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Jazz
In Context
What is Jazz? (1)
Sousa - Semper Fideles
Cameroon Dance
African Music
Ezekiel Saw
the Wheel
European Music
Work Songs
Spirituals
Ragtime
The Blues
Sweet Home Chicago
Robert Johnson
JAZZ
The Entertainer
Scott Joplin
What is Jazz? (2)
There are three aspects that almost
all jazz styles have in common:
Improvisation
Syncopation
Swing
What is Jazz? (3)
Some of the important composers and performers of jazz were:
Louis Armstrong
“Duke” Ellington
Benny Goodman
Glenn Miller
Dizzy Gillespie
Dave Brubeck
Timeline of Jazz Styles
1900
1910
1920
World
War I
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
Advent of TV
Beatles
Bebop
Ragtime
Contemporary
Cool
Dixieland
Progressive
Free Form
Swing
1920
2000
Advent of
Digital
recording
Rock ‘n Roll
Blues
1910
1990
Depression World
War 2
Advent of
radio
First jazz
recordings
1900
1980
1930
1940
Fusion
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
Dixieland (1) - Instruments
Dixieland Jazz began in New Orleans around the 1920s.
It is also called Trad Jazz (Traditional Jazz)
Dixieland jazz used a small group of between three and eight musicians.
Frontline players:
Trumpet or cornet - introduced the melody
Clarinet - played a different faster melody
Trombone - played the bass line
The Rhythm section (banjo, guitar, piano, bass and drums) provided rhythmic
and harmonic support.
Listen to the opening of
Muskrat Ramble played by Louis
Armstrong and his Hot Five
The Hot Five was:
• Louis Armstrong (trumpet)
• Kid Ory ( trombone)
• Johnny Dodds (clarinet)
• Johnny St Cyr (guitar and banjo)
• Louis Armstrong's wife Lil ( piano)
Dixieland (2) - Improvisation
There are two different types of improvisation in Dixieland Jazz:
Group improvisation
Where the melody instruments improvised together
over the chords played by the rhythm section
As the trumpet plays the main tune,
the clarinet is improvising a faster
second tune over the top while the
trombone decorates the bass line.
Solo improvisation
Where one melody instrument improvised over the
chords played by all or some of the rhythm section
The trumpet, accompanied by the
banjo, is improvising over the same
chords as were used when the tune
was first played
Dixieland (3) - Form
Tune 1
Trumpet - melody
Clarinet and trombone improvisation.
G
16 bars
Tune 2
Trumpet - melody
Clarinet and trombone improvisation.
G
16 bars
Tune 2
Melody - all (2 bars)
trombone improvisation
S
16 bars
Tune 2
Trumpet improvisation
S
16 bars
Tune 2
Clarinet improvisation
S
16 bars
Tune 1
Trumpet, clarinet and trombone all
improvising
G
16 bars
Tune 1
Same three instruments do a
different improvisation
G
16 bars
Tag
The two extra bars at the end to finish the music off is called a TAG (or CODA)
G
= Group improvisation
S
= Solo improvisation
Polyphonic texture
Dixieland (4) - Summary
MELODY
RHYTHM
A simple,
singable
melody
Improvisation
produces more
than one
melody
Often had a
“boogie-woogie
bass
FORM
TEXTURE
INSTRUMENTS
March-like
with steady
beat
Often just
one chorus
Polyphonic in
group
improvisations
Small Ensemble
5-8 players
Contains
syncopation
Different
improvisations
give variation
form
Improvisations
give
polyrhythms
HARMONY
Traditional
tonal harmony
When the
Saints Go
Marching In
Homophonic
texture for
solo
improvisations
Uncomplicated
Louis Armstrong
Frontline players
Trumpet/Cornet
Trombone
Clarinet
Rhythm Section
Guitar/banjo
Bass/Tuba
Drums Piano
Swing (1) - Introduction
In the 1930s jazz groups grew bigger - instead of single instruments there were
now small groups of each (eg 3 trumpets, 3 or 4 saxophones and trombones).
This meant that less improvisation could take place, so the music was
arranged and written down.
This style was known as swing and the music was used for dancing not just
for listening to.
The groups who played swing were known as Big Bands.
Because of this, this
time was known as
the ‘Big Band Era’.
Some of the best
known groups were
led by
‘Duke’ Ellington,
‘Count’ Basie,
Benny Goodman
Glenn Miller.
