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. Bepop’s virtuosic musicians communicated with each other and with audiences through fast and frenzied improvisation. In particularly, jazz heavyweights Miles Davis and John Coltrane were fearless musical pioneers.
