This installment of my Appreciating Jazz Podcast series covers the eclectic styles and musicians creating jazz since the 1980s.  Focusing on artists such as Wynton Marsalis, John Zorn, and Maria Schneider I try to demonstrate how varied contemporary jazz as an art for has become.

This is the last installment (for now) of this particular series, but I will be returning with a new format an new topic soon.  You can download this and future podcasts on my web site (wilktone.com) or by subscribing to my iTunes channel.

This episode discusses jazz-rock fusion.  By the 1970s many jazz musicians looking for new sounds to explore turned to rock styles for inspiration.  Miles Davis continued to lead the direction of  jazz-rock fusion and many of his sidemen led influential groups of their own, such as Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, and John McLaughlin.  At the same time, rock bands like Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears, began to similarly borrow from jazz musicians and incorporate lengthy improvisations and horn sections that played a more significant role that was typical.

In addition to listening to this podcast here you can also subscribe via iTunes.

Although other jazz musicians had begun experimenting with improvising without preset conditions earlier, by the 1960s a growing community of artists began to perform and record using radically different stylistic rules  Freeing themselves up from preset chord progressions, instrumental roles and other musical elements used in previous jazz styles, musicians such as Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor became associated with this avant garde style that became known as free jazz.  At the same time, organizations such as the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and the Black Artists Group began to sponsor performances and help like-minded musicians form groups to perform this new music.

This podcast covers some of the most influential artists of free jazz.  You can download it in the link below and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes.

In this week’s podcast I cover the development and musicians of the hard bop jazz style.  Focusing on musicians like Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Clifford Brown, and Wes Montgomery, this episode discusses how these, and other, musicians reacted to the mellow sounds of cool jazz and developed a more aggressive approach that emphasize darker tone colors and a hard driving groove.

You can listen to this podcast in the embedded player or download it in the link below.  You can also subscribe to my podcasts through iTunes.

Trumpet player Miles Davis and saxophonist John Coltrane were two of the most significant and influential jazz musicians of all time.  In this podcast I’ll discuss the life and music of these two innovative artists, including discussions of their musical styles and important sidemen and other collaborators who helped drive the direction jazz took along with Davis and Coltrane.

You can download this podcast in the download link below and also by subscribing through iTunes.

In the 1950s a number of jazz musicians began reacting to the hot approach of bebop and began toning down their music.  Taking their cue from Miles Davis’s album, The Birth of the Cool, many players began to perform and record in a similar approach, sometimes borrowing elements from classical music as well.  This podcast covers some of the most influential musicians of cool jazz.

You can download this podcast in the link below or by subscribing on iTunes.  You can also view all my available podcasts by going to my Podcasts page.

By the 1940s jazz styles had begun to change again.  Moving away from the big bands and the pre-arranged music of the Swing Era, jazz musicians began playing in small groups and emphasizing solo improvisation even more.  This new jazz style, eventually called bebop, moved the focus away from dancing and onto listening.  This podcast covers bebop style and some of the important musicians who pioneered this music, including Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clark, and J.J. Johnson.

You can download this podcast in the download link below or through my Podcasts page. You can also subscribe to these podcasts and have them download automatically through iTunes.

The 1930s and 1940s was jazz’s most popular style period.  Moving away from the collective improvisation of early jazz styles, the Swing Era marked the development of the big band and focused more on the arrangements rather than improvisation.  There were still many notable soloists the developed in the Swing Era and these musicians left important influences on jazz.  This podcast discusses some of the stylistic traits of Swing Era jazz and covers some of the most influential artists and bands from this period.

As with my other podcasts, you can download this episode by clicking here, viewing it on my Podcasts page, or by subscribing through iTunes.