Cool jazz and Bebop are two very different types of music, but they are under the same umbrella of jazz. Bebop was developed somewhere in the 1940s, and was characterized by very fast tempos, complex and very quick chord progressions, as well as heavy improvisation. Due to the high difficulty, bebop musicians tended to be virtuosic in their instrument. Cool jazz was also developed somewhere in the 1940s, but was applied the name “cool jazz” in the 1950s. This new style was an antithesis in a way to bebop, as it was characterized by slower, more “cool” tempos, smooth melodies that were not sporadic, and an overall sense of smooth motion and a feeling of flowing. While these two styles were developed around the same time period, they are both very different to each other in a lot of ways. Cool jazz as a music genre had more structure than its bebop counterpart. Most of the time, cool jazz songs were created and performed using written arrangements. This gives the songs a more consistent feeling. It also conveyed a feeling of relaxation, as with written arrangements, the musicians are more relaxed and tend to have less expressions when performing. This was one of the characteristics that made cool jazz gain its label “cool.” …show more content…
Due to the fast chord progressions and sporadic nature of the songs in general, the sound range would be all over the place. Bebop is also very upbeat, which fits the mood of higher notes as it brings more energy to the song. The use of hitting a higher range of notes is used to express the adventurous nature of bebop. According to Eddie S. Meadows, author of Bebop to Cool, “bebop was without a doubt disjunct compared to cool jazz.” This meant there were a lot more jumps in range in consecutive notes, which is very different from cool jazz. Combined with less straight tone quality and more vibrato, bebop’s sound characteristics are very different from cool
The difference with Bebop and the Swing Era are with the melodies and how the bands are setup. Starting with bebop it his more of a complex tempo with a four to five piece band then what a swing era band would normally have about five Saxes players, three trombones players, four trumpets players and with a rhythm section playing a big dance hall unlike bebop the sound would be only heard in small jazz clubs. The music can be heard and seen played faster with the drummer keep the time for the whole band. You’re able to hear this in the tune “Tempus Fugue-It”, the piano can be heard playing solo sporadically as if it sounds out of control but the player is with in control as the drummer keeps the tempo going with a sound of a moving
Jazz as a general genre reached its peak in the thirties. Jazz was incredibly popular with both the Black community, and the white community; however, Jazz reached the adolescents the most. Jazz music was associated with the African American culture during this time of increible racial tension, subsequently the ‘teens’ of this generation began to tune into this genre for its rebelistic qualities. Popular forms of jazz music often included, Dixieland/’hot’ jazz, classical jazz, and bebop. The defining artist of hot jazz was Louis Armstrong. This music was characterized by collective improvised solos, around melodic structure, that ideally built up to an emotional and "Hot" climax. The rhythm section, which typically consists of percussion, bass, banjo, or guitar helps to support this crescendo, many times in the style of a
Jazz music of the 1940’s and 1950’s was defined by a history of change since its beginning at the dawn of the 20th century. Almost every decade brought a new flavor to the movement, and by the 1940’s jazz had developed into a mature, complex form of music, with many nuances and avenues for continued change. It is important to trace the early movements in jazz to better understand the innovations of the Bebop and Cool jazz eras of the 40’s and 50’s.
The people of today, raised by the sounds of The Beatles and Pearl Jam have forgotten all about the musicians that paved the way for these artists, and the musical styles that evolved into rock and roll, rhythm and blues and rap or hip hop. Unfortunately the music that once dominated the night clubs, restaurants, and radio stations is now heard only in elevators or when we go to a grandparents house to visit. What is left of jazz are small portions of the music that people take and sample with in a new song. Jazz and its historical figures have mistreated and forgotten by today's society. One of the figure most forgotten is John Birks Gillespie, known to the jazz world as "Dizzy" Gillespie.
Jazz is referred as “America’s classical music,” and is one of North America’s and most celebrated genres. The history of Jazz can be traced back to the early era of the 20th century of the U.S. “A History of Jazz” presents From Ragtime and Blues to Big Band and Bebop, jazz has been a part of a proud African American tradition for over 100 years. A strong rhythmic under-structure, blue notes, solos, “call-and response” patterns, and
The word “jazz” is significant to America, and it has many meanings. Jazz could simply be defined as a genre or style of music that originated in America, but it can also be described as a movement which “bounced into the world somewhere about the year 1911…” . This is important because jazz is constantly changing, evolving, adapting, and improvising. By analyzing the creators, critics, and consumers of jazz in the context of cultural, political, and economic issue, I will illustrate the movement from the 1930’s swing era to the birth of bebop and modern jazz.
