Jazz In America

1
Jazz In America

• Lesson 5 The Bebop Era

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The Demise of SwingWorld War II

• The Draft
• Many jazz musicians were called to war, leaving
  few at home
• Band Raiding
• Stealing of band members from other bands
• Transportation
• Gas Rubber shortages
• Dismantling of the railways

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The Demise of SwingWorld War II

• Midnight Curfews
• Brown-outs
• Amusement Taxes
• 20 at any club that included dancing
• Unwillingness to Travel
• Good musicians did not need to travel, since they
  could make a living right where they were

4
The Demise of SwingRestrictive Musical Formats

• Lack of solo opportunities
• Solos had to be short in Big Band
• Harmonic formulae
• Overworked same chord progressions used over and
  over
• Lack of creativity
• Stereotyped rhythms and rhythm sections

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The Demise of SwingRestrictive Musical Formats

• General lack of surprise in any given musical
  circumstance jazz had fallen into a rut
• By the early 1940s, with the exception of a few,
  most big bands sounded stylistically alike

6
The Demise of SwingThe Recording Ban

• American Federation of Musicians (the musicians
  union) orders a ban on all instrumental
  recordings
• Due to increased numbers of recordings on radio
  and in jukeboxes
• Unable to record new material, bands begin to
  break up

7
The Demise of SwingRacism

• African American musicians were paid less than
  their European American counterparts
• African Americans had to contend with the most
  oppressive manifestations of racial prejudice and
  segregation
• Ex. Roy Eldridge

8
The Demise of SwingRacism
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The Demise of SwingRacism

• African Americans became disenchanted with swing
  music
• Wanted to create their own music
• Too difficult, too virtuosic, too hip for their
  white counterparts
• A true African American ART form
• Not for dancing, but for listening

10
BebopPhilosophy

• Bebop was ART music, not entertainment music
• Not for dancing, but for listening
• Effectively removed jazz from the mainstream of
  pop commercial music
• Bebop musicians considered themselves artists,
  not entertainers

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BebopPhilosophy

• A conscious attempt on the part of young African
  American jazz musicians to improvise and create a
  serious music
• Completely an African American invention
• Today, it is listened to, studied, and performed
  by all peoples

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BebopPerformance Practices

• Comparison of Big Band and Bebop
• Ex. Draw a house with a square building, triangle
  roof, 1 chimney, a door, and two windows. (Big
  Band)

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BebopPerformance Practices

• Ex. Draw a house. (Bebop)

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BebopPerformance Practices

• Primarily a small group music
• Trumpet, saxophone, piano, bass, drums
• Designed for improvisation, not elaborate
  arrangements
• Virtuosic music very difficult to play
• Trimmed down arrangements
• Rarely written, mostly just discussed
• Few introductions, endings, interludes, etc.
• Instead of complex arrangements, bebop utilized
  complex heads (melodies)

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BebopPerformance Practices

• Usually used a basic format
• 1st Chorus Head played in unison
• Middle Choruses Improvised solos
• Trading fours or eights (Opt.)
• Last Chorus Head in unison
• Music is instrumental in nature
• Large range of notes
• Rhythmically complex
• Extremely difficult to sing
• Use of scat singing

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BebopPerformance Practices

• Tune Sources
• The blues
• Standards
• Contafacts
• Originals

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BebopMintons Playhouse
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BebopMintons Playhouse

• Famous jazz nightclub in New Yorks Harlem known
  for its role in the incubation of bebop
• In the late 1930s early 1940s weekly jam
  sessions and after-hours playing provided the
  opportunity for up-and-coming beboppers to
  explore new musical ideas together
• e.g., trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie, pianist
  Thelonious Monk, drummer Kenny Clarke
• Their experiments played an important role in the
  development of the bebop style

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Bebop52nd Street
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Bebop52nd Street

• In the 1940s and 50s, jazz was performed in
  several famous jazz night clubs along 52nd Street
  in New York City
• e.g., Birdland, The Three Deuces, The Onyx Club
• Became to be known as the Street of Bop

21
BebopThe Latin Influence

• Latin music has made an enormous impact on jazz
  composition and performance
• Trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie and percussionist
  Tito Puente were two of the first responsible for
  fusing jazz with Latin music

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Cultural Implications

• Geographical
• Bebop was centered in NYC
• Cultural
• Racism and segregation were rampant
• Would have to stay at separate hotels than their
  white counterparts stay in black rooming houses
  or on the bus
• Have to eat in separate restaurants often not
  allowed to eat in the places they performed

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Cultural Implications

• Cultural (cont.)
• Racism and segregation were rampant
• Required to use separate bathrooms and water
  fountains
• Often required to sit in the back of city busses
• Lynchings of the 1930s 1940s
• Billie Holiday, Strange Fruit

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Cultural Implications
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Cultural Implications

• Bebop reflected the culture of the time growing
  out of the desire of African Americans to have
  their own music
• Like the African American experience, bebop
• Was difficult
• Alluded to the blues
• Explored new directions and uncharted territory
• Was separate from the mainstream America

26
Cultural Implications

• Many jazz musicians, in their struggle to deal
  with oppression and related issues, became
  addicted to drugs, particularly heroin many, in
  fact, met their demise due to drug abuse.