Nat King Cole is a classic jazz giant with soft baritone voice and amiable disposition who was widely accepted both by colored and white audiences. He was also one of the first black men hosting a TV show sponsored by national advertisers.
Cole’s career started as a pianist working with a drummerless trio. Since then Cole had been a great interpreter of stories behind tunes throughout his career.
For vintage recordings of Nat King Cole, please visit
http://classicjazzgiants.com
Rubato is a playing of a musical instrument with expressive and rhythmic freedom.
Classic jazz giants who used rubato frequently include Joe Pass and Bill Evans. Especially Joe Pass employed rubato together with his signature long single note run for emotional expressiveness effectively.
For more about Joe Pass please visit
http://classicjazzgiants.com
Like in other genres of music the use of the sustain pedal adds a lot to the quality of sound in piano jazz.
The amount, timing, and speed of depressing and lifting the sustain pedal changes how the entire piano vibrates.
When depressed to the bottom, the entire piano resonates and the sound becomes deep, warm, and rich. If lifted slowly, the sound is damped out gradually.
Bill Evans is one of the piano jazz giants who demonstrated his capability to fully utilize the sustain pedal, and draw a rich singing tone from the piano without blurring the notes.
For more about the art of pedaling, please visit
http://classicjazzgiants.com
The big “O” of jazz piano, Oscar Peterson may be the only non-American jazz musician who received worldwide acceptance and recognition.
Oscar Peterson was one of the few jazz musicians who never compromised his playing style to the trend of audiences’ taste throughout his career.
After intimidated by a recording of Tiger Rag by Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson became a student of Art Tatum’s piano playing style. There is an episode that Oscar Peterson gave up playing the instrument for a month after listening to Tiger Rag for the first time as a young piano student.
For more about the big “O” of jazz piano, please visit
http://classicjazzgiants.com
Violin is an instrument which is used rarely in jazz.
With his unique rendition of jazz tunes that perfectly suits the sound of violin, and his superb virtuosity, Stephane Grappelli was a single dominant fiddler in the history of jazz.
His ability to eliminate unnecessary tension from his wrists and fingers, as well as his perfect pitch make possible the sweetness and deapth of sound from Stephane Grappelli’s voilin.
For more about the grandfather of jazz violinists, please visit
http://classicjazzgiants.com
Sarah Vaughan, also known as “Sassy” and “The Divine One”, was described by a music critic as having “one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century”.
With extraordinarily wide range covered by her voice and variety of tonal colors her voice can express, Sarah Vaughan was regarded as unmatched vocal virtuosity in the history of jazz.
For more about the Divine One, please visit
http://classicjazzgiants.com
Jelly Roll Morton is the first great jazz pianist.
For his unparalleled talent as an arranger Jelly Roll Morton is regarded as one of the first musicians who deeply influenced on the improvisational nature of the genre.
For more about the “inventor of jazz” please visit
http://classicjazzgiants.com
Bill Evans is one of the most influencial jazz pianists.
Early in his carrer Bill Evans formed arguably the most celebrated piano trio in jazz history with Scott Lafaro and Paul Motian.
The trio is notorious for balletic interplay among the three musicians which Bill Evans himself called “simulteneous improvisation”.
By simultaneous improvisation, Bill Evans, the band leader, gave maximum freedom with responsibility to other members leading to most intricate and exciting trio interactions.
For more about simultaneous improvisation, please visit
http://classicjazzgiants.com
Airegin is a tune composed by Sonny Rollins in 1950s and recorded by numbers of jazz giants. One of the first recordings was produced by Miles Davis.
The title is a backword of Nigeria, a symbol of the sufferings of African Americans and hope of rapidly changing Africa in 1950s.
The performance by Wes Montgomery in 1960 recording is bloodcurdling.
For more about Airegin please visit
http://classicjazzgiants.com
Thelonious Monk is one of the most influencial figures in the history of piano jazz introduced in Classic Jazz Giants site.
Thelonious Monk is imaginative in handling chord voicings particularly in the solo performance of “Ruby My Dear”.
“Ruby My Dear” is a tune named after Monk’s first love, Rubie Richardson.
For more about “Ruby My Dear” please visit
http://classicjazzgiants.com
Classic Jazz Giants 