THE JAZZ MESSENGERS (A convoluted history) Jazz History #54

[@chasesanborn]

This is the 54th episode in the Jazz History series. Comments and especially LIKES are encouraged and appreciated!

[@BopWalk]

The 1954 A Night at Birdland albums are absolutely a gold mine in jazz history. Clifford Brown was absolutely tearing it up those 2 nights.

[@chasesanborn]

'twas a watershed moment in jazz history.

[@hshlom]

And let's not forget Lou Donaldson, who has been tearing it up ever since and is still going strong today at 96.

[@chasesanborn]

One of the very last of his generation.

[@matth6932]

Then Lee stepped in. Thank-you again Chase for the warm up!

[@chasesanborn]

Lots more to come--as you are evidently aware!

[@charlesbarry971]

Hard bop at its finest 😢😮

[@chasesanborn]

True enough.

[@leomiles8658]

3 Jazz messengers videos? awesome!

[@chasesanborn]

Glad we agree!

[@charlesbarry971]

What a great trumpeter Clifford Browne was.His early death robbed us of his talent.

[@chasesanborn]

Fortunately in just a short time he gave us a lot.

[@rickdavenport9538]

Thanks for this!!

[@chasesanborn]

Happy to oblige!

[@RichardBourne]

My Dear Chase, Subscribed today. Love the sound, always have. Keep the music alive, these guys are. "After You've Gone" - Hirofumi Asaba, Yuji Kamihigashi, Kentaro Arai Send them some likes too. All the best. I've got some watching to do. Rb Md.

[@chasesanborn]

Welcome aboard!

[@caramel9600]

Yo thanks for your videos!! You’re amazing. Also shout out to Cantaloupe Flip Fantasia, I never realized where that sample was from!!

[@chasesanborn]

Not nearly as amazing as the artists I showcase in the Jazz History series, but thank you all the same!

[@chelmrtz]

Would like to see you take on pianist Billy Tipton’s history and story

[@chasesanborn]

It's a very long list of artists that I haven't covered, but thanks for the vote of confidence!

[@peterpallotta2828]

Thanks, Chase. I have some real gaps in my knowledge about the greats in jazz, and the Jazz Messengers are/is one example. I appreciate you including Wee Dot in its entirety. Wow! I mean, can hard bop be played any better than that (early example of an early JM iteration)? Where could it have gone after this near-perfect and complete expression?

[@chasesanborn]

Fortunately we are able to see where hard bop went from there, not necessarily better but evolved further away from bebop, the roots of which are evident on that session. With some players whose lives are cut short there is a sense of unfulfilled promise or what might have been. With players like Clifford (or Bird), they were masters of their idiom to the point that it has proved impossible to 'better' them, only to build on what they contributed.

[@peterpallotta2828]

@@chasesanborn Thanks for the insights, Chase. Yes, that's it -- the roots of bebop were still very evident here in this recording (sort of in the same way as elements of swing-jazz were still evident in the early/original bebop players, and with someone like Wardell Gray). With the evolution of hard bop moving the music further away from those same roots, it makes it harder for me to follow. My swing-era ears only recently became able to hear and appreciate the expanded/extended harmonic language of bebop!

[@chasesanborn]

In some ways, hard bop is harmonically easier to grasp than bebop, since the chords don't typically fly by so fast. Keep listening!

[@A.ChristopherJohnson]

Official crew the J.M.'s