Jazz History – Learn Jazz Standards

50 Famous Saxophone Players. Who Are The Best Saxophone Players of All Time?

James Melton — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 18:20:41 +0000

Jazz history is full of incredible jazz saxophonists, but deciding on the best saxophone players of all time requires some serious thought and reflection! The jazz saxophonists on this list brought (or still bring) something unique to the jazz world. Whether they were amazing multi-instrumentalists, genre renegades, fearless innovators, or jazz pioneers, the jazz musicians […]

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What Are the Top 25 Duke Ellington Songs You Need To Know?

James Melton — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 16:34:15 +0000

If you are interested in jazz music, you will inevitably encounter Duke Ellington’s songs. Duke Ellington wrote a significant percentage of the jazz standards we know and love. He is up there with Cole Porter and George Gershwin regarding sheer influence and output! We’ve prepared this list of the 25 best Duke Ellington songs to […]

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Deep Song: The Suffering of Billie Holiday

Brent Vaartstra — Fri, 08 Jul 2016 14:26:44 +0000

While reading, listen to Billie Holidays “Deep Song”. Human suffering has the ability to kindle the flames that forge art. Love that has been misguided, violated, abused and destroyed can lead to a multitude of things to sing about. A broken heart can stir up more noise than a shuddering earthquake. Certainly this can go […]

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Top Ten Underrated Jazz Musicians

Camden Hughes — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 08:04:22 +0000

Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Duke Ellington…these names are synonymous with jazz, and their brilliance shines bright. There are other players-Sonny Rollins, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Oscar Peterson, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Cannonball Adderley, Art Tatum-whose stars shine very, very brightly, though they may not quite […]

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RIP Phil Woods

Camden Hughes — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 06:17:28 +0000

2015 has been a tough year for jazz. We lost Clark Terry, Ornette Coleman, Lou Soloff, Jazz Crusader saxophonist Wilton Felder, and now jazz just lost another legend this last week. Phil Woods passed away at the age of 83. His first album, “Woodlore” came out in 1955, the year of Charlie Parker’s passing. After Bird’s […]

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6 Important Jazz Musicians You Need To Know

Brent Vaartstra — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 17:52:55 +0000

When people come up to me and ask: “What jazz musicians should I check out?” or “If I want to get into jazz, which musicians are the most important to listen to?”, I usually freeze up. I mean there are so may important jazz musicians out there that it can be hard to pick and […]

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Learn About Jazz History

Brent Vaartstra — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 16:11:17 +0000

When learning how to play jazz, what could be more important than knowing where it came from in the first place? To understand this music, it’s extremely helpful to look back at it’s history and examine it’s evolution. Saxophonist extraordinaire, Origin recording artist, and professor Brent Jensen walks us through important styles in jazz history […]

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Jazz Styles-Fusion

Camden Hughes — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 04:36:36 +0000

This is the seventh and final lecture in Brent Jensen’s series of lectures on Jazz History. Brent Jensen is a professor of jazz studies at the College of Southern Idaho. He is also an incredible saxophone player with a number of albums out on the Origin record label. This series is a great introduction to Jazz […]

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Jazz Styles-Free Jazz

Camden Hughes — Wed, 04 Feb 2015 16:48:19 +0000

This is the sixth video in our series featuring Brent Jensen’s lectures on jazz history. Brent teaches jazz at the College of Southern Idaho and is an excellent saxophone player on the Origin record label. This video highlights the history of free jazz. Brent plays many different styles of jazz, but free jazz seems to be […]

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Jazz Styles-Hard Bop

Camden Hughes — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 15:53:55 +0000

This video is the fifth in a series of lectures on jazz history. Brent Jensen is a saxophonist on the Origin record label. He also teaches jazz at the College of Southern Idaho. There are a few points in this video where they are discussing material relevant only to the class, but most of the […]

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Jazz Styles-Cool Jazz

Camden Hughes — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 19:33:22 +0000

This is the fourth in a series of video lectures by saxophonist Brent Jensen about the History of Jazz. Brent is a professor of jazz at the College of Southern Idaho, and teaches several sections of jazz history. These jazz style videos were made for his jazz history classes, but the information is relevant to others who want to learn more […]

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Jazz Styles-Bebop

Camden Hughes — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 14:37:58 +0000

This is the third post in a series of videos by Brent Jensen highlighting Jazz History. Brent teaches jazz at the College of Southern Idaho and is a saxophonist on a number of albums on the Origin label. Keep in mind these videos were done for a series of classroom lectures, but are relevant to […]

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Jazz Styles-Swing

Camden Hughes — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 14:26:47 +0000

This is the second video in a series of posts about the by Brent Jensen about the History of Jazz. These lectures were done for a basic jazz history class for non-music majors, but there is lots of great information that will help you to learn more about the history of jazz. Brent Jensen is […]

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Jazz Styles-Early Jazz

Camden Hughes — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 16:52:24 +0000

We are going to be doing a series of posts coming up highlighting Jazz History through the eyes of Brent Jensen. Brent is a professor of jazz at the College of Southern Idaho and a saxophonist on a number of albums on the Origin label. In addition to being a great player, Brent is extremely knowledgeable about […]

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Jazz Style Periods-Guest Post by Brent Jensen

Camden Hughes — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 03:36:25 +0000

Do you need to brush up on your jazz history a little bit? Here’s a nice reference guide by my friend Brent Jensen. Brent is a saxophone recording artist for Origin Records, and he teaches jazz at the College of Southern Idaho. I’ve included the Style Periods in a text format, as well as a […]

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