Jazz Musicians

Jazz musicians have been the subject of many stereotypes and parodies throughout the ages, largely due to the fear people felt for jazz music and jazz musicians during the 1920s prohibition.

Generally within jazz there are jazz musicians forming an ensemble that will feature two sections: rhythm and horn. Jazz musicians are usually skilled in the instrument they play and jazz playing is generally considered to be considerably more difficult than it sounds.

Jazz musicians often pick a number of instruments to play, with the most common jazz instruments including the accordion, bagpipes, bass, cello, clarinet, cornet, drums, flute, French horn, guitar, guitar synthesiser, multi-instrumentalists, organ, piano, saxophone, trombone, trumpet, vibraphone, violin and vocals.

Jazz musicians are held with the utmost respect in music circles, with some of the giants of jazz being held as the nations favourites, including vocalists Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Louis Armstrong.

Although jazz music and jazz musicians were predominantly black African-Americans, white jazz musicians are on the rise. Famous jazz musicians that are instrumentalists include: Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Sun Ra, Earl Hines and Louis Armstrong, who are all well-known in circles that don't particularly favour jazz music and jazz musicians.

Jazz musicians have often been subject of negative viewpoints, including racism and bigots, however they have also ensured the stereotypes that jazz musicians are born with talent and do not work hard, the jazz musicians smoke, drink and take drugs and that jazz musicians are lay-abouts and, to some extent, beatniks, when in reality jazz musicians are creative and work hard to achieve their desired results.