Famous Jazz and Blues Artists

Jazz
There are many famous and influential jazz artists. One of these famous artists is miles Davis. Davis is a famous blues trumpet player and has a very unique sound to his music. He became famous for using the mute on a trumpet to give it a slightly different sound to the rest. He really was the person who got others who wanted to be as good as him to start using a mute. He has many famous songs and albums. Probably his most famous album is 'Kind of Blue' and it contains many brilliant songs. The other people playing with Davis in the album are  with pianist Bill Evans, drummer Jimmy Cobb, bassist Paul Chambers, and saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. These are all famous and brilliant musicians.

Another one of my favourite jazz artists is Oscar Peterson. He was a very influential jazz pianist and has many famous pieces. He played in thousand of concerts worldwide and had a career lasting over 60 years. One of his most famous albums is 'Night Train'. He recorded this album with his trio. The album consist of many songs written by other famous artists, for example, Duke Ellington.


Blues
There are also many famous blues artists. One of the best, in my opinion, is Muddy Waters. Muddy Waters had many hit songs and albums. He often plays quite slow blues but he still manages to keep a tight rhythm. A brilliant song by him is 'Champaign and Reefer'.

How Jazz and Blues has Influenced Modern Music

Jazz and blues popularity declined as the 20th century went on. However, many of its rhythms and energy has been absorbed into other styles. Both jazz and blues are still present today as modern music and are present in other genres of music too.


Rock and Roll
Rock and roll emerged from blues music. At the start it sounded very similar and it often used the same chord progression as blues. Eventually rock and roll broke away from blues and it started to use louder drumming and different lyrics aimed at a difference audience. It has, however, still retained the rhythmic blues feel in many songs.


R&B
Jazz and blues is also present in many other genres of music such as R&B. R&B is a term that refers to a wide range of music from soul to disco music. R&B has changed drastically in recent years and many of it no longer resembles blues music. However, there are still some R&B songs with a bluesy feel.


Hip Hop and Rap
Hip hop music is often similar to blues in the way that its lyrics are often straight to the point and contain dark themes. The lyrics are often about the bad situations the artists used to be in and how they felt. Free style rap is also similar because it contains rap solos that are similar to instrumental solos in jazz and blues.