Genie, on 23 Jul 02 - 02:02 AM mentioned the wonderful Ken Burns series called Jazz. I watched it avidly up to the era of Miles Davis* and never finished watching the series. The evolution of jazz, the social foundations of jazz, the issues of social justice, and the music are all fascinating to me. I have always loved the jazz, swing, dixieland and ragtime styles.
The first person on my list to meet in the after life is Mr Armstrong. He's my hero, and as someone in the Jazz series described him, a genius.
My list of jazz greats is pretty long, and most have been mentioned already.
I don't relate to the modern non-melodic, all-over-the-place rhythm "jazz" so much.
I have not spent time trying to get into the Miles Davis era of jazz so much. I would probably like it if I spent the time understanding it, but I doubt if I would love it like I love the jazz, swing, dixieland and ragtime styles.