Henceforth and forevermore…

Some musicians change everything that comes after. And sometimes the contributions of those musicians are obscured by the success of their followers.

Turn somebody on to Bill Evans for the first time and you get the reaction, “Oh, he sounds like a thousand other jazz piano players.” And that is correct, but backward.
Before Bill Evans, nobody sounded quite like Bill Evans. After Bill Evans, everybody sounded at least a little bit like Bill Evans. His style, technique and musical sensibility changed the art of jazz piano and that of the jazz trio so essentially it is easy for the casual listener to completely misunderstand his influence.

Likewise with Miles Davis.

And need I mention Jaco Pastorious?

 

Of course, none of these artists sprang fully formed from the head of some musical Zeus.

All built on the foundations laid down by the giants that preceded them. The art of jazz piano was pioneered by the ragtime genius of Eubie Blake, the speakeasy barrelhouse style of Fats Waller and the towering technical prowess of Art Tatum.

For trumpet, start with Louis Armstrong, the Father of American Jazz (and all jazz for that matter,) the pure tone and classically informed improvisations of the criminally under-recognized Bix Beiderbecke and wonderful Big Band stars like Ray Anthony and Harry James.

The art of the modern bass guitar would not have been possible without Jimmy Blanton, bassist for the Duke Ellington Orchestra; Percy Heath, co-founder of the Modern Jazz Quartet; and of course Larry Graham, the monster who could “add some bottom, so that the dancers just won’t hide!” for Sly and the Family Stone. These are just a few of the giants on whose shoulders these artist stood.

Stephen Jay Gould’s theory of punctuated equilibrium theorizes that periods of gradual evolution of life on earth are “punctuated” by infrequent, frenetic, earth-shattering periods of change. So also did Evans, Davis, Pastorius and others too numerous to name propel the art of music forward in great leaps and bounds, creating whole new universes of music in single lifetimes.

What started me down this particular rabbit hole was hearing an interview with the immensely talented guitarist and composer Kaki King. When I listen to her, or other contemporary solo acoustic guitarists, I am of course immediately reminded of Michael Hedges. Michael was influenced by great solo guitarists like John Fahey and Leo Kotke. But when his training at Phillips University in classical composition, use of alternate tunings, mastery of unorthodox techniques for coaxing and sometimes literally beating new and ground-breaking sounds from his guitar(s) and unrelenting work ethic coalesced into what he once described as “Savage Myth Guitar,” he created an entirely new genre of music.

Before, nobody. After, everybody.