Episode 157: Bellwethers in Jazz, Part 2

Discovering Jazz

Last week I spoke about how Miles Davis could be considered to be the most predominant jazz ‘bellwether’. This was related to his role in contributing to particular tunes becoming ‘standards’, even influencing how other musicians played them.

This week I advance that ‘thesis’ even further. I show how changes he made to a Dave Brubeck composition then became the way future musicians played the tune. I also talk about his contribution to what has been called ‘third stream music’, as well as the role that trombonist JJ Johnson played.

There are other nominees for bellwether too. For example, Ahmad Jamal very much influenced Miles in terms of song choice and arrangement. Argument could also be made to support Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong for their bellwether role.

A bellwether is the sheep in the flock who has the greatest influence on when and how the flock moves. And it isn’t always the sheep who goes first. The inspiration here came from science fiction writer, Connie Willis, and her book “Bellwether” where a social scientist is solving the mystery of how certain fads became so popular.

I play some great music on this program by Miles Davis, Ahmad Jamal, JJ Johnson, Louis Armstrong, Phil Woods Quartet, Renee Rosnes, Frank Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim, and even a bit of folk singer Ed McCurdy.