Instrumental Jazz Music

The various tools employed in instrumental jazz -- front-line instruments; key-board & percussion instruments; strings, brass & others... The roles played by saxophone, trumpet, piano, vibraphone, trombone, flute ...

Hi, Jazz Fan:

Modern instrumental jazz utilises the following groups of instruments:-

FRONT-LINE INSTRUMENTS
*** 1 Saxophone
*** 2 Trumpet

KEYBOARD & PERCUSSION
*** 3 Piano
*** 4 Organ
*** 5 Drums
*** 6 Vibraphone

STRING, BRASS & OTHERS
*** 7 Bass
*** 8 Guitar
*** 9 Clarinet
**10 Flute
**11 Trombone

BRIEF NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL JAZZ INSTRUMENTS

1 SAXOPHONE

The instrument most associated with instrumental jazz music is the saxophone. It became widely used in jazz in the late 1920s.

The saxophone emulates the human voice and is capable of expressing the full range of human emotions.

Adolphe Sax of Belgium patented the saxophone in 1846. It is a single-reed wind instrument made of brass. The four major types are:-

a) Soprano Saxophone - straight, like a clarinet
b) Alto Saxophone - smaller, with high-pitched, sharp sound
c) Tenor Saxophone - larger and mellow-sounding
d) Baritone Saxophone - bass notes

Prominent Jazz Saxophonists in Instrumental Jazz

... 1 Coleman Hawkins (1904-1969) - tenor sax
... 2 Johnny Hodges (1907-1970) - alto sax
... 3 Lester Young (1909-1959) - tenor sax
... 4 Charlie Parker (1920-1955) - alto sax
... 5 Sonny Rollins (b.1930) - tenor/soprano sax
... 6 Cannonball Adderley (1928-1975) - alto sax
... 7 Stan Getz (1927-1991) - tenor sax
... 8 James Moody (b.1925) - tenor/alto sax
... 9 John Coltrane (1926-1967) - tenor/soprano sax
..10 Roscoe Mitchell (b.1940) - bass/soprano sax
..11 Eric Dolphy (1928-1964) - alto sax
..12 Wayne Shorter (b.1933) - tenor/soprano sax
..13 Kenny Garret (b.1960) - alto/soprano sax
..14 Branford Marsalis (b.1960) - tenor/soprano sax
..15 Joshua Redman (b.1969) - tenor sax

2 TRUMPET

The trumpet was the leading voice of jazz in the 1920s and played a vital role in the evolvement of instrumental jazz.

It is a brass wind instrument and was already played, in various forms, by ancient civilisations.

Close cousins of the trumpet are the cornet and the flugelhorn. The cornet suited the New Orleans bands, but it later fell out of favour. It was replaced by the trumpet, with its brighter and more commanding sound.

The flugelhorn is used by some well-known trumpeters. It is larger, and it has a fuller, warmer and mellower sound. It is more suited to certain jazz styles.

Famous Jazz Trumpeters in Instrumental Jazz

... 1 Louis Armstrong (1901-1971)
... 2 Buck Clayton (1911-1991)
... 3 Roy Eldridge (1911-1989)
... 4 Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993)
... 5 Miles Davis (1926-1991)
... 6 Freddie Hubbard (b.1938)
... 7 Clark Terry (b.1920)
... 8 Donald Byrd (b.1932)
... 9 Wynton Marsalis (b.1961)
.. 10 Nicholas Payton (b.1973)

3 PIANO

The most versatile of jazz instruments, the piano is an orchestra by itself and is also one of the founding instruments of jazz.

In earlier large ensembles, the piano was unable to stand show its improvising voice. However, the emergence of smaller jazz groups in the 1920s and 1930s lifted the profile of the piano.

As with other aspects of instrumental jazz music, piano styles changed as the music evolved. The bebop era, for instance, produced several well-known pianists. And in the 1950s, some prominent pianists played the "cool" style.

In the 1960s, the jazz avant garde movement brought chaos to the piano scene. And the 1970s saw the introduction of synthesizers and the electric piano as jazz music entered a new electrifying period.

