Jazz History in Standard Time (1950s)

The Trends, People, and Events that Shaped the Jazz Standards Canon

Introduction  Early Period  1920s  1930s  1940s  1950s  1960s  1970s-2000

By Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian

Although America was healing from the effects of World War II, the country was embroiled in another conflict against North Korea in Southeast Asia which would last until the middle of 1953.

In the music industry, the 45 rpm record became the “single,” and 78 rpm records went the way of the horn phonograph and the player piano. At the same time, first 10-inch and then 12-inch long-playing records at 33 1/3 rpm became the industry standard. For jazz musicians, this meant that they could now “stretch out,” no longer hindered by a three-minute standard for recordings. In 1958 stereo recordings were introduced, a format which delivered almost live performance realism in one’s living room.

Television’s popularity grew until by decade’s end it had overtaken radio and become the single most important entertainment medium. Jazz benefited from this medium, as musicians were occasionally featured on variety programs and specials. In 1956, jazz pianist/vocalist turned pop icon, Nat “King” Cole, briefly had his own weekly program, one of the highlights of which was inclusion of members of the Jazz at the Philharmonic. There were specials for several years sponsored by Timex watches, and a live jazz program hosted by Art Ford. Specials featured top jazz performers such as Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, and many others.

A 1957 landmark production was the “Sound of Jazz,” a special conceived by jazz writer Nat Hentoff, which featured musicians playing in a loose (although rehearsed) atmosphere, free from the oft contrived concepts of television producers. Such great musicians as Henry “Red” Allen, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie, Lester Young, Gerry Mulligan, Thelonious Monk, Jimmy Giuffre and Billie Holliday were spotlighted in a 50- minute program.

A tune title from 1949 accurately describes jazz at the beginning of the 1950s--- “Bebop Spoken Here.” Great musicians who stretched the limits of the music in the 1940s--alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, pianists Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk and others--continued to be at the forefront. Younger musicians, such as trumpeter Clifford Brown, alto saxophonists Sonny Stitt and Cannonball Adderley, bassist Charlie Mingus and drummer Art Blakey, built on the foundation laid down by the bebop innovators, creating what is now known as “hard bop.”

Another extension of bebop was a lighter, cooler style introduced partly by Miles Davis’ Birth of the Cool session in 1949. This music became known either as “Cool” or “West Coast” style jazz, and its practitioners were players like trumpeter Chet Baker, tenor saxophonist Stan Getz, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, and baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan.

Beginning in the mid-fifties tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, whose early career included work with the rhythm ‘n blues band of alto saxophonist Eddie ”Cleanhead” Vinson and with Miles Davis, began exploring a more avant-garde style of jazz. Alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman and cornetist Don Cherry took this stylistic exploration even further.

In 1954 jazz musician and producer George Wein founded the Newport Jazz Festival, the template for what has since become a popular way of presenting a number of jazz artists in an informal (oftentimes outdoor) setting over a number of days.

As the 1950s progressed, rock ‘n roll became increasingly popular. Music radically changed from 32-bar popular songs coming from Tin Pan Alley composers to more rhythm ‘n blues influenced material. As the following list of million-sellers shows, pop music was still heavily weighted toward Tin Pan Alley, but tunes like “Heartbreak Hotel” and “At the Hop” are clear indications that rock ‘n roll would soon be here to stay. “Misty,” the only tune on this list that is a jazz standard, was written by jazz pianist Erroll Garner but popularized by vocalist Johnny Mathis, a good example of a crossover tune. Jazz pianist and vocalist Nat “King” Cole became a crossover artist with his many pop hits in the decade, including “Mona Lisa.”

• “Come On-a My House”
• “Slow Poke”
• “P.S. I Love You”
• “Mona Lisa”
• “Sh-boom”
• “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White”
• “Wayward Wind”
• “Heartbreak Hotel”
• “A White Sport Coat”
• “At the Hop”
• “Mack the Knife”
• “Misty”

Underlined tunes are on the top 1000 jazz standards list.

Compared to the previous decade, there are considerably fewer tunes that became jazz standards. As the 32-bar song form faded from popularity, jazz musicians gravitated either towards older material or original compositions, often based on the chord structures of earlier 32-bar tunes like “I Got Rhythm” and “Indiana.”