Episode Nine: The Adventure

In the late 1950s, America's postwar prosperity continues, but beneath the surface run currents of change. Families are moving to the suburbs, watching television has become the national pastime, and baby boomers have begun coming of age. For jazz, it is also a period of transition when old stars like Billie Holiday and Lester Young will burn out while young talents arise to take the music in new directions. Jazz still has its two guiding lights. In 1956, the first year Elvis tops the charts, Duke Ellington recaptures the nation's ear with a performance at the Newport Jazz Festival that becomes his bestselling record ever. The next year, Louis Armstrong makes headlines when he condemns the government's failure to stand up to racism in Little Rock, Arkansas, risking his career while musicians who dismissed him as an Uncle Tom remain silent. Meanwhile, new virtuosos emerge to push the limits of bebop: saxophone colossus Sonny Rollins; jazz diva Sarah Vaughan; and the drummer Art Blakey, whose Jazz Messengers will become a proving ground for young musicians over the next 40 years. But the leading light of the era is Miles Davis--a catalyst constantly forming new groups to showcase different facets of his stark, introspective sound; a popularizer whose lush recordings with arranger Gil Evans expand the jazz audience; and a cultural icon whose tough-guy charisma comes to define what's hip. As the turbulent '60s arrive, however, two saxophonists take jazz into uncharted terrain. John Coltrane explodes the pop tune "My Favorite Things" into a kaleidoscope of freewheeling sound, while Ornette Coleman challenges all conventions with a sound he calls "free jazz." Once again, the music seems headed for new adventures, but now, for the first time, even musicians are starting to ask, Is it still jazz? ©2001 Amazon.com