Hard Bop Essay

Hard Bop was played mainly from East Coast and Midwest Musicians. It evolved directly from bop during the 1950s, and was relatively neglected by the public. Cool Jazz on the other hand, consisted of mainly West Coast musicians. Some of the players of cool jazz are among the most popular musicians in jazz. Although the sound quality of

Miles Davis represents the pinnacle of modern American Jazz. He was one of the foremost pioneers in the inventions of cool jazz, hard bop, free jazz, fusion and techno. He was, arguably one of the most influential figures in music, pushing the boundaries of what was commonly known as jazz into new directions that most people thought was impossible.

There are many differences between cool jazz and hard bop however both were reactions in the music world after the creation of the bebop style. Cool jazz had a greater emphasis on arranging and orchestration meaning it was written ahead of time, however the improvised solos were vital as well. Hard bop was not as orchestrated as cool jazz and also implemented the use of new long-playing formats to stretch out on extended solos, which a lot of the times were improvised. The instruments that were popular in cool jazz were very classical ones including the French horn, tuba, clarinet, oboe, saxophone, clarinet and trombones, as well as the rhythm section. The ensemble sizes of cool jazz were larger than hard bops ranging from trios to nonets. The instrumentation of hard bop style ensembles were much smaller with normally around only five musicians playing together. The bands for hard bop normally consisted of two or three horns as well as the rhythm section, and these bands produced rougher and heavier sounds together.

“Walkin and Swingin” is a piece of jazz performed by Andy Kirk and his band, the Twelve Clouds of Joy, that could be described as light, bouncy, and perhaps easy or even uncluttered. This was written by Mary Lou Williams for Andy Kirk and is a thirty-two bar piece with four choruses. However, the length of the sections is handled differently, with the last chorus section being shortened to six bars after the transitions between different instruments, from the saxophone and brass to the piano (seen from 2:16 to about 2:24). The song overall has a light tone, and has many instruments that contribute, including two alto saxophones, one tenor saxophone, three trumpets, two trombones, a guitar, a piano, a bass, and drums, as observed from the written sheet music. The piece is different from others in multiple ways, perhaps the most noticeable being the piano solo played by Mary Lou Williams, the multiple solos played by members of the brass instrument section, very quick but effective transitions, and the overall swing groove of the music. There is also a walking bass used at the bridge, and a very intriguing trumpet lead of the brass instruments.

Born in Alton, Illinois, Miles Davis grew up in a middle-class family in East St. Louis. Miles Davis took up the trumpet at the age of 13 and was playing professionally two years later. Some of his first gigs included performances with his high school bandand playing with Eddie Randall and the blue Devils. Miles Davis has said that the greatest musical experience of his life was hearing the Billy Eckstine orchestra when it passed through St. Louis. In September 1944 Davis went to New York to study at Juilliard but spend much more time hanging out on 52nd Street and eventually dropped out of school. He moved from his home in East St. Louis to New York primarily to enter school but also to locate his musical idol,

“The Wild West Side Mob”, not for their behavior, but because of their free, ragged, style of jazz. While this style made them great jam session musicians, it made it difficult for them to find work. Hot jazz was not in demand. Nevertheless, Benny’s ability to play cool, sweet jazz on demand ensured that he found plenty of

Born on May 26, 1926, Miles Davis is considered to be one of the most influential jazz musicians in history. Being a trumpeter, keyboardist, composer, and band-leader, Miles is responsible for the popularization of many styles of jazz throughout his long and prolific career.

Jazz is a music genre that has complex characteristics and history of development and thus many musicians and scholars face troubles in defining what jazz is. In general, jazz is believed to have born in New Orleans. Jazz developed for the pleasure of the social dancers. According to the “Understanding Jazz: What Is Jazz?” of John F. Kennedy center for the Performing Arts, Jazz was created mainly by Afro-Americans, and had elements of European and Afro-American culture. Also, it emphasizes few elements of Jazz, which are swing-feel, syncopation, and improvisation. These different culture and elements of jazz may be explained by how jazz

     Before even hitting a year as a soloist, Miles Davis put out his first album as a soloist named Birth of the Cool. This was definitely something to be marked down on the timeline of Jazz. The album was accurately named, being responsible for the stardom of Cool Jazz, a movement that the very new to the Jazz movement, Miles Davis, invented within his first year of success. The Cool Jazz, which featured Gil Evans, first appeared in the latter days of 1949.

to create new kinds of jazz. The most popular result of this trend to variety

Nps.gov states that some of the greatest musician in America History has come from the jazz side of the world. Artist such as Louis Armstrong, Billy Holiday and Jelly “Roll” Morton, pave the way for jazz to reach its height as it did in the early 20’s with the upbeat tempo and smooth classical sound. These artist brung a unique sound to jazz that was not there. Louis Armstrong contribute to jazz is so remarkable, he played the trumpet like no other. His sound was so soothing to the ears. When you think about jazz, Louis Armstrong is one of the first names most people relate to jazz. Jelly “Roll” Morton was probably the most influence artist there is. An innovative piano stylist and composer, began his odyssey outside of New Orleans as early as 1907. He continue his work throughout the 1920’s and was mainly consider the reason of the swing era.

Miles Davis was one of the greatest and most important figures in jazz history. Miles Dewey Davis III was a musician, composer, arranger, producer and bandleader all in one. Davis was at the forefront of almost every major development in jazz after World War 2. He was one of the most influential and innovative musicians of the twentieth century along with Charlie Parker and Louis Armstrong. His versatility landed him at the forefront of bebop, cool jazz, modal, hard bop and fusion (Kirker, 2005:1). His sound went on to influence many other newer forms of music today such as pop, soul, R&B, funk and rap. As one of the last trumpet players, Davis employed a lyrical, melodic style that was known for its minimalism as well

The hard bop style and the cool jazz style are completely opposite of each other. The only thing that they have in common is that they sometimes share the same song structure or form. Cool jazz is known to be light and soft with simple melodic improvisations. Hard bop is known to be dark, heavy, and raw with complex melodic improvisations. Cool jazz is normally defined as relaxing and calming music.

The mystery of Jazz and its powerful impact on the music community can be explained largely by the context of it’s creation. Jazz was born in the United States, and because of this, many have referred to Jazz as “America’s music.” Like America, Jazz has a balance between structure and spontaneity. It capitalizes on the fluidity of the musicians, having several different instruments with independent spirits, coming together as one to form a great piece of music. Unlike other styles of music, Jazz has a certain way about it that makes it stand-alone in the world of genres. It improvises, moves, and transforms itself in a moment’s notice based on the musician’s intuition. Just as America harbors democracy, so too does a jazz ensemble, showing both the responsibility to a larger group, yet still allowing room for individual freedom. It all comes down to how well others can respect the overall framework and structure of the jingle.

This chart was inspired by the hard bop style of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. The overall performance should have a hard-driving rhythmic feel - not too heavy, but precise and well-articulated in the horns.