Be bop in jazz. Jazz Style: Bebop

By the mid-30s, on the wave of popularity, the jazz world suffered a "creative crisis", which reached its climax by the end of the decade and the beginning of the 40s. It was then that a new style came to the rescue - bebop.

Prerequisites for the appearance

Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie are considered the founding fathers of bebop.

The popularity of traditional jazz has led to the overspread of middle-class musical groups that perform jazz solely for the purpose of earning money, without creative aspiration, using musical standards and patterns in their practice.

This trend was extremely unpleasant for musicians who put the creative process at the head of their work, the desire to create something new, and not marking time.

It was on this fertile ground that a group of virtuoso musicians presented the world with a new name for the musical movement in the ocean "Jazz".

Bebop is based on fast and complex improvisations.

The new name of the musical style, as is commonly believed, appeared thanks to who hummed the melodies in blues fifths - intervals characteristic of bop. They sounded similar to Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop.

Too fast to dance

Thelonious Monk, Howard McGee, Roy Eldridge, Teddy Hill, 1947

Through the efforts of eminent New York musicians, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, a new style in jazz music, bebop, was introduced to the world.

Based on deep improvisation of musical harmonies and syncopated rhythm, it is often rhythmically inflated to the maximum speed of sound.

This approach shocked the average listener. At first, the public did not speak very flatteringly about such an innovation, characterizing it as sharp and too fast, taking away their favorite music from the usual dance rhythm.

The musical community was also wary of the new trend. But soon she changed her mind and appreciated the ornateness of improvisations and the new creative horizons that emerged.

The basis of the new style was fast and complex improvisations based on harmonies, which fundamentally distinguished it from the traditional jazz look, based on the monumentality of the melody.

From the masses to the elite

Thelonious Monk concert

The complexity of constant improvisation embedded in a no less complex rhythmic pattern fenced off the new style from the influx of non-professionals and brought freedom for creativity and development to a narrow circle of virtuosos.

Practice has shown that bebop is ideal for small groups: a quartet or a quintet. This allowed the musicians to perform in small groups, which was much more economical at that time.

From large halls, the musicians moved to small, atmospheric bars and small music salons, where friendly companies of exclusively connoisseurs of complex improvisations and progressive creativity could gather, gained popularity. The spread of bebop led to the transformation of jazz into a purely intellectual movement.

