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Chapter 7: Bebop to Cool: The 1940s and 1950s
Roach recorded dozens of albums with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles
Mingus, Bud Powell, and Sonny Rollins. Later, he was one of the few beboppers
to play free jazz with saxophonist Anthony Braxton and pianist Cecil
Taylor (see Chapter 8). Formally trained in music, Roach was among the few
drummers to write his own extended compositions, such as the “Freedom
Now Suite,” inspired by black struggle for equality.
Roach conveyed a sense of jazz’s African roots — the group improvisation,
shifting and overlapping rhythms, and a spiritual dimension. He helped make
drummers an equal partner in group collaboration. Roach is one of the few
drummers with several CDs under his own name. Among the best of his
recordings are Deeds Not Words (OJC), Percussion Bitter Sweet (GRP), and
Brown and Roach, Inc. (Polygram).
Sonny Stitt
One of my favorite saxophonists is Sonny Stitt (1924–1982). Stitt played alto
and tenor saxophones. On alto, he had a sharp, cutting sound reminiscent of
Charlie Parker’s. On tenor, however, his sound was softer and gentler and
more original. Stitt made his first recordings in the 1940s, during bebop’s
prime. He went on to make more than 100 albums in a career that lasted
through the 1960s.
Stitt’s improvisations sparkle with freshness and energy, and his technique
is flawless. You must hear Kaleidoscope (Original Jazz Classics), as well as
Sonny Stitt 1950–1951 (Melodie Jazz Classic).
Combining Bebop and Big Bands
World War II’s end in 1945 and the advent of bebop brought major changes
to the sound of big bands. Among the draft, which took musicians and fans
away from the music, the recording ban, which kept new jazz away from the
public, and a cabaret tax that forced some clubs to close, the national jazz
scene was ready for revival.
Big bands led by Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman (see Chapter 6 for
details on those guys) remained popular among fans of swing, but other
big-band leaders took a new approach.
� Woody Herman (1913–1987): Clarinetist and saxophonist Woody
Herman led the Woody Herman Orchestra — one of the most popular
swing bands of the early 1940s. In 1946 he organized the first boporiented
big band, The Herd (over the years, he led a series of three
different Herds). Herman’s Herds combined driving rhythms with great
arrangements and tight solos.
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