2. “a most inadequate word” that “throws up its hands in clownish self- deprecation before all the complexity of sound and rhythm and self- assertive passion which it pretends to name.” (Ralph Ellison)

3.  The beginning of “Modern Jazz Era:” › Part of the “training” of jazz musicians. › The “Canon” of Bebop continues to be relevant. › Significant performers continue to use Bebop’s musical language. › The move from a popular music to an art music.

4.  Focus on individual musicians’ technique and ability to improvise.  Smaller combos (4-5 pieces) more typical (possibly patterned after jam sessions in Kansas City and elsewhere).  Simpler arrangements of songs (intro/melody/solos/melody/ending).  The blues (AAB) and 32-bar standard song form (AABA) were popular.  More complicated harmonies: › Extensions and alterations to chords. › Chord progression increases in complexity.  Tempos faster and/or slower that Swing Era performances.  Disjunct, not easily singable melodies; asymmetrical phrases.

5.  Harmony based on the Western European tradition  Chords built by stacking thirds  Chords extended by adding more pitches  Pitches in a chord might be chromatically altered.

6.  Studies of bebop that emphasize musical analysis characterize its emergence as ''evolutionary'‘ › continuity of development › “gradual, linear evolution, conserving essential qualities even as it introduces innovations" (DeVeaux)  Writers who emphasize the social aspects of the movement see bebop as "revolution“ › “a rejection of the status quo, a sharp break with the past” › discontinuity  The jazz musician as a marker for “hipness.”

7.  Minton’s Playhouse › Opened in 1938 by saxophonist Henry Minton in 1938  Minton was the 1 st Black delegate to Local 802 of the Musician’s Union.  Hired bandleader Teddy Hill to manage the club in late 1940.  Minton and Hill encouraged jam sessions, which were not allowed by the union. › The Union hired “walking delegates” that would fine musicians who participated. › Minton’s was relatively safe due to connections.

8.  The “house band: › Kenny Clarke – drummer and bandleader › Joe Guy, trumpet › Nick Fenton, bass › Thelonious Monk, piano  Other frequent guests included Charlie Christian (guitar), John “Dizzy” Gillespie (trumpet), and later Charlie Parker (alto saxophone).

9.  Monroe’s Uptown House › Many of the regulars included Big Band players. › Most of the jam session participants checked out several clubs.  West 52 nd Street › In the middle 1940s, the primary venue for bebop. › Musicians were getting paid. › Instrumental music exempt from wartime 30% cabaret tax.

10.  Musicians Union called for a ban on recording beginning Aug. 1942. › Musicians not paid for jukebox or radio play. › “V Discs” were exempt.  Capitol and Decca signed within a year, but Victor and Columbia held out for another year.  Enabled the rise of several smaller labels.  The beginnings of bebop not documented on recordings.

11.  Charlie Parker  Dizzy Gillespie  Thelonious Monk  Kenny Clarke  Bud Powell