-Was a continuation of the evolution of jazz – not a reaction against swing

-Resulted from the “exotic” chords being tested by Ellington and others
 (I.e., further stacking of 3rds in unusual ways – e.g., flat 5, sharp 9, etc.)

-Improvisation was based more on chord structure and less on either creating or embellishing melodies

-This became the standard for improvisation for the next 40 years

-Much less popular than swing or traditional/Dixieland jazz

-Bop took jazz from the dance hall to the concert hall (in other words, bop elevated jazz to a higher art form) (or as Wynton Marsallis says: “From the whorehouse to the penthouse.”)

-Any jazz musician today must have mastery of bop (has become the standard by which jazz musicians are measured)

-Pioneers of bop include:
     Charlie (Bird) Parker – alto saxophone
     Dizzy Gillespie – trumpet (and some piano)
     Thelonius Monk – piano

     These musicians soon followed: 
      Miles Davis – trumpet
      Bud Powell – piano

Listen to: Shaw Nuff  from the Text CD; track #39
  - Follow the handout and note as many characteristics as you can

Bop Phrasing:
 - Irregular phrasing becomes the norm
 - Phrases can extend into other choruses or sections or
    they can cut out early (go beyond or ignore traditional convention or “barriers”)

Bop Harmony:

- Often added, altered, or substituted chords to a set chord progression
- Used more, and richer chords than found in classic jazz
- The flatted 5th makes its appearance (tritone or sharp 11th)
- Much of the bop literature comes from the chord progressions of standard songs
 

What was the effect of World War II on the music scene? 

 - In general, jazz benefited in a most positive way

 - The Special Services units of the armed forces allowed thousands of young musicians to make music night and day.

 - Nightclubs in major cities were packed with soldiers on leave

 - American armed forces took their popular music and jazz with them wherever they were stationed, via the armed-services radio system

- Ironically, even the enemy propaganda agencies would broadcast jazz in an attempt to win over the Yanks

 - Music that was once part of a subculture was now mainstream in the guise of swing

Swing music and Big Bands continued after the end of WW II.  However, like anything else, fashion and tastes change.  From 1945 through the end of the 50s, swing would continue on a downward slide.

Other reasons, aside from the change in taste and attitudes, were:

1. Big bands became too costly to operate

2. Dance halls became less popular with other forms of entertainment being readily available (movie theatres, television, automobiles, sports and recreation, and other forms of leisure)

3. Bop was creating a rift between the old “classic” jazz and the new “modern” jazz which in turn caused a loss of support in general for jazz. (Read Tirro’s p. 327).

4. The new generation of jazz musicians were more interested in bop than classic jazz
 

Charlie “Bird” Parker (1920 – 1955)

  See p. 292 of the Tirro text

- Is considered the principle figure of bop
- Was bop’s greatest innovator 
  (He set the pace and the standard for the rest to follow)
- The most important individual in modern jazz and 
- One of the most brilliant musical figures in the 20th century
- Was an amazing virtuoso

In many ways, Parker was typical of many male, urban-ghetto black Americans  --economically disadvantaged, little formal education, street smart, and living precariously by his wits and little else.

Short Bio.
-    Born in Kansas City in 1920
-    Raised by his mother who bought him an alto saxophone when he was 11 yrs 
      old (he also played the baritone horn and clarinet for a brief time in high school)
- He quit school when he was 15 and
- Played his first professional engagement at the age of 15
- At 16 he was married and playing with a jazz combo
- He also began his addiction to heroin at the age of 16
- At 17, he saw the birth of his first child and the death of his father
- Got his 1st big break with the southwest regional swing band, The Jay McShann Band

  Listen to Swingmaticism on track 13 of the Big Band compilation CD
   - His first recoded solo (age 19)

- At 19, he left his wife and baby son, pawned his horn, hopped a freight train to Chicago, borrowed and pawned a clarinet, and took a bus to New York.  This daring escape was clearly the most significant step in his musical education, for although he worked as a dishwasher he was employed at the club where Art Tatum was the resident pianist.
- By the age of 19, he began jamming at Clark Monroe’s Uptown House, Of this Parker said:  (See Tirro’s Text pp. 293-4)
- Met Dizzy Gillespie in 1939 (each influenced and encouraged the other)
- Formed a house band at Minton’s in 1942 with Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Thelonius Monk (piano), and Kenny Clarke (drums)
- In 1945 Bird and Dizzy record Shaw Nuff and Koko which are considered as the recorded birth of bop
- Parker battled heroin addiction throughout his life.  He was hospitalized to cure his addiction in 1947 (age 27) at Camarillo hospital in California.
- Parker ultimately died of an overdose in 1955 at the age of 34. 
-- The coroner stated that Parker had the body of 60 year old

