Jazz Fundamentals Greg Polanik Coordinator Corina Iukovici Co-Coordinator Academy for Lifelong Learning Cape Cod Community College Spring 2015
Chapter 4 Bebop Oo Bop Sh' Bam! Dizzy Gillespie
Bebop 1945-1950s (development began 1940-1945) Bop; Sub-Style: Cu-Bop The First Period of Modern Jazz Named for it s energetic nature And for a common 2 note phrase
1940-1950 WWII Atomic Bomb Jackie Robinson Soviet Union McCarthyism Beat Generation
The Roots Bebop Jam Sessions at Minton s Playhouse Serious musicians, bored with the Swing they played for work Informal, Experimental, Competitive Explored new harmonic ideas Exclusionary (speed, complexity)
Those who want to know what sound goes into my music should come to NY and open their ears Thelonious Monk
Bebop Music Music for Listening, not for Dancing Based on Improvisation Creativity, not commercial success Spontaneity, not polished & arranged Complex harmonic ideas Small Clubs, not Dance Halls
Jam Session Core Players Charlie Parker (alto sax) Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet) Thelonious Monk (piano) Kenny Clarke (drums) Milt Hinton (bass) Charlie Christian (guitar)
Jazz musicians are only workers who will put in a full shift for pay and then go somewhere else & continue to work for free George Carlin
Swing v Bop Saxophone Coleman Hawkins & Charlie Parker Improvisation Swinging v Flying High Melodic, scalar improvisation v angular, upper chord tones They are Lip-Syncing
Playing bop is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing Duke Ellington
Cultural Phenomenon For the public: a rejection of things conformist and mainstream For musicians: a political statement, declaration of independence, a cult A break with the racial stereotype of Blacks entertaining Whites (Louis) Followers emulated Dizzy s beret, goatee & glasses; Bird s addiction
any old way will do as long as it's different from the way you played it before... you got no melody to remember and no beat to dance to Louis Armstrong
Bebop differs from Swing Small groups not big bands Soloists are main personalities Energetic, erratic rhythms Fast chord changes Too fast (or too slow) to dance Angular, disjointed melodies
Bebop differs from Swing More complex harmony (9ths, 13ths) Altered chords (b5, b9, #9, #11) Head Arrangements not written Trumpet & Sax (alto) most important Training ground is small clubs Songs re-written Standards
Bop Band Organized into 2 Sections Horns: Trumpet Saxophone (alto) Rhythm Section: Piano, String Bass, Drums, (Guitar)
Rhythm Section Standardized for Modern Jazz Piano: Harmony, Rhythmic Accents Spare Comping Bass: Timekeeping, Harmonic Bottom All 4 Beats + Embellishment Drums: Timekeeping, Ride Cymbal Accents Interact with Soloist Guitar: Harmony, Rhythmic Accents Horn-like Solos
Bebop has set music back twenty years Tommy Dorsey
Sheet Music v Chart
Sheet Music v Chart
Ride / Crash Cymbal
String Bass
Bop Harmonic Structure Keep the original Melody, but Change the Chords of a Standard Write a new Melody, but Keep the Chords of a Standard Write a new melody, and Change the chords of a Standard
Soloing on Chord Changes
Important Bop Players Charlie Yardbird Bird Parker Alto Saxophone virtuoso player Most important player in Modern Jazz Brilliant innovator, influenced all New rhythmic & harmonic soloing Bluesy Kansas City inflections Heroin & Alcohol destroyed him
When Bird came on the scene, it was shocking as in the Bible: everything was dark & then there was light Shorty Rogers
Important Bop Songs Charlie Parker Shaw Nuff Ko-Ko Billie s Bounce Xxxx Xxxx
Most of the soloists at Birdland had to wait for Parker s next record in order to find out what to play next What will they do now? Charles Mingus on Bird's death
Important Bop Players John Birks Dizzy Gillespie Trumpet first modern trumpet player Consummate musician, composer Harmonic ideas, upper chord tones Teacher, mentor, ambassador Entertainer, added fun & humor Afro-Cuban musical influence
It s taken me all my life to learn what not to play Dizzy Gillespie
Important Bop Songs Dizzy Gillespie Xxx Xxxx Xxxx Xxxx Xxxx
Important Bop Players Thelonious Sphere Monk Piano eccentric, quirky style Stride, Boogie-Woogie, Blues New harmonic ideas, altered chords Emphasized space, dissonance Composed many Jazz Standards Unusual improv influenced Free Jazz
Wrong is right Thelonious Monk
Important Bop Songs Thelonious Monk Xxx Xxxx Xxxx Xxxx Xxxx
Working with Monk is like falling down a dark elevator shaft John Coltrane
Important Bop Players Kenny Clarke Drums redefined modern drumming Moved timekeeping to Ride Cymbal Bass & snare used for accents Improvised syncopated accents Ride cymbal & accents add energy Drums interact with soloist
Those people who say there s no music but bop are just stupid it shows how much they don t know Miles Davis
Important Bop Songs Kenny Clarke Xxx Xxxx Xxxx Xxxx Xxxx
Important Bop Players Bud Powell Piano created the modern style Most imitated bop pianist Codified modern comping Streamlined, spare left hand Occasional block chords or stride Right hand like Bird & Diz
Important Bop Songs Bud Powell Xxx Xxxx Xxxx Xxxx Xxxx
Other Important Players Miles Davis (trumpet) Fats Navarro (trumpet) Sonny Stitt (tenor sax) Dexter Gordon (tenor sax) Max Roach (drums) Roy Haynes (drums) Milt Jackson (vibes)
If it wasn't for hustlers, gangsters & gamblers there'd be no Jazz Wasn't middle-class who said 'Let's go hear Bird tonight' Betty Carter
I made the wrong mistakes Thelonious Monk after playing a disappointing solo
Music is your experience, your thoughts, your wisdom If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn Charlie Parker
Music Theory
Melody Scales used for solos change as the chords change Faster chord changes make soloing more difficult
Harmony Chords add upper harmonic extensions 9ths, 11ths, 13ths (keyboard) Chords use altered notes b5, #5, b9, #9, #11 Chord substitutions Reharmonize
Rhythm Bop rhythms more varied than Swing Rhythmic feel less clearly stated
Form Common Bop Song Form Intro Head Solos (repeated choruses) Head Ending
Jazz Vocabulary Chart chords and melody only Head Arrangement - memorized Reharmonize use new chords Standard well known Jazz song Trading 4s alternating soloists Turnaround turns back to the top
Now s The Time Bird