Jazz Bands for Hire for Your Event and Why They’re So Popular
Jazz is one of the most popular musical genres in the world, with over a billion listeners each year. Originating from African music in the early twentieth century, the genre eventually made its way to the United States, where it was met with widespread acclaim. Soon after, it became a part of American culture, and it has evolved into many different forms since then. Jazz has its roots in the uptime and blues genres, and its distinguishing characteristics include complex time signatures and rhythms, as well as improvisation, which is its defining characteristic.
However, despite the fact that jazz music is not widely heard, millions of listeners all over the world enjoy it and have a refined taste and appreciation for the genre. It’s possible that you’ve attended a jazz band performance at a hotel or a gala dinner. Jazz, on the other hand, is a large and diverse genre with many different styles. Unless you’re a die-hard jazz fanatic, you’re probably only familiar with one or two jazz genres.
With that being said, let’s take a look at the different types of jazz bands and why you should hire a jazz band for your event or celebration.
Jazz from the 1920s
1920s New Orleans jazz is a style of music that has roots in blues, ragtime, and marching band music that was hugely popular in the 1920s. Jazz is also referred to as early jazz or New Orleans jazz. As a result, jazz bands were formed, which consisted of a group of musicians who played a variety of instruments together while also improvising on scales and melodies while on stage. Jazz bands and artists such as Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, and Jelly Roll Morton gained widespread recognition as a result of this improvisation.
Early jazz bands are made up of instruments such as violins, cornets, clarinets, trombones, drums, double bass guitar, and a few other wind instruments. Guitars, banjos, and the tuba are all common instruments in modern jazz bands. If you’re planning a gathering that will almost certainly include jazz enthusiasts, looking into jazz bands for hire is the best thing you can do right now to prepare for the event.
Swing
Is one of the most popular forms of jazz, and it was also responsible for the development of the newly discovered style of big band jazz, which involved large jazz bands of up to 20 musicians performing at the same time on a single stage. Despite the fact that there were so many musicians in a jazz band at the time, each musician was given the opportunity to perform solos and improvise, which allowed the audience to dance to the music.
The swing style of jazz continues to be one of the most popular in the world, and many people still enjoy grooving to it at parties and other gatherings. Names such as Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and many others have made their mark on the world of swing music.
Bebop
In addition, the genre known as Bebop was born as a result of the popularity of swing music and was used to distinguish between music that was intended for dancing and music that was intended for serious listeners. When played at fast tempos, bebop is characterised by the use of complex new melodies that are played over traditional jazz chord patterns. The majority of the new jazz songs written during the Bebop era were adaptations of older and more popular jazz standards.
For those interested in Bebop, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell are among the musicians to check out. Wait until you hire a jazz band for a special event to find out how much you really like Bebop jazz!
Gypsy jazz Bands
These are a small jazz band genre that began in the late 1930s with the formation of the first European jazz group, the Quintette du Hot Club de France, and has been around ever since. While it’s more closely related to traditional American jazz, it has its own distinctive overtones, and it is characterised by the use of only string instruments, with the soloing performed by violins and guitars. Gino Reinhart and Stephane Grappelli were among the first to perform gypsy jazz, and the genre is still alive and well today, thanks to musicians such as Bireli Lagrene and the Rosenberg Trio.
Ever Heard of Cool Jazz
Cool jazz is a type of jazz music that, as the name implies, is a much more relaxed and laid-back version of traditional jazz music. It was first introduced in the late 1940s and early 1950s. A more frantic and hurried style of jazz was prevalent at the time, with styles such as Bebop dominating the jazz music scene. Artists such as Miles David, Gil Evans, Gerard Mulligan, Stan Getz, and many others contributed to the development and advancement of cool jazz.
A large following exists throughout the world, and because it is a more relaxed form of jazz, it can be used as the background music for any formal event by hiring a jazz band to perform cool jazz.
Jazz with a soulful undertone
It was in the mid-1950s that soul-jazz, also known as hard bop, rose to prominence when Bebop was combined with R&B and gospel music to create a funky sound with simpler tones and a blues influence. At the time, it was regarded as a genre that had been created in order to compete against cool jazz. Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Donald Byrd, and a slew of other artists have contributed significantly to the popularity of soul-jazz over the years.
Fusion
Finally, but certainly not least, fusion jazz was developed in the 1970s and 1980s and is still in use nowadays. It is a combination of jazz and other genres such as soul, funk, and rock music. It continues to dominate the jazz music scene today, providing jazz fans with something to listen to while out and about in the community. The names of some of the musicians who did an excellent job of keeping the fusion music alive include John Abercrombie, Louis Banks, Jack Bruce, Chick Corea, and many others.
Other jazz styles can be discovered, but these are some of the most popular ones that are still listened to today, and you can find jazz bands that perform in various hotels and other venues. This means that, despite the fact that jazz music isn’t heard very often in commercial settings or in mainstream media, its popularity continues to grow in the hearts of true jazz enthusiasts.
If you’re hosting an event that could benefit from some background music, you should consider hiring a jazz band from Music8. They have the best selection of jazz bands for hire that you will find anywhere in the United Kingdom, and they perform in all styles of jazz music, from early jazz to Bebop and everything in between.
