April is National Jazz Appreciation Month! If you are new to Jazz, we have compiled a list of some of the best Jazz albums along with modern artists to check out wherever you get your music. Jazz began in New Orleans at the start of the 20th centuy, and in roughly two decades grew into an internationally recognized music genre. The main components of Jazz are the rhythmic changes and improvisation. What makes Jazz different from Classical music is that the emphasized beats are 2 and 4 instead of 1 and 3. Jazz is considered a performance centered art form which allows the musician to improv freely. What makes jazz so interesting is that a song will sound different based on the musician.
Jazz Albums
Brown by Sarah Vaughan, 1954
Ella & Louis by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, 1956
Blue Train by John Coltrane, 1957
Time Out by Dave Brubeck, 1959
The Sidewinder by Lee Morgan, 1963
The Turnaround by Hank Mobley, 1965
Be Good by Gregory Porter, 2012
Modern Jazz Artists to listen
Samara Joy
Michael Mayo
Dee Dee Bridgewater
Sullivan Fortner
Nate Smith
Christian McBride Big Band
Laufey
Esperanza Spalding
Nora Jones
Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Kamasi Washington
Books
The History of Jazz by Ted Gioia
Miles by Miles Davis
Jazz: New York in the Roaring Twenties by Robert Nippoldt
Lady Sings the Blues by Billie Holiday
Jazz by Geoffrey Ward and Ken Burns
Visions of Jazz by Gary Giddins
Sittin ‘In by Jeff Gold
Black Music by Amiri Baraka
Thelonious Monk by Robin Kelley
Satchmo by Louis Armstrong
Playing Jazz by Nate Chinen
Becoming Ella Fitzgerald by Judith Tick
The Jazzmen by Larry Tye
Nights at the Red Steinway by Will Friedwald
3 Shades of Blue by James Kaplan
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