Libro: JAZZ: The 50s Scene

Even in its rate of development, jazz is truly the music of the 20th century. It is hard to believe that this music, in all its awesome diversity, is more than a century old. It has a long and complicated history, full of gods and heroes, saints and martyrs. Diversity, though, can create confusion. The word jazz , once so simple and direct, now describes many sounds and many kinds of musical thought. Looking at the forthcoming attractions in a local club, it is hard to know what kind of music will result when this jazz attraction or that one takes the stand.

Our collection of easy listening jazz will be relaxing, enjoyable listening; melody will play a prominent role and will gently swing. Angry, rebellious sounds can be heard elsewhere.

Consider for a moment the list of artists represented here: it reads like a Who s Who of popular music, from the soulful stylings of Billie Holiday to the soft, gentle sound of George Shearing, from the deep, rich voice of Billy Eckstine to the elegance of Coleman Hawkins, and from the unique pairing of Ella Fitzgerald with Louis Armstrong to the swinging ease of Frank Sinatra; it is all here, programmed for maximum enjoyment and listening.

For a music that was at first seen as reactionary but became accepted on its own terms, it is sobering to realize just how much jazz infiltrated and influenced the mainstream of popular music. Artists such as Nat King Cole made a smooth transition from jazz pianist to one of the most outstanding popular singers of the 20th century. Frank Sinatra imbued his singing with an innate jazz feel, an inheritance from his time with the Tommy Dorsey band. Stan Getz could bring his talent to the world of the Bossa Nova in the early 1960s and one did not feel uncomfortable in the process.

The recordings featured date from that late 1930s through the early 1950s a period that coincides with what is generally regarded as The Golden Age of Popular Song. From around 1930 to 1950, many of our greatest