The Benny Goodman
Big Band plays
Alexander’s Ragtime
Band
Swing (2) - Instruments
Guitar
Vibraphone
Drum kit
Trombones
Tuba
Piano
Trumpets
Alto saxes
Baritone sax
Tenor saxes
DIAGRAM - BIG BAND
Not all instruments present
in every performance
In the Mood - Glenn Miller
Clarinets
Soprano sax
String Bass
Listen for:
• A 12-bar blues
progression
• A conversation
between
saxophones and
trumpets
• A smooth
sophisticated
sound
• Changing
dynamics (f p)
The Glenn Miller
Orchestra
Swing (3) - Form
Take the A Train - Strayhorn - (Ellington)
Each chorus of the music is 32 bars long and based on an A A B A structure. The first
8 bars are repeated, then there is an 8 bar contrasting phrase before a final repetition
of the opening phrase.
SECTION
SOLO INSTRUMENT
BACKING INSTRUMENTS
Introduction
Piano
Drums and Bass
Chorus 1 (A A B A)
Saxes
Rest of band
Chorus 2 (A A B A)
Muted Trumpet
Saxes, drums, bass
Bridge
Trumpets
Rest of band
Chorus 3 (A A B)
Saxes alternate with
trumpet (no mute)
Full band
Chorus 4 (A A A…)
Saxes
Full band
Fade out
(with a short tag at the end)
Swing (4) - Summary
MELODY
Simple,
singable
melodies
One or two
melodies that
change by
being
improvised on
Some blue
notes
RHYTHM
March-like
with steady
beat
Contains
syncopation
Swung uneven triplet
feel
HARMONY
Moonlight
Serenade Glenn Miller
Traditional
tonal harmony
Harmony
enhanced by
7th, 9th and
added 6th
chords
FORM
Often 32 bar
AABA chorus
repeated
several times
with variation
Often
features
intros, bridges
and tags
Sometimes
uses Blues
form
TEXTURE
INSTRUMENTS
Generally
homophonic
texture
Large Ensemble
Saxes Trumpets
Trombones
(Clarinets)
Glenn Miller
Some
antiphonal
sections (eg
saxes answered
by trumpets)
Rhythm Section
Guitar
Piano Bass
Drums
Bebop
Swing bands
began to break
up during
World War II
Dizzy Gillespie
was one of the first
to develop the
Bebop style
Bebop was
a complete
contrast to swing
Jazz musicians
who wanted to
experiment went to
Minton’s Club in
New York
Salted Peanuts Dizzy Gillespie
Bebop did not appeal to many
people. It was too complicated
and difficult to listen to. Most
people wanted to hear a melody
and did not like the angular tunes
and dissonant chords. There was
too much improvisation for most
people to understand the music
Could become
Cool Jazz (1)
Polyphonic
The style
developed to avoid
the roughness and
brassiness of
Bebop
Soft
dynamics
Melodies
were smooth and
easy to listen to and
the style was more
relaxed
The term
Cool Jazz is a style
of jazz that developed
in California in
the 1960s
Little David by the
Swingle Singers is a good
example of Cool Jazz.
Listen to the scat singing
(nonsense words and
syllables).
Many
improvisations
Pianist, Dave
Brubeck is probably
the best known of the
Cool Jazz composers
and performers
Unusual
harmonies
Important
in the Cool Jazz
scene are Paul Desmond
Miles Davis and the
Swingle Singers
Sometimes
the music featured
instruments not usually
found in Jazz (eg
Many
flute, French
different
Syncopated
horn)
forms
Mancini’s Pink
Panther was
written in
1964 as a
film theme.
Cool Jazz (2)
Melody
Texture
Style
The music
describes
the”cool cat”
and the
opening
section is a
good example
of Cool Jazz
The melody imitates the way a cat stalks its prey - slowly and with tiny
steps up at first (semitones), then a crouch down, then silence.
The first section is light. The second is heavier.
The first section
is Cool Jazz. The
second is Big Band
(Swing)
Each phrase
ends with a
small downward
slide. This is
called a smear.
Articulation
Sometimes the sax music is slurred and sometimes tongued
Instruments
LISTEN FOR
The saxophone’s sound is cool and sophisticated
like the Panther
Ragtime (1) - The Beginning
When the American Civil War ended, the marching bands that had led the
soldiers into war were broken up, and the instruments sold.
