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Hard Bop
(1950s to mid 1960s and beyond…)

As we have already discussed, jazz history can be divided into two large, overarching periods, namely

Classic Jazz (@1900-1945)
- Early Jazz (Dixie, Dixieland, Chicago, New York)
- Swing/Big Band

Modern Jazz (@1940- Present)
- (Be)Bop
- Cool
-- West Coast
-- Third Stream
-- Modal
- Hard Bop
- Free Jazz/Avant-Garde
- Fusion
- New Age (is this jazz?)
- Today’s Scene: Eclectic and Straight Ahead

We also know that Modern Jazz did not get off to a great start. This was mainly due to Bop being inaccessible to the average person. Bop music simply alienated the audience and even many of the older, Classic Jazz musicians. The “modern” jazz musician began speaking a language the audience couldn’t understand. Hence there was no communication, and therefore, no artistic experience for the average listener.

In addition to being intimidating, Bop required the listener’s attention. Jazz could no longer be enjoyed passively as it was when it was used primarily as entertainment.

In a few short years, jazz falls from grace for most of its fans. The masses turned away from Modern Jazz because it was moving far away from its roots. This new movement (i.e., Bop) lost touch with its history & tradition and, consequently, its audience. Only a small, albeit intensely loyal, following remained to carry the torch.

Interestingly enough, the classical music world was experiencing the same thing—that is, classical composers were composing pieces that did not communicate to their audience. In other words, they were writing works that only other composers could truly appreciate.

Many modern jazz musicians (i.e., Bop, Third Stream and some Cool) became too cerebral in their craft and they found themselves playing to smaller and smaller audiences.

Accordingly, there was a movement to bring jazz back to its blues based roots, with a healthy dose of gospel and funky elements tossed in for good measure.

This movement is known as Hard Bop

- It begins in the early 1950s but after the Cool and Third Stream jazz movements
were already introduced.

- Its leaders were: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, & Cannonball Adderly

- Hard Bop is sometimes referred to as: “Post-Bop,” “Funky Jazz,” “Soul Jazz,” and “Mainstream.”

- Hard Bop, particularly the Funky Jazz side of it, became the most popular segment of modern jazz with the exception of a few cool styles.

- As its name implies, Hard Bop has its roots in Bop; and the hard indicates that it is more driving and less relaxed than Cool jazz.

Hard Bop musicians:
- Used simplified bop elements
- Emphasized melody, groove and improvisation
- Played their brand of music with passion and fervor (soul)
- Were predominantly black

Contributing to the development of the funky/gospel/soul sound of the hard bop movement was the emerging civil rights movement and an emphasis on black pride.

During this social development, blacks borrowed music traits from the black church as
a link to their roots -- Specifically its harmonies, and blues inflections,

Some scholars suggest that the funky style was an effort among blacks to recapture jazz as their own expression
-- Even if this were the case, this funky style quickly crossed over any intended
racial barrier.

Perhaps more than an ethnic reaction, the funky jazz/hard bop idiom can be seen as a reaction to the cool intellectualism many found in the music of the Cool period.

The lively, emotionally exuberant nature of hard bop stands in strong contrast to the measured and controlled expression of the cool players.

Unlike the Cool style, Hard Bop sought inspiration from the truly African-American
idioms found in gospel and blues.

As already mentioned, Cool jazz was (more or less) a product of the West Coast (L.A./Hollywood) whereas Hard Bop was (more or less) a product of the East coast (specifically NYC, Philly, and Detroit).

Shelly Manne, a white West Coast Cool Jazz drummer suggests that:

“A more relaxed life style in California might have been a factor in the
Development of the relaxed Cool jazz style, contrasted with the more
driving Hard Bop style found in typical New York jazz styles.”

Another way to look at the development of Hard Bop is to see it as a combination of something old and something new:

The old was the return to:
1. A bop style of drumming (i.e., the drummer was more “out front”)
2. A “front line” was used instead of borrowing from classical elements
3. Use of head arrangements
4. Spontaneous improvisation

The new was:
1. The hard driving groove
2. Use of gospel and funk elements
3. Emotional (soul) feel

Review the hand out on Hard Bop in comparison with Bop and Cool

The funky-side of hard bop has the following characteristics:
Earthy
Blues Trenched
Gospel Influenced
Good Grooves

Other characteristics of Hard Bop include:
- Improvised lines that are somewhat simpler than bop lines
- Drummers play with more activity
- Tone colors are darker, weightier, and rougher
- The forms are more 12 bar blues based and less 32-bar AABA form
- Uses original chord progressions (as opposed to the heavy “borrowing” that occurred in the Bop era)
- Less start-stop quality
- Frequently is hard driving or groove based with an emphasis on consistent swinging
- Piano comping is more varied than bop or cool

One noticeable feature of the Hard Bop era was the prominent role of the tenor sax.