Bebop, bebop, bop (English bebop) - a jazz style that developed in the early - mid-40s of the XX century and is characterized by a fast pace and complex improvisations based on playing out harmony, and ... Read all Bebop, bebop, bop (eng. bebop) - a jazz style that developed in the early - mid-40s of the XX century and is characterized by a fast pace and complex improvisations based on playing out harmony, not melody. Bebop revolutionized jazz, boppers created new ideas about what music is. The founders of bebop were: saxophonist Charlie Parker, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, pianists Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, drummer Max Roach. The bebop phase was a significant shift in emphasis in jazz from melody-based dance music to more rhythm-based, less popular "musician music". Bop musicians preferred complex improvisations based on chord strumming instead of melodies. Bop was fast, sharp, he was "hard on the listener". History In the early 1940s, many creative musicians began to acutely feel the stagnation in the development of jazz, which arose due to the emergence of a huge number of fashionable dance-jazz orchestras. They did not strive to express the true spirit of jazz, but used replicated preparations and techniques of the best bands. An attempt to break out of the impasse was made by young, primarily New York musicians, which include alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, drummer Kenny Clarke, pianist Thelonious Monk. Gradually, in their experiments, a new style began to emerge, which received the name "bebop" or simply "bop" with Gillespie's light hand. According to his legend, this name was formed as a combination of syllables with which he hummed the musical interval characteristic of bop - the blues fifth, which appeared in bop in addition to the blues thirds and sevenths. The main difference of the new style was the complicated and built on other principles of harmony. The super-fast pace of performance was introduced by Parker and Gillespie in order to keep out non-professionals from their new improvisations. The complexity of building phrases compared to swing primarily lies in the initial beat. An improvisational phrase in bebop might start on a syncopated beat, maybe on a second beat; often the phrase played on an already known theme or harmonic grid (Anthropology). Among other things, a shocking demeanor has become a hallmark of all bebopites. Gillespie's curved "Dizzy" trumpet, the behavior of Parker and Gillespie, Monk's ridiculous hats, etc. The revolution that bebop made turned out to be rich in consequences. At an early stage of their work, boper were considered: Erroll Garner, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, George Shearing and many others. Of the founders of bebop, only the fate of Dizzy Gillespie was successful. He continued his experiments, founded the Cubano style, popularized Latin jazz, opened the world to the stars of Latin American jazz - Arturo Sandoval, Paquito DeRivero, Chucho Valdes and many others. Recognizing bebop as music that required instrumental virtuosity and knowledge of complex harmonies, jazz instrumentalists quickly gained popularity. They composed melodies that zigzagged and rotated according to chord changes of increased complexity. The soloists in their improvisations used notes that were dissonant in tonality, creating more exotic music with a sharper sound. The appeal of syncopation led to unprecedented accents. Bebop was best suited to play in a small group format such as quartet and quintet, which proved to be ideal for both economic and artistic reasons. Music flourished in urban jazz clubs, where audiences came to listen to inventive soloists rather than dance to their favorite hits. In short, bebop musicians were transforming jazz into an art form that appealed perhaps a little more to the intellect than to the senses. With the bebop era came new jazz stars, including trumpeters Clifford Brown, Freddie Hubbard and Miles Davis, saxophonists Dexter Gordon, Art Pepper, Johnny Griffin, Pepper Adams, Sonny Stitt and John Coltrane, and trombonist JJ Johnson. In the 1950s and 1960s, bebop went through several mutations, including hard bop, cool jazz, and soul jazz. The format of a small musical group (combo), usually consisting of one or more (usually no more than three) wind instruments, piano, double bass and drums, remains the standard jazz line-up today. Collapse

Bebop (bebop or just bop) is a style of jazz music originating from the first half of the 40s of the last century. The main feature is complex improvisations and fast tempo, which beat harmony, not melody. For the first listeners, he was too fast, sharp and even "cruel".

Performers

In the early 40s of the last century, a style appeared in jazz music that differed from the traditional one in its fast performance and complex improvisations. It was called bebop and became a real revolution in the jazz world. Boppers reinterpreted the very meaning of music, playing with harmony rather than melody. The founders of the style were Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Charlie Parker (saxophone), and Bud Powell (keyboards), Max Roach (drums). They performed "music for musicians" based on rhythm, moving far away from the dance style, which was based on melody. The listeners did not immediately appreciate the complex improvisations, they said that the new direction was too abrupt and fast, even "cruel".

The main difference between bop and traditional jazz was a complex harmony built on different principles. Parker and Gillespie introduced an ultra-fast tempo, thus preventing the appearance of non-professionals among the boppers. Bebop improvisation began with a syncopated or second beat, often playing around with a harmonic grid or an already known theme. This style was ideal for playing in a small group, such as a quartet and a quintet. Bop became popular in urban jazz clubs, where the public came to listen to famous jazzmen rather than dance. Musicians gradually turned bop jazz into an intellectual form, moving it away from its origins - feelings.

Another striking difference was the outrageous behavior of the musicians of the new direction. Until now, they have remained symbols of bebop: Monk's hats, Gillespie's curved trumpet, Parker's antics. Bop was rich in talent and revolution. Dizzy Gillespie continued his experiments and founded the direction of the Afro-cube, popularized Latin jazz and revealed to the world many stars of this style.

With this publication, the site opens a series of materials about the most "introductory" albums of the main jazz styles. Speaking about bebop, I must immediately warn you: for half a century it has been considered serious and intellectual music. Roughly speaking, bebop is a style that originated when jazz ceased to be the pop of its time and became music for the understanding - Jack Kerouac and other young intellectuals admired him. In fact, it was then that the image of intellectual music was permanently attached to jazz.

