The History of Jazz

by Ted Gioia

Pianist Uri Caine,

The song he is playing might be “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,” but when Mehldau’s trio performs it in 7/4 meter with dauntingly dense instrumental textures, you will be forgiven for not recognizing Paul Simon’s number one hit from 1975.

Eva Cassidy’s situation is quite similar to Jones’s, both in her mastery of chiaroscuro shades of phrasing and in the jazz establishment’s reluctance to embrace her as one of its own. Fans have been unequivocal, however, in their advocacy of this singer, who tragically died from melanoma in 1996 at the age of thirty-three.

Kurt Elling has kept the bohemian spirit of the Beat Generation alive with his forceful onstage personality, spirited delivery, and smart arrangements of material—performances that are clearly rooted in the jazz tradition yet sound very vital and modern. Patricia Barber can sing the old tunes straight

Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Luciana Souza, John Pizzarelli, Nnenna Freelon, Esperanza Spalding, Ian Shaw, Kevin Mahogany, Diane Schuur, Kate McGarry, Madeleine Peyroux, Gretchen Parlato, Karrin Allyson, Tierney Sutton, Sara Gazarek, and Julia Dollison—individuals

Tom Harrell,

Roy Hargrove, another leading trumpeter, who is equally

crafted low-key chamber jazz on his 2009 Compass release, and taken on a funk-oriented attitude with his Elastic

Yet it is striking how few later artists—with the notable exception of the musicians who came out of two influential South African jazz bands, the Blue Notes and the Jazz Epistles, such as trumpeter Hugh Masekela, saxophonist Kippie Moeketsi and pianist Chris McGregor—have been able to gain the attention of global fans.