Friday, June 12, 2020

53. The history of Jazz: 9. Hard bop, ACJ Music Academy


How are you?

Following the last week, I am going to start my 53rd lecture.

I had conducted music lectures at Art Collage JANG in Seoul, South Korea every Saturday from March 2015 to December 2017. I am going to introduce the lecture by the lecture’s order every Saturday.

The 9th theme of “The history of Jazz” I will introduce this week is “Hard bop”. It is a summary of the contents of “53rd ACJ Music Academy, The history of Jazz: 9. Hard bop”, which was introduced on July 2, 2016.

“Hard bop” is a sub-genre of jazz that is in an extension of “Bebop.” In terms of timeline, it can be said that Bebop was formed before 1945, “Cool Jazz” was formed from 1950, and then Hard bop was formed between 1954 and 55. 

If we compare Bebop and Hard bop, first of all, Hard bop is less 'abstract' than Bebop and it can be said to be more easily accessible to the public than Bebop. 

Until the mid-1950s after the end of World War II, the music led by blacks were jazz, gospel, and urban blues, and Hard bop was embodied under the influence of these black music. At the time, Gospel and Urban Blues had stronger beats than jazz, and in the mid-1950s at New York's club “Birdland,” many jazz musicians began to introduce these beats to jazz, and accordingly the term Hard bop gradually became popular among the musicians. Eventually, Bebop was naturally replaced by Hard bop.

Birdland

Drummer Art Blakey had a great influence on the formation of Hard bop. He has been working with many musicians who have played a pivotal role in Bebop and since the mid-1950s, he has been active, officially advocating Hard bop. 

Art Blakey

However, in terms of little difference between Bebop and Hard bop in the solo of musical instruments other than drums, many scholars simply evaluate the practical difference between Bebop and Hard bop with a time gap. In general, around this time, clubs in New York left Harlem and began moving to Greenwich Village, north of Harlem. 

Some of the most famous musicians in this generation are Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Clifford Brown, Horace Silver, Art Blakey and Wes Montgomery, and Art Blakey and Horace Silver were recognized as the top leaders of Hard Bop among them.

Horace Silver

Hard Bop divided the jazz world with “Cool Jazz” until the concept of “Fusion Jazz” was introduced between the late 1960s and early 1970s. 

After performing with many musicians, Art Blakey formed his own band, "The Jazz Messengers," and performed many activities until the old age. Horace Silver, who was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, showed a performance that matched the concept of Hard Bop with his unique piano playing technique. That is, in general, the piano is based on the performance of rhythm and chord progression, and the solo part is also focusing on melody progression, but Horace Silver introduced the concept of ‘percussion instrument' to the piano. 

Hard Bop undergoes another change in the 1960s. It was influenced by various musical flows, and ultimately its meaning was expanded very broadly, creating complex lines of musicians.

Sonny Rollins

Clifford Brown

John Coltrane

Wes Montgomery

You can also review this lecture from following media.


Next week, I will introduce you “Free Jazz” as the 10th theme of “The history of Jazz” lectures.

Thank you.


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