Nostalgia in Jazz

One of the lost greats in piano jazz was Errol Garner. Referred to as the 'Elf', he used to sit on the New York phone book to sit taller. He played so uniquely that his sound could never be missed. This was pure talent, not just another mechanical technician.

Another off-beat pianist who stood out from the crowd in originality was Thelonious Monk.. Wikipedia describes him: "Thelonious Sphere Monk who died in 1972. He was a Jazz pianist and composer. Widely considered one of the most important musicians in jazz, Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire (including his classic works Round Midnight and Blue Monk. Blue Monk is a jazz standard written by Thelonius Monk that has become one of his most enduring tunes. It is based on the jazz tune "Pastel Blue". He is often regarded as a founder of bebop, although his playing style evolved away from the form. His compositions and improvisations are full of dissonant harmonies and angular melodic twists, and are impossible to separate from Monk's unorthodox approach to the piano, which combined a highly percussive attack with abrupt, dramatic use of silences and hesitations. He made seconds sound good and probably would have done half-tones if pianos permitted it then

Some of the most beautiful music came from Gil Evans' arrangements for Miles Davis, on muted trumpet...a beautiful series of ballads. Summertime was one of my favorites. The whole Porgy and Bess Suite was spectacular.

An early innovator of musical sound was Stan Kenton, who composed Artistry in Rhythm. While sounds were changing radically in terms of harmonies, rhythms, orchestrations and style, music of the post WWII retained melody, complicated and lush chording, and lyrics that didn't require a cheat sheet to understand. Eardrums remained intact even after concerts then. Am I nostalgic for much of the past...absolutely not! However, I do miss the music amd musicians from that period, little of which is heard broadly today. Like the Spotted Owl and Polar Bear, the music seems to be just trying to hang in there before total extinction hits.