Musique Débutants
Musique par bpm
Musique par artiste
COUNT BASIE
William James « Count » Basie. In 1935, Basie formed the Count Basie Orchestra. He led the group for almost 50 years, creating innovations like the use of two « split » tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band, using arrangers to broaden their sound, and others.
CHICK WEBB
William Henry « Chick » Webb. In 1931, his band became the house band at the Savoy Ballroom. He became one of the best-regarded bandleaders and drummers of the new « swing » style. Webb was unable to read music, and instead memorized the arrangements played by the band.
DUKE ELLINGTON
Edward Kennedy « Duke » Ellington led his jazz orchestra from 1923 until his death over a career spanning more than fifty years. Widely considered to have been a pivotal figure in the history of jazz, a master at writing miniatures for the three-minute 78 rpm recording format.
MARY LOU WILLIAMS
She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records . Williams wrote and arranged for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor, and teacher to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Tadd Dameron, Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie.
BENNY GOODMAN
The « King of Swing » led maybe the most popular group in the US in the mid-30s who more than anyone else created the widespread popularity for swing music. His famous Carnegie Hall concert 1938 is an example of that. During an era of racial segregation, he led one of the first integrated jazz group.
LIONEL HAMPTON
Lionel Leo Hampton. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and Quincy Jones.
JIMMIE LUNCEFORD
James Melvin Lunceford (June 6, 1902 – July 12, 1947) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.
FATS WALLER
Thomas Wright « Fats » Waller. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid the groundwork for modern jazz piano. His best-known compositions, « Ain’t Misbehavin' » and « Honeysuckle Rose », were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1984 and 1999.
TEDDY WILSON
Theodore Shaw Wilson. His sophisticated and elegant style was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald. Wilson also led his own groups and recording sessions from the late 20s to the 80s.
OSCAR PETERSON
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was called the « Maharaja of the keyboard » by Duke Ellington, but simply « O.P. » by his friends. He released over 200 recordings. He is considered one of the greatest jazz pianists and played thousands of concerts worldwide in a career lasting more than 60 years.
LOUIS ARMSTRONG
Louis Daniel Armstrong, nicknamed Satchmo, was one of the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s. Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance.
COOTIE WILLIAMS
Charles Melvin « Cootie » Williams was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter.
ROY ELDRIDGE
David Roy Eldridge « Little Jazz ». His sophisticated use of harmony and his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from the smooth and lyrical style of earlier jazz trumpet innovator Louis Armstrong. One of the most influential musicians of the swing era and a precursor of bebop.
REX STEWART
Rex William Stewart was best remembered for his work with the Duke Ellington orchestra. Ellington arranged many of his pieces to showcase Stewart’s half-valve effects, muted sound, and forceful style. After eleven years Stewart left to lead his own smaller swing bands, perfect settings for his solos.
JOHNNY HODGES
John Cornelius Hodges (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophonist, best known for solo work with Duke Ellington’s big band. He is considered one of the definitive alto saxophone players of the big band era (alongside Benny Carter).
BENNY CARTER
Bennett Lester Carter. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career in the 1920s he was a popular arranger, having written charts for Fletcher Henderson’s big band that shaped the swing style. He had an unusually long career that lasted into the 1990s.
COLEMAN HAWKINS
« Father of jazz sax ». In Fletcher Henderson’s band 1923-34 he became a star soloist who defined the tenor sax with a new muscular sound and a new phrasing going over the end of a chorus. He toured Europe 34-39 as a soloist, performed and recorded with Django Reinhardt and Benny Carter in Paris 1937.
LESTER YOUNG
Lester Willis Young, nicknamed « Pres » or « Prez ». Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie’s orchestra, Young was one of the most influential players on his instrument. In contrast to many of his hard-driving peers, Young played with a relaxed, cool tone and used sophisticated harmonies.
BEN WEBSTER
Benjamin Francis Webster was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, he is considered one of the three most important « swing tenors » along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. Known affectionately as « The Brute » or « Frog », he had a tough, raspy, and brutal tone.
BUD FREEMAN
Lawrence « Bud » Freeman. He had a smooth and full tenor sax style with a heavy robust swing. He was one of the most influential and important jazz tenor saxophonists of the big band era.
ILLINOIS JACQUET
Jean-Baptiste « Illinois » Jacquet best remembered for his solo on « Flying Home », critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo. Although he was a pioneer of the honking tenor saxophone that became a regular feature of jazz playing and a hallmark of early rock and roll.
PAUL QUINICHETTE
He was known as the « Vice President » or « Vice Prez » for his uncanny emulation of the breathy style of Lester Young, known as « Prez ». He was also capable of a gruffer style on his own. He played with Jay McShann, Louis Jordan, and Henry Red Allen before being hired by Count Basie to replace Young.
ELLA FITZGERALD
Ella Jane Fitzgerald was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, intonation, and a « horn-like » improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.
BILLIE HOLIDAY
Eleanora Fagan (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), better known as Billie Holiday, was an American jazz singer with a career spanning nearly thirty years. Nicknamed « Lady Day » by her friend and music partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz music and pop singing.
JIMMY RUSHING
James Andrew Rushing, known as « Mr. Five by Five » and was the subject of an eponymous 1942 popular song. He joined Walter Page’s Blue Devils in 1927 and then joined Bennie Moten’s band in 1929. He is best known as the featured vocalist of Count Basie’s Orchestra from 1935 to 1948.
NAT KING COLE
Nathaniel Adams Cole. He recorded over one hundred songs that became hits on the pop charts. His trio was the model for small jazz ensembles that followed. Cole also acted in films and on television and performed on Broadway. He was the first black man to host an American television series.