Also known as bebop, bop was a radical new music that developed gradually in the early 1940's and seemed to explode in 1945. The main difference between bop and swing is that the soloists engaged in chordal (rather than melodic) improvisation, often discarding the melody altogether after the first chorus and using the chords as the basis for the solo. Ensembles tended to be unisons, most jazz groups were under seven pieces and the soloist was free to get as adventurous as possible as long as the overall improvisation fit into the chord structure. Since the musicians were getting away from using the melodies as the basis for their solos (leading some listeners to ask "Where's the melody?"), the players were generally virtuosos and some of the tempos were very fast, bop divorced itself during the early years of bop from popular music and a dancing audience, uplifting jazz to an art music but cutting deeply into its potential commercial success. Ironically the once-radical bebop style has become the foundation for all of the innovations that followed and now can be almost thought of as establishment music. Among its key innovators were altoist Charlie Parker, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, pianist Bud Powell, drummer Max Roach and pianist-composer Thelonious Monk. Bop also mutated into Swing-Bop, which crossed the inventions of bop with a swinging Big Band, and Vocalese, which was a vocal interpretation of bop. Contemporary artists performing straight bop are often classified as Modern Bop

(All Music Guide)

bebopb01

Herbie Nichols - The Complete Blue Note Recordings

Listen to: The Third World

Nichols, Herbie (p); McKibbon, Al (b); Blakey, Art (dr)

Recorded: 06-05-1955

[...Wikipedia]

bebopb04

Wardell Grey - Central Avenue

Listen to: Twisted

Gray, Wardell (ts); Haig, Al (p); Potter, Tommy (b); Haynes, Roy (dr)

Recorded: 11-11-1949

bebopb03

Bud Powell - A Tribute To Cannonball

Listen to: Cherokee

Byas, Don (ts); Powell, Bud (p); Michelot, Pierre (b); Clarke, Kenny (dr)

Recorded: 15-12-1951

[...Wikipedia]

bebopb06

Thelonious Monk - In Action

Listen to: Evidence

Monk, Thelonious (p); Griffin, Johnny (ts); Abdul-Malik, Ahmed (b); Haynes, Roy (dr)

Recorded: August 1958

[...Wikipedia]

bebopb05

Thelonious Monk - Monk and Coltrane

Listen to: Trinkle, Tinkle

Coltrane, John (ts); Monk, Thelonious (p); Ware, Wilbur (b); Wilson, Shadow (dr)

Recorded: 1958

[...Wikipedia]

bebopb07

Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus

Listen to: Blue Seven

Rollins, Sonny (ts); Flanagan, Tommy (p); Watkins, Doug (b); Roach, Max (dr)

Recorded: 22-06-1956

[...Wikipedia]

bebopb08

Stan Getz - At Storyville

Listen to: Move

Getz, Stan (ts); Haig, Al (p); Raney, Jimmy (g); Kotick, Teddy (b); Kahn, Tiny (dr)

Recorded: Oktober 1951

[...Wikipedia]

bebopb10

Harold Land - The Fox

Listen to: The Fox

Land, Harold (ts); Bolton, Dupree (tp); Hope, Elmo (p); Lewis, Herbie (b); Butler, Frank (dr)

Recorded: August 1959

[...Wikipedia]

bebopb09

Dexter Gordon - Go

Listen to: Cheese Cake

Gordon, Dexter (ts); Clark, Sonny (p); Warren, Butch (b); Higgins, Billy (dr)

Recorded: 27-08-1962

[...Wikipedia]

bebopb11

James Moody - New Sounds

Listen to: The Fuller Bop Man

Moody, James (ts); Henry, Ernie (as); Payne, Cecil (bs); Burns, Dave (tp); Wright, Elmon (tp); Forman, James (p); Boyd, Nelson (b); Stewart, Teddy (dr)

Recorded: 19-10-1948

[...Wikipedia]

bebopb14

Serge Chaloff - Blue Serge

Listen to: A Handful Of Stars

Chaloff, Serge (bs); Clark, Sonny (p); Vinnegar, Leroy (b); Jones, Philly Joe (dr)

Recorded: 04-03-1956

[...Wikipedia]

bebopb15

J. J. Johnson - The Great Kai and J.J

Listen to: Side By Side

Johnson, J. J. (tb); Winding, Kai (tb); Evans, Bill (p); Chambers, Paul (b); Haynes, Roy (dr)

Recorded: 02-11-1960

[...Wikipedia]

bebopb16

Dizzy Gillespie - For Musicians Only

Listen to: Bebop

Gillespie, Dizzy (tp); Getz, Stan (ts); Stitt, Sonny (as); Lewis, John (p); Ellis, Herb (g); Brown, Ray (b); Levey, Stan (dr)

Recorded: 16-10-1956

[...Wikipedia]