The end of the 1940s marked the death of big bands, the beginning of be-bop and the start of cool jazz. Then the fifties birthed and developed quite a variety of jazz subgenres, and Miles Davis was a catalytic figure for many of them (bandleader for landmark Birth of the Cool). Important musicians from the cool school were Gerry Mulligan, Dave Brubeck and the Modern Jazz Quartet. In addition to Miles, the hard boppers included Sonny Rollins, Clifford Brown Horace Silver and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Kind of Blue’s modal jazz (Miles again!) was the decade’s best-selling album and helped launch the solo career of John Coltrane. Charles Mingus and Thelonious Monk almost defied categorization and Ornette Coleman’s free jazz challenged everyone. Lambert, Hendricks & Ross added their unique vocal gymnastics at the end. All in all, a fascinating and defining decade for jazz.

John Clark grew up in a small town in Ohio, attended college in Illinois and graduate school north of Boston. In Atlanta he taught adult education for twenty years for Emory University and Mercer University, creating classes on Bob Dylan, Fifties and Sixties music and a series called Lyrics as Literature. From 2008-2014 he was a high school history and English teacher. Since moving to Boston ten years ago, he has taught adult education for Brandeis, Tufts, Cambridge, Newton and Brookline. In 2023 he presented over 300 American Music history lectures for senior living communities and Councils on Aging. His is also an occasional guest disc jockey on MIT’s radio station, WMBR (88.1).