JAZZ PERSPECTIVES
The Swing Era III - The BeBop Strain
During the latter half of
the period known as the Swing Decade [1935-45], a new development called BeBop
began to emerge on the jazz scene. This new style of playing differed from the
old in many ways. Swing was harmonically and rhythmically steady and
predictable, where BeBop twisted and turned through dissonance and modulation,
with spontaneous slams and crashes from the drums. In BeBop, complex, angular
melodies were played in unison, and everything else melodic was improvised by
one soloist at a time. Swing focused on the arrangement and left little or no
space for solos. Critics felt BeBop was antithetical to Swing, but in many ways
Bop evolved directly from Swing music and musicians.
One such musician was
Count Basie. Many of his charts allowed for longer solos, a development which
Lionel Hampton continued in his band with truly open solos ended by the
soloist, not the arrangement. Saxophonist Lester Young was one of Basie's
featured soloists, whose melodic style was a main influence on Charlie Parker.
Young's cool tenor sound and sparse rhythmic approach even sowed the seeds of
the Cool style of jazz pioneered by Miles Davis in the '50's, and influenced
the sound of players like Stan Getz.
The Basie approach to the
rhythm section was also unique. Most swing bands drove the sound from the horns,
whereas Basie's band moved the music from the rhythm section, laying out the
horns and leaving more room for the solo to be heard. The drumming style of Jo
Jones included keeping time on the hi-hat cymbals instead of the kick drum, a
much lighter sound. Basie as pianist also did away with the usual stride style
and de-emphasized the left hand, lightly playing chords and fills where he
deemed appropriate. All of these developments became essential to BeBop.
Other musicians developed
ideas crucial to the BeBop sound as early as 1939. Tenor saxophonist Coleman
Hawkins recorded a now famous solo that year on Body and Soul*, which opened a new door to improvising. The solo was in a
small band context, and instead of the usual melodic development, Hawkins
explored the harmony and included melodic reference to chords not in the
original composition. The impact of this concept helped lead to the harmonic
complexity of the BeBop sound. Charlie Christian, Benny Goodman's guitarist from
1939 to his death in 1942, was the first to play single note solos instead of
the modified chordal banjo style of the day, changing the way guitar was played
in Bop, and in every jazz style since then.
Although the mid 40's
also saw attempts at BeBop big bands, including the bands of Earl 'Fatha' Hines,
Billy Eckstein, of which Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespe were both
alumni, and Dizzy, who flirted with his own big band for several years, the
smaller combo became the norm for Bop. Big band Swing continued to be a popular
jazz style, but BeBop replaced Swing as the primary influence on jazz musicians
soon after its rise to popularity, and continues to be a field of study for any
serious jazz musician today.
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- article by Frank Singer ©2002
* A
recording of Body and Soul can be found on the CD oFF
tHE tOP: standards 1
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JAZZ PERSPECTIVES
CONTENTS
Jazz
Origins
I - Beginnings
II - Jazz and Technology
III - Radio and the Industrial Beat
The
Swing Era
I - Precursors
II - The Decade of Swing
III - The
BeBop Strain
A
First Look Back
New Orleans
Revival
Jazz
Forms
The Blues
The 32 bar Song Form
The Latin Influence
Cool
Hard Bop
Evolution 1 - A New Dialogue
Evolution 2 - Into The Seventies
Evolution Of The Jam Session
Post Modernism
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eCUTS
