In this video Jaco Pastorius; the greatest bass player in the world. Enjoy it.

Miles Davis. Probabily the Greatest. He was the only musician protagonist in every period of jazz. From Be-Bop to fusion he was there.

Bill Evans.

One of the greatest in Jazz History. His way to play the piano was new and inspired lot of young musicians.

Gene Krupa.

He`s consither the father of the Drumset, because he wrote the first drumset Method.

Sonny Rollins; one of the greatest Saxophon player. He plays the Tenor Sax.

in this picture Milt Jackson

The Vibraphone (or Vibes) is one of the most interesting instruments of jazz. It`s considered part of the percussion, but it`s anyway a melodic instrument. Sometimes is confused with the xilophone of with the marimba.
The first important vibraphone player was Lionel Hampton. Hampton was the director of a big band from the Swing Era (the Lionel Hampton Big Band). But he was more a percussionist than a vibes player.
Than there was Milt Jackson, that with John Lewis made the Modern Jazz Quartet. He was the first that made the people understand about the harmonical and melodic possiblilities of the Vibes; in fact the Modern Jazz Quartet tried to mix jazz and classical music.
After Milt Jackson, another Big: Mike Mainieri (with his fusion band "Steps Ahead"), still one of the greatest. Now we have also Gary Burton (my favorite) and Bobby Hutcherson.

in this picture Pat Metheny












The guitar is now consider a rock instrument, but it`s not at all.
the first guitar was classical.
in jazz they started using guitars since the big bans of the Swing Era. But the guitar doen`t have so much volume by itself, so it has been often substituted by the banjo.
The first great guitare player of the Post Swing Era was Wes Montgomery, that by the way started his career in a bib band.
now the greatest guitar players are John Scofield and Pat Metheny, good in mixin classic jazz with electric sound.
For know more about Guitar`s History, Pat Metheny, John Scofield and Wes Montgomery visit http://www.wikipedia.org/

I`m going to publish the History of an instrument. Let me know if someone of you is interest in a particular one. (ex. guitar, trumpet, vibes or bass or ext)

jazz!!!

Jazz is a kind of music considered boring by the most of the people, especially teenagers. It`s very difficult to appreciate: songs long sometimes more than ten minutes, no lyrics, usually played in country club by people in coat and tie... so nothing cool! The main pattern of the jazz musician is an old man, maybe nerd, with glasses. Very wrong!!!!!
Jazz has an amazing history, lot of cool people that play it, and sometimes it`s more movement and fast than rock.



Jazz History
At the start of the 20th century, U.S, was full of immigrants especially from Europe, than joined Afro-American people. The result was Jazz!
The fusion between the rhythm of the African and the ability with wind instruments by Italians and Frenches (thanks to the band tradition) gave start to this new and fresh kind of music, based in fact on a rhythm section and a melodic part.
The first "Jazz City" is New Orleans, where Nick La Rocca Recorded the first jazz disc with the Original Dixieland Jazz band.
With the prohibition era, lot of jazz musicians lost their job and emigrate to other cities, exporting the new music in all the country.
After that came the Swing Era (20s and 30s), where lot of big bands (for example the "Benny Goodman big band" or the Duke Ellington big band") performed in dance locals. Here started the evolution of instruments like trumpet, saxophone and trombone, limited by classical music.
When the Swing Era ended started the Be-Bop Era (40s). This new music was only from black people and it was a kind of rebellion. Here showed up great soloist like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis.
In the 50s we had the Cool Jazz, mostly from the west coast and characterized by a strict collaboration between blacks and whites. Some of the greatest of that period were Gerry Mulligan, Gil Evans and Stan Getz. The adjective "cool" comes from the strange atmosphere around that music, almost surreal. "Cool Jazz people" were most young and anti-system. People that didn`t want be uniform to the WASP pattern (white anglo-saxon protestant), so kind of social marginalized.
In the late 50s the blacks came back with the Hard-Bop, a new version of Be-Bop; while for the withes started the Davis and Coltrane Era with the album that revolutionized the jazz: "Kind of Blue". Davis was a trumpet player and Coltrane a tenor sax player and with Bill Evans (piano) and others found a new compromise between melody and improvisation.
In the 60s started the Free Jazz movement, a very strange kind of jazz with particular sounds and effect, that was a big protest by blacks.
Finally in the 70s started the Jazz-Rock, that brought electric sounds in jazz.