Famous Jazz Pianists in Instrumental Jazz

... 1 James P. Johnson (1894-1955)
... 2 Earl "Fartha" Hines (1903-1983)
... 3 Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941)
... 4 Fats Waller (1904-1943)
... 5 Duke Ellington (1899-1974)
... 6 Mary Lou Williams (1909-1981)
... 7 Thelonious Monk (1917-1982)
... 8 Dave Brubeck (b.1920)
... 9 Eddie Palmieri (b.1936)
..10 Oscar Peterson (b.1925)
..11 Art Tatum (1909-1956)
..12 Herbie Hancock (b.1940)
..13 Cecil Taylor (b.1929)
..14 Renee Rosnes (b.1962)
..15 Gonzalo Rubalcaba (b.1963)

4 ORGAN

The organ is a rare and unusual instrument in jazz. And it is the portable electric organ that accompanies the jazz groups. The gigantic pipe organ has no practical value for instrumental jazz.

The electric organ uses electronic circuits to produce its range of sounds. It has 61 keys, and foot pedals for bass notes. One good organist can cover all the elements of a small jazz group.

The first important jazz organist was Fats Waller, the legendary jazz pianist. His passion for organ jazz led him to make recordings in the 1920s and 1930s.

But it was not until the 1960s that the jazz organ came of age - with Jimmy Smith setting the pace.

Famous Organists in Instrumental Jazz

... 1 Fats Waller (1904-1943)
... 2 Wild Bill Davis (1918-1995)
... 3 Jimmy Smith (1925-2005)
... 4 Richard "Groove" Holmes (1931-1991)
... 5 Shirley Scott (1934-2002)
... 6 Joey DeFrancesco (b.1971)

5 DRUMS

The drums and the drummer are the anchor of the jazz band. Great drummers help to build great bands.

The drummer has a multi-purpose role in instrumental jazz - he moves the music forward, keeping up the swing; he interacts with the lead soloists, spurring them on; he fills in with accents, flourishes, rolls, cymbal crahes, and rhythmic combinations.

The drum set has evolved through the jazz eras, but the basic set-up is - bass drum, snare drum, floor tom, mounted tom on bass drum, high-hat, two or three cymbals.

During the 1960s, a new generation of jazz-rock players emerged. And behind them were the drummers who supplied the rhythmic punch.

Drummers - a Dozen of the Greats in Instrumental Jazz

... 1 Baby Dodds (1898-1959)
... 2 Zutty Singleton (1898-1975)
... 3 Chick Webb (1909-1939)
... 4 Gene Krupa (1909-1973)
... 5 Jo Jones (1911-1985)
... 6 Louie Bellson (b.1924)
... 7 Art Blakey (1919-1990)
... 8 Max Roach (b.1924)
... 9 Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
..10 Billy Cobhan (b.1944)
..11 Tony Williams (1945-1997)
..12 Jeff "Tain" Watts (b.1960)

6 VIBRAPHONE

The vibraphone (vibes) is a fringe instrument in jazz. But it is versatile and can play both lyrical and rhythmic roles.

A member ot the percussion family, the vibraphone is related to the marimba and the xylophone. However, the bars of the latter two are made of wood while those of the vibes are of aluminium alloy. Mallets are used to strike the bars to produce the characteristic wavering sound.

Like other jazz instruments, the performance of the vibraphone evolved with the development of instrumental jazz.

Well-known Vibraphonists in Instrumental Jazz

1 Lionel Hampton (1908-2002)
2 Red Norvo (1908-1999)
3 Terry Gibbs (b.1924)
4 Milt "Bags" Jackson (1923-1999)
5 Gary Burton (b.1943)
6 Mike Mainieri (b.1938)
7 Jay Hoggard (b.1954)
8 Cal Tjader (1925-1982)

7 BASS

Bass, or accoustic bass, is one of the oldest jazz instruments. It is the only classical string instrument to play an essential role in jazz.

The bass partners the drums in the rhythm section of a jazz band to ensure that the music's steady beat is felt. Hence the bassist and the drummer form the nucleus of the music, and around this , other players build their improvisations in instrumental jazz.

Also known as "standup bass" or "upright bass", the accoustic bass is made of special wood. And as the wood ages, the sound of the bass gets warmer and mellower. The bass is played either by plucking the strings or with a bow.

In the 1960s, the electric bass took its bow. This new instrumnet is quite different from the old accoustic version. It is smaller, being made of a solid hunk of wood, and looks like a large guitar.

