The 1940’s was a significant period for jazz, marking a transition from traditional to modern jazz. Key to this transition was the emergence of Bebop, which caused controversy in the jazz community for deviating from traditional styles and being unpopular with American audiences. Nevertheless, Bebop, also known as “Bop,” remains one of the pivotal eras in jazz history, as the technical innovations by Bebop’s talented musicians had a lasting impact on future generations and shaped the modern jazz landscape.
According to Bebop artist Dizzy Gillespie, the name Bebop originated from attempts by people to vocally replicate the unique melodic leaps of the music. This vocal interpretation resulted in a distinctive “bop” sound, which eventually gave rise to the term “bop” or Bebop music (Berendt and Huesmann, p. 14). The rhythm and technical elements of the Bebop style were unprecedented in jazz, setting it apart from any other genre before. As a result, many traditional jazz musicians dismissed Bebop as not being true jazz. Additionally, since Bebop was not conducive to dancing, it was largely disregarded by the general public as not being genuine jazz music.
Although Bebop was not classical jazz and did not fit the typical “dancing” music genre, it holds the distinction of being the first modern jazz style to be recorded. One defining aspect of Bebop is the utilization of the flatted fifth, an interval that would be considered incorrect in traditional jazz. Additionally, Bebop is known for its jittery and fast-paced melodic fragments. The music intentionally excluded any unnecessary notes, resulting in an irregularity previously unseen in jazz before 1940 (Berendt and Huesmann, p. 5).
Bebop further differentiates itself from traditional jazz through technical characteristics such as Bop improvisations that primarily consisted of eighth-note and sixteenth-note figures, resulting in jumps and twists within the music. The compositions feature sudden changes in direction and large intervals between notes. The rhythm is fast and unpredictable, marked by an unprecedented amount of syncopation (Gridley and Cutler, p. 137).
The Bebop era succeeded the Swing era, which was the most popular period of jazz before 1940.
The swing era gained popularity through its connection to dancing, attracting a large audience known for “Swing dancing.” This led to the expansion of the Swing style of Jazz beyond just music and dance, becoming a cultural phenomenon. The term “Swing” was used as a marketing tool for various consumer products, ranging from cigarettes to women’s clothing. However, the Swing style began to adhere excessively to commercial expectations and its rhythms became overly repetitive, losing their originality. This monotony made some jazz artists strive for a more innovative and technically advanced style.
The Bebop period emerged as a deliberate contrast to the commercialization of Swing music, a common trend in jazz. According to Berendt and Huesmann (p. 14), Bebop manifested as a response to the overpowering influence of Swing. Such was its divergence from Swing that Bebop faced resistance and criticism, with some even questioning its classification as jazz. Born during World War II, Bebop was created by young African American musicians who yearned for new levels of innovation and resented the repetitive nature of the popular big bands prevalent in the Swing era.
The musicians aimed to create a distinct type of music played by small bands, showcasing inventive solos and unconventional rhythms. The founders of Bebop believed that larger bands led by white composers would struggle to imitate their music, resulting in an exclusive style of jazz. Bebop emerged in 1940 through impromptu sessions among jazz artists after hours, primarily in Kansas City at clubs such as Minton’s Playhouse and Monroe’s Uptown House in Harlem. It reached its peak in the mid-1940s with the leadership of three renowned jazz musicians: Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk. Born on August 29, 1920, in Kansas City, Kansas, Parker played a vital role in shaping the Bebop style and is considered one of Jazz’s most influential soloists. In 1927, Parker’s family moved to Kansas City, Missouri—a crucial hub for African American jazz during the 20th century—where his talent thrived. He started playing the alto saxophone in 1933.
After completing his education in 1935, Parker began his music career in Kansas City, performing with various blues and jazz bands. In 1939, he relocated to New York, the center of the music industry at that time, where he spent a year improvising with fellow musicians. His experience in New York left him dissatisfied with the conventionalities of popular Swing style prevalent in America. Instead, he envisioned an original genre of music that diverged from Swing jazz and highlighted innovative techniques. This groundbreaking style later became known as Bebop and flourished during the mid-1940s under Charlie Parker’s leadership (Patrick).
In December 1942, Parker became a member of Earl Hine’s big band, joining other young jazz musicians including Dizzy Gillespie. Together, Parker and the band engaged in numerous after-hours jam sessions at various New York clubs, where they worked on the innovative Bebop style of jazz that Parker had envisioned during his earlier visit to the city. However, despite Parker and Dizzy introducing their Bebop ideas to the band in 1943, their songs were not recorded because of a recording ban in the early 1940s.
After the recording ban was lifted, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie formed a quintet to play their Bebop style of music and recorded for the Guild label in 1945 (Gitler, p. 4). The Bebop songs they recorded for Guild brought Parker and Gillespie recognition outside of New York, and they took this recognition with them when they moved to Los Angeles, California. In California, Parker and Gillespie successfully spread Bebop to a national audience. However, Parker’s heroin and alcohol addiction eventually led to a nervous breakdown and he was confined in Camarillo State Hospital.
