Tools of the Trade Trivia Quiz

Answer: Trumpet

Both Louis Armstrong and bebop's Dizzy Gillespie were, arguably, better technicians of the trumpet than Davis but neither of them could infuse a ballad with the languid elegance and the sheer desolation that the latter could summon. Miles achieved this by creatively using silence and space, two qualities that he felt were equally as important as simply playing the notes, to generate atmosphere within his sound.

After World War II jazz undertook many changes and Miles was at the forefront of most of those movements. His first quintet, formed in the mid-1950s, focused on playing modes instead of chord changes, resulting in his most famous work "Kind of Blue" in 1959.

He formed a second quintet in 1964, which promulgated the energy of youths such as Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. They combined or, better still, infused their sound with electronic and rock elements which formed the foundation for Davis' 1969 work "Bitch's Brew".

Answer: Saxophone

Charlie Parker, simply known to his faithful fans as "Bird", tragically passed away at the tender age of 34 years. One of the prime movers of the jazz movement of the 1940s, known as bebop, Parker's ornate style was built on a prodigious technique, a fluency in melody, and some of the most harmonic ingenuity to ever grace the period. Sadly, his brilliance with the alto saxophone was as well known as his struggles with alcohol and heroin, and the world lost a performer who, many felt, was yet to reach the crest of his genius.

Among his best known works were "Now's the Time" (1945) in which he famously uses the chords of the Gershwin brother's "I Got Rhythm" (1930) and "Ko Ko" (1945), a contrafact of Ray Noble's "Cherokee (Indian Love Song)" (1938), that is considered a challenge to many aspiring musicians. Legend has it that Parker's 1945 version of this song is so fast that the great Miles Davis refused to play it.

Answer: Vibraphone

Nicknamed "Bags", Milt Jackson looked set to make his mark on the music world as a piano playing gospel singer, however, after hearing Lionel Hampton playing the vibraphone in Benny Goodman's band, he decided to make a career change.

Joining Dizzy Gillespie's band, he helped to shape the emerging bebop revolution before forming his own quartet, the now legendary Modern Jazz Quartet. His dexterousness and his earlier journeys into gospel helped him to develop his own unique style that melded blues, bebop and classical music into a combination of crystalline melodies best heard on albums such as "Pyramid" (1960) and "Lonely Woman" (1962).

Answer: Violin

Despite being raised in relative poverty Stephane Grapelli managed to find his way into the prestigious Conservatoire de Paris to both study music and use it as an incredible stepping stone into the world of jazz, where he became known as the "Grandfather of Jazz Violinists".

He found fame as a member of Django Reinhardt's Quintette du Hot Club de Paris, placing the violin onto a shelf of prominence in jazz. However, the eventual arrival of bebop saw the violin almost disappear from the jazz armoury and Grapelli's influence in the medium almost vanished with it.

His resurrection came in 1971 when talk-show host, and jazz afficionado, Michael Parkinson paired him with classical violinist Yehudi Menuhin. This led to the creation of three critically acclaimed albums between the two, which inspired Grapelli's return to the Hot Club sound and a return to the jazz limelight.

Answer: Clarinet

One of the most successful bandleaders during the Big Band and Swing eras, Goodman was christened the "King of Swing". That aside, he has also proven to be one of music's finest clarinetists, revealing his remarkable talent early on by covering the instruments entire range, while performing Lew Pollack's 1914 ragtime composition "That's a Plenty".

Nor was Benny a one-trick pony. While he is best known for being at the front of a large ensemble, he also created a forward-thinking jazz trio, that was made up of himself, Gene Krupa on drums and Teddy Wilson playing on piano. The most notable of their recordings is, arguably, Layton & Creamer's "After You're Gone" in 1935. As a nod to his versatility, Goodman was also commissioned to play classical numbers by the likes of Bela Bartok and Francis Poulene, and formed a bebop outfit during the 1940s, before, once again, returning to the joys of swing.

Answer: Trombone

Oh man, let it slide... Jack Teagarden possessed a style that was both effortless and lyrical, so much so that jazz critic Martin Williams raved that "his creative instinct is unerring, rhythmically and harmonically, and creatively superb."

The trombone had been used as a background instrument, mainly playing bass lines. However, at the start of the jazz era, Kid Ory elevated the instrument with a process that became known as the "tailgate style", playing fills between the melodic phrases of the higher instruments. Teagarden though, was much more skilled than Ory and, by playing extended solos using the upper register and lip trills, he completely redefined the role of the trombone in jazz. He managed this because there was no one there to tell him that "you can't do that with a trombone" or, if they did, he didn't take heed and simply found a way.