Many former slaves
took up these
instruments (clarinets,
trumpets, trombones
and percussion)
They formed their own
bands and played their
own versions of the
formal European march
tunes
When they played them, they changed them by adding syncopated rhythms
and changing some notes to make them more fun to play.
The “jazzing up” of these
tunes was known as
ragging
This music was played by
small groups in the streets
of New Orleans and on
showboats on the
Mississippi River.
Ragtime (2) - Rhythm
 Ragtime music was usually written for piano
 It was composed in a simple 2-beat march
style
 It had a bouncy jerky rhythm in the melody
with a steady beat in the bass
 The Cakewalk was a popular dance which had
jerky movements to match the rhythm of the
music
The best known composer and
performer of rags was Scott Joplin.
He published and recorded the rags
he wrote and performed
Ragtime (3) - Scott Joplin
In 1902, Joplin's first
major composition was a
ballet suite that used
the rhythms of ragtime
music
Today we listen to Ragtime
on the radio or CD. In the
early part of the 20th
century people listened to
their favourite rags played
by Joplin on the pianola.
Scott Joplin was the
best known composer
of ragtime music
Born in Texas 1868; died
1917 in New York City.
He studied piano and
wanted to become a
classical composer and
pianist.
Two of Joplin's
most famous
compositions are
the Maple Leaf
Rag and The
Entertainer
The Entertainer became
popular again when it was
featured in the
soundtrack of the movie
The Sting. in the 1970s.
The Entertainer
Ragtime (4) - Features - Form
Maple Leaf Rag is in 2 time and is made up of four different tunes,
4
each of which repeats.
Tune A
Opening theme (16 bars)
Theme repeats
Tune B
Second theme (16 bars)
Theme repeats
Tune A
Opening theme (16 bars)
Tune C
Third theme (16 bars)
Theme repeats
Tune D
Fourth theme (16 bars)
Theme repeats
Tune A
Opening theme (16 bars)
Tune B
Section B
Section A
1
Second theme (16 bars)
SECTION A
Section A
SECTION B
SECTION A1
TERNARY (three part) FORM
Ragtime (5) - Features - Rhythm
The melody has a SYNCOPATED (off beat) rhythm
Examples of syncopation
A REST on
the first beat
of the bar
A TIE
from a
short note
to a longer
note on a
beat
The
RHYTHM
The left hand (bass)
is not syncopated
The rhythm is straight, not swung
Ragtime (6) - Features - Melody
Opening - Maple Leaf Rag
Opening - The Entertainer
Click the correct answer below :
Are the melodies
Jagged
Smooth
Ragtime (6) - Features - Melody
Opening - Maple Leaf Rag
Opening - The Entertainer
Click the correct answer below :
Are the melodies
Jagged
Smooth
√
Jagged is
correct
Ragtime (7) - Features - Texture
The three main textures in music are:
MONOPHONIC A single melody
HOMOPHONIC A melody with chords
POLYPHONIC
Several melodies
played together
Listen to the opening of Maple Leaf Rag and click the
word that best describes the texture of the music:
Monophonic
Homophonic
Polyphonic
Ragtime (7) - Features - Texture
The three main textures in music are:
MONOPHONIC A single melody
HOMOPHONIC A melody with chords
POLYPHONIC
Several melodies
played together
Listen to the opening of Maple Leaf Rag and click the
word that best describes the texture of the music:
Monophonic
Homophonic
√ The texture is homophonic
Polyphonic
Blues (1) - The Beginning
The slave route from
West Africa to America.
NORTH
AMERICA
During the 18th and 19th centuries
thousands of people were taken as
slaves from Africa to America. For
these Africans life became a
nightmare. Many died on their
long journey by sailing ship.
EUROPE
WEST
INDIES
WEST
AFRICA
SOUTH
AMERICA
Many Africans were also sold
as slaves in the West Indies
A slave ship
Those that survived were sold in
auctions and put to work on farms
and cotton plantations in the
Southern states of America.
Blues (2) - Influences
Slavery was a nightmare come true. Yet the slaves sang
songs which influenced music all over the world.
If there had been no Negro slavery, there would have been no jazz.
Families were often
split up. Children
were often taken
from their parents.
The life of slavery
was cruel and
horrible.
