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Jazz royalty

{{Short description|Term expressing adulation for Jazz musicians}}

File:Ella Fitzgerald (Gottlieb 02871).jpg was nicknamed the "Queen of Jazz".]]

Jazz royalty is a term encompassing the many jazz musicians who have been termed as exceptionally musically gifted and informally granted honorific, "aristocratic" or "royal" titles as nicknames.[https://web.archive.org/web/20181119173532/https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2015/04/07/jazz-musicians-nicknames/ "How did jazz musicians end up with all those nicknames?", section: "Performers as Royalty"], Allen, Tim, Oxford Dictionaries, April 7, 2015 The practice of affixing honorific titles to the names of jazz musicians goes back to New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, before the genre was commonly known as "jazz".

History

In New York City in the 1920s, Paul Whiteman was billed as the "King of Jazz". His popular band with many hit records arguably played more jazz-influenced popular music than jazz per se, but to the dismay of many later jazz fans, Whiteman's self-conferred moniker stuck, and a film The King of Jazz starring Whiteman and his band appeared in 1930. The "King of Jazz" title was a publicity stunt in 1923 by an instrument manufacturer that Whiteman endorsed.{{cite book |title=Louis Armstrong & Paul Whiteman: Two Kings of Jazz |last=Berrett |first=Joshua |isbn=978-0-300-10384-7 |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2004 |page=[https://archive.org/details/louisarmstrongpa00berr_0/page/123 123] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/louisarmstrongpa00berr_0/page/123 }}

Titles

=King=

{{cite book

| title = In Search of Buddy Bolden: First Man of Jazz

| first = Donald M.

| last = Marquis

| publisher = LSU Press

| year = 2005

| isbn = 978-0-80713-093-3

| page = 4

}}

{{cite book

| title = Jazz on Record: The First Sixty Years

| first = Scott

| last = Yanow

| publisher = Backbeat Books

| year = 2003

| isbn = 978-0-87930-755-4

| page = 136

}}

=Queen=

  • The Queen of Swing: Mildred Bailey
  • The Queen of Jazz: Ella Fitzgerald{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/google-doodle-honours-queen-of-jazz-ella-fitzgerald-on-96th-birthday-8587125.html|title=Google Doodle honours 'Queen of Jazz' Ella Fitzgerald on 96th birthday|website=independent.co.uk|date=25 April 2013 }}
  • The Empress of the Blues: Bessie Smith{{cite web|url=http://www.biography.com/people/bessie-smith-9486520|title=Bessie Smith|website=Biography}}
  • Malaysia's Queen of Jazz: Sheila Majid{{cite web|url=https://www.artiste.com.my/blog/item/64-malaysia-s-queen-of-jazz-sheila-majid-dr-soo-wincci-for-christmas.html|title=Malaysia's Queen of Jazz Sheila Majid & Dr Soo Wincci for Christmas!|website=artiste.com.my}}
  • The Queen of Filipino Jazz: Katy de la Cruz{{cite web |url=http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/sb/sb003517.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070816123249/http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/sb/sb003517.htm |archive-date=16 August 2007 |url-status=dead |title=Katy De La Cruz: Remembering Mommy Kate}}

=Other titles=

  • The Prince of Darkness: Miles Davis{{cite news |url=http://hepcat1950.com/mdiv8608.html |title=Miles Davis -- Shining a Light on the Prince of Darkness |work=Jazz Times |quote=The well-tended Prince of Darkness persona is gone this way |access-date=26 October 2017 |author=Ken Franckling |date=August 1986 |archive-date=27 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027125719/http://hepcat1950.com/mdiv8608.html |url-status=dead }}

{{cite news

| url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9901E6D8143BF930A25756C0A9679C8B63

| title = Miles Davis: The Chameleon of Cool; A Jazz Genius In the Guise Of a Hustler

| work = New York Times

| access-date = 21 December 2008

| author = Robin D. G. Kelley

| date = May 13, 2001

}}

  • The Maharaja of the Keyboard: Oscar Peterson{{cite news|title=Jazz Great Oscar Peterson Dies |url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/24/obit.peterson.ap/index.html |work=CNN |agency=Associated Press |date=December 25, 2007 |quote=Duke Ellington referred to him as 'Maharajah of the keyboard' |access-date=25 December 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205103959/http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/24/obit.peterson.ap/index.html |archive-date=December 5, 2008 }}
  • The Duke: Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington
  • The Prince of Cool: Chet Baker
  • The Jazz Baroness: Baroness Kathleen Annie Pannonica de Koenigswarter
  • The Count: William James "Count" Basie
  • Lady Day: Billie Holiday
  • The Senator: Eugene Wright{{Cite book |last=Von Eschen |first=Penny M. |title=Satchmo Blows Up the World: Jazz Ambassadors Play the Cold War |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2004 |isbn=0674015010 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England |pages=86-87}}
  • The Ambassador: Louis Armstrong
  • Prez (The President): Lester Young{{cite web |url=https://jazzdaily.blog/2023/08/27/lester-young-the-sublime-sound-of-the-prez/ |title=Lester Young: The Sublime Sound of the Prez |author=Michael Westmore |date=August 27, 2023 |website=Jazz Daily |publisher= |access-date=September 20, 2024 }}

See also

{{Portal|Jazz|Music|Royalty}}

References

{{Reflist}}

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Royalty

Category:Nicknames

Royalty

Category:Blues