Jack recorded over a thousand tracks during his career, including songs such as "Basin Street Blues" (1944) alongside Louis Armstrong, "Jeepers Creepers" (1938) with the Paul Whiteman Swing Wing and "Pennies From Heaven" (1938) with Benny Goodman, all of which were some of the biggest songs of that era.

Answer: Guitar

The Belgian born Romani, Django Reinhardt, is seen as the founding father of the 1930s swing and influenced the trend that was known as hot jazz. With his all-string - yes, you read that right, all string - group, Quintette du Hot Club de France, which included violinist Stephane Grapelli, Reinhardt changed the role of the guitar in jazz. Thanks to the quintet's softer sound, rather than using it as an accompanying instrument, Reinhardt was able to move it to the fore and grab the spotlight with some virtuosic solos.

Remarkably, despite missing the third and fourth fingers of his left hand, which he'd lost in a caravan fire, he was able to achieve greatness, by combining speed and precision with imagination and feeling. Many of Reinhardt's recordings predated the era of the long play album format but, if you're keen to get a feel for his sound, they're best captured on the 2000 release "The Classic Early Recordings in Chronological Order".

Answer: Bass

Jaco, born in 1951, began his musical journey as a drummer but, after an injury to his wrist playing football, he took up the double bass. He found the instrument difficult to maintain due to the humidity prevalent in Florida and, when it eventually broke apart, he traded it for a 1962 Fender Jazz Bass.

In 1975, he became a member of the highly influential jazz fusion group Weather Report by brashly introducing himself as "I'm John Francis Pastorius III. I'm the greatest bass player in the world", but his six year stay with the group was beset by issues. He began to abuse alcohol and developed a drug habit. His undiagnosed (at the time) bipolar disorder was seen as eccentricities in his behaviour and he, eventually, began to fall out with the band's desire to move toward an orchestrated, synthesized sound.

Jaco set up his own band, called Word of Mouth, who backed his solo album releases, but the sales were not there. He passed away, aged 35, after becoming involved in a brawl with a bouncer. The question is, what made Jaco stand out? To this point, the bass had been a background instrument that, along with the drum, provided the rhythm. Jaco took the instrument to the front of the stage. He played loud, he played fast and he drew attention to himself by doing backflips and dancing like James Brown. But, acrobatics aside, there was also a great deal of skill involved. He removed the frets from his electric bass, which required playing with greater accuracy and, when you consider the frantic speeds at which he played, it only accentuates how masterful he was with his instrument. Despite the jazz upbringing, he has been cited as an influence by many members of rock and metal bands... remarkable, when you consider that he'd only picked up the instrument when he was sixteen years old.

Answer: Drums

As a drummer Blakey was described as a "volcano" and, working with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, was one of the early forces that shaped the new world of bebop jazz. Moving forward, with his own band, The Jazz Messengers, he would become one of the pioneers of the hard bop style of jazz. The band would also become one of the training grounds for some of the finest jazz musicians to come, bearing names such as Woody Shaw, Freddie Hubbard and Wayne Shorter. "Moanin'" (1958) is considered to be the band's most famous work, containing a version of Benny Golson's "Blues March" (also 1958), which became the band's unofficial theme song.

Whilst Blakey is best known for his work with the Messengers, it is easy to overlook the fact that this "one-man engine room" was one of the most sought after side-men on the scene, and worked for the likes of Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis and Dexter Gordon.

Answer: Piano

"The Man in the Hat", "The Idiosyncratic", "The Maverick"... iconic sobriquets that only scratch the surface of the superlatives used to describe one of America's most original musicians. You can add to that list such descriptions as inimitable, misunderstood, unique and, too often, underrated.

Thelonious Monk worked with an attitude that "there are no wrong notes on a piano" and, in doing so, created a universe of angular melodies, and sparse, complex and, at times, dissonant harmonies that had materialized from some of the most unusual rhythms and intervals imaginable. Yet, within them, there was always a sense of warmth and playfulness that would influence a myriad of jazz musicians that would follow him.

With numbers such as "Round Midnight" (1943), "Straight, No Chaser" (1951) and "Ruby, My Dear" (1945), Monk made a strong, if not bold, contribution to the modern jazz songbook.