Summaries adapted from the PBS website.
Episode 9: "The Adventure"
1956 - 1960
In the late 1950s, America's postwar prosperity continues, but beneath the surface run currents of change. Families are moving to the suburbs, watching television has become the national pastime, and baby boomers have begun coming of age. For jazz, it is also a period of transition when old stars like Billie Holiday and Lester Young will burn out while young talents arise to take the music in new directions.
Jazz still has its two guiding lights. In 1956, the first year Elvis tops the charts, Duke Ellington recaptures the nation's ear with a performance at the Newport Jazz Festival that becomes his best-selling record ever. The next year, Louis Armstrong makes headlines when he condemns the government's failure to stand up to racism in Little Rock, Arkansas, risking his career while musicians who dismissed him as an Uncle Tom remain silent.
Meanwhile, new virtuosos emerge to push the limits of bebop: saxophone colossus Sonny Rollins; jazz diva Sarah Vaughan; and the drummer Art Blakey, whose Jazz Messengers will become a proving ground for young musicians over the next forty years. But the leading light of the era is Miles Davis — a catalyst constantly forming new groups to showcase different facets of his stark, introspective sound; a popularizer whose lush recordings with arranger Gil Evans expand the jazz audience; and a cultural icon whose tough-guy charisma comes to define what's hip.
As the turbulent Sixties arrive, however, two saxophonists take jazz into uncharted terrain. John Coltrane explodes the pop tune My Favorite Things into a kaleidoscope of freewheeling sound, while Ornette Coleman challenges all conventions with a sound he calls "free jazz." Once again, the music seems headed for new adventures, but now, for the first time, even musicians are starting to ask, Is it still jazz?
Episode 10: "A Masterpiece by Midnight"
1960 to the Present
During the Sixties, jazz is in trouble. Critics divide the music into "schools" - Dixieland, swing, bebop, hard bop, modal, free, avant-garde. But most young people are listening to rock 'n' roll. Though Louis Armstrong briefly outsells the Beatles with Hello Dolly, most jazz musicians are desperate for work and many head for Europe, including bebop saxophone master, Dexter Gordon.
At home, jazz is searching for relevance. During the Civil Rights struggle, it becomes a voice of protest. Before his early death, the avant-garde explorer John Coltrane links jazz to the Sixties quest for a higher consciousness with his devotional suite, A Love Supreme. And Miles Davis, after conquering the avant-garde with a landmark quintet, combines jazz with rock 'n' roll by using electric instruments to launch a wildly popular sound called Fusion.
In the 1970s, jazz loses the exuberant genius of Louis Armstrong and the transcendent artistry of Duke Ellington, and for many their passing seems to mark the end of the music itself. But in 1976, when Dexter Gordon returns from Europe for a triumphant comeback, jazz has a homecoming, too. Over the next two decades, a new generation of musicians emerges, led by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis - schooled in the music's traditions, skilled in the arts of improvisation, and aflame with ideas only jazz can express. The musical journey that began in the dance halls and street parades of New Orleans at the start of the 20th century continues. As it enters its second century, jazz is still brand new every night, still vibrant, still evolving, and still swinging.
Students, in 2-3 complete sentences, post your comments on the video clips we watched in class below.
Episode 9: "The Adventure"
1956 - 1960
 |
| Segregated Water Cooler |
Jazz still has its two guiding lights. In 1956, the first year Elvis tops the charts, Duke Ellington recaptures the nation's ear with a performance at the Newport Jazz Festival that becomes his best-selling record ever. The next year, Louis Armstrong makes headlines when he condemns the government's failure to stand up to racism in Little Rock, Arkansas, risking his career while musicians who dismissed him as an Uncle Tom remain silent.
Meanwhile, new virtuosos emerge to push the limits of bebop: saxophone colossus Sonny Rollins; jazz diva Sarah Vaughan; and the drummer Art Blakey, whose Jazz Messengers will become a proving ground for young musicians over the next forty years. But the leading light of the era is Miles Davis — a catalyst constantly forming new groups to showcase different facets of his stark, introspective sound; a popularizer whose lush recordings with arranger Gil Evans expand the jazz audience; and a cultural icon whose tough-guy charisma comes to define what's hip.
As the turbulent Sixties arrive, however, two saxophonists take jazz into uncharted terrain. John Coltrane explodes the pop tune My Favorite Things into a kaleidoscope of freewheeling sound, while Ornette Coleman challenges all conventions with a sound he calls "free jazz." Once again, the music seems headed for new adventures, but now, for the first time, even musicians are starting to ask, Is it still jazz?
Episode 10: "A Masterpiece by Midnight"
1960 to the Present
 |
| Wynton Marsalis |
At home, jazz is searching for relevance. During the Civil Rights struggle, it becomes a voice of protest. Before his early death, the avant-garde explorer John Coltrane links jazz to the Sixties quest for a higher consciousness with his devotional suite, A Love Supreme. And Miles Davis, after conquering the avant-garde with a landmark quintet, combines jazz with rock 'n' roll by using electric instruments to launch a wildly popular sound called Fusion.
In the 1970s, jazz loses the exuberant genius of Louis Armstrong and the transcendent artistry of Duke Ellington, and for many their passing seems to mark the end of the music itself. But in 1976, when Dexter Gordon returns from Europe for a triumphant comeback, jazz has a homecoming, too. Over the next two decades, a new generation of musicians emerges, led by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis - schooled in the music's traditions, skilled in the arts of improvisation, and aflame with ideas only jazz can express. The musical journey that began in the dance halls and street parades of New Orleans at the start of the 20th century continues. As it enters its second century, jazz is still brand new every night, still vibrant, still evolving, and still swinging.
Students, in 2-3 complete sentences, post your comments on the video clips we watched in class below.
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