Grove's Encyclopedia of Music describes bebop (or simply bop) as "a jazz style that originated in New York City in the early 1940s." "...the emphasis in bebop is on improvising melodies at a fast pace, with asymmetric phrase structure and irregular distribution of accents." Simply put: when the rhythm section plays fast, and the soloist plays jerky, as if twisting the solo into a spiral, then this is bebop. And yes, it is important here that bop was played by small ensembles: a trio, a quartet, a quintet, very rarely a sextet. This was due to economic considerations: it was no longer profitable to carry a big band. But the phenomenon of jazz "combo" was born, which turned out to be like an atomic nucleus: with a small size, the energy is infinite. In fact, jazz still feels the shock wave of the bebop explosion, and half-life is not even expected.

Grove names Dizzy Gillespie as the founder of the style, and "among the leading masters" he mentions Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Coleman Hawkins. Forgotten, perhaps, only Oscar Pettiford.

Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie "Bird&Diz"

Although this album was released under the names of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker (trumpet and alto saxophone, respectively), and in the title - their nicknames, but other luminaries also play here. Drummers Buddy Rich (yes, that same idol of the hero of the film "Obsession") and Max Roach, Thelonious Monk and future hard bop star trumpeter Kenny Dorham. Together, Parker and Gillespie (his real name was simply John, Dizzy is a nickname meaning "dizzy") performed more than once or twice. They were connected by friendship and participation in various projects even in their youth - they are generally from the same nest. But these are all the details, the main thing is that you can listen to almost any of their live albums. Fortunately, we managed to record several of them, and also with the strongest compositions in the style of "Who's Who in Bebop".

Bird&Diz exists in different versions with different covers. In the 90s, they started releasing on CD just all the takes (some ten seconds long!) and outtakes made during that session. Excellent melodies, hot improvisations, and even frank "reeling" (like the aforementioned screwed up takes) - and that one is interesting.

Charlie Parker

Recently, one reader, in the comments to my material about tracks from which one can fall in love with jazz, complained, they say, that jazz is good music, but it’s so old that much is recorded on wax rollers - it’s impossible to listen to. Charlie Parker was no longer recording on rollers, of course, but, alas, there is a problem with recordings, I admit it. So it's better to immediately tune in to the rustles with squeaks and listen to the early Parker. A collection of records for the Savoy and Dail labels, of course, not for high-end testing.

But here there is, firstly, all that drive and freedom that "Bird" Parker became famous for, and secondly, the atmosphere of a real bebop. And thirdly, the sound of a wonderful viola and a kind of Parker's phrasing have not gone away anyway, and this is the main thing. Well, the material, of course: even the frankly pop “I’ll Always Love You” with vocals. Everything is so masterful and stylish that it becomes clear why in those years all the advanced youth like the beatniks and Kerouac went crazy for Parker's sax. This is the trip-hop of the forties, no matter what!

Thelonious Monk "Brilliant Corners"

In the era of record stores, this album with a funny cover was easily found on the shelf of "Jazz", with the letter "M". Thelonious Monk's "Brilliant Corners" has been reissued a hundred times, including on SACD. I did not listen to this medium, but they say that panoramic sound added little to great music.

The album released by the Riverside label in 1956 is truly outstanding. Again, a supergroup plays here: Sonny Rollins, bassists Paul Chambers and Oscar Pettiford, drummer Max Roach ...

This, of course, is already late bop, turning into hard bop and looking forward to avant-garde. But Monk is generally on his own, unlike anyone else, a composer with original harmonic thinking. "Zombie music," pianist Mary Lou Williams called him disdainfully. And it turned out to be right: Thelonious Monk (1917 - 1982) is still more alive than all the living.

