Free Custom «Jazz Music» Essay Paper

Jazz is one of the most liked genres of music world over .Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis are two of the most well known jazz performers who many would want to reckon with in the world of music. By keenly listening to their singing skills, some of the concepts incorporated in their music and the quality of their music one will definitely appreciate the works of these two gentlemen. By simply listening to several different pieces by each of this artist one will notice that they indeed put a lot in their compositions. There are some songs that both have done a version of. Both have greatly contributed to the development of music and entertainment in general. Their provocations can be described in many ways other than just being considered to be very intellectual and heavily being steeped in the blues. The two are relatively well known for what they have done to the jazz music.

Louis Armstrong, who unfortunately died on 1971, was one of the most influential jazz maestros. In the year 1925 , him and a group made up of musicians from New Orleans one day came together to record a number of songs which sort of became the standard for a tradition of Dixieland kind of Jazz music which persists to date. This was famously known as the Hot 5 and Hot 7 recordings. The creative and interesting innovations of Louis Armstrong greatly influenced, not just the contemporary music at that point in time, but also the American pop music during the twentieth century. On these many outstanding records Armstrong did not simply define to people jazz music, otherwise known as 'swing' in other quarters but also revealed the future of jazz and pop music by extension. He essentially remixed or re-composed some of the best pop-tunes that he played, hence making them more interesting. Armstrong's way of singing was filled with joyous, creative leaps, inspired original tunes and melodies, and relaxed and subtle rhythms. The genius of all his creative way of doing jazz was matched by his playing technique which was honed by consistent practice. A common similarity they had with Davis is that they both were so passionate about their music and hence their regular practice which extended the range, pitch, tone and use of instruments like trumpet and violin .Armstrong is known for single-handedly creating the role of a jazz soloist. The fresh and new interpretations basically produced an amazing effect for the music was later on to be described as hauntingly different and with new scales and with continuous rhythmic syncopation .The music was basically described in so many ways other pundits claimed that it was complex rhythms which were accompanied with surprisingly coherent sound as the music emerged from a spontaneous and chaotic atmosphere. The two were aspects that bounced the jazz music into dominance and prominence. Armstrong greatly contributed to what was called swing music a mild form of jazz .The music was described as buoyant, floating, detached and melodic .This quite different from the usual boring beat that characterized most genres of music then. The unfathomable swing combined with its incredible spontaneity which always amazed many listeners .

 

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After releasing many classic jazz records learning to play the Dixieland Jazz sort of became an in thing .Today its described as a process full of aural imitation to listen and to learn from him. Musical analysis and understanding of transcriptions should can never replace this learning but can only speed it up .The truthful energy and the awesome nature of Armstrong’s music has made many get interested in understanding and even explaining the sound and notation. Jazz, according to experts and enthusiasts, will always be pretty much a personal interpretation but using some of the classic works of veterans and legends like Armstrong to get a better understanding of the music. For Jazz musicians, a concept like transcribing is normally taken very seriously as an educational method for better and in depth understanding for it greatly assists in the developing of essential musical skills in learners .This helps in developing a sense of aural discrimination, musical vocabulary and phrase construction. There is a lot that Armstrong influenced also, for instance, the urge to learn instrumental technique by basically imitating, interpreting the style, pitches, rhythm, dynamics and harmony.

On the other hand, Miles Dewey Davis III who was born in the mid 20s and died early 90s was a popular American musician who sung jazz, liked playing the trumpet, a composer and a bandleader to boot. He was widely considered to be one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century.Togetehr with his musical group, he was always concerned with things to do with music and entertainment and other related several major developments on matters jazz .Some of the most common sub genres he came up with were bebop, hard bop, cool jazz, jazz fusion and modal jazz. In 2008, Miles’1959 album titled Kind of Blue got its fourth platinum approval and certification from the (RIAA) The Recording Industry Association of America which saw him get allowed to ship some four million copies of his album to the United States. In 1996, Miles Davis basically got inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Many pundits in the music industry consider Davis as one of the key figures among those who actively participated in the development of jazz music. People like Davis have contributed immensely on the development of the genre of jazz .In 2009 ,a record representative from Michigan while in the house of representatives ,requested them to recognize and commemorate Davis’s album titled Kind of Blue when it was about to turn 50th anniversary. This gesture in many ways sort of affirms that indeed Jazz is a national treasure and he also encouraged officials from government to help in the preservation and in the advancement of the art form of jazz music. The bill went through in fact unanimously.

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Davis and Armstrong do jazz music but their sound is very different despite the huge contribution they offered to the development of the genre. for instance they have severally done covers of same songs .A good example is the popular song titled Summer time which was made popular by the opera Porgy and Bess. Both Armstrong and Davis did a cover of the song. The two artistes had some attributes in common ,for example Armstrong and Davis both had their own solo but Davis's was very long and fast paced but Armstrong's was short, but very clear and deliberate. The instrumentation used in each one differed as well; Armstrong used a more classical band featuring violins and clarinets. Davis was accompanied by I believe either cornets or saxophones. The tempo to Davis's was slightly more upbeat and faster than that of the one performed by Armstrong who had a mid tempo pace beat also performed his version with Ella Fitzgerald in which he also sang and scatted.

At some point of his life, Davis started to record with Gill Evans. In the late 50s Davis recorded so many albums with his friend Gil Evans who was good at playing the flugelhorn and the trumpet. His first number was called Miles Ahead and was released in the year 1997 in which he attempts to prove that he can sing while he was also showcasing the fact that he can play alongside a jazz band. One of the very distinct feature found in the album was the complicated orchestral passages which Evans had come up with and looked at as transitions that was between his many other tracks, which got joined together by some of the innovative by editing in the post-production parts and in the process turning the album into a seamless kind of music. In the year 1958, Davis together with his wife got back in the studio and recorded.

Miles Davis is believed to have played an inevitably controversial character and has greatly contributed to the development of this kind of music. Miles Davis was arguably the most widely known to be generous among most jazz musician .He was a very outspoken social commentator /critic with an interesting style. He helped many saxophonists’ trombonists, pianists and drummers.