1. Chapter 23: Music in America: Jazz and Beyond
Later Jazz

2. Key Terms
Bebop
Jazz-rock
Fusion

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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 ( )
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)

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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”

16. 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