Friday the 30th April is International Jazz Day.
International Jazz Day is the day for aficionados of jazz music to get together to play and share their love for this style of music. There are a number of excellent jazz performances scheduled right around the globe including in New Zealand.
I enjoy jazz music myself so I thought I would have a look at a few good albums from some of my personal favorites. I will feature four artists: Chet Baker, Miles Davis, George Benson and Ronny Jordan.
Chet Baker:
Chet Baker was an American jazz musician of the 1950-1980’s. He was a trumpet player and vocalist and collaborated with many of the great jazz musicians of his era. Chet was one of the main proponents of the cool jazz style earning him the title as “the prince of cool“. He had a major career resurgence in the late 1970-early 1980’s when he did much of his best work.
His middle and later life were plagued by substance addictions and he lived for most of his last years in Europe. He died in Paris in 1988.
Embraceable You is a Chet Baker album recorded in 1959 and only released in 1995. It showcases his superlative trumpet playing and great vocal range. Not his best album but in the top ten in my personal opinion.
Miles Davis:
Miles Davis was one of the great jazz musicians and his career spanned over 50 years from the mid 1940’s to the 1990’s. He played a number of instruments; flugelhorn, electric organ and piano but he was a master of the trumpet. Miles worked at one time with all of the great jazz icons and played many styles including be-bop, cool jazz, hard bop, electric funk and jazz fusion.
His ability to change styles was one of his most important attributes and ensured he remained relevant right throughout his career.
Choosing a single album of his is difficult as he had so many excellent pieces of work. I love his early work but one of his best later albums is 1970’s Bitches Brew. This was his first foray into jazz fusion and electric funk which dominated his later music. Miles Davis died in 1991.
George Benson:
George Benson is another well known American jazz musician with a career spanning the late 1960’s through to today. He is a guitar player, song writer and vocalist of some repute and is a multiple Grammy winner. He is probably best known for his cross over and R&B inspired music from the 1970’s. George has had a major resurgence as an respected jazz musician in his later years.
George Benson has collaborated with many other jazz greats over the years but it is as a solo musician that he has made his mark. One of my favorite albums is the 1996 release That’s Right. It ably shows his supreme guitar skills and sweet, smooth vocals. He is still active and tours widely through the world.
Rony Jordan:
The only non American in this list Ronny Jordan was a British jazz musician, song writer and vocalist. His music was an outlier of the acid jazz style called urban jazz which combines jazz, hip-hop and R&B styles. He was an excellent jazz guitar player and was the recipient of numerous BMA awards and was nominated for a Grammy in 2000.
Ronny only released nine albums during his short career but all of them were gems. Perhaps his best album was the 1993 release The Quiet Revolution. It is a superbly catchy album and well worth a play.
Sadly Ronny died of natural causes in 2014 at the relatively young age of 51 years.
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