In the 1940s a new jazz style called “Bebop” emerged somewhat as a counter-movement to Big Band. Bebop ensembles were small–five or six musicians at most, most often featuring drums, bass, piano, trumpet and sax, and performed complicated arrangements that often featured irregular rhythms. These compositions were fascinating to hear but were not made for the dance hall. Bebop as a jazz form came to maturity in the 1960s and then morphed and developed into other subgenres. For example, musicians like Art Blakey and the Jazz Messegers added a groovy, slightly more danceable edge to Bebop, weaving blues and gospel into their tunes. This genre became known as “Hard Bop.” Jazz heavyweights Miles Davis and John Coltrane, as well as trailblazing jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, adopted this style and continued to harden the bop. Let’s revel in this video of Coltrane’s early ’60s, “Impressions,”
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