That Jazz - Monkey Max Music and File Download

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Part II: Jazz Greats and Great Jazz: An Evolutionary Riff
� Rapid series of chords: Instead of being built around just a few chords
as in New Orleans jazz (see Chapter 5) and most big band swing, bebop
used rapid series of chords, many of them altered from their standard
form. Passing chords, inserted between the basic chords, added texture
and complexity.
� Drastically changed role for the instruments: Bop drummers shifted
primary timekeeping duties from bass drum to cymbals and snare, lending
the music a lighter, effervescent aura. They began playing multiple
overlapping rhythms (polyrhythms — see Chapter 3 for details about
this and other elements of jazz theory).
Bebop becomes a statement
of black identity
For some black musicians, bebop became a statement of black identity, at a
time when the civil rights movement was beginning. The NAACP organized
its Legal Defense and Education Fund in 1939. Richard Wright’s 1940 novel
Native Son gave a bleak account of conditions for blacks in America. In 1941,
Bernard Rustin, who later organized the March on Washington, launched a
New York branch of the Congress on Racial Equality. In the past, white musicians
appropriated the best ideas from black New Orleans and Chicago jazz
(see Chapter 5 for details). White swing bands including Benny Goodman’s
enjoyed commercial success with music that included many ideas and players
taken from African-American big bands. Black bandleader and arranger
Fletcher Henderson even became Goodman’s arranger.
As the black beboppers staked new ground, they risked rejection by their
public, peers, and critics to make music so fast and technically demanding
that it was difficult to understand and nearly impossible to copy. Compared
with the sweet, melodic sounds of big band swing, bebop had little commercial
potential.
So where did “bebop” come from?
The word bebop may come from the “be-bop”
sound of bop’s improvised lines, especially
when the lines ended with a pair of notes, often
with the accent on the second syllable: be-BOP!
Or it may refer to two syllables used by players
to sing bop phrases. Like other labels applied to
art forms, bebop wasn’t coined by musicians,
but by writers. Throughout the history of jazz,
tension has existed between players who make
creative breakthroughs and critics and scholars
who attempt to define and label the music.
Ultimately, jazz doesn’t fit neatly into categories,
but they are useful in explaining the music.