Bebop Revolution
Bebop or bop is a style of jazz characterized by fast tempo, instrumental virtuosity, and improvisation based on the combination of harmonic structure and melody. It was developed in the early and mid-1940s. It first surfaced in musicians' argot some time during the first two years of American involvement in the Second World War. This style of jazz ultimately became synonymous with modern jazz, as either category reached a certain final maturity in the 1960s.
The 1939 recording of "Body and Soul" by Coleman Hawkins is an important antecedent of bebop. Hawkins' willingness to stray—even briefly—from the ordinary resolution of musical themes and his playful jumps to double-time signaled a departure from existing jazz. The recording was popular; but more importantly, from a historical perspective, Hawkins became an inspiration to a younger generation of jazz musicians, most notably Charlie Parker, in Kansas City. In the 1940s, the younger generation of jazz musicians created a new style that came out of the 1930s' swing music. They partially strived to counter the popularization of swing with non-danceable music that demanded listening.[6] Mavericks like Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, and Thelonious Monk were influenced by the preceding generation's adventurous soloists, such as pianists Art Tatum and Earl Hines; tenor saxophonists Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young; and trumpeter Roy Eldridge. Gillespie and Parker, both out of the Earl Hines Band in Chicago had traveled with some of the pre-bop masters, including Jack Teagarden, Earl Hines, and Jay McShann. While Gillespie was with Cab Calloway, he practiced with bassist Milt Hinton and developed some of the key harmonic and chordal innovations that would be the cornerstones of the new music; Charlie Parker did the same with bassist Gene Ramey while with McShann's group. These forerunners of the new music (which would later be termed bebop or bop—although Parker himself never used the term, feeling
The 1939 recording of "Body and Soul" by Coleman Hawkins is an important antecedent of bebop. Hawkins' willingness to stray—even briefly—from the ordinary resolution of musical themes and his playful jumps to double-time signaled a departure from existing jazz. The recording was popular; but more importantly, from a historical perspective, Hawkins became an inspiration to a younger generation of jazz musicians, most notably Charlie Parker, in Kansas City. In the 1940s, the younger generation of jazz musicians created a new style that came out of the 1930s' swing music. They partially strived to counter the popularization of swing with non-danceable music that demanded listening.[6] Mavericks like Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, and Thelonious Monk were influenced by the preceding generation's adventurous soloists, such as pianists Art Tatum and Earl Hines; tenor saxophonists Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young; and trumpeter Roy Eldridge. Gillespie and Parker, both out of the Earl Hines Band in Chicago had traveled with some of the pre-bop masters, including Jack Teagarden, Earl Hines, and Jay McShann. While Gillespie was with Cab Calloway, he practiced with bassist Milt Hinton and developed some of the key harmonic and chordal innovations that would be the cornerstones of the new music; Charlie Parker did the same with bassist Gene Ramey while with McShann's group. These forerunners of the new music (which would later be termed bebop or bop—although Parker himself never used the term, feeling