 Listen to and Discuss/Review handout material on:
  Shaw ‘Nuff from the text CD; track # 39
  Koko from Concise Guide to Jazz CD; track # 33

Additional material can be found on the SCCJ, vol. 3 CD

 Track #19: Parker’s Mood 
  - Transcript #1 in handout 
  - 12-bar blues – Kansas City influence 
  - Begins and ends with “Summertime” quote

 Track #18: Crazeology (take #4) 
  - Transcript #2 in handout
  - 32-Bar AABA form
- Soloists are Parker (alto sax), J.J. Johnson (trombone), Miles Davies (trumpet), Duke Jordan (piano) [AA of the form] Tommy Potter (bass) [B of the form], Max Roach (drums)[last A of the AABA form] return to Head

Track #16: Klactoveedsedstene
 - Transcript #3 in handout
 - Note the “out of time” drumming by Roach in the intro. and his drumming throughout

Track #14: Embraceable You (take #1) 
 - Transcript #4 in hand out
 - Note how Parker goes in and out of straight time and double-time
 - The contours of parker’s solo lines, for the most part, curve upward and then
              downward in gentle rises and falls

Time Permitting, Listen to: Selections from the Charlie Parker 2 CD Set:
Focus on:  His soloing ability and  what musical devices are being employed that
 are characteristic of the bop style
 Disc One:    Confirmation, track #1;   Moose the Mooche, track # 4;
          Groovin’ High, track #6  Ornithology, track # 14
 

Now that we know the standard presentation of a jazz chart, I’d like to point out a few standard expectations AND deviations:

(Intro.)   |     Head (1-2x)     |     Imrov. Section (open)     |     Head (usually 1x)     |   (Tag Ending)

Expectations:
1. The solo section almost always begins with the horns
a. Usually all the horns will solo before any rhythm instrument
2. After all the horns solo, the next instrument to solo is usually the piano
3. If there is a bass solo, it will follow the piano
4. If there is a drum solo, it will follow the bass
5. Before the return of the head, several members of the band may trade 2 and 4 bars
 (The trading section can include the rhythm)

Deviation:
 1. The drummer may take a solo during the bridge of the out chorus in an AABA form
John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie (1917-1993)

(Please review the handout for more detail)

Important facts:
- Is the first modern trumpeter 
 (Like Bird, Dizzy had amazing technique and a strong high register)
- The most influential trumpeter until Wynton Marsallis
- Achieved the greatest popular recognition of any bebop musician
- One of the first to fuse Latin rhythms with jazz (e.g., Night in Tunisia and Manteca)

 Listen to: Night in Tunisia and Manteca from the Gillespie Greatest Hits CD,
   Tracks Nos. 1 and 7
    Note:      - Use of Latin rhythms
      - Connection to swing era while pushing into bop
 Listen to: I Can’t Get Started from SCCJ, vol. 3, track #10
  - Transcript #5 in hand out
  - Ballad style
  - Note use of: vibrato, stop-time, brushes on snare drum, flat four playing 
                           from the bass, use of the flatted 5th and other unusual harmonies
 

Thelonius Monk (1917-1982)

(Please see the hand out for additional information)

Key points to remember about Monk:
- Known as the “High Priest of Bop”
- Very important composer of many bebop tunes of which many of become standards
 (Especially ‘Round Midnight)
- Considered to be the most important jazz composer after Ellington
- One of the most original of jazz improvisers
- His style influenced many of the musicians associated with the Free Jazz/Avant-garde movement of the 1960s

 Listen to:  from the SCCJ CD, vol. 4 the following tracks:
  Evidence  #7  Criss Cross #8
  Bag’s Groove #9  I Should Care #10

  From the SCCJ Piano CD, vol. 3: ‘Round Midnight; track #9

Play a few recordings of Thelonius Monk

 Listen to:  from the SCCJ CD, vol. 4 the following tracks:
  Misterioso   #6  (harmony is that of 12-bar blues yet notice the
       rhythm of the “melody” and its extreme regularity!)

