Chapter 23:Music in America: Jazz and Beyond

Later Jazz

Key Terms

Bebop

Jazz-rock

Fusion

Later Jazz

The popularity of big bands collapsed suddenly after World War II

• They became too expensive to run• Entertainment styles changed – rhythm and

blues & rock’n’roll were on the rise

Jazz styles changed as well• Revolutionary new jazz style appeared during

the war – bebop

Bebop (1)

Early 1940s a discouraging time for young black jazz musicians

• White players got most big band jobs• Little improv possible when they did get work• Commercial bands seemed to have sucked the

life-blood out of jazz

These musicians gathered after-hours• Hammered out a new style in jam sessions at

clubs in Harlem• This style would later be called bebop

Bebop (2)

Bebop emphasized solo improvisation• Small combos typical – more opportunities for

improvisation• Often just a trumpet & saxophone with rhythm

section – piano, bass, drums

Bebop demanded technical virtuosity• Everything was super-fast – tempo, rhythms,

chord changes, sharp snap rhythms, etc.• Used complex harmonies in “far out” manner• Difficult, fantastical, wide-ranging melodies

Charlie Parker(1920-1955)

Bebop’s greatest genius• Alto saxophonist; nicknamed “Bird”• Bird & Dizzy Gillespie helped create bebop• He became a legend in his lifetime• But he could not overcome his demons• On drugs from the age of 15, suicide attempt,

six months in a California mental institution, uncontrollable eating & drinking in later years

• Died at the age of 34

Parker, Out of Nowhere (1)

A popular song in 32-bar A A’ form

Recorded live in a New York club in 1948

Starts with “straight” version of tune

Parker, Out of Nowhere (2)

Solo choruses feature trumpet, sax, piano• Miles’ solo has typical bright bop sound, rapid

passage work, & piercing high notes• Parker’s sax solo develops the tune’s opening

motive with increasingly elaborate, irregular phrases & a bit of an Irish jig

Last chorus is like the first, with brief coda

Jazz after Bebop

With bebop, the avant-garde came to jazz• Emancipation of melody, harmony, tonality

Many new jazz styles followed• Cool jazz, free jazz, modal jazz, Afro-Cuban

jazz, electric jazz, avant-garde jazz, etc.

The leaders were as diverse as the styles• Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Sun Ra, John

Coltrane, Ornette Coleman• They were the first to improvise freely – with no

song, blues, or chord changes as a basis

Miles Davis(1926-1991)

One of the greatest jazz innovators• As improviser, composer, & bandleader• Started out playing bop with Charlie Parker• Pioneered cool jazz with Gil Evans – Birth of

the Cool (1949-50)• Pioneered modal jazz with John Coltrane –

Kind of Blue (1959)• Moved toward free jazz with Wayne Shorter &

Herbie Hancock – Sorcerer, Nefertiti (1967)• Pioneered jazz-rock (fusion) with Joe Zawinul &

John McLaughlin – Bitches Brew (1969)

Fusion

Jazz’s popularity faded in the 1960s• Rock’s popularity soared, especially with youth• Miles & others sought to bring rock’s energy &

directness into jazz

Jazz-rock, or fusion, emerged• Combined elements of rock & jazz• Turned to rock instruments – electric guitar,

electric bass, electric piano, synthesizer• Straight-ahead rock beat replaced swing feel

Davis, Bitches Brew

Miles’ most successful fusion album• Sold hundreds of thousands of copies to both

rock & jazz listeners

Miles used a larger ensemble than usual• Trumpet, soprano sax, bass clarinet• Huge rhythm section – electric guitar, electric

bass, acoustic bass, 2 auxiliary percussion, and up to 3 keyboards & 2 drummers

• Used Echoplex to alter trumpet’s sound

Used rock rhythms & Motown bass licks

Bitches Brew (part)

4 minute excerpt from 27 minute title track

Music ebbs & flows over rocklike electric bass ostinato & drum riffs

• Builds from meditative, melancholy mood to wild, free climax & sinks back down

Extended solo for Miles• Uses ever more elaborate patterns, then snaps,

a free high-register ostinato, & trumpet squeals• Supported by constantly changing figures from

electric guitar, electric piano, & percussion• Polyrhythms similar to Yoruba drumming

Bebop Overview

c. 1944-50 – influenced many later styles

Favored small combos – trumpet, sax• Rhythm section – piano, bass, drums

Emphasized virtuoso solo improvisation• Complex melodies, chord, & rhythms , often

played at breakneck speed• Afro-Cuban rhythms & instruments used• Humor – scatting, quotation, surprise accents• Based on popular songs (32-bar aaba)

Parker & Davis, Out of Nowhere

Cool Overview

c. 1949-55 – Bebop’s opposite

“Cool” – understated & thoughtful• Classical influence, especially impressionism• Pastel colors & light, straight (no vibrato) tone• Orchestral conception – added flute, oboe,

French horn, oboe, vibraphone, etc.• Focus on arrangement, less improvisation• Sophisticated, flexible treatment of phrases &

form – based on advanced harmonies

Bernstein, West Side Story, “Cool”

Jazz after Bebop Overview

Many new styles explored after 1950• Hard bop, modal jazz, free jazz, fusion

New techniques for simultaneous improv

New structures (or none at all) substitute for pre-existing songs or chord changes

Electronic instruments added; expanded percussion & winds

Influence of popular styles, especially rock & funk

Miles Davis, Bitches Brew