Bebop Research Paper
Over the years jazz music has gone through many musical evolutions throughout its history. At its height in the 20s and through the 40s, jazz big bands were one of the most popular forms of musical entertainment in America. After World War II, there seem to be a shift within the jazz community as more and more jazz musician broke away from the big band genre. Many of them created smaller more intimate groups that wanted to put more of an emphasis on solo improvisation, instrumental virtuosity, and complex chord progressions. This new genre would become known as Bebop through innovators such as Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and others. The Bebop era was develop Harlem, New York the center of African American culture during this time. According to Andre Hodeir he stated, “They superimposed on the harmonic structure of standard songs melodic themes closer to the spirit of jazz improvisations, creating a new repertory. The improvisation became more searching than hitherto, and the speed of harmonic, rhythmic and melodic motion led to
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dense, compact performance. Instrumental sonority became more tense and mobile .”Out of the Bebop era, most historians would argue that a new genre that later became known as Cool Jazz developed from Bebop. Historian Piero Scaruffi wrote, “The radical wing of bebop led to “cool jazz,” a genre inaugurated in 1948 by Miles Davis with his none unit ensemble. Cool jazzists were even more uncompromising than bebop jazzists. They belonged to a younger generation and had been raised playing with the gurus of bebop .” In contrary to this popular belief Len Weinstock argues that the birth of cool can be trace back as early as the 20s through musicians as Bix Beiderbecke and Frank Trumbaurer. He wrote:
“Cool Jazz has its roots as early as 1927 in the wonderful collaborations of cornetist Bix Beiderbecke and C-melody saxman Frank Trumbauer. Bix and Tram were closely associated as early as 1925 and developed a tight musical rapport. They both used a linear, relaxed and lyrical style and were the first to offer an alternative to the searing, passionate and extroverted music that characterized the Jazz Age. They were inspired not only Luis Armstrong but also by the modern classical composers like Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky and as a result were the first to use intriguing harmonies and intervals based on whole tone scales in their improvisations .” Through their contributions of Trumbauer and Beiderbecke and others we can reassess our previous conceived timeline of Cool Jazz through a series jazz tunes that can prove that in fact the Cool Jazz started well before we believed.
When examining these series of jazz tunes there are certain musical elements that distinguish this genre from other jazz genres. Cool Jazz is known for its reserved, controlled, and soft style. There seems to be more emphasis place on the melodic melody of the piece versus Bebop, which tended to lean more towards being more virtuosic in nature. Also, Cool Jazz was more of a melting pot of jazz music and classical music that used a greater use of counterpoint between the melodic lines. Cool Jazz tended to be organized in terms of its arrangement. Finally, jazz tunes from this genre were preplanned with emphasis on both the arrangement itself as well as the improvised solos present throughout the tune.
The following tunes choosing for this new timeline in some way captures the essence of cool jazz and described before. The tunes chosen were done through a survey by Ted Gioia an American jazz critic and music historian, who too wanted to get a better sense of how the cool sensibility within jazz music has always served a function with the jazz idiom.
1920s Cool:
Frank Trumbauer’s I Never Miss the Sunshine from the album Tram: Volume 1, was recorded in Camden, NJ in 1923.
This tune features Trumbauer on the (C-melody saxophone), Walter Zurawski (trumpet), Herb Carlin (trumpet), Art Weiss (trombone), Stuart Williams (reeds), Marvin Thatcher (tenor sax), Myron Fischer (violin), Don Bestor (piano), Joseph Miller (banjo), Pierre Olker (tuba), George Brommerberg (drums) and composed by Norman Jay Harvey. As reviewed by Ted Gioia, “Trumbauer stretches out for a full chorus solo on his C-melody sax, and his mixture of melodicism and light swing was different from the hotter styles of New Orleans jazz then sweeping the nation .” Trumbauer most well-known student was Lester Young who in his own right became a pioneer within the Cool Jazz idiom. Young memorized Trumbauer solos from this tune among others and because of this we can see how the legacy of Cool Jazz of the 20s began to
grow.
