Topics we will
discuss and learn:
- Social Conditions
- Bebop as a response to Swing
- Important soloists
Social
Conditions
The war was on and there was a recording band for
two years as the musician’s union refused to record until the record labels
paid the musicians for jukebox and radio airplay. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie’s innovations
would not be recorded till 1945 after the war.
There was segregation in the
military and enemy German soldiers were better treated better than the black
soldiers. Racial tensions also heated up
in the cities as a new wave of black workers migrated from the south to get new
defense jobs during the war. Black
musicians were targeted for harassment by police because they dressed
nicely.
52nd Street in NYC was
the place for jazz and people could go to hear any musician they wanted on “The
Street,” Art Tatum, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Billie Holiday.
Bebop as a
response to Swing
Big band music was becoming too
cliché for many musicians and the riffs and licks were not challenging them
enough. They also wanted to express
themselves more by soloing longer and not being constrained by elaborate
arrangements.
The competitive nature of the urban
music scene led to many “cutting sessions” where musicians would display their
skills and win audience applause. One
such spot where the jam sessions really got hot was at Minton’s Playhouse in
NYC. All the musicians came there
including Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Mary Lou Williams. But it was a group of innovators that wanted
to push the envelope of the music that began to define what the jam sessions
would be.
Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and
Thelonius Monk along with Bud Powell and Kenny Clarke would “hold court” and
musicians would come through after hours and jam. These musicians are credited with creating a
whole new complex musical language that uses the extensions of chords and is
extremely difficult to master rhythmically.
The language would come to be known as bebop from the sound of the
syllables that musicians like Dizzy would scat (Oo bop a ree bop).
Important soloists
Charlie Parker
Nicknamed “Bird” (short
for Yardbird) after he hit a chicken in the road
From Kansas City and
played in Jay McShann’s band
Created along with
Dizzy, a whole new way of approaching soloing
Used the extensions of the chord
Started and ended phrases on odd beats
Problem with heroine and
alcohol died at 35
Dizzy Gillespie
Nicknamed “Dizzy” or
“Diz”
Blazing technique and
speed along with a wide range
Helped create the
language of bebop with Bird
Led a bebop big band
Started the Latin jazz
movement
Considered a father
figure to many musicians
Thelonius Monk
An unorthodox style of
piano playing using note clusters and a lot of
space
Patterned his style after James P. Johnson
Wrote many jazz standards
Bud Powell
Played like Bird on the
piano
Very fluid style with
great technique
Miles Davis
The opposite of Dizzy on
trumpet played laid back with smaller range
Was 19 when first
recorded with Bird
Kenny Clarke
Created a new style of
drumming with accents to spur soloists on
Less “four on the floor”
bass drum, played bass drum sparingly
Max Roach
Impeccable technique on
the drums and he was so fast on the ride
cymbal it sounded like bacon frying
Terms and
topics to know:
Scat singing
Bebop licks
Note clusters
Charlie Parker and Dizzy
Charlie Parker and Coleman Hawkins
No comments:
Post a Comment