Bebop History

The decade of the 1940’s was an important era in the history of jazz. The 1940’s was a transition from traditional jazz into modern jazz. Leading this transition was the introduction of the Bebop period in Jazz. Bebop created controversy in the jazz world for being a contradiction to traditional jazz and was widely disliked by many audiences across America. Despite its controversy, Bebop, also referred to as “Bop,” was one of the most important eras in the history of Jazz. The technical creations by some of Bebop’s greatest musicians influenced future generations of jazz musicians

The crucible that bred the Bebop style was New York City and the famous Minton’s Playhouse (Aycock, 1997). This venue can be viewed as a more of a laboratory of modern jazz experiments than a simple small club.

Jazz has always been a part of the American tradition. Some may say they like Jazz for its rhythmic twist and turns. Others may love the soothing melodies from an improved Trumpet solo. All in all, Jazz has been an American staple and has molded today’s popular music, into what it is today. It’s very different from classical music, which is written out and strict. Jazz is much more. It’s made up of spontaneity and improvisation, which makes up an idea on the spot. There are many wide varieties in Jazz. There is Bebop Jazz, Avante Garde Jazz, Acid Jazz, Free Funk Jazz, Soul Jazz, Swing Jazz, and many, many more! These forms of Jazz can be seen and heard in some of your favorite music of Today. It’s been widely used by the world. There is an important reason as to why this genre contributes to the growing of music. We first take a look into the root of all Jazz. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the country of Africa was the first known country to use rhythm primarily for the element of musical expression, and ensembles composed entirely of percussion instruments created extended polyrhythmic works. These polyrhythms, which means the “layering of multiple rhythms.”, were record in Western music. African music did not use paper, or sheet music. Instead, they relied on Aural rituals, learned by ear and also used” spontaneity, which is later said to be known as improvisation”. In Africa, most of the music that was expressed was for religious

John M. Reilly supports this when he states "Building upon a restatement of Afro-American music, bebop became an

Jazz music can be likened to a progressive work of art. Throughout its history, Jazz music theory and techniques are continuously advancing and reforming as musicians pursue their interests by seeking new methods of expression. Jazz evolution is perpetual, and can take the form of incorporation of new techniques, adoption of more intricate harmonies and rhythms, or establishment of more elaborate melodies (Gioia). The early 1940s saw an increase in the number of Jazz modernists. As swing music declined in popularity due to various effects of the Second World War, Jazz branched into two very contrasting musical styles. The first of these new and unique styles of Jazz, called Bebop emerged in the 1940s, and was the product of numerous jam sessions in back rooms and after-hours clubs. The movement that unfolded in the later 1940’s and 50’s, called Cool (sometimes referred to as West Coast Jazz) came as a response to Bebop’s later demise. Even though Bebop and Cool stemmed from the big band music of the swing era, their differences are apparent. From its conception, to its musicians, to its audiences, Bebop and Cool came into the Jazz timeline for different reasons. Nevertheless the two musical movements ultimately left a long-lasting and distinctive influence on Jazz music, which is still manifested in Jazz music today.

Pbs.com Ken Burns states that just like all music jazz went through it trial era of music. The swing era was very popular through the early 1930’s into the late 1940’s. The swing style type of music consist of large number of band member featuring at least three to four saxophones, two or three trumpets, two to three trombones, a piano guitar and a bass violin. Not including the lead vocalist of the groups. Swinging was a life style that lifted anyone

Cool Jazz has a slow tempo. Since it is a softer type of music it 's tone is soft and melodic. The beats per measure is very low. The performers of cool jazz try to keep the dynamics low and soft so that it kept its tempo and tune. Even though it originated from bebop it is much longer. The soft tones causes cool jazz to be played in clubs such as an intimate club.

