How Did Jimmy Blanton Contribute To The Evolution Of Jazz

Lastly, the bass would not be as popular and important instrument if it were not for the famous Jazz artists that used it to create some of the most prominent songs of this era. Charles Mingus, Jimmy Blanton, and Oscar Pettiford are some of the highly regarded musicians who significantly contributed to the evolution of jazz through the bass. Jimmy Blanton, for starters, was well known for his bass playing. He probably played more string bass than any other man in the Jazz field. Blanton was known for his incredible speed and supple phrasing. He had a beautiful tone and innate sense of harmony. “Blanton revolutionized jazz bass playing.... He possessed great dexterity and range, the roundness of tone, accurate intonation, and above all an unprecedented

Likewise, Charles Mingus was a virtuoso bass player. He studied the double bass and composition in a formal way and further down the road he found himself touring with some of the most famous bands like Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory, and Lionel Hampton. Mingus later settled in New York where he recorded with several other famous Jazz bands and musicians and was one of the few bassists to develop quickly as a leader of the players. Mingus was also known for his aggressive bass attack and harmonic sensibility and marked an effort to move away from the typical walking bass style. “He exerted enormous influence upon his contemporaries and paved the way for the free improvisation style of the 1960s”(Southern). He explored octave leaps and rhythmic subdivisions based on several passing tones. Mingus great role with the bass led to the great appreciation for that instrument and an example to follow from many more musicians who want to take up the bass. He expressed that melodic and rhythmic sense through the bass and soon led to introduce a new idea that the bass is the leader of a jazz number. It makes or breaks a