Jazz music emerged in the early 20th century in New Orleans, Louisiana, where it was played in the city’s bars, brothels, and dance halls. The genre quickly spread throughout the United States, and by the 1920s, jazz was a popular form of music in cities across the country.
During this period, jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington helped popularise the genre and develop new styles like swing and bebop. In the 1950s and 1960s, jazz became more experimental and diverse, with musicians like Miles Davis and John Coltrane pushing the boundaries of the genre and incorporating elements of rock, funk, and other musical styles. Today, jazz remains an important and influential form of music around the world, and continues to evolve and innovate with each new generation of musicians.
As well as the many famous jazz singers of the 20th century, there were also many influential jazz composers. With so many it’s impossible to name all the greats, but here are five of some of the most prominent and innovative:
Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington was a prolific composer, pianist, and bandleader. With a career that spanned more than 50 years, he is often considered one of the most important and influential figures in the history of jazz.
Born in 1899 in Washington, D.C., Ellington began playing piano as a child and quickly developed a love for music. In the 1920s, he formed his own band, which would become one of the most successful and respected groups in jazz history.
Over the course of his career, Ellington wrote hundreds of original compositions, including jazz standards like ‘Take the A Train’, ‘Mood Indigo’, ‘Sophisticated Lady’ and ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing If it Ain’t Got That Swing’. He also helped to bring jazz to a wider audience through his numerous recordings, film appearances, and tours around the world.
Over his lifetime, Ellington received nine Grammys, along with three more after his death in 1974. His legacy continues to influence and inspire musicians today.
Miles Davis
Miles Davis was a trumpeter, bandleader and composer who was at the forefront of several different innovative styles of jazz throughout his long and influential career.
Born in 1926 in Alton, Illinois, Davis began playing trumpet as a child and quickly developed a unique sound and style, playing without vibrato. He became a leading figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz in the 1940s and 1950s, and his recordings from this period are considered some of the greatest in jazz history. Some of his many iconic jazz compositions include ‘So What’, ‘All Blues’ and ‘Freddie Freeloader’.
Davis in his New York City home, c. 1955–56; photograph by Tom Palumbo
Image Credit: Photograph by Tom Palumbo, via Wikimedia Commons / Malik Shabazz / CC BY-SA 2.0
Davis continued to push the boundaries of jazz throughout his career, experimenting with new styles and incorporating elements of rock, funk, and other musical genres. He was also known for his collaborations with other musicians, including John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter.
Having overcome a heroin addiction, his final album of the decade, Kind of Blue, is still considered one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time, earning him the opportunity to be the first jazz musician featured on the cover of The Rolling Stones magazine.
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk was a unique and innovative American jazz pianist and composer who helped to shape and define the sound of modern jazz in the 1940s and 1950s.
Born in 1917 in North Carolina, Monk began playing piano at a young age and quickly developed a unique style characterised by dissonant harmonies and angular melodies. He was a member of the bebop movement and played with many of the era’s most influential musicians, including Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.
Monk’s compositions, including ‘Round Midnight’, ‘Straight, No Chaser’, and ‘Blue Monk’ are considered jazz classics and continue to be widely performed and recorded today. He received numerous awards and honours over the course of his career, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993.
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus was an American jazz bassist, composer, and bandleader and is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of jazz. He was a major proponent of collective improvisation, and was also known for his virtuosic bass playing, as well as his challenging and complex compositions, which often combined elements of blues, gospel, and classical music.
Mingus began his career in the 1940s playing with some of the leading figures of the bebop era, including Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. He later formed his own bands and became known for his fiery and sometimes confrontational style of leadership.
Charles Mingus – Bi Centennial, Lower Manhattan, 4 July 1976
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Tom Marcello Webster / CC BY-SA 2.0
Throughout his career, Mingus created a vast and diverse body of work, ranging from hard-swinging blues-based tunes to experimental and avant-garde compositions. His music was known for its emotional intensity, technical virtuosity, and social and political commentary.
Despite struggling with health issues throughout his life, Mingus continued to perform and compose music up until his death in 1979. His music continues to be studied and performed by jazz musicians around the world.
John Coltrane
John Coltrane was an American saxophonist and composer who was known for his technical virtuosity and his ability to push the boundaries and development of jazz in the 1950s and 1960s.
Born in 1926 in North Carolina, Coltrane began his career as a sideman in various jazz groups before joining the Miles Davis Quintet in the late 1950s. He then formed his own group and began experimenting with new, spiritually inspired and innovative styles of jazz, including free jazz and avant-garde jazz.
Coltrane’s recordings from this period, including ‘Giant Steps’, ‘My Favourite Things’ and ‘A Love Supreme’, are considered some of the greatest in jazz history.