Soul Jazz was derived from hard bop. It integrated influences from gospel, blues, and rhythm and blues. It was made for music in small groups. Soul Jazz had repetitive grooves, non-complex improvisation, and melodic hooks. A large influence of this style was Horace Silver, who had funky and gospel included piano vamps. (A Passion for
To understand the genesis of Jazz one must also understand the setting of its origin, New Orleans. The city was founded by the French in 1718, then in 1763 the city ceded to Spain and remained under Spanish control until later being returned to the French in 1803, and then was immediately sold to the United States under the Louisiana Purchase. New Orleans was also heavily populated by African slaves making up 30% of the total population of the city at this time; so New Orleans was experiencing a lot of cultural diversity and was being shaped and molded by the many different fashions of people who lived in the city. These different social groups along with their culture also brought with them their deep rooted musical traditions, the fusion and combination of these traditions would give rise to what we know today as modern day Jazz. Jazz is a genre of music that could only have formed in America; it draws from many different cultures and art forms creating a cocktail of traditional European and African music, mixed with a blend of Spanish tinge, with a strong base of blues filtered through the American experience.
There was quite a difference between cool jazz and hard bop. Although sprouted from the bebop era and bebop music, the two shared more differences than similarities. First, cool jazz usually had a slower tempo while hard bop was more upbeat. Smooth jazz had a smoother feel to it while hard bop was rawer and more intense. This is probably due to the fact that cool jazz generally had a greater amount of structure than hard bop which had a greater amount of improvisation by musicians. Miles Davis and Gerry Mulligan were some of the pioneers of cool jazz and recorded Davis’ “Birth of the Cool” with Capitol Records in Los Angeles. Clifford Brown was a key innovator of hard bop, along with Art Blakey. Both Brown and Blakey recorded on the East Coast
Louis Armstrong was known for his “hot jazz” while Bix Beiderbecke was known more for his “cool reflective” jazz style. Louis Armstrong developed a new style of jazz music that took New Orleans by storm, and many other bands decided to move to north Chicago because of it. In 1925 Louis recorded his first Hot Five records and this was the first time he developed songs under his name. Then later on he made the Hot Seven and these two records are considered some of the biggest jazz classics. These records really established Louis Armstrong’s “hot jazz” style and many people recognized that. Many people and critics also considered these records as some of the finest jazz recordings in history, solos began to emerge and that really characterized jazz. These tracks were very important because it not only expressed Louis style but it influenced a lot of the jazz world. After the tracks many people began to change from polyphony to soloists, from embellishment to improvisation, and changing from breaks to having solos and their was much more influence. Then there was Bix Beiderbecke who was known for his “cool reflective” jazz. He was known for having a unique lyric tone, he had a vibrant sound, and he and he was different from other trumpet and cornet players. These were the type of things that led to the development of what is known as “cool jazz”. Everything that he went through in his life, the sadness, his heroic side, all this led to his music style. These two had a huge impact with their type of styles, which is the reason for their success. There uniqueness is what led to their style and them being known for their type of jazz, one simply can not say that one is better than the other because they simply did not have the same
Though Jazz has changed, the background behind it still inspires those today. Even though each artist has their particular style or expression, they all can agree that music is art. They can all agree that Music is emotions and feelings. Through the years, just as all things do, Jazz and Bebop have grown and flourished across America and the World. All in all Jazz for African Americans opened the doors in America, jazz alone opened doors and ears all across the Earth.
Hip-hop is one of the major music genres of today like the blues were in the 1950's. Stanley Crouch views hip-hop as being vulgar and obscene while he sees the blues as being one of the classic music genres. In actuality, these two genres are similar in many ways.
Andrews, John. (1998). What bebop meant to jazz history. A review of Scott Deveux’ book “The Birth of the Bebop: A Social and musical history.”
People all over the world listen to various types of music. The most popular kinds of music in America are hip hop and rock. As they seem to be totally different types of music they have a lot of similarities . Hip Hop and Rock music have more differences than similarities.
In the eyes of the general public, all of Hip-Hop is usually categorized in the same way. Labeled as the poison of the Black community because nowadays, most Hip-Hop lyrics all sound the same generic way always talking about money, women, cars, drugs, or some type of beef that all these rappers sooner or later continuously have with one another. But what this new generation doesn’t know about are the positive and creative flows that were spit not so long ago in the 80’s and 90’s. Rappers back in the day like Tupac and Ice Cube both had times when they had to show off their thug sides but they both had reasons or a call-to-arms for that, and indeed were in tune with that era’s problems as well as the society where they were raised. Moreover, even though some new school songs actually look promising, old school songs are still always great classics that anybody in this day and age will most certainly vibe to.