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Review 1
Alto saxophonist Charlie Parker revolutionized the harmonic possibilities and rhythmic syntax of jazz improvisation to the extent that a whole new language, or at the very least a fresh jazz dialect, emerged. His style has engaged successive generations of players ever since.
Bebop was not so much a break with the past as it was a logical evolution from it. Parker continued to use chord-based changes of popular standards as the basis for improvisation. But equipped as he was with surpluses of conceptual and instrumental virtuosity, the challenges posed by traditional swing no longer absorbed his full capacities. So he went looking for fresh problems to solve within the same musical material by incorporating subtle and more extended harmonic content into his improvisations and adding to that faster, more complex rhythmic zigs and zags.
As improvisation became more challenging to the best young musicians, it also became more bewildering to audiences raised on big band jazz. The intricacies of Parker's music also had the effect of making jazz more of a closed musical culture as the large general audiences backed away from the new jazz to more simple forms. The cult of hipness became something of an article of faith among Parker's followers. But as the pressures of the popular market were lifted from jazz, the music thrived playing to smaller but far more permissive audiences who appreciated the new freedom as much as the players |
Players
Jimmy Carroll, Sidney "Big Sid" Catlett, Dizzy Gillespie, Don Lamond, Roy Porter, Buddy Rich, Max Roach, Doc West |
Tracks
1. Sepian Bounce - (with Jay McShann & His Orchestra)
2. Salt Peanuts - (with Dizzy Gillespie)
3. Hot House - (with Dizzy Gillespie)
4. Ko-Ko
5. Anthropology (a.k.a Thriving From A Riff)
6. Now's The Time
7. Ornithology
8. Yardbird Suite
9. Lover Man
10. Relaxin' At Camarillo
11. Embraceable You
12. Scrapple From The Apple
13. Parker's Mood
14. Just Friends
15. Star Eyes
16. Confirmation |
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