socialmedian: The emergence of bebop

User-submitted headlines for this story

Clips

The emergence of bebop

Source: The Guardian

Jul 06, 2009

Summary

Dismissed at the time as unlistenable and undanceable, bebop represented an outlet for imaginative, open-minded jazz musicians hoping to usher in a new age

When bebop arrived in the early 40s, its musical subversiveness and underground status fascinated a small coterie of young hipsters. For some of the biggest stars of the New Orleans and swing phases that had preceded bop, however, it sounded like a bad mistake. Bandleader Tommy Dorsey said "bebop has set music back 20 years". Louis Armstrong, a man who rarely uttered an uncharitable word, bemoaned bop's "weird chords", and felt that the intense and intricate new style offered "no melody to remember and no beat to dance to".

That last objection has been levelled at all kinds of jazz over the last century, and often still is. But the objectors should explore the history. Those "weird chords" and zigzagging melodies of bebop have long since blended into the rich soundscape of music made in the 21st century.

Bop wasn't invented by one individual, and had long been developing before anyone gave it a name. It repre

...Read the full article

Comments (0)

Add Your Comment