Jazz itself is a wide and varied genre, which means most of the different styles will be displayed here. From Dixieland style jazz to modern jazz-rock, I will give you as much information as I can.
But first, why I love jazz.
It is a purely free genre, in my opinion. A group of guys can get together and just play without a set anything if they feel so inclined. It’s free expression and has no boundries. Jazz, itself, is the only real American genre of music, an amalgam of blues, African Rythems and Orchestra. Sure, you can say country is an American genre but why would you want to claim that as ours?
Jazz is about many things, but for me it about spreading your wings and just going. Doing whatever and going with the flow.
In the early jazz world, there were two star trumpet players. Louis Armstrong and Bix. Armstrong was more of a heavy, dark and louder player, while Beiderbeck was much more a cool, lighter style.
Bix was able to rival Sachmo in popularity at the time, however, he seems forgotten by modern jazz enthusists.
If you want to relax a bit, but still here some fire, pick up a Beiderbeck CD.
I came to Bix very late in my appreciation of jazz. It may have been a circuitous route, but in my case, it went through Lester Young. Lester appeared many years after Bix had died, but it’s fairly obvious that he not only heard Bix, but listened to him as well… with both ears.
And with “Prez”, you eventually find Billie Holiday…
This is a somewhat contraversial pick, but bare with me.
Kanno did the absolutely flawless soundtrack to “Cowboy Bebop,” which, in its score, had a mix of every style of jazz from Classic to Bop to Acid. The ability to do this wide of range of subgenres takes skill.
It’s this attribute that puts her on the list. True, her compositions make her jazz, no mattter how varied, seem of a Big Band realm, but it doesn’t hinder the fact Ms. Kanno here is incredably versitle.
On a side note: At a local jazz club one night, I was standing outside with the sax playrs and the basist for a local band and they asked me “How did you get into jazz?” So I said, “Have you ever seen an anime called “Cowboy Bebop?”” They shook their heads. So I mentioned the main title theme “Tank!” and the guys just said, “O yeah! That’s an amazing cut.”
I thought that was cool, anyway.
Listen to: “What Planet is This?,” “Tank!,” “Paino Bar,” “Sax Quartet.”