were more influential on a specific instrument.

[Pete C]

Gary, what am I missing about Connie Kay?

[Derek Taylor]

I don’t get the Kay pick either. I’d pick Klook before Kay.

Most of the people on these lists are geriatric or dead. How about a list of the 20 who have changed jazz in the past ten years?

[Jon Abbey]

Originally Posted by Derek Taylor

How about a list of the 20 who have changed jazz in the past ten years?

hehe, good one.

[John L]

Originally Posted by Derek Taylor

I don’t get the Kay pick either. I’d pick Klook before Kay.

Most of the people on these lists are geriatric or dead. How about a list of the 20 who have changed jazz in the past ten years?

Ken Burns might indeed make that list. He changed jazz history like Beria changed Soviet history - by wiping people out of the picture.

[Dan G]

I think that Wolff/Lion at BlueNote and probably Nesuhi Ertegun at Atlantic would have to be in the top 20. Without that kind of advocacy in the record business, jazz wouldn't have developed as it did. Yes, it was the musicians making the changes, but not would have really happened without the record companies in those days. And to update it a bit, Manfred Eicher has probably had as much to do with shaping jazz as many musicians have (for better or for worse...).

Originally Posted by Derek Taylor

Most of the people on these lists are geriatric or dead. How about a list of the 20 who have changed jazz in the past ten years?

Don't you know that jazz musicians must be dead or close to it to matter? Go to the thread about "favorites of today's players" and you'll find most of these names still listed.

Also not a lot of Europeans on here. I'd say that John Stevens is as important as anyone in the last 40 years, not only for his playing but his leading of the SME/SMO. He found or employed pretty much everyone who matters in the UK.

I also think that Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink (together with ICP and Han, more than Misha, alone) have been very instrumental in shaping jazz as it is now. Their "new Dutch swing" everything plus the kitchen sink approach to rule-breaking is very important.

I'm also suprised not to see either Albert Ayler or Peter Brotzmann on any lists yet. They pretty much developed a similar approach concurrently, and I don't know who is the most influential but without one/both of them we wouldn't be hearing a lot of the sounds we do today.

[Gary Sisco]

Pete -- Double duh on my part. Some kind of brain blink. I meant to say Kenny Clarke, the father of modern jazz drumming.

I've amended my list to correct this embarassing sign of impending senility.

[Gary Sisco]

Tony Williams then changed drumming again.

I'd argue that Hamid Drake has, also, but because he plays with the free cats, his influence hasn't spread far enough yet to say that he's changed the music.

[Derek Taylor]

Originally Posted by Dan G

Don't you know that jazz musicians must be dead or close to it to matter? Go to the thread about "favorites of today's players" and you'll find most of these names still listed.

Too true, but I don’t see what the big deal is. Many of the people I listen to on a daily basis are dead. It’s been that way for years & I don’t have a problem with it. Just because the innovators have already come (& in many cases gone) doesn’t mean jazz is no longer vital & exciting (or changing, for that matter). We could easily come up with a list of 50 musicians who are doing viable things with building blocks that have been around for decades. The sea changes may be over, but ripples still abound.

I was thinking Vijay Iyer might make the 10-year cut. Hamid’s an interesting choice, though he’s another who’s taken existing elements and shaped them to highly personal designs. William Parker too, but for his tireless community-building efforts rather than his bass playing. I like the Stevens pick also.

[clinthopson]

The list is obviously skewed to a certain era. Not including Fletcher Henderson, Jelly Roll Morton, Earl Hines, Jimmy Harrison, Jack Teagarden, Charlie Christian, King Pleasure, Gerry Mulligan, Dave Brubeck or the idol of every pianist who followed him, Art Tatum, makes the list questionable.

Jimmy Lyons was every bit as much an instrument of change as George Wein, but he was on the West Coast, so he doesn't count.

Wynton didn't change shit. He just copies others. OK, maybe he's a spokesman, but actually have an influence on the music? I don't think so.

[Derek Taylor]

Jimmy Lyons definitely holds Olympian stature on alto, but I'm not sure he belongs on a list of THE 20 people who have changed jazz

[Paul B]

Originally Posted by Derek Taylor

...The sea changes may be over, but ripples still abound.

In all the discussions here about the "jazz is dead" notion, I've never seen this viewpoint--which I agree with wholeheartedly--put so nicely. In fact, I often think the ripples can be as interesting and important as the sea changes...

[Gary Sisco]

I guess you didn't read my list, Clint....

Say twenty, though, not *the* twenty. There have been more than 20 who've changed jazz, no matter who makes what list.

[Gary Sisco]

Derek -- I'd disagree with your qualifications re Drake. The same could be said for any musician or any drummer. Like Ornette says, there are only so many notes. Drake has made stylistic and rhythmic changes of the same depth as Tony Williams, but he's more corralled by the imposed ghetto of the a.g., so his influence is rather contained by comparison to what it might be. Even still today, as in this year's jazz journalist awards, his name appears only in "percussion." It's almost as if there's some kind of mental block against putting him in the drummer category.

[Dan G]

Originally Posted by clinthopson

Wynton didn't change shit. He just copies others. OK, maybe he's a spokesman, but actually have an influence on the music? I don't think so.

I think he did in that when he started to sell records, the companies went looking for other young, suited, handsome black men playing dead music. The sheer output of music by what where at the time called "young lions" was huge, got a lot of press and did well in sales. In the 70s - preWynton - there were some major labels actually releasing avant garde jazz; after he came along, that pretty much got relegated to the indies. He might not have had much of a direct influence on the music itself, but his influence on the industry meant that a casual buyer going into a store was going to see (and buy) a pretty limited cross-section of what jazz is.

[stonemonkts]

Originally Posted by Dan G

I'm also suprised not to see either Albert Ayler or Peter Brotzmann on any lists yet. They pretty much developed a similar approach concurrently, and I don't know who is the most influential but without one/both of them we wouldn't be hearing a lot of the sounds we do today.

Check my post above. I included Ayler.

I also concede Wein changed how jazz was presented.

[hornplayer]

I also concede Wein changed how jazz was presented.

and created lots of venues for presenting it, translating into jobs for musicians, and wider exposure.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by clinthopson

Jimmy Lyons was every bit as much an instrument of change as George Wein,

How? Newport preceded Monterey.

[Lois Gilbert]

Ken Burns changed the perception of Jazz. Just like Norman Granz did and MJQ did.

My list or anyone else's list in not definitive.

I didn't say changed the music - just changed jazz - perhaps the music, perhaps how it's perceived or presented or produced

And I definitely would agree that Dave Brubeck should be there (I believe the first platinum CD for Jazz)

Tony Williams - the start of fusion

Gil Scott Heron - the father of hip-hop/jazz

[Gary Sisco]

Re Burns: Oh, horseshit, Lois.

Tony Williams changed jazz before fusion. No one had approached the drums that way before Tony.

[Gary Sisco]

His Majesty is a spokesman for himself. That's all. Today or any day.

No one speaks for jazz.

[Scott Dolan]

Originally Posted by Lois Gilbert

Ken Burns changed the perception of Jazz.

What fucking horseshit. What Burns attempted to do was change the reality of Jazz. To paint it any other way is disengenuous, IMO.

Any list that doesn't include Monk is erroneous, BTW.

Originally Posted by Gary

I'd argue that Hamid Drake has, also, but because he plays with the free cats, his influence hasn't spread far enough yet to say that he's changed the music.

Who would he have to play with? If he ran with the Marsalis cabal he'd have no influence on the free cats.