Coleman Hawkins "The Hawk Flies High"

Ask a person from the street what is the main jazz instrument, and the answer will be the same - the saxophone. And who made the saxophone the main jazz instrument? Coleman Hawkins. Well, practically. Hawkins, with his wide, gritty sound and cascading notes, is one of the fathers of bop. That is, in theory, you need to listen to everything from him. But to avoid complaints about the record, we recommend the 1957 album The Hawk Flies High.

Here again is a powerful line-up: Pettiford, Joe Jones on drums, JJ Johnson on trombone, Hank Jones on piano. Exceptionally bright pieces played with drive. There are weird-funny arrangements: "Juicy Fruit" combines Jones' minimalistic piano pounding with Idris Suleiman's endless trumpet note. Chain breathing or just magic? And so - everywhere!

Oscar Pettiford Winner's Circle

A real Indian... Well, you get the idea. One of the first boppers, Oscar Pettiford, was indeed an Indian: dark skin from his father, who was half Cherokee, half African. Pettiford lived only 37 years and died in Europe from some terrible virus, but before that he played on many of the key bop albums, starting to boil in the bop scene as early as 1943. A cult bassist who invented his own style of playing, a shrewd bandleader who revealed to the world the talent of the great Cannonball Adderley. “I didn’t like how others played the double bass,” he allegedly said. He was also the first to play jazz on the cello, and he started literally for fun.

Pettiford, like Charlie Mingus, is one of the most prolific double-bass players-leaders-composers in jazz: strictly speaking, in terms of influence, there is no one to put next to these two (bass players are usually on the sidelines). Let's listen to the big line-up on the Winner's Circle album, which was released in 1957 on the Bethlehem label. Donald Byrd, John Coltrane, Kenny Burrell, Philly Joe Jones and others - a dream team!

Bud Powell, The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 1"

And finally, bebop's main pianist is Bud Powell. The spiritual father of all subsequent jazz virtuosos, from Bill Evans to Chick Corea and so on. Powell had a difficult fate: he suffered from an acute mental disorder for a long time, spending months in the hospital (and one must understand what kind of psychiatry was half a century ago - the musician was even treated with electric shock), died early. Accordingly, not all of his recordings are equally good, but there are several masterpieces.

One of them, recorded on Blue Note back in the late 40s, in his youth - “The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 1" (there are two more "volumes" with later sessions). Here are two versions of Powell's hit with the sad Spanish title "Un Poco Loco" (Slightly Crazy). We asked a pianist, composer, drummer Yakov Okun to comment on this: “This piece was recorded in two takes. In the first, his improvisation is amazing, and the second is more harmonious in terms of form. On the same album - a version of the standard "It Could Happened To You", touching, as if under Art Tatum - amazing!

Kirill Moshkov. Jazz Industry in America. XXI Century"
Music Planet, 2013
Hardcover, 512 pages.

The second, expanded edition of the world's unparalleled study of the jazz sector of the American music industry, which in 1998-2012. carried out by the editor-in-chief of "Jazz.Ru" Kirill Moshkov. The book is built on nearly fifty interviews with leading American producers, heads of festivals and clubs, teachers and leaders of jazz colleges, sound engineers, jazz researchers, heads of jazz radio stations and other pillars of the jazz industry.

Bop

In the early 40s, many creative musicians began to acutely feel the stagnation in the development of jazz, which arose due to the emergence of a huge number of fashionable dance-jazz orchestras. They did not strive to express the true spirit of jazz, but used replicated preparations and techniques of the best bands. An attempt to break out of the impasse was made by young, primarily New York musicians, which include alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, drummer Kenny Clarke, pianist Thelonious Monk. Gradually, in their experiments, a new style began to emerge, which received the name "bebop" or simply "bop" with Gillespie's light hand. According to his legend, this name was formed as a combination of syllables with which he hummed the musical interval characteristic of bop - the blues fifth, which appeared in bop in addition to the blues thirds and sevenths.

LISTEN: Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker - "KoKo" (1945)
Gillespie solos on trumpet and accompanies on piano during Parker's solo on alto saxophone. Double bass: Curley Russell, drums: Max Roach. -- Ed.

