1959 was a watershed year in jazz history. Ella Fitzgerald recorded the sublime George and Ira Gershwin Songbook. John Coltrane's Giant Steps expanded jazz's harmonic universe into realms of unprecedented complexity, while Miles Davis's Kind of Blue went the opposite direction, presenting each chord as a discrete entity of abstract beauty. Ornette Coleman's The Shape of Jazz to Come revealed new frontiers of expression by subverting convention, Charles Mingus's Mingus Ah Um put an avant-garde spin on the sanctified roots of jazz, and Dave Brubeck's Time Out attracted a new audience with its coolly sophisticated rhythmic grooves. It was an amazingly fertile era when innovation blossomed and jazz was near the peak of its national popularity. 50 years later, the same creative energy and spirit of originality still motivate jazz musicians, and echoes of 1959 can be heard all over. With pianist/violinist Victor Lin as emcee, the outstanding faculty of the Stanford Jazz Workshop will revisit this magical era in jazz to celebrate its sounds and trace the developments of its many styles.
Inside Jazz: 1959 — A Milestone in Jazz
Speaker: Victor Lin
6:30 pm, free with concert ticket