Get Hip to This Quiz on the History of Jazz

Ornette Coleman is widely hailed as the most important figure in the free jazz movement. His innovative take on melodic structures and chord tones — a theory he called “harmolodics” —– helped influence a generation of free jazz artists, including Albert Ayler and Don Cherry. He won the Pulitzer Prize at age 75 for a live album of a performance in Europe.

Even in his era, most people realized this claim by jazz pianist Ferdinand Joseph La Menthe — better known as Jelly Roll Morton — was more boastful promotion than fact. But Morton did have a significant impact on the development of early jazz. His career began when he was a teenager in New Orleans and eventually brought him to California in 1917, where he played the club circuit and formed a group called Morton’s Red Hot Peppers.

Drummer Max Roach’s list of professional collaborators reads like a jazz hall of fame: Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, and many others. Jamming with these musical titans in the creative hotbed of New York City in the 1940s helped Roach develop drum techniques that are now common in all types of jazz, such as emphasizing the hi-hat and cymbal for downbeats instead of the bass drum.

Also known as Latin jazz, the Afro-Cuban style is a blend of rhythms from Spanish and Cuban music with melodic elements of jazz and African traditions. After brewing for decades in the melting pot of the Caribbean, the genre spread north to the U.S. thanks to the success of Cuban-born artists such as Mario Bauza and Machito, who brought Afro-Cuban jazz to New York City in the early 1940s.

Pianist Scott Joplin is nearly synonymous with ragtime, thanks to his popularity as a performer, composer, and instructor of the style around the turn of the 20th century. One of his most famous works, “Maple Leaf Rag,” was named for a club in Sedalia, Missouri, where Joplin had a piano studio. His other popular compositions include “The Entertainer” and “The Ragtime Dance.”

Before Charlie Christian’s genre-pushing work with bandleader Benny Goodman, the guitar was primarily a rhythmic accompaniment in jazz. But in the late 1930s, Christian’s use of an electric amplifier — a rare occurrence in that era — helped push the guitar into the spotlight as a solo instrument in jazz ensembles. Christian inspired a long line of influential electric guitarists, from B.B. King to Wes Montgomery.

Born in Florida to a musical family, Julian Adderley moved to New York in the mid-1950s and later joined the quintet of bebop pioneer Miles Davis during its creative peak. After appearing on some of Davis’ most important releases of the decade — including “Kind of Blue” and “Milestones” — “Cannonball” Adderley branched out into leading his own groups, often with his brother Nat on the cornet.

The most distinct characteristic of fusion, also known as jazz rock, is the use of electronic instruments, especially guitar, bass, and keyboard. In the 1960s and '70s, some of the biggest names in jazz experimented with fusion styles, including Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, and Herbie Hancock. Later in the 20th century, fusion would develop into modern subgenres like smooth jazz and jazz metal.

Starting in the late 1940s, bebop advanced the early big band style of ensemble jazz by adding more complex chords and scales, marking the beginning of modern jazz. This broadening of the melodic palette — combined with shifting rhythm patterns and an emphasis on soloing — helped facilitate the rise of virtuoso bebop horn players such as John Coltrane, Charlie “Bird” Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie.

Ragtime’s popularity began around the turn of the 20th century, when major jazz artists including Scott Joplin, Charles Hunter, and Tom Turpin established themselves in Missouri. The city of St. Louis became a hotbed for the style, which quickly spread to other musical hubs, such as New York and New Orleans. Musically, ragtime is known for its syncopated rhythm (with the emphasis on the downbeat) and bouncy melodies.

Though Wynton Marsalis was the first jazz artist to win the Pulitzer Prize for music, he wasn’t the first to be recognized by judges. In 1956, the prize jury recommended a special citation be given to Duke Ellington, but the Pulitzer board denied the request. It wasn’t until 1997 — over 50 years after the award’s inception — that a music Pulitzer was finally given to a non-classical artist.

The waltz itself started off as an 18th-century Viennese ballroom dance, but the unique rhythm of the triple meter used in many waltz tunes helped spread the style far beyond the ballroom. Eventually, it reached America, where inventive jazz artists iterated on the waltz’s triple time signature, adding syncopation to create a new style known as swing.

Born in rural North Carolina, Thelonius Monk moved to New York as a child and went on to help define the Big Apple’s mid-century jazz scene, along with contemporaries such as Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. Monk is well known today for both his creative, genre-blending piano dynamics and his unique stage habits and outfits — he often wore dark sunglasses and flat caps while performing.

From her very first recording in 1935, Ella Fitzgerald was recognized for her vast range and harmonic mastery. But she truly broke out after 1956, when her new manager suggested she interpret classic “songbooks” by renowned composers like Irving Berlin and George Gershwin. Fitzgerald enjoyed an uncommonly long and successful career, performing well into the late 1980s and winning 14 Grammys.

According to legend, Sarah Vaughan didn’t even plan on entering the contest at the Apollo in 1942, but was dared to by her friends. The win helped launch the 18-year-old to stardom — just six months later, she would join Earl Hines’ band alongside other future legends such as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Vaughan went on to enjoy a long and successful career, winning praise for her impressive range and technique.

A native of Washington, D.C., Duke Ellington was born to a middle-class family that placed a great deal of importance on etiquette: His father worked as a butler and his mother had a high school degree, rare for Black women of the time. After noticing his polite demeanor, a friend in high school gave him the nickname “Duke,” which followed him on his rise to fame during the 1920s and ‘30s.

After becoming a star in the early 20th century, Louis Armstrong was falling out of favor with contemporary tastemakers by 1967, when songwriter George David Weiss presented the aging legend with a tune about life’s simple beauty. It wasn’t an immediate hit in America, but fans across the pond were smitten — “What A Wonderful World” became the top song in the U.K. and its popularity grew from there.

The 1950s were a golden age for bebop, which remains one of the most popular styles in the jazz genre. In December 1949, the club opened on Manhattan’s 52nd Street with a moniker designed to take advantage of the popularity of sax star Charlie Parker, nicknamed “Bird.” Jazz titans went to Birdland to share ideas, often jamming through the night, with sets starting around 9 p.m. and sometimes lasting until dawn.

Beginning in Black communities in New Orleans in the 1800s, the tradition of jazz funerals involved a large brass band marching behind a normal funeral procession. Behind the band, the “second line” ensemble of the deceased’s friends and family would march and dance to the music, often dressed in elaborate costumes.

Jazz saxophonist John Coltrane first hit it big with a spot in Miles Davis’ ensemble in the 1950s. He pioneered the “sheets of sound” technique of playing many notes rapidly yet clearly, giving his solos the feeling of a piano chord. Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” recording on his 1960 album of the same name is considered one of the most important tracks in jazz history.