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FACT FILES
GENRES
HISTORY
THEORY
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Genre:
Bebop
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Bebop or bop is a form of jazz which uses a fast tempo and complex
improvisational techniques. It was developed in the early and
mid-1940s. Hard bop later developed from bebop.
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History |
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Many big band musicians in New York City gathered at Minton's Playhouse,
a small jazz club on 52nd Street in Manhattan. There the musicians were
free to improvise as they wished, free of what some considered the
restrictions of an audience expecting smooth, dancable versions of popular songs.
The creation of the musical language of bebop is generally credited to
Dizzy Gillespie,
Charlie Parker and
Thelonious Monk, who,
among others, took part in jams at Minton's and
the other clubs that flourished on 52nd Street.
Bebop was criticized by some contemporaries for being too technical.
(Cab Calloway
opined famously that bebop was incomprehensible "Chinese Music.")
Gillespie was quoted as saying that this demanding technique was exactly
his goal, to elevate the music to a level where only the most elite
musicians could participate.
Though Louis Armstrong expressed a dislike for bebop, he was revered
by many boppers, who sometimes "quoted" his musical phrases by
incorporating fragments of Armstrong's recorded improvisations in their
own songs.
Several earlier swing-era musicians are often cited as especially
influential in the development of bebop, including saxophone players
Coleman Hawkins and
Lester Young, trumpeter
Roy Eldridge, and guitarist
Charlie Christian.
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Style |
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Many bebop tunes were based on chord progressions (also called chord
changes) from popular songs, which allowed recording artists to avoid
paying copyright fees. The chord changes to the song "I Got Rhythm" by
George Gershwin
were so often used that they are often referred to simply
as "Rhythm Changes." Jazz musicians had always improvised solos over
chord changes, but writing entirely new compositions based on existing
chord changes was an innovation.
The typical bebop combo consisted of bass, drums, and piano, with
two horn. Perhaps the classic 1940s bebop combo was Charlie Parker on
alto sax, Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet,
Max Roach on drums,
Percy Heath on bass, and
Bud Powell on piano.
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Etymology |
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The name bebop (also called rebop) is an imitation of a
characteristic quick two-note phrase that was played together by
the lead instruments to introduce a solo or end a song.
Another proposed etymology for Bebop--possibly apocryphal--states
that Gillespie had performed a song titled "Be-bop." An audience
member asked "What was that?" meaning the style or form of music.
Gillespie assumed the question regarded the song's title, and replied,
leading to the genre's name.
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Significant Bebop Musicians |
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Significant Bebop Jazz musicians include:-
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