Bebop is a virtuosic style of jazz with fast tempo, complex melodies, and solos based on harmony instead of referencing melodies / head. It came as a response to the swing era jazz, which Bebop musicians perhaps saw as too popularized and simple.

Hallmarks & Contribution to Jazz

  • melodically
    • jagged, dense, rapid figures
    • uneven phrasing
    • extended solos
  • harmonically
    • vertical improvization
    • complex harmonies
  • meter & rhythm
    • uneven accents (spread across down & upbeats)
    • use of cymbals of rhythmic foundation
  • rhythm section
    • polyrhythm & cross-rhythms moves from front-line (Dixieland style) to rhythm sections
    • bass: walking bass (outlines chord structure)
    • piano comps (uneven chordal accompaniment) instead of pure stride
  • absolute music

Musicians

  • Coleman “Hawk” Hawkins: tenor saxophonist
    • His recording of “Body and Soul” with the Paul Whiteman orchestra marks a turning point in jazz after which jazz musicians soloed based on harmony (what befits the current chord) instead of melody (referencing the head). The recording featured a solo cadenza with vertical improvization style, which immediately began to influence swing era musicians and later generations as well (e.g. bebop).
  • Art Tatum: pianist
    • akin to Coleman Hawkins: solos based on harmony
    • blind but dextrous
    • intentionally played quietly to capture more attention in bars
  • Charlie Parker (1920-1955)
    • known for practicing for excessive hours, so much so as to receive complaints from neighbors
    • drug abuse, which was followed by many other musicians like John Coltrane
  • Dizzy Gillespie: trumpeter
  • Bud Powell: pianist, composer
  • Duke Ellington: bandleader
  • Thelonius Monk: pianist, bandleader
  • Charles Mingus
  • John Coltrane