HOW TO SPOT BEBOP AND HARD BOP

TWELVE WAYS TO SPOT BEBOP JAZZ

Ø  Small groups: drums, bass, horns, pianos with equal roles.

Ø  More complex than swing jazz with several rhythms possibly going on at the same time.

Ø  A faster and more frenetic pace.

Ø  Improvisation and jamming.

Ø  Democratic: skilful interplay, highlighting an individual’s virtuosity.

Ø  Not intended as dance music.

Ø  Most likely originating in New York.

Ø  Associated with a policy breaching segregation barriers i.e. mixed race groups.

Ø  Dress code: ‘outré’ e.g. the zoot suit worn by Malcolm X in the film.

Ø  Associated with people at the fringes of society: poets, artists, pimps, druggies, homosexuals- ‘the blessed downtrodden of society’ or ‘beats’.

Ø  Accused by some jazz critics as being anti-jazz (as Coltrane and Dolphy were 20 years after the inception of bop).

Ø  A minority music, not as commercially ‘popular’ as swing jazz or easy listening.

Ø  Having said all of the above, the term ‘bebop’ was first used in the swing era denoting a phrase that ends on an offbeat 8th note (syncopation). ‘Bebop’ was interchangeable with ‘rebop’ but gradually the latter went out of circulation. ‘Bop’ was also used as a synonym for ‘Bebop’.

Some leading exponents: Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Charles Mingus

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BEBOP AND HARD BOP:

Ø  Bebop is more of an art form whereas Hard Bop has more emphasis on melody.

Ø  The blues is re-established as a central component.

Ø  Hard Bop is sometimes referred to as Soul Jazz (This connection is disputed by some but refers to the music rhythm and blues and gospel roots with its ‘amen’ chords and repetitive dance-like rhythms) or Funky Jazz (A distinct category nowadays, often leaning towards the commercial end of jazz, with a rhythmic leaning towards instruments like drums, bass, percussion and the electric piano-see the exemplification towards the end of the jazz section).

Ø  Art Blakey saw Hard Bop as a “back to roots movement.” reinstating swing, predominant rhythms including backbeats and shuffles.

Some leading exponents: Miles Davis, Donald Byrd, Red Garland, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey. Charles Mingus, Horace Silver, Clifford Brown/ Hal Roach, Tadd Dameron, Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Hank Mobley

“Hard bop” was a subgenre of bebop that featured extensive use of blues features and hard-swinging rhythms that included shuffles and backbeats. It came a bit later, though many of the subgenres co-existed and even had a lot of crossover performers. Charles Mingus and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers are examples.