The origin of the word jazz is believed to be from the word jasm, a slang term dating back to 1860 meaning “pep, energy.” The English word jazz was first seen in printed form in 1912. That was a few years after what we now consider the beginnings of jazz in the US, probably originating in the city of New Orleans. If you want more history, there are a ton of books on the subject at your local library and, of course, Amazon Books.
Jazz, like all other art forms, has gone through numerous incarnations — swing, bebop, free jazz, just to name a few. For our purposes, let’s confine ourselves to the new wave of jazz that, perhaps, stretches back to the late 1960’s to the present day.
The next generation of great players is here. They are well schooled, extremely creative young people who take this art form very seriously. Many have come from top music colleges. (Remember before Miles Davis played with “Bird and Diz’ he went to Juliard.) Many of the best schools offer degrees in Jazz composition, history and theory. Other players learned their craft on the streets busking, and others still in small unnamed clubs across the country.
Let’s take a look at three players, actually two players and a singer, and hopefully give them a few minutes to present their craft. This is in no way meant to be a critique or review, just a few words and a few tunes to give you an idea of what you are missing if you don’t know these folks.
