Too Good for Words

Up until this point, I haven't even touched the plethora jazz instrumentalists. Vocalists somehow always seem to receive more praise and fame; however, jazz music would be no where without the instrumentalists. Sure, the singers really make lyrics and emotions come alive, but their performances simply can't capture jazz like instrument players can. I believe that the ability to make various brass and wood contraptions somehow come together to blend is talented. Even more so, I think that the ability to make this blend create an aura of jazz is astounding. Hearing such music, such art, always makes me want to close my eyes and become part of the music. Unlike vocal jazz, listening to instrumental jazz allows one to create any story and FEEL the emotion and passion of the song.
Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, instrumental jazz is simply not an influential characteristic of today's jazz (although if any one knows of some really good artist, I would love to hear them!). Instead, to really experience instrumental jazz, one has to return to the jazz era of the past and tune into musicians of the time. It's important to look beyond the most well-known performers such as Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington but they are a good start. If you are looking to listen to jazz musicians, I would also suggest look for entire bands in addition to soloist in order to get the whole feeling.
In general, I would suggest exploring jazz instrumentalist due to there wide influence on jazz.