Piece Description

The term nocturne, in classical music, dates back to at least the early 1800s, referring to pieces that were often written for solo piano. Frederic Chopin's nocturnes are among the most noted of such pieces, and later on Claude DeBussy and Bela Bartok wrote nocturnal themes for larger ensembles. Generally nocturnes are meant to evoke dreamy night moods, though those moods may range from romantic to dark and brooding. Jazz artists, with their broad approach to music, have sometimes sought to emulate certain aspects of classical pieces, and there are numerous instances of "jazz nocturne" themes throughout much of jazz history.

Big Band Nocturne

Clarinetist Artie Shaw was often drawn to the idea of doing jazz pieces with classical overtones or allusions. He took his "Nocturne" from Thomas Griselle's 1928 work Two American Sketches, and as one critic has pointed out, parts of it evoke George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."

Glenn Miller's World War II Army Air Force Band was a musical powerhouse, a 60-piece ensemble that included a string section as well as top-notch jazz players like drummer Ray McKinley, clarinetist/saxophonist Peanuts Hucko, and Mel Powell, Benny Goodman's young pianist and arranger who'd take a classical turn later in his career. As a member of Miller's AAF orchestra Powell got a chance to blend his jazz and classical interests on a piece titled "Neurotic Nocturne" and more commonly known as "Pearls on Velvet."

Progressive-Bop Nocturnes

Bop-era artists seemed particularly attracted to the notion of a moody, slower-paced nocturnes that gave off hints of classical modernism. Two such pieces come from lost-legend trumpeter Sonny Berman, a member of Woody Herman's big-band who died at the age of 21 from drug-related causes, and from trumpeter Howard McGhee, who had his own drug struggles but managed to survive them and enjoyed a reasonably long career. McGhee's "Night Music" was recorded at a marathon December 1947 session that included other young up-and-coming swing-to-bop-generation artists such as James Moody, Hank Jones, and Milt Jackson.

Nocturnes With a Hint of Exotica

The 1950s pairing of saxophonist/flutist Bud Shank and guitarist Laurindo Almeida produced music that many consider to be the precursors of the 1960s bossa-nova movement. Like many of the other pieces Shank and Almeida recorded, "Nocturno," written by Almeida, has a strong Brazilian folk influence.

"Night Song" comes from a 1939 small-group date led by Duke Ellington's trumpeter Cootie Williams. The melody was co-written by arranger Jimmy Mundy and trombonist Juan Tizol, who authored several memorable pieces for the Ellington orchestra that evoked other lands, such as "Caravan" and "Pyramid."

Nocturne a la Bartok

Saxophonist and arranger Oliver Nelson, like many other post-World War II jazz artists, was an admirer of classical composer Bela Bartok, and the title track of the 1960 album that he recorded for Prestige Records' Moodsville series-a series meant to be a kind of thinking-man's lights-down-low jazz-was called "Nocturne," deliberately alluding to the "night music" sections of Bartok's work and signaling the classical composer's influence upon the piece.

More Nocturnes

As Evening Falls: Jazz Nocturnes also features music from the following artists:

• Eric Dolphy
• Yusef Lateef
• Teddy Charles
• The Jazz Crusaders
• Johnny Griffin
• Willie Bobo