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Bebop or bop is a form of jazz which uses a fast tempo and complex improvisational techniques. It was developed in the early and mid-1940s. Hard bop later developed from bebop combined with blues and gospel music.
History
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The creation of the musical language of bebop is generally credited to Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke, and others who took part in jams after finishing more formal gigs elsewhere. Minton's Playhouse in Harlem, and the many small jazz clubs on West 52nd Street in Manhattan were important areas where musicians were free to improvise as they wished, free of what some considered the restrictions of an audience expecting smooth, danceable versions of popular songs.
Several earlier swing-era musicians are often cited as especially influential in the development of bebop, including saxophone players Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young, trumpeter Roy Eldridge, and guitarist Charlie Christian.
Much of this development took place around 1943, during a recording ban caused by a labor dispute of the American Federation of Musicians.
Consequently, bop emerged to the wider public somewhat fully-formed in 1945; and the reaction was, at least partly, incomprehension. Bebop never achieved the popularity of swing, and was criticized by some contemporaries for being too technical. (Cab Calloway opined famously that bebop was nonsensical "Chinese Music.") Gillespie was quoted as saying that this demanding technique was exactly his goal, to elevate the music to a level where only the most elite musicians could participate.
Though many older jazz musicians--notably Louis Armstrong--expressed a dislike for bebop, he was revered by many boppers, who sometimes "quoted" his musical phrases by incorporating fragments of Armstrong's recorded improvisations in their own songs.
Style
Many bebop tunes were based on chord progressions (also called chord changes) from popular songs, which allowed recording artists to avoid paying copyright fees. The chord changes to the song "I Got Rhythm" by George Gershwin were so often used that they are often referred to simply as "Rhythm Changes." Jazz musicians had always improvised solos over chord changes, but writing entirely new compositions based on existing chord changes was an innovation.
The typical bebop combo consisted of bass, drums, and piano, with two horns. Perhaps the classic 1940s bebop combo was Charlie Parker on alto sax, Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, Max Roach on drums, Percy Heath on bass, and Bud Powell on piano.
Etymology
The name bebop (also called rebop) is an onomatopoetic imitation of a characteristic quick two-note phrase that was played together by the lead instruments to introduce a solo or end a song.
Samples
Bebop Musicians
Other notable musicians identified with bebop:
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