Here, we’ll talk about some of these great artists who contributed immensely towards making jazz music extremely popular.

1. Frank Sinatra

You may not know much about jazz, but you might’ve certainly heard about Frank Sinatra. He was born into a family of immigrants in the year 1915 in New Jersey. Sinatra was a big fan of the great jazz singer, Bing Crosby, who inspired him to pursue jazz music. He loved to perform right from the days of his childhood.

As a result, he participated in the glee club and began singing at local nightclubs. Gradually, his popularity soared and he gained wider exposure through radio. This led him to a successful career as a solo jazz artist. Sinatra gave many jazz hits and his massive popularity brought him opportunities in acting as well.

2. Ella Fitzgerald

Her greatness earned her the title ‘The First Lady of Song’. Ella Fitzgerald was one of the most popular female jazz artists of the United States. She won 13 Grammy awards during her lifetime and her success resulted in the sales of 40 million records. Owing to her incredible success as a solo jazz artist, she worked with some of the best in the business.

They included Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Duke Ellington. Despite her humble beginnings in Virginia, she had already recorded over 200 albums by the time she was 21. She came up with many chart-toppers in the years that followed.

3. Louis Armstrong

Life was quite difficult initially for Louis Armstrong. When he was in his fifth grade, he had to drop out of school. However, this enabled him to work and buy his first cornet. One day, he was arrested for firing into the air using his stepfather’s gun. Following this incident, he had to spend some time at the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys. There, he developed his skills in playing cornet.

He received great encouragement from his wife to make it on his own. This led to the founding of the band ‘Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five’. In 1927, he assembled his ‘Hot Seven’ band, which had most of the members of his earlier band. He performed some impressive feats with great vocals during his fabulous career.

4. Billie Holiday

Also known as Lady Day, she was a renowned jazz and swing music artist of the United States. Many of the jazz enthusiasts believe that she was the greatest vocalist in the genre. Although she died at the age of 44, she enjoyed an extensive career. The reason for her short life was mainly due to the problems with her heart and liver. Her use of alcohol and drugs was the culprit. She had a rather rough childhood.

At one point, she was sent to a facility for troubled African-American girls. When she was a young teenager, Holiday began singing in Harlem’s nightclubs under the pseudonym ‘Billie Dove’. It was during this time that a producer discovered her. This led to a recording contract. She had a successful career in the following years with many collaborations and concert performances.

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Over the years since it was first developed, this music genre grew quickly. It also incorporated some new innovations and also had offshoots of it emerging in the later years. So, you’ll find several styles and sub-genres in jazz today.

The origins

In the early 1900s, large numbers of Africans arrived in North America. What really brought them to this part of the world was the Atlantic slave trade. The city of New Orleans had a considerably diverse population. Even today, the city is often called the ‘melting pot’ of culture.

With the arrival of the Africans came their influences of folk songs, ragtime, blues and marching band tradition of West Africa. All of this came together to form what eventually came to be known as ‘jazz’.

Development

In the 1910s and 1920s, jazz was mostly characterized by polyphonic collective improvisation. This was made possible by a frontline section that featured a trumpet or cornet. It was accompanied by a trombone and clarinet. A rhythm section of piano or banjo, drums, and tuba or double bass provided the right backing. The first key improvising soloist of jazz was Louis Armstrong.

What made him a major icon of jazz was his bold and operatic trumpet sound. The recordings with his ‘Hot Five’ and ‘Hot Seven’ became jazz music’s pinnacle in the 1920s. The first artist to write and make a formal arrangement of music for his band was Jelly Roll Morton.

Thus, he became one of the first among the major composers of jazz music. The Original Dixieland Jazz Band came up with their first jazz recordings in 1917. The recordings became extremely popular and played a key role in bringing the music to a nationwide audience. From the early 1930s to the late 1940s, the swing and big band era thrived.

During this period, band leaders such as Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie became huge stars. Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday were also band leaders at the beginning. Later, they ended up making their own solo careers.

The mid-20th century

During the 1950s and 1960s, the softer alternatives to the more fiery bebop sounds emerged. Artists such as Art Pepper, Dexter Gordon, and Chet Baker brought jazz from the West Coast. This form of jazz had a more sunny and laid-back aesthetic.

Additions of the influences of blues and gospel went into the creation of a bluesy sound. It developed later into ‘soul jazz’, which had a sound that seemed church-influenced. Ornette Coleman was instrumental in pioneering free jazz in 1959.

The 1970s and today’s jazz

The late 1960s saw Miles Davis’s band using electric instruments. As a result, jazz rock came into existence and grew into fusion. Herbie Hancock and a few other artists combined jazz improvisations with funk and disco. This led to the creation of danceable and complex sounds.

In recent times, the genre has embraced European jazz. It had its own sound that was distinct from others. The recent trends in jazz also included the complex rhythmic music of the 1980s.

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