Musical slaves were
encouraged to play the
violin, and the plantation
‘fiddler’ (violinist) was
sometimes rewarded with
more freedom than
ordinary slaves.
African Americans used and changed European church hymns, folk songs, and
dance music and mixed it with their own taste and traditions.
Since I Laid My Burden
Down is a traditional
gospel song.
Listen to the call and response (solo
answered by chorus) which is influenced
by traditional African music.
Blues (3) - Spread
The first Blues singers were African slaves. Their music grew out of
the misery of slavery. The words of their songs reflected their
despair.
When the slaves were set free in 1865, they faced poverty and
homelessness. The nightmare of slavery was over, but black people
were often denied jobs and mistreated in other ways
As the ex-slaves moved North
in search of work and a better
life, their music spread from
New Orleans to St Louis and
Chicago and New York.
The spread of the Blues
Blues (4) - Instruments and Scales
Originally the Blues was performed by one
singer usually accompanied by a guitar or a banjo
Blues was a raw-sounding music, full of emotion
Blues melodies and harmonies were based on the blues scale. This is a
version of the major scale, but with the 3rd and 7th notes flattened.
MAJOR SCALE
The blues scale is more usually
known as the minor pentatonic
BLUES SCALE
MINOR PENTATONIC
1
2
3
4
5
BLUES SCALE WITH FLATTENED 5TH
Often the 5th is also flattened
Blues (5) - Harmony
Traditional 12-bar blues uses three chords
The melody contains “blue” notes,
but the harmony (chord) does not
I
IV
V
In blues songs, the chords are organised into the following pattern:
Bar
Bar
Chord
Chord
1
I
2
I
3
I
4
I
5
IV
6
IV
7
I
8
I
9
V
10
V
or
11
I
IV
12
I
or
V
In C major, this would be:
C
C
C
C
F
F
C
C
G
G
or
F
C
C
or
G
Blues (6) - Form
Blues verses have three lines, the first two being the same
(Guitar intro - 2 bars)
O Baby don’t you want to go
O Baby don’t you want to go
Back to the land of California, from my sweet home Chicago
In 12-bar blues, each of these lines takes 4 bars:
4
4
C ///
C
O
baby don’t you want
F ///
F
O
G
/
/
/
/ /
/ /
baby don’t you want
/
/
G
C ///
C ///
to go
to
C ///
C ///
/
C ///
go
Back to the Land of Ca-li-fornia from my sweet home
/ /
Chi- ca-go
Although the chords change for the second line (bars 5 -8),
the melody stays exactly the same.
G ///
Blues (7) - Improvisation
In the repeat of Sweet Home Chicago, the
singer improvises for part of the verse
Listen to the second verse, and answer the questions below by
clicking on the correct answer:
Which phrases contain improvisation?
Third
First and third
Second and third
First
Blues (7) - Improvisation
In the repeat of Sweet Home Chicago, the
singer improvises for part of the verse
Listen to the second verse, and answer the questions below by
clicking on the correct answer:
Which phrases contain improvisation?
Third
First and third
Second and third
First
√ First is correct
When the singer improvises, does he use
a narrow or wide range of notes?
Narrow
Wide
Blues (7) - Improvisation
In the repeat of Sweet Home Chicago, the
singer improvises for part of the verse
Listen to the second verse, and answer the questions below by
clicking on the correct answer:
Which phrases contain improvisation?
Third
First and third
Second and third
First
√ First is correct
When the singer improvises, does he use
a narrow or wide range of notes?
Narrow
√ Narrow is correct
Wide
When the guitarist improvises, does he do so mostly in the first,
second or third phrase?
First
Second
Third
Blues (7) - Improvisation
In the repeat of Sweet Home Chicago, the
singer improvises for part of the verse
Listen to the second verse, and answer the questions below by
clicking on the correct answer:
Which phrases contain improvisation?
Third
First and third
Second and third
First
√ First is correct
When the singer improvises, does he use
a narrow or wide range of notes?
Narrow
√ Narrow is correct
Wide
When the guitarist improvises, does he do so mostly in the first,
second or third phrase?
First
Second
Third
√ Third is correct
Improvisation (1)
Improvising is making up a tune over a chord
pattern
Listen to the tune of Take Five
Listen to all the saxophone improvisation in
Take Five and then click on the answer to the
question below:
Are the chords:
The Same?
Different?