The new style that emerged as a counter to the commercial "swing" didn't come out of nowhere, of course. Its birth was prepared by the creativity of the musicians of the swing era, who most closely approached the border of styles. Among them are saxophonist Lester Young, trumpeter Roy Eldridge, guitarist Charlie Christian, bassist Jimmy Blanton (Jimmy Blanton). The new style was developed at the Minton Play House, where musicians came to jam late at night after work, and in other clubs in the 52nd Street area of ​​New York in the early 40s.
At first, the music of boper shocked listeners brought up in the traditions of swing, their music was ridiculed by critics, the records were not published by record companies. The rebellion of the musical youth was connected not only with the protest against the sweet smoothness of swing music, but also against the exaltation of the features of the old traditional jazz, which they perceived as a museum piece generated by the "Negro entertainers" of the old formation, which had no development prospects. These musicians understood that the essence of jazz is much broader, and a return to the improvisational root system of jazz does not mean a return to a stylistics long gone.

LISTEN: Charlie Parker "I Remember You" 1953
Charlie Parker - alto saxophone, Al Haig - piano, Percy Heath - double bass, Max Roach - drums

As an alternative, the boper offered a deliberately complicated language of improvisation, fast tempos, destruction of the well-established functional connections of the ensemble musicians. A bebop ensemble usually included a rhythm section and two or three wind instruments. The theme for improvisation was often a melody that had a traditional origin, but was modified to such an extent that it was given a new name. However, the musicians themselves were often the authors of original themes. After the theme was held in unison by wind instruments, the ensemble members improvised successively. At the end of the composition, the unison holding of the theme reappeared.

LISTEN: Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie - recording of a radio broadcast from the Birdland Club: "Anthropology" (March 1951)
Bud Powell - piano, Tommy Potter - double bass, Roy Haynes - drums. At the end, an enthusiastic comment is heard: this is the legendary host of jazz programs and broadcasts of the 1940s and 50s. Sidney Thorin-Tarnopol, known as "Symphony-Sid", Symphony Sid. -- Ed.

In the process of improvisation, the musicians actively used new rhythmic patterns, melodic turns not accepted in swing, including increased interval jumps and pauses, and a complicated harmonic language. Phrasing in improvisation differed sharply from established swing idioms. The finale and the beginning of the solo were not finished in the usual sense of the word. Sometimes the solo ended in the most unpredictable way. Significant changes have also taken place in the rhythm section. The reliance on the big drum that existed in swing disappeared, and the rhythmic basis in bop lay on the cymbals. The big drum began to be used, in essence, in an improvisational texture, emphasizing individual notes. It seemed to the old-school musicians that the drummer, instead of creating the basic rhythm, only confuses it with his accents and irregular inserts. In any case, the dancing function of the new music was completely excluded.
The first records of boper are only in 1944. Among the first were Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, trumpeter Benny Harris (Benny Harris), and already at the end of 1944, Dizzy was called a "new star". In 1945, a very young trumpeter Miles Davis enters the game.

LISTEN: Charlie Parker and Miles Davis - "Yardbird Suite" (1946)
Dodo Marmarosa (piano), Arvin Harrison (guitar), Vic Macmillan (double bass), Roy Porter (drums). Recorded in Los Angeles.
Bop's march was swift, and it developed a wide and stable audience. Just as in other cases, the appearance of new music is accompanied by fashion with the appropriate paraphernalia - Monk's dark glasses, Gillespie's beard, black berets and external equanimity.
Not all musicians of the new style found themselves in its standard channel. As an example, we can recall one of the veterans and even the founders of bop, pianist Thelonious Monk, who had completely individual stylistic features that did not fit into the framework of bop classics. These features are thought to be due to the influence of Art Tatum; however, Monk, unlike Tatum, rarely demonstrated his performing technique. His performing style is unpredictable, laconic, he preferred dissonances and very carefully built a minimal form. He was not immediately accepted by the public and colleagues, but his music played a significant role in the development of later styles - from cool to modal jazz.

