Jazz Duos - for your Event

About Jazz Duos

The Jazz Duo pages list duos that are available to perform in your area. They are particularly appropriate for wedding receptions and parties. To find out more about them, read on:

About Jazz Duos

Jazz Duos are a more compact and often a lower cost option than a jazz quartet or larger jazz band. They are ideal for a smaller intimate event, but with a suitable PA system a jazz duo can play at whatever size venue you have in mind in your area. A Jazz Duo can cover a wide range of jazz styles, or be specialists in one Jazz period. Instrumental line-ups vary and can include a vocalist. Great for an evening wedding reception, or perhaps hire a jazz duo for your birthday party.

A Jazz Duo could be perfect for a small wedding reception. Also have a look at the bigger bands and consider whether you want a smaller more intimate group, or a larger more upbeat band. Cost is also a consideration. It's also a favourite line up with corporate event organisers and restaurants, in part because they can perform in relatively small rooms without taking up too much space.

Use the drop down box at the top of the page to select the county where your venue is and see the musicians who are available to perform there.

So what instruments are common in jazz duos:

Saxophone: One of the important innovations of the big band was the introduction of the saxophone. One of the first jazz saxophonists was Coleman Hawkins (1904-69), who introduced the instrument to Henderson's band in 1923. Between the 1930s and '60s, saxophones were to feature strongly in the "big band" orchestras led by people such as Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington in the United States, Henry Hall in England and Bert Kaempfert and James Last in Germany.

Strings- Guitar & violin:  Superlative examples of this style were violinist Stephane Grappelli (1908—97) and the colourful gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt (1910—53), (who lost the use of two fingers of his left hand in a caravan fire in 1928 and developed an idiosyncratic technique to compensate for the handicap!), created a new brand of small-ensemble jazz that looked forward to the later bop idiom. Some of our jazz duos take their inspiration from these great musicians.

Piano: From Scott Joplin composer of piano rags such as 'The Entertainer' and Dave Brubeck with 'Take 5' in the late 1950's, the piano has been an integral part of may smaller jazz ensembles.

Vocalists: Styles couldn't be more diverse, with historic examples from the husband-and-wife duo of bop-influenced saxophonist John Dank-worth and singer Cleo Laine (who also performed with the guitarist John Williams singing Shakespearean sonnets) to  Lois Armstrong's singing, particularly in the 'scat' style, made famous by Armstrong in the Hot Five recordings of Heebie Jeebies (1926) and Hotter Than That (1927),  singing nonsense syllables to an improvised melody. So listen to the vocalists on our website to find the ones whose music you feel is most suitable for your wedding, party or corporate event.

Resources

Here are some interesting resources on the history and performance of Jazz:

HISTORY OF JAZZ FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF FIDDLE PLAYER
Origins of Jazz
JAZZ AND FOLK MUSIC.
Formal notation of jazz
The origins of spirituals in jazz
Printed music versus tradition in jazz
Rhythmic Elements of Jazz
Emphasis in Jazz Rhythms
Emotions and Jazz Rhythms
Sections of a Jazz Band
Jazz Pollyrhythm
The Big Jazz Band - the Jazz Orchestra
The Standardised Jazz Orchestra
Commercial Jazz Band Orchestration
The Psychology of Jazz Band Syncopation
Tap Dancing & the Jazz Band
The Jazz Band & Indo Jazz Fusion
Blues and Transforming Jazz into an Art Form
The Jazz Band in the American Psych

Bebop & Hard Bop Jazz
Jazz Big Bands
Duke Ellington - Jazz Composer
Free Jazz & Modern Jazz
Jazz-Rock Fusion
Jazz Timeline
Louis Armstrong - Instrumentalist and Vocalist
Miles Davis - the great inventor
Jazz from New Orleans to Chicago
Ragtime