Historical Dictionary of Jazz. John S. Davis
recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2007. She has collaborated with many musicians, including Bob Brookmeyer, Billy Hart, Fred Hersch, Kenny Wheeler, and Charlie Haden. Bloom has recorded 15 albums as a leader and performs regularly with her trio and quartet. In 2017, she won a Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album for her trio album Early Americans (2016, Outline).
BLOW
A term used to describe the act of improvising over a song form.
BLUEBIRD
A record company created in 1932, Bluebird Records was a sublabel of RCA Victor Records. Beginning in the 1930s, Bluebird became a popular label for jazz artists such as Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw, who recorded with Bluebird in 1938. See also RECORD LABEL.
BLUE DEVILS
An important early jazz group that preceded the swing era. Led by Walter Page in the 1920s, the Blue Devils had alumni including Lester Young and Count Basie.
BLUE NOTE
A New York–based jazz record label created by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis in the late 1930s. Blue Note quickly developed a reputation for creating many of jazz’s finest albums. Among the musicians who have recorded under the Blue Note label are John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Dorham, Sonny Clark, and Horace Silver. From 1953 to the late 1960s, sound engineer Rudy Van Gelder recorded most Blue Note releases. His engineering was thought to be as important and monumental as the music being played.
BLUES
A musical form consisting of 12 measures that is based in African American folk music. The blues was developed during the same time period that ragtime and traditional jazz were being formed. Highly significant to the development of jazz, the blues became one of the most common forms used by jazz composers and soloists. Great blues singers included Bessie Smith, Joe Williams, Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and countless others. See also ALLEN, HENRY “RED” (1908–1967).
BLUES ALLEY
An important nightclub in the Washington, D.C., area that brings in top jazz musicians. Blues Alley was the home for a live recording of Wynton Marsalis’s quartet in the 1980s.
BLUES PROGRESSION
The harmonic sequence of the blues. Frequently, a blues progression consists of 12 measures, in which the first four bars are in the tonic key, followed by two bars of a dominant chord based off the fourth of the tonic, a return to the tonic for two bars, and a cadence for two bars, arriving on the tonic for the final two bars. Jazz composers and instrumentalists have developed several different sets of alterations that replace the blues progression.
BLYTHE, ARTHUR (1940–2017)
Blythe’s professional alto saxophone career began in his native Los Angeles, where he played with musicians like Horace Tapscott in the 1960s. After moving to New York in the 1970s, Blythe worked with Chico Hamilton, Gil Evans, Julius Hemphill, and Jack DeJohnette and was prominently featured with free jazz groups. During the 1980s, Blythe became a more active leader, forming such groups as the Leaders and various other groups, featuring musicians including Chico Freeman and John Hicks. Blythe was temporarily a member of the World Saxophone Quartet at the end of the 1980s. Blythe would work as both a sideman and leader during the 1990s and 2000s, most notably working with drummer Joey Baron. Blythe died from complications of Parkinson’s disease at the age of 76.
BOLDEN, BUDDY (1877–1931)
Considered one of the first and most significant musicians to play jazz, Bolden’s career began and ended in New Orleans. Extremely popular, Bolden’s career is defined by his ability to transform the military brass band tradition into a new more loosely styled music that became known as the New Orleans brass band style. Unfortunately, Bolden’s career was cut short due to problems with addiction, and no recordings of him were ever made. He is also considered to be the first trumpet “king” in the lineage that includes Joe Oliver, Freddie Keppard, and Louis Armstrong. See also EARLY JAZZ.
BOMB
A drumming technique that involves the drummer playing a single, low-note figure especially loudly while accompanying a soloist or a band. See also DRUM SET.
BONA, RICHARD (1967–)
Born in Minta, Cameroon, into a musical family, Bona started playing guitar at the age of 11 before turning permanently to the bass at 13. Bona emigrated to Germany at the age of 22 to study music, soon relocating to France to further his education. While in France, he played with jazz musicians including Didier Lockwood and Manu Dibango. In 1995, Bona moved to New York City where he played with American artists including Michael Brecker, guitarists Mike Stern and George Benson, Bobby McFerrin, and Joe Zawinul. His first solo album, Scenes from My Life (Columbia), was released in 1999. In 2002, Bona went on a world tour with the Pat Metheny Group, where he also performed as a singer and percussionist. He has appeared on more than 25 recordings. See also ELECTRIC BASS (GUITAR).
BONE
Shorthand term for trombone.
BONFÁ, LUIZ FLORIANO (1922–2001)
Bonfá, a Brazilian guitar player and composer, was born in Rio de Janeiro. He first gained national exposure in Brazil in 1947 when he was featured on the program Rádio Nacional, an important showcase for up-and-coming young talent. He began composing in his twenties, and some of his first compositions were recorded by Brazilian vocalists during the 1950s. Bonfá collaborated with Antônio Carlos Jobim and other prominent Brazilian musicians involved with the bossa nova movement, and he composed music that was eventually included in the Marcel Camus film Black Orpheus. His most famous composition, “Manhã de Carnaval,” came through this project. The song was later given a different set of English lyrics and titled “A Day in the Life of a Fool.” It has become one of the most popular songs played worldwide. Bonfá’s approach as a performer and composer was a fuller, more emotionally charged musical style than the more refined and subdued style that would be played by João Gilberto in future years. Bonfá became a highly visible ambassador of Brazilian music in the United States, along with Gilberto and Jobim, and appeared in a famous bossa nova concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 1962. During his career, Bonfá worked with musicians including Stan Getz, George Benson, Quincy Jones, and singer Frank Sinatra.
BONGOS
A hand percussion instrument that has origins in Cuba, consisting of a pair of drums that are two different sizes. They are most often played by hand and produce a high-pitched sound. They are commonly used in Latin jazz by bands such as Tito Puente, Poncho Sanchez, and Ray Barretto.
BOOGIE-WOOGIE
A style of piano that is highly influenced by the blues. Boogie-woogie became popular in the late 1930s but began to develop in the early 1920s. One of the most prominent boogie-woogie pianists was Albert Ammons, whose recording of “Boogie Woogie Stomp” in 1936 was pivotal not only for boogie-woogie but also for other styles of music such as rock and roll. See also SMITH, PINE TOP (1904–1929).
BOOK
A reference to the collection of music that a jazz ensemble plays.