Frank Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke: Singin’ the Blues from the album Bix & Tram, was recorded in New York in 1927. This tune features Bix Beiderbecke (cornet), Frankie Trumbauer (C-melody saxophone), Jimmy Dorsey (clarinet, alto sax), Bill Rank (trombone), Eddie Lang (guitar), Doc Ryker (alto sax), Paul Mertz (piano), and Chauncey Morehouse (drums). In this tune Trumbauer opening features a great deal of lyricism. According to his student Lester Young this tune to Trumbauer was not about virtuosity, it was about feeling . His solo in this tune is purely driven by a precise melody instead of fast chord changes and tempo.
1930s Cool: Red Norvo’s In a Mist from the album Dance of the Octopus was recorded in New York in 1933. The tunes features Red Norvo (marimba), Benny Goodman (bass clarinet), Dick McDonough (guitar), Artie Bernstein (bass), and composed by Bix Beiderbecke. In this tune Red Norvo’s solo demonstrates great melodic musicality that seems like a well though composition on its own. It has a certain relaxing and smoothing quality to the overall timbre that gives it that Cool Jazz essence. Ted Gioia wrote, “In the Mist is a stellar example of chamber jazz, with an experimental flavor that has hardly been diminished with the passing years .” Billie Holiday and Lester Young’s I Can’t Get Started from the album Lady Day & Pres was recorded in New York in 1938. This tune features Billie Holiday (vocals), Lester Young (tenor sax), Margaret 'Queenie' Johnson (piano), Buck Clayton (trumpet), Dickie Wells (trombone), Freddie Green (guitar), Walter Page (bass), and Jo Jones (drums). In this collaboration between Young and Holiday they were able to capture a beautiful melody that really speak to the Cool Jazz genre. The melody is fairly simplistic in nature but there is a strong connection to the emotional presence of the piece. The tune itself is grounded into purely being about the message of the piece. Ted Gioia, wrote, “The individual personalities, the emotional presence of these two artists come across in the music which thus serves as enduring testimony to their ability to project their hearts and souls into the songs they recorded .”
The Cool 40s: Claude Thornhill’s Snowfall from the album Snowfall, Vol. 1, was recorded in New York in 1941. This tune features, Claude Thornhill (piano), Conrad Gozzo (trumpet), Rusty Dedrick (trumpet), Bob Sprentall (trumpet), Tasso Harris (trombone), Bob Jenney (trombone), Irving Fazola (reeds), Dale Brown (reeds), George Paulson (reeds), John Nelson (reeds), Hammond Russum (reeds), Ted Goddard (reeds), Allen Hanlon (guitar), and Harvey Sell (bass). This tune presents an incredibly beautiful melody that poses an atmospheric quality to it. Although rhythmically simplistic it harmonically complex moments. According to Ted Gioia,
“In the early 1940s the opposite of “hot jazz” wasn’t “cool jazz.” The term “cool jazz” didn’t exist at the time. A jazz fan at the time would have told you that the sweet bands were the antithesis of the hot swing orchestras. These sweet ensembles specialized in the tepid and sentimental, and didn’t put much faith in cooking tenor solos and smoking chase choruses . . . With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that his music anticipates the Cool Jazz revolution of the 1950s and it comes to no surprise that many of the artists associated with that movement wither worked with or were influenced by Thornhill .”
Dave Brubeck Octet’s Curtain Music from the album Time Signatures, was recorded in Mills College in Oakland, California in 1946. This tune features Dave Brubeck (piano), Paul Desmond (alto sax), Dave Van Kriedt (tenor sax), Bill Smith (clarinet), Cal Tjader (drums), Dick Collins (trumpet), Bob Collins (trombone), and Jack Weeks (bass). This tune features another lay back style that is characteristic of Cool Jazz. Again, it places the emphasis on melody and it gives the sense that even the improvised solos are composed. Futhermore in terms of it historical spective Ted Gioia wrote, “This signature theme from the Brubeck Octet a short snippet from 1946 predates the Miles Davis Bith of the Cool nonet by some two years. A few commentators have tried to portray Brubeck as a follower in the footsteps of Davis, but in truth the music of this ensemble resists pigeonholing of any sort .” With the conclusion of the cool 40s, this part of history brings us to what is accepted as the Cool Jazz era, but based on the tunes listed above we can see that this notion may be hollow. It appears that based on the evidence presented and through the work of Ted Gioia and Lee Konitz a new way of approach to digesting this part of jazz history may be appropriate. With that said the legendary musician are often given credit for the genre such as Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Gil Evan, and more may have been not creating some new, but instead cultivating something that had already been in place. Lee Knoitz wrote, “These records may not have been the "Birth of the Cool" as they were billed, but they represented the maturing of Cool Jazz, demonstrated the vast potential of this style and established it as a permanent voice on the Jazz scene .”