LISTEN: Thelonious Monk Quintet - "Round Midnight" (1947)
George Tatt - trumpet, Sahib Shihab - alto saxophone, Thelonious Monk - piano, Bob Page - bass, Art Blakey - drums
A rare example for the bebop era: in the presence of two wind instruments, the first voice of the theme plays the piano. -- Ed.

More typical of bebop was the pianist Bud Powell. His melodic monophonic lines allowed him to easily reproduce and maintain Parker's saxophone phrases. In fact, he took it upon himself to translate the essence of brass bebop for the piano, which served as the basis for the next generations of pianists. These generations produced great musicians who were not revolutionary, rather, they integrated the achievements of their predecessors and presented them to the public in an understandable and attractive way. Such post-bop pianists include Erroll Garner, George Shearing, Oscar Peterson.

LISTEN: Bud Powell - "Bouncing With Bud" (1949)
Sonny Rollins - tenor saxophone, Fats Navarro - trumpet, Bud Powell - piano, Tommy Potter - double bass, Roy Haynes - drums

Bebop was the first style of modern jazz to boldly leave the realm of popular music and take a step towards "pure" art. This was facilitated by the interest of boppers in the field of academic music, which many of them mastered already in adulthood on their own. The subsequent school of learning for the new style was for many boppers the Earl Hines Orchestra, which then passed into the hands of Billy Eckstine. It was in it that the second line of bebop style musicians was formed.
The path of the older generation of boppers, who started in the Minton club in 1941-42 and made a place in the musical world for music not intended for entertainment, was continued in the second half of the 40s by the next generation of musicians, of whom trumpeters Miles Davis, Fats Navarro stood out (" Fats "Navarro), trombonist Jay Jay Johnson, pianists Bud Powell, Al Haig (Al Haig), John Lewis (John Lewis), Tad Dameron (Tad Dameron), bassist Tommy Potter (Tommy Potter), drummer Max Roach (Max Roach).
Recordings of Charlie Parker
Dizzy Gillespie Recordings
Recordings by Bud Powell
Recordings by Thelonious Monk

Cool

Throughout the history of jazz, there has been a constant change of stages, which in their expressive means gravitated towards the hotter (hot) or cooler (cool) side of jazz. The bop explosion by the end of the 1940s is replaced by a new period, which even by name exactly corresponded to the accepted change of scenery. In essence, the cool style (cool) only formally corresponded to the cooling of musical energy. In fact, the change in active expressive means translated this energy into new forms, it passed from the state of external effects into essential, deep components. In bebop, the form of music-making was based on solo improvisations carried out in more complex rhythmic-harmonic conditions. The new generation of musicians of the late 40s was interested in a different approach based on the unity of complex arrangements and possible collective improvisation based on them.

Early cool

Signs of the cool can be found in the playing style of Miles Davis as early as 1945, when he was a member of Charlie Parker's ensembles. The inability to imitate the nervous and virtuosic playing of Dizzy Gillespie led to the search for his own language. Similar trends can be seen in the playing of the young pianist John Lewis ("Parker's Mood" Charlie Parker), who found himself in Dizzy Gillespie's orchestra. Similar searches were made by pianist Ted Dameron in his arrangements for orchestra and small ensembles. Even earlier, the cold concept was realized in "cool " solo tenor saxophonist Lester Young, who anticipated the emergence of a new style by ten years. The theoretical foundations of the cool were developed by pianist Lennie Tristano (Lennie Tristano), who arrived in New York in 1946 and organized there (in 1951) his own "New School Of Music". Lenny Tristano improvised with a special level of freedom, being very inventive in building a melodic line.