The vibrato in the sound of the cool players was slow and sometimes even missing. The beginning sound of the song was more delicate and light rather than the explosive style. If the bebop was reviewed as a “hot” music, then the cool jazz was more controlled and reserved. It was tend to be the classical music and created a relaxed feeling. Unlike Bop, the cool jazz was arranged in advance. While Bop emphasized the improvised solos. Similar to Bop, the phrasing of cool music is not symmetrical. The cool style has more melodic lines compared with Bop which had its focus on one melodic line at a time. But the Cool is not as rich and bold as Bop. The common rhythm of the Cool were polyrhythms and polymeters. More instruments were applied to the Cool, such as horn, flute, oboe, bassoon and tuba, and the Cool groups usually had more

Charlie Parker and other Bebop musicians played regularly at Minton’s Playhouse on 118th Street in Manhattan. They loved challenges. Kenny Clarke would drum with them. It is known that he changed the way he drummed in the 1930s because of how fast the tunes he played with the Teddy Hill band were. He couldn’t play quarter notes on the bass drum so he would keep the beat on the cymbal instead, which produced a lighter, more flexible way to play, and also allowed for the bass drum to be used for other rhythmic ideas. Hill was not fond of this new way of drumming so in 1940 he let Clarke go. Minton offered Clarke the job of running the music at Minton’s Playhouse. Clarke’s style was perfect for jam sessions and his combination of snare

“Walkin”, was a swaggering blues piece informed by the extended harmonies of bebop was a shift from cool jazz and announced the arrival of hard bop (Sales, 1992:171). Hard bop was the evolvement and development from bop during the 1950s and 1960s, often regarded as a reaction to the restraint and intellectualism of cool jazz (Kingman, 1990:389).

In my opinion, from the inception of the Jazz sound, there has been plenty of evolution that has reflected the historical times and the appetite of the listeners. As an example, when Jazz was the dominating genre, Swing arose by putting a shorter beat after a long beat. While Swing was traversing a new musical lane, audiences were drawn to its sounds and high energy allowing them to get up and stomp their feet on the dance floor. However, by looking forward at the Bebop genre music, some individuals feel that it acquired its sound from early jazz and swing music. Furthermore, this argument does have some merit since it is a known fact that there are known similarities. In my opinion Bebop can be considered a form of revolution in comparison

During the early 1930's there was a type of jazz called swing which was characterized as happy. One of the most popular artists in the swing style of jazz was Duke Ellington. This style of jazz was extremely popular during World War II. This type of jazz was created to keep positive attitudes and remind everyone of the happy wonderful times ahead. Therefore sending soldiers off to war with joyful spirits. But for the jazz industry things just got even harder. With all the traveling by the soldiers and band buses slowly disappearing. Along with ballrooms being closed due to taxes. Then came along the style of jazz music known as Bebop which was characterized as a more abstract and rebellious style of jazz. Giving more musicians things to express

Swing was the dominant idiom of the 1930s and much of the 1940s. Basically, it was a form of dance music played by a large band, and was the medium through which most white Americans first heard Jazz (Schuller,1989). Although the decade 1935-45 was called the Swing Era, swing arrangements had been played by large bands beginning in the 1920s. Bandleader-arrangers Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, and, later, Count Basie, worked out arrangements for their 10 to 12 piece bands, which, unlike traditional jazz bands, were divided into instrumental sections.

Jazz was inspired by African-American folk music, Blues and Ragtime in the early 20th century and introduced in New Orleans. According to the text book “Discovering Humanities”, “Jazz was “the” American music, and was almost as popular in Paris and Berlin as it was in New York, Chicago, and New Orleans” (468). The first feature of Jazz is improvisation, when a song was played there is no specific arrangement, it is spontaneously elaborated around a specific song (Listen, 386). A second feature is that there is a rhythmic style that involves highly developed syncopation. Syncopation occurs when accents in

While “One O’Clock Jump” has more similarities to swing it is still an example of modernism. In Coleman Hawkins “One O’Clock Jump” one can notice the more similarities with swing, compared to “Body and Soul,” however, one can still hear a more detailed portrayal. The song has more flow and more beats than swing usually has. Thus, use of more beats is part of the new technique that Coleman Hawkins used. The use of the new techniques shows how one can see modernism in “One O’Clock Jump.” However, due to the similarities to swing one would not necessary have to see this song of Hawkins as part of bebop or modernism.