After being released from the Hospital, Parker returned to New York and formed a quintet comprising Miles Davis, Duke Jordan, Tommy Potter, and Max Roach. The quintet recorded some of Parker’s most well-known Bebop pieces, and the period from 1947-1951 was the most productive for Charlie Parker. Unfortunately, the remaining years of Parker’s life (1951-1955) were filled with depression and deteriorating health. In July 1951, Parker’s performer’s license was revoked, leading to a sharp decline in his career. During his final years, Parker made two suicide attempts before eventually passing away at the age of thirty four in a Manhattan apartment on March 12, 1955 (Patrick).
Following Charlie Parker’s death, the jazz world recognized his significant contribution to the genre, and Bebop gained wider acceptance among jazz audiences. Another influential musician during the Bebop period was Dizzy Gillespie. Born on October 21, 1917, in Cheraw, South Carolina, Dizzy displayed his musical talent at a young age by teaching himself to play the trombone, trumpet, and later the coronet. He attended the Laurinburg Institute and played trumpet in the school band. In 1937, Dizzy relocated to New York and secured a position with Teddy Hill’s big band, eventually touring in Europe.
Dizzy played with various bands in New York and on Tour in 1940. During that Tour, he met Charlie Parker and started participating in after-hours jam sessions with him, which ultimately led to the creation of Bebop. In 1941, Dizzy collaborated with several jazz leaders such as Lucky Millinder and Earl Hines. By 1944, he had already recorded music with a near-bop style and joined Billy Eckstine’s bebop band, alongside Charlie Parker. Simultaneously, while playing for Eckstine, Dizzy also recorded some of his own small group bebop compositions with Parker, including “Salt Peanuts” and “Hot House.”
Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker collaborated in the 1940s to form a quintet that remained together for a few years. However, Dizzy’s desire to lead a big band prompted him to establish multiple big bands after the 1940s, which ultimately solidified his reputation as one of jazz’s most influential artists. Unfortunately, on January 6, 1993, Dizzy Gillespie passed away in Englewood, New Jersey (Owens). Nevertheless, his extraordinary talent and trumpet skills played a crucial role in popularizing the Bebop style of jazz. Thelonious Monk also made significant contributions to the development of Bebop alongside Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.
Monk, born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina on October 10, 1917 and later moving to New York at the age of four, became the house pianist at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem during the early 1940s. It was there that he collaborated with Parker and Gillespie to develop the Bebop style (Blake). Monk’s role in creating Bebop established him as a significant artist within its music scene. He even performed in Dizzy’s orchestra in 1944.
Monk, the renowned Bebop pianist of the 1940s, remained devoted to playing jazz piano throughout his illustrious music career, gaining global recognition. The development of the Bebop style was credited to several highly talented artists in jazz history. However, despite its composition by brilliant music geniuses, Bebop faced controversy among traditional jazz audiences, receiving a generally cold reception in America. It was particularly disliked by white fans of jazz music as well as traditional African American jazz musicians.
There was a response from many traditional jazz audiences and artists to the new direction that jazz was taking. They started looking back at the basic forms of jazz. In the 1940s, there was a resurgence of New Orleans jazz as a reaction to the Bebop era. The mass jazz audience demanded “simple” music. African American musicians did not embrace this revival for long because it soon became cliched and simplified, but it remained popular among white audiences (Berendt and Huesmann, p. 16). The Bebop era was seen as a stark contrast to traditional jazz and the New Orleans Revival.
This negative atmosphere surrounding Bebop caused talented musicians to face mockery and hindered the music industry’s support for Bebop music. However, Bebop garnered a significant following from young African American listeners. Several of the African American musicians playing Bebop were young themselves and appealed to a youthful audience. Many young African Americans had moved away from their previous support of jazz and instead embraced Bebop for its nontraditional jazz style. Bebop found its greatest popularity among African American communities in major cities located in the Northern states.
The main reason why the white audience rejected Bebop was because it lacked a regular step count, making it difficult for them to dance to. However, African Americans found a way to adapt to the fast tempos by cutting time in half and incorporating old and new dances such as the Lindy Hop or “The Apple Jack” (Gitler, p. 5). Although Bebop did not have mass appeal and generate as much revenue as the Swing movement, it played a crucial role in establishing an identity for the young African American population in the 1940s. Despite not being well-received by the masses, Bebop’s impact on the modern jazz movement proved its significant importance in jazz history. Since 1940, Bebop has emerged as the quintessential form of classical modernity in jazz.
A surprising resurgence of Bebop, which began in the 1970’s and still persists in the twenty-first century, has captured the attention of new generations of jazz artists. Scott DeVeaux, a respected jazz author and professor, encapsulates the significance of Bebop by stating, “To comprehend jazz, one must grasp bebop” (Berendt and Huesmann, p. 7). The innovative contributions of Bebop pioneers such as Parker, Gillespie, Monk, and others propelled the jazz genre from the classical era to the modern age. Although the audacious creations of Bebop artists may not appear as groundbreaking today, they were highly revolutionary and disruptive within the jazz community at that time. During the 1940’s, these artists relinquished personal riches and fame to pursue a style of music they believed was necessary to be played. Ultimately, their sacrifices and the establishment of Bebop forever shaped jazz history.
