1961 has proved to be an interesting year in jazz history. Players from the Swing Era, were still making great mainstream jazz, bebop had matured, hard bop was prevalent, there was still a strong West Coast jazz sound and, experimental players were pushing forward with was being called "The New Thing." So, the question was "where is jazz heading?" On "The Sounds of '61-Jazz in Transition," longtime WCPN-Cleveland jazz host Dan Polletta helps to answer that question. We hear how recordings like John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things" and Kenny Dorham's "Whistle Stop" reflected how players were beginning to incorporate the "modal jazz" they heard (and in Trane's case-played) on the groundbreaking 1959 "Kind of Blue" session by the Miles Davis Sextet.
The Sounds of '61-Jazz in Transition
