Jazz In America

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Jazz In America

• Lesson 6 Cool, Hard Bop,
• and Modal Jazz

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Cool JazzReaction to Bebop

• If Bebop was a reaction to swing, then Cool was a
  reaction to the reaction
• Bebop was a fast-paced, energetic, raw emotional,
  loud, hot style of jazz
• Cool was usually a slower paced, more subdued,
  less emotional, softer, more controlled, cooler
  style of jazz
• Cool re-popularized jazz and pulled it back into
  the mainstream of America

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Cool JazzReaction to Bebop

• Performed by both black and white musicians, but
  most closely associated with young white players
  on the west coast
• Dave Brubeck, piano Paul Desmond, alto saxophone
• Highly significant east coast innovators include
• Miles Davis, trumpet John Lewis, piano

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Cool JazzReaction to Bebop

• Size of groups was more varied
• Trios to nonets
• Instrumentation was more varied
• Included more softer instruments, e.g. flute,
  oboe, clarinet, French horn, vibes, etc.
• Tune influences include swing, bebop, pop, and
  classical

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Cool JazzPerformance Practices

• Use of written arrangements
• Use of polyphony
• Bebop one melodic line (soloist) with chords
  (piano) underneath
• Cool Two or more independent melodic lines
  sounded together
• Integration of arrangement and improvisation
  both were important

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Cool JazzPerformance Practices

• Rhythm sections were basically passive, providing
  subtle accompaniment
• Dynamic range AND emotionally expressive range
  was usually more narrow in Cool than in Bebop
• Cool used the same basic musical language as
  Bebop, but simplified
• Cool is more tune oriented

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Cool JazzDave Brubeck
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Cool JazzMiles Davis
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Hard BopReaction to Cool

• A reaction to the reaction of the reaction
• Cool slow paced, subdued, less emotional, soft,
  controlled, cool style of jazz
• Hard Bop return to the fast-paced, emotionally
  charged, energetic, hot style of bebop, but
  with more sophistication and control

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Hard BopReaction to Cool

• Heavily dominated by young African Americans
  disenchanted with Cools white domination,
  de-emphasis of the blues, and sublimation of the
  emotional and rhythmic components of the music
• Centered in Northern cities with large black
  population
• NY, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia,
  Indianapolis

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Hard BopHard Bop Funky

• Two distinct sub-styles
• Shared characteristics
• Both came out of bebop
• Many of the same artists
• Display the successful integration of
  composition, arrangement, and improv
• Similar instrumentation
• Recorded on small independent record companies

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Hard BopHard Bop Funky

• Differences
• Tune Sources
• Hard Bop blues, standards, bebop tunes,
  originals, contrafacts
• Funky more limited extant blues tunes,
  originals w/ heavy blues and gospel influence
• Forms
• Hard Bop unorthodox, varied, complex
• Funky Simple (e.g. 12-bar blues, 16 bar, etc.)

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Hard BopHard Bop Funky

• Harmony
• Hard Bop complex unorthodox
• Funky simple harmonies (2 or 3 chords)
• Melody
• Hard Bop heads and solos often employed complex
  scales
• Funky heads and solos used simple scales, mostly
  related to blues

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Hard BopHard Bop Funky

• Rhythm
• Hard Bop sophisticated and subtle
• Funky simple and explicitly stated (strong
  influence of gospel and RB)
• Sophistication
• Hard Bop cerebral, but not void of emotion
• Funky earthy, down-home

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Hard BopJohn Coltrane
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Hard BopHorace Silver
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Modal Jazz

• An outgrowth of Cool and Hard Bop, but a
  precursor to the Free Jazz movement
• Jazz based on a limited number of modes, as
  opposed to a progression of changing chords
• Mode notes arranged in a scale, that form the
  basic tonal material of a composition

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Modal Jazz
 
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Modal Jazz

• Several avid Hard Bop players focused on Modal
  Jazz after struggling with drugs and having a
  spiritual rebirth
• First important recording was Miles Davis Kind
  of Blue

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Cultural ImplicationsCool

• Shift in American attitudes after WWII
• Cool jazz reflected the subdued emotions and
  intellectual control that were now valued in
  America
• Keeping Cool
• Cooling off periods
• Firm and patient
• Entertainment

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Cultural ImplicationsCool

• Cool thinking was required
• California Life
• Laid back, white suburbia

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Cultural ImplicationsHard Bop

• Many African American musicians went in the
  opposite direction of Cool Jazz
• Key feature is its militantly African American
  identity
• Represents dissatisfaction and anger of the time
• Used as a reflection of their protest

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Cultural ImplicationsHard Bop

• Added more soul to bebop elements of blues,
  RB, and gospel
• New York
• Reflected the fast-paced, driving, complex NY
  lifestyle
• Experienced and increasing African American
  population
• Currently showing a resurgence

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Cultural ImplicationsModal Jazz

• A rejection of European chord progressions,
  creating a more Afrocentric American music
• One of the cultural indicators of the impact of
  the black revolution for civil rights
• An indicator of musical developments to come
• A shifting away from drugs movement towards
  spirituality