A brief history of jazz

I would like you to have some basic knowledge of the history of jazz. If you don’t know much about jazz, then a very brief history of earlier jazz up to the Bebop era can be found in Ron Rubin’s 2008 article or on Sandy Brown’s website.

I cover some of this background in the video, although the video does not cover the history of jazz after the Bebop era, but later on we will discuss briefly probably the most important figure in the subsequent history of jazz, namely the trumpeter Miles Davis. Miles was a key figure is the development of the jazz styles Bebop, Cool Jazz, Hard Bop, Orchestral Jazz, Modal Jazz, Jazz-Rock, Fusion and Disco Jazz (although not everyone agrees on this terminology).

If you are new to the music, then I suggest that you listen to the modern jazz pianists Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett (playing jazz standards), and we will make references to them throughout the program.

Task: If you know of other good resources on the history of jazz, please feel free to share these in the comments on this step.