From the Harlem Rag to grand pianos to the Grammy awards to the international stage… Jazz has had many different incarnations since its origins 120 years ago. This brief slideshow with images from Mervyn Cooke’s The Chronicle of Jazz conveys the diversity of change in jazz performers throughout the years. Innovation, experimentation, controversy, and emotion — all found in the most imaginative and enduring music.
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Harlem Rag. Private collection.
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Jelly Roll Blues. The Frank Driggs Collection.
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Fate Marable’s band. The Frank Driggs Collection.
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Sydney Bechet. © Redferns-William P. Gottlieb/Library of Congress.
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Mamie Smith. The Frank Driggs Collection.
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Louis Armstrong. The Frank Driggs Collection.
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Dorothy Dandridge. BFI Stills, Posters and Designs, London.
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Fats Waller. Redferns/Michael Ochs Archives.
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Billie Holiday & Louis Armstrong. BFI Stills, Posters and Designs, London.
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Ella Fitzgerald. Photo Max Jones Files/Redferns.
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Dinah Washington. © William Claxton/The Special Photographers Library.
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Wynton Marsalis. © Redferns, London (Photo David Redfern).
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Mary Lou Williams. © Getty Images/Time & Life Pictures/Gjon Mili.
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Japanese keyboard player. © Muga Miyahara.
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Jamie Cullum. © Getty Images/AFP/Rafa Rivas.
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Diana Krall. © Getty Images/Jakubaszek.
Looking at the Fate Marable photo – would that be Lorenzo ‘Lonnie’ Johnson on violin?