Bebop (and its many children)

During and after WWII, the emphasis in jazz shifted away from bands back to playing in smaller combos. In these smaller ensembles, players experimented with a new soloing vocabulary, creating a fast and angular style called bebop.

What is the function of bebop?

It is art music, intended to be listened to.

Charlie Parker- Song Koko. He was an alto sax player nicknamed Bird. He is considered the father of bebop. He inspired many other musicians by his brilliant playing (good thing). His heroin use also inspired many jazz musicians to do the same (bad thing).

Dizzy Gillespie- Song Salt Peanuts. He was a trumpet player who was the cover boy for bebop. He was articulate and eloquent, a brilliant player, and fun to photograph because of his big cheeks.

Cool Jazz- Same vocabulary as bebop, but less emotional and much slower

Miles Davis- Song So What. He was a trumpet player who released the cool jazz album Kind of Blue, which remains the best-selling jazz album of all time.

Dave Brubeck- Song Take Five. He is a CT native pianist whose album Time Out was the first million-selling jazz album.

Hard Bop- Same vocabulary as bebop, but with a danceable backbeat and a strong blues influence

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers- Song Moanin’. Blakey was a drummer who led the band for 45 years, using his band a training ground for new musicians.

Soul Jazz- jazz+blues+gospel, very popular in jukeboxes in bars.

Fusion- a combination of two different styles of music, in this case jazz+rock

Miles Davis was a pioneer of fusion.

Avant-garde- trans.-front line. Emotion without structure. Music that is very “out.” Not mainstream. The more avant-garde a piece is, the less likely it is to be appreciated by a wide and general audience.

Ornette Coleman- Song Chronology. He was a sax and trumpet player who played a style called free jazz. There were no chords, no time signature, no nothing!

John Coltrane- Song Giant Steps. He was a superb tenor sax player who played many styles before getting very out.

What distinguishes avant-garde jazz from people randomly noodling around on instruments?

Personnel. If the players are jazz players, then it’s jazz. If they’re just hacks messing around, it just noise.

Wynton Marsalis- Song Soon all will Know. Wynton is a brilliant trumpet player who is a powerful arts advocate and runs the Lincoln Jazz Center. He was the first jazz player to be awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for jazz compostion.