Jazz history, legends, and the jazz sound.
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
Which label released Miles Davis album Kind of Blue in 1959?
Columbia recorded Kind of Blue in two 1959 sessions with Davis, Coltrane, Adderley and Evans.
Which pianist's quartet released the 1959 single Take Five written in 5/4 time?
The Dave Brubeck Quartet released Take Five in 1959 as the first jazz single to sell over one million copies.
Which trumpeter and singer knocked The Beatles off number one in 1964 with a Broadway title song?
Louis Armstrong took a Broadway title song to number one in May 1964 and ended a 14-week Beatles run.
Which saxophonist recorded the 1960 album Giant Steps with its rapid chord changes?
John Coltrane released Giant Steps in 1960 and pioneered rapid chord changes on its demanding title track.
Which bandleader led the orchestra Ella Fitzgerald joined as a teenage singer?
Webb's orchestra gave Fitzgerald her first major hit with "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," recorded in 1938.
Louis Armstrong helped popularize which vocal technique in jazz?
Armstrong's playful syllable improvisation on "Heebie Jeebies" helped make scat singing a jazz staple.
Which John Coltrane album is his only Blue Note session as a leader?
Blue Train is Coltrane's sole Blue Note session as a leader and features Lee Morgan and Curtis Fuller.
Which Billie Holiday album pairs her vocals with Ray Ellis's lush orchestral arrangements?
Ray Ellis gave Lady in Satin full strings and horns, contrasting with Holiday's earlier small-combo records.
Which John Coltrane recording reworks a song from The Sound of Music?
Coltrane stretched Rodgers and Hammerstein's waltz into modal jazz, making a Broadway melody sound exploratory and hypnotic.
Thelonious Monk composed which jazz standard?
Monk's composition "'Round Midnight" became a jazz standard prized for its dark melody and rich harmonies.