Improvisation (1)
Improvising is making up a tune over a chord
pattern
Listen to the tune of Take Five
Listen to all the saxophone improvisation in
Take Five and then click on the answer to the
question below:
Are the chords:
The Same?
Different?
√
Yes, they are the same
Improvisation (2)
The performer will develop and change riffs
made up from notes in the blues scale
Listen to all the saxophone improvisation in
Take Five and then click on the answer to the
question below:
Is each phrase
of the tune:
The Same?
Different??
Improvisation (2)
The performer will develop and change riffs
made up from notes in the blues scale
Listen to all the saxophone improvisation in
Take Five and then click on the answer to the
question below:
Is each phrase
of the tune:
The Same?
Different??
√
Yes, each phrase is different
Syncopation
In music, accented
notes are usually ON
the beat
When music is
syncopated, accented
notes are OFF the beat
Music can be syncopated by:
Having a short note
followed by a longer
one within a beat
Putting a rest on a
strong beat
To hear syncopation in the melody, there needs
to be an unsyncopated part in the bass
Tying note from a
weak beat to a strong
beat so as the strong
beat does not sound
Swing
Most jazz rhythm is swung. This means that instead of each beat
being divided into 2 or 4, the beat is divided into 3
Straight rhythm:
Swung rhythm:
The music is written like this but the player makes it sound like this
The opening of Muskrat Ramble
is written like this…
…but the performer swings the rhythm so that it sounds like this:
African Music
The music extract comes
from the Cameroon, West
Africa an area from where
slaves were transported.
LISTEN FOR
Instruments: Drums; Jingles; Voices
Features:
Complex rhythms
Ostinati - repeated rhythms
(Drums and voice).
Call (solo) and Response (chorus):
from voices
John Phillip Sousa
The Thundererer
 Composer of many marches that are still
popular today
 Bandmaster of the Marines Band then
formed his own concert band
 Toured America and Europe playing his
music as well as the new Ragtime music
1854 - 1932
Invented the
Sousaphone,
which was named
in his honour
Washington Post
The bell could be twisted
in any direction, to allow
the sound to be heard
more clearly
Ternary Form
 Ternary form has three parts:
 (Intro)
A
B
A
 The opening theme or section
 A contrasting theme or section
 A repeat of the opening theme or section
Intro
Take Five is in
Ternary Form
A
B
A
Ternary Form is rather like a
Musical sandwich
BREAD - FILLING - BREAD
Back to ‘Duke’ Ellington
The Pianola
Scott Joplin
recorded several
of his “Rags” for
the pianola
The pianola roll for the opening of The Entertainer by Joplin
An early pianola
The pianola
roll had a hole
punched for
each note
The music for the opening of The Entertainer by Joplin
The roll was placed
inside the piano, and
the player pedaled to
make the roll go round
Back to Scott Joplin
Louis (Satchmo) Armstrong
As a singer, one of
his proudest moments
was when his song,
”What a Wonderful
World” was a top hit
in 1968
Trumpeter, singer and
composer.
Born in New Orleans in 1901.
Died in New York in 1971
He formed and directed his own
bands the”Hot Five” and “Hot
Seven”, and later the “All Stars”.
Louis Armstrong
As a youth he met “King” Oliver and in
1922 was invited to play with his band
in Chicago. Louis was invited to play
solos on the trumpet. This changed the
sound of jazz. Before this the
musicians had all played together,
improvising around eachother.
The nickname
“Satchmo” is an
abbreviation of
“satchel mouth”
(referring to
the size of his
mouth)!
His father left, so he
earned money to support
his family by selling
papers and by singing on
the street with friends
At 13 he began his
musical education in the
”Jones Home” (for
wayward coloured
children) and was proud
to play the cornet in its
orchestra at public
concerts.
West End Blues
Edward K “Duke” Ellington
He is recognized as one of
the greatest jazz composers
and performers. Among his
many honors and awards were
honorary doctorates from
Howard and Yale Universities
Born 1899; Died 1974
He sometimes used "call-andresponse" techniques linking
back to music from the time
of slavery (solo answered by
chorus)
Creole Love Song
He was be one of the first jazz
composers to focus on musical
form and composition in jazz
using ternary form
He began to learn the
piano at the age of seven
As a youth he was influenced
by the ragtime pianists.
In late 1917, Duke formed
his first group: The Duke’s
Serenaders an made his
professional debut.
