By Cynthia Kirk
Broadcast: October 17, 2004
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VOICE ONE:
I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Shirley Griffith with the VOA Special English program PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today, we tell about pianist John Lewis. He created one of one of the most famous jazz groups in America, the Modern Jazz Quartet.
VOICE ONE:
John Lewis was known for his creativity. He was a skilled piano player and musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet for almost fifty years. He wrote and arranged all the music for the small group. Mister Lewis was responsible for the group's sound and its identity.
John Lewis was interested in jazz, blues and bebob, a music with a great deal of energy. Yet he was also greatly influenced by his training in European classical music. Classical music is expressive and intense, but is also structured. He thought jazz should be presented the same way.
John Lewis combined classical music with traditional jazz to create songs for himself and the three other members of his quartet. He believed music should be simple and clear, yet played in a meaningful way. Here is one of the Modern Jazz Quartet's big hits, "Django."
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VOICE TWO:
John Lewis was greatly influenced by the piano style of the famous jazz bandleader, Count Basie. Like Basie, Lewis believed in making every note of music count. He depended as much on silence as he did on notes to get his message across.
John Lewis often used a form of music called fugue. Fugue is a series of opposing melodies used to create a complex effect. Mister Lewis also combined written music with music that the group invented as it went along.
This new kind of jazz attracted both lovers of jazz and classical music. It also appealed to people who did not necessarily like jazz. Here is an example of fugue in the song "Alexander's Fugue."