  Evidence  #7 (Monk experiments with another system of musical organization by exploring the possibility of working two separate hierarchical levels of music simultaneously: pointilistic sounds overlaid with swing-trio sounds.  As the music progresses, the two musical ideas become more unified until the piano merges with the trio and set out on a solo that travels a traditional melodic path.  Gradually the single line of Monk’s playing begins to separate into intervallic construction again.

  Bemsha Swing (from Tirro’s CD; track # 17) (Almost a minimalist piece.  Withinthe limits of the style it reduces the compositional elements to a bare minimum: one 4-measure phrase repeated 4 times (once on the subdominant level), 6 chords on four roots (C C7 Dm7 F G7 and Gm7), and AABA form.  Even the rhythm of all the phrases is exactly identical.  The tune is a sparse, gaped filled melody. 

Form:

Intro | Head | Tenor Sax solo | Piano solo | Head 

4 meas.    16m, 2X  16 measures 4X       16 measures      16, 2X
      AABA   AABA   AABA           AABA
 

 Time permitting listen to:  Criss Cross  #8
      Bag’s Groove  #9
      I Should Care  #10

 From the SCCJ Piano CD, vol. 3: ‘Round Midnight; track #9

If New Orleans can be said to be the birthplace of Jazz, than New York City can be said to be the birthplace of Bebop – particularly the area of 52nd Street – and, more specifically, Minton’s Play House.  Anybody who was anybody in the jazz world at this time played in and around the 52nd Street area of Manhattan

As already mentioned, the first pioneers of the bebop style were:
Charlie “Bird” Parker, “Dizzy” Gillespie, and Thelonius Monk

But there were two other significant contributors to the bop style who we need to discuss:
Bud Powell and Miles Davis
 

Bud Powell (1924- 1966)
-     Bop pianist
-     Bud Powell is to the piano what Charlie Parker is to the alto sax
- The most imitated of all the bop pianists (it was more difficult to imitate Monk)
- Borrowed his licks and style from Parker and Gillespie
- Had a streamlined approach
- Created one of the first modern jazz piano styles
- De-emphasized the activity of the left hand
- Also moved away from the 4-beat comping style
- Bare bones presentation of harmony (2 or 3 notes per chord)

 Listen to: A Night In Tunisia on SCCJ vol. 3; track # 21

 Somebody Loves Me, SCCJ Piano CD vol. 2, track #16
- George Gershwin tune
- Shows how Powell transformed a show tune into a person statement
- In just 3 choruses, Powell shows off most of the facets of his style
- A tasteful mix of chordal and single-line elements, as well as the breathtaking, spontaneous, double-time flights
- 32-bar AABA form
- Note the final bridge and tag ending!

 Tempus Fugit, on SCCJ Piano, vol. 2, track # 17
- Is in d minor
- Sounds almost baroque in its melodic construction
- He seems almost possessed in his presentation and manner
- Note the droning ostinato bass figure throughout (a unifying element)
- Uses AABA construction

Miles Davis (1926-1991)

- A living bridge of jazz styles from the 1940s to the 1990s!
- When Dizzy left Parker, Miles took his place (from 1945-1948)
 - Dizzy and Bird eventually part due to irreconcilable differences
  - Bird was too unreliable
   - Constant battle with drugs and alcohol
   - Lack of discipline
   - The only consistent aspect of his character was his unreliability
  - On the other hand, Gillespie was an astute business man and didn’t abuse 
                          drugs and alcohol
- During this time, Miles displayed characteristics of both Parker and Gillespie 

 Listen to: Scrapple From the Apple; Charlie Parker 2CD set, disc 2, track #3
  Bird of Paradise; Charlie Parker 2CD set, disc 1, track #5
  Charlie’s Wig; Charlie Parker 2CD set, disc 1, track #9 (w/J.J. Johnson)
  Bird Feathers; Charlie Parker 2CD set, disc 2, track #10 (w/J.J. Johnson) 
(Be)Bop vs. (West Coast) Cool Jazz

Several styles of jazz quickly emerged during the 1950s.  In many respects, these styles were simply a logical continuation of bebop.  Yet each style was clearly distinct and extremely dissimilar.  Those styles were Cool (and its branches: i.e., “West Coast,” “Third Stream,” and “Modal”) and Hard Bop (also known as: “Funky Bop” and “East Coast”)