by Apex » Sat Jun 11, 2005 12:35 pm
Jazz is all around us. Before rock and pop, there was jazz. It was popular for the first half of the 20th Century, went through several phases throughout those years,
and has had an influence on all music from the inception of rock and pop to today's varied forms. Many great rock stars started out as jazz musicians, and a lot of rock is infused with jazz influences. King Crimson's third album, 'Lizard', is almost all jazz and features many jazz musicians. I once saw Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson in concert give a performance on saxophone that many jazz musicians would have envied. Mick Abrams, the original guitarist for Tull, went on to form Blodwyn Pig, a great example of a jazz-infused rock group, with Jack Lancaster's
wind work (sax & flute) obviously grounded in jazz. Hendrix' drummer Mitch Mitchell started out as a jazz drummer. Ray Manzarek of the Doors studied classical piano, but started out as a jazz pianist "(I learned to play stride piano with my left hand, and knew that was it - stuff with a beat, jazz, blues, rock."). The Doors drummer John Densmore played jazz for three years before the Doors
were formed. And Les Paul (we all know who he is), was a jazz guitarist. Doubtless there were many other rock & pop musicians that were influenced by or played jazz; they have given us a legacy that still stands today.
