[Dixielandjazz] Does anybody love Bop?

[Charles Suhor]

While claiming that I love bop for its own sake I have to admit that 
when it came out, and probably even today, many young players were 
dazzled by the fast notes alone. ("Man, what technique!") Same with 
Maynard. ("How DOES he play those fantastic high notes?")--instead of 
listening for the ingenuity and beauty of the lines, and being turned 
of when there was none. I think that the critics and musicians 
themselves pointed this out over time and educated jazz listeners who 
cared enough to truly listen.

Also, the worship of chops went back to the swing era, at least for 
drummers. Guys thought that they'd be Gene Krupa if they just played 
fast enough. Some Jimmy Vincent records with Louie Prima illustrate 
this--indeed, at times Krupa himself did. They lost the sense of form 
and color that Dodds, Zutty, Spargo, Bauduc, Wettling and others 
brought to the music and would thump away at the bass drum in a tedious 
flat 4, then bang everything in sight on solos, never counting but 
bringing the band in on a preset cue. The sonic potential of the drum 
set and the swinging logic of solos was restored and developed by  the 
be-boppers with Max Roach as the true genuis/exemplar.

Charlie Suhor

On Jan 10, 2007, at 4:12 PM, Steve Barbone wrote:

> Dan Spink at dwsi at aol.com asked:
>
>> I have a naive question. Many listmates obviously are not big fans of 
>> bop, but
>> some are. For those who are: Q. Does anybody really LOVE bop? All I 
>> hear is
>> how much I should admire the talent it takes to play it--and how fast 
>> the
>> notes come. Is that what boppers dig? What happened to loving the 
>> music
>> itself? Maybe I'm just old fashioned.
>
> Hi Dan:
>
> I admit that I love bop and appreciate it just as much as I do OKOM. 
> And I
> admit that I love the music itself inherent in bop.
>
> Like OKOM, some of its songs are superb and some its songs suck. But 
> the
> music is certainly there if your ears are ready for it.
>
> Want to listen to some superb Bop? Try Bird's "Embracaeble You". Or 
> dig some
> mellow Clifford Brown, like "Willow Weep For Me", or the more rapid 
> "Sweet
> Clifford". Or hear fellow pianist Bud Powell's version of "Round 
> Midnight".
>
> There is a ton of extraordinary Bop out there. And IMO most boppers 
> dig the
> music, not what it takes to play it. They hear the melody that guys 
> like
> Bird, Diz, Bud or Trane (prior to 1957 when he left for avant garde), 
> play.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
>
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