1959: The Greatest Year of Jazz
The year is 1959. Jazz at this point has fallen out of the spotlight. Rock and Roll is the new pop music in America. Despite this, the sound of jazz was flourishing. New sounds were being created and old ones were being reinforced. Therefore, 1959 was the greatest year in jazz history. This article is going to go over several albums that were released and recorded in 1959. I would like to make it clear that nothing I say here is my own revelation, as many people who research and understand jazz way better than I do have come to this conclusion before I have. In fact, there is a short documentary that I found on YouTube that talks about the four main albums that I will discuss in this article. Check it out if you would like to learn more.
Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out
Released on December 14, 1959, by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Time Out stands out among the rest of the albums recorded in the late 50s. Time Out is a very important album for understanding the sound of West Coast jazz. The thing that sets this album apart from the rest is the odd time signatures that each song follows. The two most important songs on the song are Blue Rondo à la Turk and Take Five. Blue Rondo à la Turk was based on the popular time signatures in Turkey, which was 9/8. The song is broken up into a rhythm that could be described as 3 sets of two beats and one set of 3, then followed by a set of all 3 beats. Take Five has a 5/4 time signature, with emphasis on the last two beats of the measure, followed by the first beat of the next measure. The chorus to this song (beautifully played by Paul Desmond), is easily one of the most recognizable choruses in jazz history. Time Out was a critical success, making it the first jazz album ever to sell a million copies, and rightfully so.
Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue
Whenever somebody who doesn’t know a lot about jazz asks for a good album to begin their journey into jazz, the correct answer to that question is Kind of Blue. Released on August 17th, 1959 by Miles Davis, Kind of Blue is considered to be the greatest jazz album of all time. However, this album is peculiar in the way it sounds compared to the other jazz albums that came out around the same time. This is because the album the way it does is that it utilized the (then) novel idea of modality. What is a modality, though? Well, jazz songs are based around chords and progressions of said chords, which jazz musicians solo over. Modality (in layman’s terms) sort of loosens the idea of chord progressions, which allows jazz soloists to be freer in their solos. Instead of focusing on chords, musicians would focus on “modes”. The man who came up with the idea of modality was Geoge Russell, with who Davis heavily collaborated with the creation of Kind of Blue. This album absolutely shook the jazz world and music world alike, with many musicians finding inspiration from this album. Kind of Blue is the highest-selling of all time, with recently going quintuple platinum in 2019.
Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um
Jazz is in a constant state of evolution, changing its sound every 10 years or so. It started with swing and blues music, moved onto bebop, and continued to evolve into the 50s and 60s. Charles Mingus saw and understood this change in jazz, yet rejected it. In October 1959, Mingus released Mingus Ah Um. Normally, people who release albums keep the album around the same style or sound of music. Mingus Ah Um refuses to be put in a box like that. The album has no central sound, nor do the songs focus on a single idea or topic. This isn’t a swing album, nor a bebop album, nor a gospel album, it's simply a jazz album. Mingus masterfully brings in aspects from all forms of past music (gospel, blues, swing, bebop, etc.), bringing it into the present. Two songs stand out in this album for their popularity. The first is the famous Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, dedicated to the then recently passed legendary saxophonist Lester Young. The second being Fables of Faubus, a sort of callout song to the Governor of Arkansas Orville Faubus, because of his anti-integration stance against the Little Rock Nine. Overall, this album is timeless and considered one of Mingus’ masterpieces.
Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come
What an ambitious title! With the release of The Shape of Jazz to Come in November 1959, Ornette Coleman made a bold claim: this was the new sound of jazz. While the subgenre of free jazz necessarily didn't start with this album, Coleman definitely was one of the first pioneers of the subgenre. Listening to this album, there is one distinct aspect of the normal jazz band missing: the chordal instrument, normally a piano in jazz music. The normal jazz quartet is made of four distinct instruments, each serving its own purpose. The drums, the piano, the bass, and the main instrument (primarily a trumpet or saxophone). Coleman’s quartet has drums and bass, yet substituted for a piano is the cornet player, Don Cherry. Getting rid of the underlying chords in a free jazz album like this only helps the “freeness” of the jazz, in my opinion. You can listen to this album and not agree with it, which is fine. What you can’t do, however, is deny the significance of this album, especially in comparison to the albums that came out around that time.
Honorable Mentions:
These albums listed below didn’t exactly cut. They either were recorded in 1958 and released in 1959 or recorded in 1959 and released in 1960.
Art Blakey - Moanin’
Art Blakey is a legendary figure in jazz history. Blakey is well known for being a bandleader for his jazz combo, The Jazz Messengers. The Jazz Messengers were, in a way, a training camp for young inspiring jazz musicians and giving them a platform. Blakey has had talent in his combo such as Lee Morgan, Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, Wynton Marsalis, and McCoy Tyner. Moanin’ is Art Blakey’s most popular album that the Jazz Messengers ever released. The title track, is a jazz standard now, being one of the most recognizable jazz songs ever. While the album was recorded in 1958, it was released in January 1959. What a great start to a great year for jazz!
Bill Evans - Portrait In Jazz
Many can agree that Portrait In Jazz is a highly influential jazz album. I really don’t know how to describe anything about this album besides the fact that it sounds REALLY good. The Bill Evans trio works really well, with each element of the band, the piano, bass, and drums work together in perfect harmony to play these jazz standards like never before. This album is perfectly rated where it needs to be and deserves a spot on this list. It was recorded within the final days of December 1959 and released in 1960 — a great way to finish the year.
John Coltrane - Giant Steps
Saving the best for last! Giant Steps is considered to be John Coltrane’s breakout album, the one that finally put him on people’s radars. Giant Steps is known for two of its songs, the title track, and Naima. The title track has become a bit of a meme in the jazz community as of late, due to its fast tempo and hard chord structures. It’s said that Coltrane practiced the song for two years before giving it to his quartet before recording it for the first time. Naima is a slower and more somber song, yet its chorus is easily recognizable. Giant Steps was recorded on May 4–5th in 1959 and released in 1960.