Famous Bassists in Instrumental Jazz

... 1 Jimmy Blanton (1918-1942)
... 2 Milt Hinton (1910-2000)
... 3 Oscar Pettiford (1922-1960)
... 4 Charles Mingus (1922-1979)
... 5 Ray Brown (1926-2002)
... 6 Charlie Haden (b.1937)
... 7 Ron Carter (b.1937)
... 8 Stanley Clarke (b.1951)
... 9 Jaco Pastorius (1951-1987)
..10 Charles Fambrough (b.1950)

8 GUITAR

The guitar plays both rhythmic and melodic roles in instrumental jazz. It belongs to the rhythm section of a jazz band and helps the other rythmic members - bass, piano, drums - keep their pace.

The guitar and its cousin, the banjo, were already popular during the New Orleans years. Certain musicians favoured the banjo then. But in the 1920s, as jazz became more popular thru' records and radio, the guitar replaced the banjo as the primary string instrument in jazz.

During the 1930s, many fanatic guitarists experimented with ways to electrify the guitar. Finally in 1935, Lloyd Loar invented the ES150 Electric Spanish guitar and thus opened the floodgates to electrified guitar music.

Guitarists of Great Note in Instrumental Jazz

... 1 Eddie Lang (1902-1933)
... 2 Django Reinhardt (1910-1953)
... 3 Charlie Christian (1916-1942)
... 4 Eddie Condon (1905-1973)
... 5 Kenny Burrell (b.1931)
... 6 Barney Kessel (1923-2004)
... 7 Wes Montgomery (1925-1968)
... 8 Joe Pass (1929-1994)
... 9 John McLaughlin (b.1942)
..10 George Benson (b.1943)

9 CLARINET

The clarinet (licorice stick) symbolises vintage jazz. Its golden years were the 1930s and 1940s, when it was the leading jazz instrument, with its mesmerising snaking-charming sound.

Clarinets are single-reed woodwind instruments made of hardwood. There are two versions - alto and bass. The alto clarinet is the more favoured for its wide range and big tone. The bass clarinet, bigger and clumsy and with a deeper tone, is rarely used.

This tool's wide range of sounds makes it an ideal for instrumental jazz. And, indeed, even during the New Orleans days, the clarinet competed with the cornet and the trumpet as the dominant lead instrument.

The clarinet remained predominant through the big band era of the early 1940s. But about 1945, with the emergence of the trumpet and the saxophone, the clarinet lost its popularity.

Clarinetists of Distinction in Instrumental Jazz

... 1 Sidney Bechet (1897-1955)
... 2 Johnny Dodds (1892-1940)
... 3 Jimmy Noone (1895-1944)
... 4 Benny Goodman (1909-1986)
... 5 Artie Shaw (1910-2004)
... 6 Joe Marsala (1907-1978)
... 7 Buddy DeFranco (b.1923)
... 8 Eddie Daniels (b.1941)
... 9 Alvin Batiste (b.1932)
..10 Bennie Maupin (b.1940)

10 FLUTE

The flute is another fringe instrument in jazz. Only a few musicians have played it well.

The reedy, ethereal sound of the flute is distinctive. This is a wind instrument of ancient origin. But the modern flute was designed by Theobald Boehm in 1850 - with bigger holes for a larger sound. However, this instrument has always had a low profile in instrumental jazz.

Flautists of Note in Instrumental Jazz

... 1Frank Wess (b.1922)
... 2 Buddy Collette (b.1921)
... 3 Herbie Mann (1930-2004)
... 4 Rahsaan Roland Kirk (1936-1977)
... 5 Prince Lasha (b.1929)
... 6 Hubert Laws (b.1939)
... 7 James Newton (b.1953)
... 8 Lew Tabackin (b.1940)

11 TROMBONE

The trombone plays low, rhythmic bass notes, lower in pitch than other horns. It also makes "special effects" - brays like an elephant and plays wah-wah sound, growls and slurs.

Like the trumpet, the trombone reaches back into ancient times. It has been played since New Orleans days. But the modern jazz trombone has two versions - the classic slide trombone and the valve trombone. The latter is seldom used.

Many famous jazz musicians play the trombone in addition to their main instrument. But the greatest trombone player of all time was Jack Teagarden. He had a unique style but no imitators in this form of instrumental jazz.

Famous Trombonists in Instrumental Jazz

... 1 Kid Ory (1886-1973)
... 2 Jack Teagarden (1905-1964)
... 3 Juan Tizol (1900-1984)
... 4 Tommy Dorsey (1905-1956)
... 5 Trummy Young (1912-1984)
... 6 J J Johnson (1924-2001)
... 7 Curtis Fuller (b.1934)
... 8 Delfeayo Marsalis (b.1965)