LISTEN: Lennie Tristano Sextet - Marionette (1949)
Lenny Tristano - piano, Lee Konitz - alto saxophone, Warne Marsh - tenor saxophone, Billy Bower - guitar, Arnold Fishkin - double bass, Denzil Best - drums

In the new music, attention was focused on the search for new expressive means in combinations of timbres, the balance of different instruments, the nature of phrasing, the unity of the general movement of musical texture. The developments of academic music in the field of orchestration were involved. Instruments uncharacteristic for traditional jazz began to be introduced into the orchestra: horn, flute, horns, tuba. The number of musicians in such ensembles increased to 7-9 people, and such combinations themselves were called combos (combination). The music performed by these ensembles was clearly not entertaining, but rather philharmonic in nature. Thus, the process of distancing jazz from the sphere of pop music, from entertainment, continued.
One of the first ensembles of this kind was a group assembled under the name of Miles Davis for recording at the Capitol studio in 1949. It included, in addition to the leader himself, alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, tuba player John Barber, horn player Edison Collins, trombonist Kai Winding ), pianist Al Haig, bassist Joe Shulman and drummer Max Roach. The Capitol Ensemble made historic recordings under the significant title "Birth Of The Cool". The essential effect of the new music belonged to the special arrangements made by the main members of the line-up and, in addition, by pianist, arranger and future bandleader Gil Evans, who was heavily influenced by the French Impressionists.

LISTEN: Miles Davis - "Birth Of The Cool": Full Album (1949-1954)
(as a single album, all the recordings of this nonet were released only in 1954, and before that they were released only as separate "singles". - Ed.)

In the 1950s, the compositions of the cool style gradually decreased to quartets and quintets and were distributed in the direction of pronounced individual styles. The arranger continued to play a significant role in them, harmonic means were improved, and polyphony began to be widely used. Swing, as a performance quality, was expressed in the special ease of improvisation, the freedom of making music. Particular attention was paid to easy, non-stop movement. The sound of the instruments was characterized by a clear sound without the use of vibration. Kula is characterized by bright thematics, the use of rare frets. The leading musicians of the cool were (except for members of the Miles Davis Orchestra) saxophonists Paul Desmond (Paul Desmond), Stan Getz (Stan Getz), trumpeters Chet Baker (Chet Baker), Shorty Rodgers (Shorty Rodgers), trombonist Bob Brookmeyer (Bob Brookmeyer), pianists Lenny Tristano, Dave Brubeck, drummers Joe Morello, Shelly Manne.
Recordings by Lester Young
Posts by Chet Baker
Gerry Mulligan recordings

west coast

In the early stages of the development of the cool style, most of the musicians who made a significant contribution to it worked on the West Coast of the United States. It was there that the creative school was formed, which received the name "West Coast" ("West Coast"), as opposed to the New York, more ardent direction ("East Coast"). This movement represented the next step in the development of the Kula. Many West Coast musicians have worked in Hollywood studio orchestras: trumpeter Shorty Rogers, clarinetist and saxophonist Jimmy Giuffre, drummer Shelley Mann, and baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan. Rationalism, intellectuality, influence of European musical elements are noticeable in their music.
One of the characteristic representatives of the West Coast direction, pianist Dave Brubeck came to jazz with a solid academic background, he was a student of Darius Milhaud (Darius Milhaud) and Arnold Schoenberg (Arnold Schonberg). The quartet he formed with saxophonist Paul Desmond attracted the attention of the public for many years. Brubeck's work is characterized by the convergence of jazz improvisational thinking with European academic developments. His innovation lay in the field of all aspects - harmony, melody, rhythm, form. His composing work continues the process of improvisation inspired by composition.

LISTEN: Dave Brubeck - "The Duke" (1954)

School "West Coast" gave rise to another pronounced direction associated with the work of baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan. Even at the beginning of his career, educated youth were attracted by a strange mixture of musical pedantry and humor in the musician's performances. The real fame came to the saxophonist in 1952, a quartet without piano was created with trumpeter Chet Baker. Harmonic support in it was provided only by the double bass, and the interaction of the wind instruments in the quartet was polyphonic and struck by a strange combination of dull timbres. Gradually, the format of the ensemble was expanded, the arrangements became more refined, and links with the academic tradition were established.

LISTEN: Gerry Mulligan & Chet Baker - Festive Minor (1957)