Bebop After The Swing Era

Victor Estrada
ID: 1261250
Listening To Jazz Class Essay Following the swing era, which had come into existence in the 1930’s after the Great Depression, a new and more innovative jazz style merged in the 1940’s known as Bebop. Bop was not as popular as swing because unlike swing, Bop was not a dancing jazz style. Bop however did bring a new musical dimension different from swing. The Bop jazz style focused on advanced improvisations, emphasis on solos, and just musical virtuosity in general. Two of the most influential musicians in the advancement of bebop were saxophonists Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzie Gillespie. Dizzie was the first and most important bop trumpeter and composers of the Bop era. Gillespie was very influential
in the Bebop world as he worked several years with Charlie Parker to revolutionize the Bebop jazz style. Dizzie however had an interest in Afro-Cuban music as well. One of his biggest impacts was the union of bebop jazz style with Afro-Cuban music style to create a jazz style known as “Cubop”. In the album, “ The Song Book” by Dizzie Gillispie the elements of Bebop and Afro-Cuban Jazz are combined in an album that showcase Gillespie skills as a big band leader. A band leader and composer that not only was satisfied with the likes of bebop but searched for international sources such as professional percussionist Chano Pozo and other musicians to combine bebop and Afro-Cuban music styles. Dizzie Gillespie along with saxophonist Charlie Parker were greatly influenced by great saxophonists in the late swing era known as Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins which created the blueprint for bebop.
It was not until later that Dizzie and Charlie both developed bebop and became two of the most influential bebop artists. In his album, “The Song Book”, the element of bebop is evident in the song named, “Cold Breeze” performed by Dizzie’s band along with jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. Bebop came into existence after the swing era. As bebop surged it developed new characteristics different from that of swing. Some characteristics that distinguished bebop from swing were the fast tempo, virtuosity and the emphasis on solos. As soon as the song, “Cold Breeze” starts the fast tempo is evident right from the start. The tempo is so fast that it was hard for the singer to sing words, and in this case the singer Ella Fitzgerald had to use the technique of scat singing to follow along with the song and its tempo. Another characteristic of bebop was the virtuosity of the music and the emphasis on long and complex instrumental solos. In the song, “A Night in Tunisia” featuring saxophonists Dexter Gordon along with Dizzie’s band, the complexity of bebop is evident in the chord progressions used and the emphasis on solos is clear as saxophonist Dexter initiates most of the song predominantly engaging in a sax solo. The sax solo is then followed by a piano solo, a drum solo, and then capped off with the sax solo once again. Dizzie was very heavy on solo improvisations and as a composer and director of a big band he gave many instruments the opportunity to engage in their respective
improvisations. Dizzie not only was satisfied with American bebop he looked beyond American Jazz and had an eye on African and Caribbean music rhythms and complex Afro-Cuban polyrhythms. He collaborated with Latin musicians such as percussionists Chano Pozo and Cuban Jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval to combine the Afro-Cuban polyrhythms with bebop to create the new musical sensation known as “Cubop”. Dizzie Gillespie’s album, “The Song Book”, apart from portraying mostly bebop, a big sample of Afro- Cuban Jazz is present in the album. Songs like, “Manteca”, “Be-Bop”, “Con Alma”, and “Souls Sauce” which appear in Gillespie’s album “The Song Book”, are all examples of Afro-Cuban Jazz working in conjunction with Bebop Jazz. These songs were early appearances of Latin American music in American modern jazz. Dizzie was a mastermind when mixing the Afro-Cuban jazz styles with that of bebop. He made sure not to let go of the simple characteristics that composed bebop such as emphasis on solo improvisations and musical virtuosity while at the same time adding in the Afro-Cuban polyrhythms to create the “Cubop” style. In the song, “Be-Bop”, right from the beginning we see the two components of bebop and Latin jazz being used. The intro initiates with bebop like chord progressions and style and immediately being followed by Afro-Cuban polyrhythms and music style. As the song progresses solo improvisations are emphasized with a piano solo and saxophone solo, and the solo improvisations of Cuban born Latin jazz trumpeter named Arturo Sandoval and Dizzie Gillespie. Another important characteristic that made Latin Jazz notable was the use of percussion to generate the Afro-Cuban polyrhythms. The song, “Manteca” performed by Dizzie with the help of Cuban professional percussionist Chano Pozo, is a perfect example of how percussion created the Afro-Cuban feeling. Chano Pozo a percussionist himself, helped add the percussion Latin flavor to some of Gillespie’s songs. The combination of bebop and modern American jazz helped Dizzie get international recognition and popularity. The swing era and musicians such as Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins provided the blueprint for bebop and modern jazz. Modern jazz and bebop had different characteristics from swing but it didn’t totally ignore swing styles. Bebop just gradually developed from the swing era and revolutionized by the likes of artist and composers such as Dizzie Gillespie. Dizzie not only developed the foundation of bebop but combined it with Afro-Cuban music to create “Cubop”. All the elements of Afro-Cuban polyrhythms and bebop are present in one of his albums called, “The Songbook”, in which we hear the Afro-Cuban polyrhythms combined with modern jazz, to create an exceptional album that gained recognition all over the world for its musical virtuosity, focus of solo improvisations, and the use of Afro-Cuban music styles.
Linear Notes (Bibliography):
Gridley, Mark C. Jazz Styles: History and Analysis. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.