Already popular on
radio, he made his first
recording in 1923
Back to What is Jazz?
Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman began to learn music in 1919 when he was
10, and made his professional début only two years later.
He was among the first to feature
black jazz players, an action that might
have compromised his own career at a
time when racial integration was not a
popular concept. His concerts brought
a new audience and a new level of
recognition to jazz.
1909-1986
Goodman became the first famous jazz musician to
achieve success performing classical music. In 1935,
he performed Mozart's Clarinet Quintet
He received classical training, but
was also influenced by the music of
Louis Armstrong and other New
Orleans jazz musicians.
He moved to New York in 1929 and
made a living performing in bands
and working in recording studios
and for radio.
Many say that swing music arrived
on January 16, 1938, when Benny
Goodman performed his Killer Diller
at New York's Carnegie Hall.
In spring 1934, Goodman organized his first big band. (three saxophones, three trumpets, two
trombones, and four rhythm instruments) and started recording for Columbia Records. Under
Goodman's exacting direction, the members' playing was a model of ensemble discipline. He set a
high standard for the musicians, and demanded accurate intonation, matched vibrato, phrasing,
and a careful balancing of parts — performance standards rare in the bands of that time.
Stompin’ at the Savoy
Glenn Miller
He joined the US Air Force in 1942.
The Army Air force Band gave over
800 performances to the troops. He
died in 1944 when his plane was lost
over the English Channel.
In 1938 he composed many hits.
Most popular was “In the Mood”
which topped the charts for
fifteen weeks
He experimented to try and find
a unique sound that would make
his band memorable. His solution
was to have the clarinet and
tenor sax play the melody and
the rest of the saxes
harmonising. When he formed the
Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1937, it
was an immediate hit.
His musical career began when, as a youth, his father
bought him a mandolin. He traded it in for an old
trombone, and spent most of his spare time practicing.
1904 -1944
He was quite
discouraged when
the first band he
formed in 1936
failed to be popular
because it did not
sound any better
than the rest of the
bands of the time.
He went to university, but
dropped out because he spent too
much time attending gigs. He
decided to become a professional
musician.
As a freelance trombonist, he
worked with a number of bands
and met many different jazz
musicians. Amongst these was
Benny Goodman. At this time he
also began to compose and
arrange music.
Chattanooga Choo-Choo
Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy was born John Birks Gillespie in 1917 to a family of ten. His father, a local bandleader,
encouraged Gillespie's musical progress. At four years old, John was already playing the
piano. He then taught himself to play the trombone but switched to the trumpet before the age
of twelve. He received a music scholarship to a small school in North Carolina.
He died in 1993 and has
a star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame.
He is rememberd for
using complex rhythms,
and for being a musician
whose improvisations
were very skilled.
He also introduced new
ideas to jazz - the use of
Afro-Cuban music and
even ideas from pop
music.
Be Bop
Dizzy began appearing
at Minton's where he
tried out his new ideas
and styles. He met
Thelonius Monk,and the
two began to
experiment with the
complex chord changes
that soon became the
music of the Bebop Era.
He left the school in 1935 to pursue
a career as a musician and soon
earned the nickname "Dizzy" for his
comical stage antics - wearing a
beret and horn rimmed glasses, and
performing using puffed out cheeks
and a trumpet with a bent bell
Dizzy played with several famous
bands, but was often criticised for
taking too many risks in his solos.
One well known band leader, Cab
Calloway referred to his
improvisations as “Chinese music”.
Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck was born in
1920 in California. His
mother, who had hoped to
become a concert pianist,
taught the piano. Dave
preferred to make up his
own tunes than
learn to read
music.
One of the characteristics
of Brubeck’s music is his use
of unusual time signatures.
Blue Rondo a la Turk is in 7
4
However, Take Five, the
most famous number played
by the Quartet was not
written by Brubeck. It was
composed by
Saxophone player,
Paul Desmond.
When he went to College (Uni) he was nearly
expelled when one of the professors
discovered that he could not read music. Only
the support from several other professors saved him,
but he had to promise that he would never teach music!
Blue
Rondo a
la Turk
He formed the Dave Brubeck Quartet in
1951. The quartet remained together
(with a few changes of personnel) until
1967. They re-formed in
1976 for a 25th anniversary
concert.
In 1954 Dave Brubeck was the first jazz
musician to be honoured by having his photo
on the cover of TIME magazine.