HISTORY of JAZZ

Bebop - The birth of bebop in the 1940's is often considered to mark the beginning of modern jazz.
        Dizzy Gillespie ("Diz") George Gershwin and Cole Porter
        Album: "I Got Rhythm", "Cherokee", "How High The Moon"
        
        
Cool Jazz - Although Miles Davis first appeared on bebop recordings of Charlie Parker, his first important
            session as a leader was called The Birth Of The Cool.This music is generally
            more relaxed than bebop. Other musicians in the cool style include saxophonists Stan Getz and
            Gerry Mulligan, and trumpet player Chet Baker. 
            Album: The Birth Of The Cool
            
            
Hard Bop - In what has been described as either an extension of bebop or a backlash against cool, a style of
           music known as hard bop developed in the 1950's.
           Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers,Horace Silver, trumpet player Clifford Brown.
           
Post Bop - The period from the mid 1950's until the mid 1960's represents the heyday of mainstream modern
           jazz.Miles Davis had four important groups during this time. The first featured John Coltrane ("Trane") on
           tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and "Philly" Joe Jones on drums.
           Ron Carter and Tony Williams, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones,Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Woody Shaw
           Album: Kind Of Blue
            
           
Free Jazz and the Avant Garde - During these same decades of the 1950's and 1960's, some musicians took jazz in more exploratory
                                directions. The terms free jazz and avant garde are often used to describe these approaches, in which
                                traditional forms, harmony, melody, and rhythm were extended considerably or even abandoned.
                                Ornette Coleman and trumpet player Don Cherry .
                                Album: The Shape Of Jazz To Come and Free Jazz.
                                 

Fusion -  Miles Davis helped usher in the fusion of jazz and rock in the mid to late 1960's through albums such
          as Bitches Brew and Jack Johnson. His bands during this period featured Herbie Hancock, Chick
          Corea, and Joe Zawinul on electric piano, Ron Carter and Dave Holland on bass, John McLaughlin on
          guitar, and Tony Williams and Jack DeJohnette on drums. 

Post Modern - While fusion seemed to dominate the jazz market in the 1970's and early 1980's, there were other
              developments as well. Some performers started borrowing from 20th century classical music as well
              as African and other forms of world music. These musicians include Don Cherry, Charlie Haden,
              saxophonists Anthony Braxton, David Murray, and Dewey Redman, clarinetist John Carter, pianists
              Carla Bley and Muhal Richard Abrams.

The Present - One of the big trends of today is a return to the bebop and post bop roots of modern jazz. Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and his brother,
              saxophonist Branford Marsalis, have achieved much popular success playing music that is based on
              styles of the 1950's and 1960's.Kenny Kirkland or Marcus Roberts on piano.