dense, compact performance. Instrumental sonority became more tense and mobile .”Out of the Bebop era, most historians would argue that a new genre that later became known as Cool Jazz developed from Bebop. Historian Piero Scaruffi wrote, “The radical wing of bebop led to “cool jazz,” a genre inaugurated in 1948 by Miles Davis with his none unit ensemble. Cool jazzists were even more uncompromising than bebop jazzists. They belonged to a younger generation and had been raised playing with the gurus of bebop .” In contrary to this popular belief Len Weinstock argues that the birth of cool can be trace back as early as the 20s through musicians as Bix Beiderbecke and Frank Trumbaurer. He wrote:
“Cool Jazz has its roots as early as 1927 in the wonderful collaborations of cornetist Bix Beiderbecke and C-melody saxman Frank Trumbauer. Bix and Tram were closely associated as early as 1925 and developed a tight musical rapport. They both used a linear, relaxed and lyrical style and were the first to offer an alternative to the searing, passionate and extroverted music that characterized the Jazz Age. They were inspired not only Luis Armstrong but also by the modern classical composers like Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky and as a result were the first to use intriguing harmonies and intervals based on whole tone scales in their improvisations .” Through their contributions of Trumbauer and Beiderbecke and others we can reassess our previous conceived timeline of Cool Jazz through a series jazz tunes that can prove that in fact the Cool Jazz started well before we believed.
When examining these series of jazz tunes there are certain musical elements that distinguish this genre from other jazz genres. Cool Jazz is known for its reserved, controlled, and soft style. There seems to be more emphasis place on the melodic melody of the piece versus Bebop, which tended to lean more towards being more virtuosic in nature. Also, Cool Jazz was more of a melting pot of jazz music and classical music that used a greater use of counterpoint between the melodic lines. Cool Jazz tended to be organized in terms of its arrangement. Finally, jazz tunes from this genre were preplanned with emphasis on both the arrangement itself as well as the improvised solos present throughout the tune.
The following tunes choosing for this new timeline in some way captures the essence of cool jazz and described before. The tunes chosen were done through a survey by Ted Gioia an American jazz critic and music historian, who too wanted to get a better sense of how the cool sensibility within jazz music has always served a function with the jazz idiom.
1920s Cool:
Frank Trumbauer’s I Never Miss the Sunshine from the album Tram: Volume 1, was recorded in Camden, NJ in 1923.
This tune features Trumbauer on the (C-melody saxophone), Walter Zurawski (trumpet), Herb Carlin (trumpet), Art Weiss (trombone), Stuart Williams (reeds), Marvin Thatcher (tenor sax), Myron Fischer (violin), Don Bestor (piano), Joseph Miller (banjo), Pierre Olker (tuba), George Brommerberg (drums) and composed by Norman Jay Harvey. As reviewed by Ted Gioia, “Trumbauer stretches out for a full chorus solo on his C-melody sax, and his mixture of melodicism and light swing was different from the hotter styles of New Orleans jazz then sweeping the nation .” Trumbauer most well-known student was Lester Young who in his own right became a pioneer within the Cool Jazz idiom. Young memorized Trumbauer solos from this tune among others and because of this we can see how the legacy of Cool Jazz of the 20s began to
grow.
Frank Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke: Singin’ the Blues from the album Bix & Tram, was recorded in New York in 1927. This tune features Bix Beiderbecke (cornet), Frankie Trumbauer (C-melody saxophone), Jimmy Dorsey (clarinet, alto sax), Bill Rank (trombone), Eddie Lang (guitar), Doc Ryker (alto sax), Paul Mertz (piano), and Chauncey Morehouse (drums). In this tune Trumbauer opening features a great deal of lyricism. According to his student Lester Young this tune to Trumbauer was not about virtuosity, it was about feeling . His solo in this tune is purely driven by a precise melody instead of fast chord changes and tempo.