Some scholars refer to this era as the era of the great tenor sax players.
The most important tenor sax players from this era are:
John Coltrane     Sonny Rollins     Dexter Gordon      Sonny Stitt
Zoot Sims          Al Cohn             Wayne Shorter      Stanley Turentine
Benny Golson    Oliver Nelson     Hank Mobley        Yusef Lateef

But the list of Hard Bop jazz trumpet players isn’t shabby either:
Miles Davis Clifford Brown Kenny Dorham Donald Byrd
Thad Jones Art Farmer Lee Morgan Freddie Hubbard

Listen to some music examples from the leaders of Hard Bop:

Horace Silver (1928) (pianist, composer, band leader)

- Was Hard Bop’s most prolific composer
- Was not a virtuosos
- Relied on catchy phrases
- Made considerable use of silence
- Overall, his style was percussive and rhythmic

Listen to: Song For My Father (from the best of Blue Note CD) track #6
   - Uses 6 + 2 phrases
   - Uses a riff style of comping
   - Recorded 1964
   - Has become a standard in the jazz repertoire

Intro. Head Head | Improv

A A B A A B A A B A A B A A B

4 bars 8 8 8 8 8 8 solo (6 + 2)

Listen to: The Preacher (from the Tirro CD – track #12)
- Gospel feel
   - 16 bar head
   - Uses the same changes to “I’ve Been Working On A Railroad”
   - Sounds like the blues but isn’t

For a while, Horace Silver and Art Blakey teamed up to form the definitive Hard Bop band called The Jazz Messengers.
- Silver leaves to firm his own band but Blakey keeps the name

Art Blakey (1919-1991) (drummer/band leader)
- Is considered the greatest hard bop drummer
-- Noted for his hard driving, intense drumming style
-- Brought drumming to the forefront of the combo sound
- Led the jazz Messengers for over 30 years!
- Became a “finishing school” for many young jazz musicians
(E.g.: Clifford Brown, Donald Byrd, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard,
Woody Shaw, Hank Mobley, Wayne Shorter, Benny Golson, Chuck Mangione, Keith Jarret, Curtis Fuller, Wynton Marsallis, and many, more!)

Listen to:

Moanin’ (from the Best of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers – track #1)
A Night in Tunisia (from the Best of Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers –track #4)

Time permitting – listen to Dat Dere (track #5)

From the Best of Blue Note CD:
Cristo Redentor   Donald Byrd Track #3
- Begins with a church hymnal quality
Blues Walk Lou Donaldson Track #5
- 12 bar blues
Back at the Chicken Shack Jimmy Smith Track #7
- 12 bar blues
Chitlins Con Carne Kenny Burrell Track #8
The Sidewinder Lee Morgan   Track #9
- 24 bar blues
    Listen to the Turtle Island String Quartet version

Sonny Rollins (1930)
- One of the greatest improvisers of all time
- One of the first tenor players to adopt Bird’s style
- One of the few jazz artists who was constantly re-inventing his style and
taking new directions

Listen to the following from the SCCJ; vol. 4 CD:

Pent-Up House Sonny Rollins Track #15
- 32 bar A A B A

Clifford Brown (trumpet) (1930-1956)

- The Wynton Marsallis of his day
- Was the most widely admired trumpeter since the swing era
- Had a greater impact on trumpeters that Dizzy, Miles, and Fats Navarro
-Died in a car accident on the PA Turnpike at the age of 26!
- Consequently, his influence was short lived
- Had dazzling speed and agility – very fluid presentation
- Sounded relaxed even at break neck tempos
- Solos were tuneful but would incorporate difficult licks
- Placed more emphasis on swinging than the “surprises” associated with bop

Max Roach (drums) (1925)

- Made his reputation during the bop era
- Very clean player
- His solos were often melodic
- Very influential

Listen to: cuts from Study in Brown, which features Clifford Brown and Max Roach

Cherokee track #1
George’s Dilema track #5
Sandu   track #6
   -12 bar blues in a gospel style
What Is this Thing Called Love
   (from the Living with Jazz CD, disc #2, track #16)

Note: Cannonball Adderly (1928-1975) is an important Hard Bop musician but we’ll discuss him when we discuss Miles Davis and the Modal sound

Big Band Leaders of the Hard Bop Style:

Thad Jones (1923-1986)
Maynard Ferguson (1928)

Listen to: Frame for the Blues (on the Jazz Classics cassette)

(Use the insert in notebook for discussion and listening guide)

Miles Davis (1926-1991)

As a Trumpeter
- Created an original and substantial trumpet style
- His sound was unmistakable
- He was known for his tasteful choice of notes and for the manner in which he manipulated sound
- His trademark sound was using the harmon mute with the stem out
- Provided an impressionistic sonority
- He was the master of restraint
- His solos are filled with economy and succinctness
- Often times, he preferred a gentle, reflective approach to improvisation
- Used a tone quality that was lighter, softer, less brassy than most
- He used almost no vibrato
- His use of silence was part of his presentation
- Used it for dramatic effect
- His improvisations were free from strict tempo and swing feel
- He often played “outside” of the rhythmic pulse
- He rarely double-timed
- Beginning in the 1960s, he experimented with altering his sound electronically
- But this was an overriding characteristic of his in that he was always concerned with texture and sonority in every stage of his development
- However, he was not known for his technique or his high range
- He preferred the middle register of his horn

As a Band Leader
- Led numerous, significant jazz ensembles
- Many of his recordings with these groups are considered historically significant: (e.g., Birth of the Cool, Kind of Blue, and Bitches Brew)

As a Composer
- Composed numerous tunes- many have become standards

As an Innovator
- Was the most continuously innovative jazz personality of all time
- He refused to repeat himself (he was not limited to one style of playing)
- Consequently, he was always on the cutting edge of jazz development

As a Mentor
- Known for discovering and mentoring young talent
- E.g., Davis “discovered” the following musicians and gave them their first start in
his bands: John Coltrane Bill Evans Chick Corea Herbie Hancock Josef Zawinul Bennie Maupin John McLaughlin Larry Coryell Tony Williams

~ Clearly, Miles Davis was a dominant and influential figure throughout the entire Modern Jazz period
- The only time Miles Davis was a follower was during the Bebop era
- After that, he was the prime initiator of each movement in modern jazz
(Cool, Third Stream, Hard Bop, Modal, Free Jazz, Fusion, & Funk-Disco style of jazz)

~ A significant portion of modern jazz can be realized by following the evolution of Miles Davis.