History of JazzA m e r i c a ’ s C l a s s i c a l

M u s i c

After the Swing Era

Jazz community splinters into three primary camps:

Jump Bands: swing meets rhythm & blues (one of the roots of rock and roll); very danceable & accessible to mainstream audiences

Bebop: jazz developed by and for virtuoso musicians; attracted performers with outgoing musical personalities; small, devoted audiences

Cool: jazz for the intellectual; formal compositions combined with reflective improvisations; at first, little audience appeal; gradual exposure in film and television soundtracks broaden aaudience appeal

Jump BandsTrimmed instrumentation of the swing band

1 or 2 trumpets

1 trombone, if at all

3 saxes (alto, tenor, baritone)

rhythm section: piano, bass, guitar (and/or vibes), drums

Rhythm & blues based repertoire; extensive use of riff-based tunes

Hard-driving rhythm section; loud drumming patterns with strong dance beats

Focus on showmanship audience participation (dancing)

Vibrant, blues-based improvisation; extensive use of riffs; lots of high register shrieks and wails

Two dynamic levels: loud and louderListening Example: Jump Call by Benny Carter; performed by the Benny Carter and His Orchestra

Lecture Four:

Bebop

Listening Example: Ko-Ko by E.K. Ellington; performed by Charlie Parker’s Re-Boppers

Bebop: DevelopmentNot clear how the term “bebop” evolved into the jazz vernacular

scat singing syllables, usually at the end of a scat phrase

name of an early bebop recording made by Dizzy Gillespie

Developed in the “after-hours” clubs in Harlem and other New York nightspots; Minton’s and Monroe’s Uptown House

Fostered by cutting contests between musicians after working hours (after dance halls and ballrooms closed)

Stressed virtuosic technique; long, complicated improvised solos; and intentional move from constrictions of swing music

Bebop: CultureBebop developed its own cult identity:

Zoot suits

Goatees

Sunglasses (Shades)

String Ties

Berets or Tams

Verbal Slang

Political overtones

Early Jazz Swing Bebop

Group Size Combo: 5-8 players Band: 12-15 players Combo: 3-6 players

Primary Focus Collective and solo improvisation

Written compositions and arrangements with solo

improvisation

Solo improvisation; “jam session” approach;

spontaneous performance

SoloShort in length; melodic

paraphrasing with ragtime references

Short to long lengths; based upon riff-based ideas

Long solos; dense and syncopated lines; virtuosic in

nature

Repertoire Ragtime, marches, popular songs

Popular songs, show tunes, original compositions

Original melodies composed over existing song structures

Popularity Regional, then national Mainstream popular music between 1935-45

Small, dedicated audiences

Rhythmic Feel Ragtime phrasing; transition to swing; march beat patterns

Swinging, dance beats; foot-tapping rhythms

Syncopated, elusive beat patterns; difficult rhythmic

ideas

Lead Instrument Cornet/trumpet Trumpet/saxophone Saxophone/trumpet

Notable Soloists

Louis ArmstrongBix BiederbeckeSidney Bechet

Earl Hines

Benny GoodmanCount BasieLester Young

Coleman Hawkins

Charlie ParkerDizzy Gillespie

Thelonius MonkMax Roach

Notable Composers

Jelly Roll MortonFats Waller

Duke EllingtonFletcher Henderson

Charlie ParkerDizzy Gillespie

A Comparison of Jazz Styles 1900-48

Bebop People

Charlie Parker Dizzy Gillespie Dexter Gordon

Thelonius Monk Bud Powell Max Roach

James ‘Dizzy’ GillespieFirst, most influential bebop trumpeter; achieved international fame

Playing characteristics

big brassy tone

outgoing personality

preferred high register playing

intense syncopated yet accessible improvised lines

Performed in swing bands led by Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Barnet, Earl Hines, Cab Calloway and Billy Eckstine

Joined with Charlie Parker in 1945 and made the first important bebop recordings after the Musicians Union recording ban

Listening Example: Groovin’ High by J. Gillespie; performed by the Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra

Charlie Parker

Born and raised in the KC jazz scene; idolized Lester Young

As a teenager, he transcribed and learned all of Young’s recorded solos with Count Basie’s band

Encouraged to go to New York; arrived in 1939

Listening Example: Embraceable You by G. Gershwin; performed by the Charlie Parker Quintet

Charlie Parker

1939: dishwasher at chicken restaurant; was nicknamed “Bird”; heard pianist Art Tatum; transcribed Tatum’s piano licks to sax

1939-42: worked several “taxi” dance bands

1940-42: attended jam sessions at Minton’s and other after-hours clubs

1942-4: worked with Earl Hines Band; met Dizzy Gillespie

1944-5: worked with Billy Eckstine’s Band; considered first bebop band

1945-6: famous quintet, Charlie Parker’s Re-Boppers, with Dizzy Gillespie; first significant bebop recordings

Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker

Lester Young influences

Light, buoyant sound; little vibrato

Use of space in solos

Laid-back swinging quality; smooth, effortless performances

Blues-based riffs

“Quoting”: uses pop song melodic fragments in solos

Coleman Hawkins influences

Complex, dense solos

Aggressive, angular solo material

Listening Example: Scrapple from the Apple by C. Parker; performed by the Charlie Parker Quintet

Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker1946: Los Angeles performances; drug bust; did time in jail and rehab near Santa Barbara

1947-8: Back to NYC; formed new quintet with Miles Davis; Royal Roost Club exposed Parker to larger audiences (small by swing band standards)

1949: made excellent recording with strings, appreciated classical music, listened intently to contemporary symphonic music

1950-5: inconsistent and rare performances due to deteriorating physical condition from escalating substance abuse

Charlie Parker died in 1955, before his 35th birthday. The coroner estimated his age at death was 55. His death was announced in the Washington Post, three days later.

Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker’s Legacy

Brought bebop to maturity; made saxophone the mainstream instrument of jazz

Inspired legion of followers: Sonny Stitt, Phil Woods, Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Dexter Gordon, Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, etc.

Brought new complexity to jazz playing; solos free of cliché patterns

Phrasing transcended bar lines and chord changes

Added expressiveness into his solos in spite of their incredible activity

Remains the model of improvisational greatness

Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker: What They Said

I loved Bird. He was so good to me. He turned me on to Stravinsky, to Bartok, to dance, to painters. He was a brilliant man.

- Sheila Jordan, vocalist

Bird was the other half of my heartbeat.

- Dizzy Gillespie

Charlie Parker was one of the few jazzmen who can be said to have given dignity and meaning to the abused word “genius.” It was his desire to devote his life to the translation of everything he saw and heard into terms of musical beauty. In bringing the art of improvisation to a new peak of maturity, Parker had an inestimable influence on jazz musicians regardless of what instrument they played.

-Leonard Feather, jazz author and critic

Listening Example: Just Friends by J. Klenner & S. Lewis; performed by Charlie Parker with Strings

Dexter Gordon

Premier bebop tenor saxophonist

His career was productive until his death in 1990

Gordon’s improvisation style similar to Parker

Gordon’s sound based more on Coleman Hawkins; Parker based more on Lester Young

Successor to Hawkins, linking to John Coltrane

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1986 - ‘Round Midnight

Listening Example: Tanya by D. Byrd; performed by Dexter Gordon Quartet

Thelonius MonkMonk was a giant figure outside the norm of mainstream jazz; unorthodox solos

Symbolized bebop revolution in clothing, language, art and philosophy

Powerful composer who wrote pieces beyond the boundaries of mainstream jazz and popular songs form; used abstract melodies and unusual harmony

Stood out in his own ensembles; very stark, syncopated; would play painfully straight when rest of ensemble would be swinging hard

Exposed, explored and embraced dissonances

1957: Monk recorded an album of his interpretations of well-known popular songs; hardly recognizable to casual listeners

Listening Example: Straight No Chaser by T. Monk; performed by Thelonius Monk Quartet

Bud Powell

Most imitated bebop pianist

De-emphasized the left-hand, used sporadically in support role; removed “stride” from jazz piano

Re-focused importance of right-hand improvised melodies; his improv skills on par with Charlie Parker

Perfected “locked-hands” technique where both hands play in parallel motion with complex harmony

Listening Example: Get Happy by H. Arlen & T. Koehler; performed by Bud Powell Trio

Max Roach

Most important drummer of the bebop era

Started by subbing in for Sonny Greer in Duke Ellington Orchestra

With Charles Mingus, co-founded Debut Records; released Jazz at Massey Hall, widely considered “the greatest concert ever”

Interests in percussion grew into solo performances, percussion orchestras and expanding innovative technique beyond jazz

Listening Example: I Get A Kick Out Of You by C. Porter; performed by Clifford Brown/MaxRoach Quintet

Bebop in Review

Overall, bebop styles were less popular than big band swing; fewer popular tunes and singers

Smaller groups - 3-6 “soloists”

Less arrangements, more originals and improvised melodies

Solos, accompaniments and “arrangements” more complicated

Less predictability in the music; predictability (often) breeds popularity

Listening Example: Salt Peanuts by J. Gillespie, C. Parker and K. Clarke; performed by Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra

Cool JazzNext Lecture:

Listening Example: Moon Dreams by C. MacGregor & J. Mercer; performed by Miles Davis Nonet

SourcesCollier, Tom. History of Jazz. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., Dubuque, Iowa: 1997

Gridley, Mark C. Concise Guide to Jazz, fifth edition. Pearson-Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ: 2007

Hasse, John Edward, ed. Jazz: The First Century. William Morrow Publishers, New York, NY: 2000

Rosengarten, Lewis. Jazz in Short Measures. Authors Choice Press, Lincoln, NE: 2001

Zorn, Jay D. & August, June. Listening to Music, fifth edition. Pearson-Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ: 2007