1930s Cool: Red Norvo’s In a Mist from the album Dance of the Octopus was recorded in New York in 1933. The tunes features Red Norvo (marimba), Benny Goodman (bass clarinet), Dick McDonough (guitar), Artie Bernstein (bass), and composed by Bix Beiderbecke. In this tune Red Norvo’s solo demonstrates great melodic musicality that seems like a well though composition on its own. It has a certain relaxing and smoothing quality to the overall timbre that gives it that Cool Jazz essence. Ted Gioia wrote, “In the Mist is a stellar example of chamber jazz, with an experimental flavor that has hardly been diminished with the passing years .” Billie Holiday and Lester Young’s I Can’t Get Started from the album Lady Day & Pres was recorded in New York in 1938. This tune features Billie Holiday (vocals), Lester Young (tenor sax), Margaret 'Queenie' Johnson (piano), Buck Clayton (trumpet), Dickie Wells (trombone), Freddie Green (guitar), Walter Page (bass), and Jo Jones (drums). In this collaboration between Young and Holiday they were able to capture a beautiful melody that really speak to the Cool Jazz genre. The melody is fairly simplistic in nature but there is a strong connection to the emotional presence of the piece. The tune itself is grounded into purely being about the message of the piece. Ted Gioia, wrote, “The individual personalities, the emotional presence of these two artists come across in the music which thus serves as enduring testimony to their ability to project their hearts and souls into the songs they recorded .”
The Cool 40s: Claude Thornhill’s Snowfall from the album Snowfall, Vol. 1, was recorded in New York in 1941. This tune features, Claude Thornhill (piano), Conrad Gozzo (trumpet), Rusty Dedrick (trumpet), Bob Sprentall (trumpet), Tasso Harris (trombone), Bob Jenney (trombone), Irving Fazola (reeds), Dale Brown (reeds), George Paulson (reeds), John Nelson (reeds), Hammond Russum (reeds), Ted Goddard (reeds), Allen Hanlon (guitar), and Harvey Sell (bass). This tune presents an incredibly beautiful melody that poses an atmospheric quality to it. Although rhythmically simplistic it harmonically complex moments. According to Ted Gioia,
“In the early 1940s the opposite of “hot jazz” wasn’t “cool jazz.” The term “cool jazz” didn’t exist at the time. A jazz fan at the time would have told you that the sweet bands were the antithesis of the hot swing orchestras. These sweet ensembles specialized in the tepid and sentimental, and didn’t put much faith in cooking tenor solos and smoking chase choruses . . . With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that his music anticipates the Cool Jazz revolution of the 1950s and it comes to no surprise that many of the artists associated with that movement wither worked with or were influenced by Thornhill .”
Dave Brubeck Octet’s Curtain Music from the album Time Signatures, was recorded in Mills College in Oakland, California in 1946. This tune features Dave Brubeck (piano), Paul Desmond (alto sax), Dave Van Kriedt (tenor sax), Bill Smith (clarinet), Cal Tjader (drums), Dick Collins (trumpet), Bob Collins (trombone), and Jack Weeks (bass). This tune features another lay back style that is characteristic of Cool Jazz. Again, it places the emphasis on melody and it gives the sense that even the improvised solos are composed. Futhermore in terms of it historical spective Ted Gioia wrote, “This signature theme from the Brubeck Octet a short snippet from 1946 predates the Miles Davis Bith of the Cool nonet by some two years. A few commentators have tried to portray Brubeck as a follower in the footsteps of Davis, but in truth the music of this ensemble resists pigeonholing of any sort .” With the conclusion of the cool 40s, this part of history brings us to what is accepted as the Cool Jazz era, but based on the tunes listed above we can see that this notion may be hollow. It appears that based on the evidence presented and through the work of Ted Gioia and Lee Konitz a new way of approach to digesting this part of jazz history may be appropriate. With that said the legendary musician are often given credit for the genre such as Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Gil Evan, and more may have been not creating some new, but instead cultivating something that had already been in place. Lee Knoitz wrote, “These records may not have been the "Birth of the Cool" as they were billed, but they represented the maturing of Cool Jazz, demonstrated the vast potential of this style and established it as a permanent voice on the Jazz scene .”