BeBop, Cool Jazz, and Hard Bop

Hard Bop was at the forefront of jazz and went through its most concentrated growth and development from 1951 – 1958¹. 

1.

Hard bop was, in part, a reaction to cool jazz. 

a.

Many jazz musicians felt that with cool jazz, the music had become too “classical” in nature, that is, too European (not enough “blues”). 

b.

Hard bop was a return to music that was more Afro-centric, more blues based. 

2.

There were two factions of hard bop: funky jazz² and mainstream. 

a.

Funky jazz was relatively simple (simple melodies, simple chord progressions, simple forms); its essence was one of groove and feeling and was heavily influenced by blues and gospel music. 

b.

Mainstream jazz was far more complex (more difficult melodies, improvisations, chord progressions, and forms); it was still about groove and feeling but added the complexities of bebop; a bit of arranging was often included as well (worked out introductions, endings, harmonized heads, background lines, etc.). 

c.

For further examples of the differences between funky jazz and mainstream, click here; note that the term hard bop is used in place of the term mainstream³. 

3.

The size and instrumentation of hard bop combos was similar to that of its bebop forbearer: usually two or three horns plus rhythm section. 

4.

The most important hard bop group was the Miles Davis Quintet of the mid 1950s. 

5.

There are dozens of important hard bop musicians; in fact, hard bop is the main style and influence of most jazz played and heard today. In addition to Miles Davis, a few of the most important hard bop musicians in jazz history include: 

a.

alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley 

b.

drummer Art Blakey 

c.

tenor saxophonist John Coltrane 

d.

tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins 

e.

pianist Horace Silver 

6.

Listen to examples of hard bop: 

a.

Art Blakey’s “Moanin’” (funky jazz) and Horace Silver’s “Nica’s Dream” (mainstream) on The Instrumental History of Jazz⁴ 

b.

Miles Davis’ “Walkin'” (funky jazz), Sonny Rollins’ “St. Thomas” (a cross between funky jazz and mainstream), and John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” (mainstream) -- click below: 

c.

also, listen to Horace Silver’s “Song For My Father" (funky jazz) click here 

One of the key features of hard bop was its African American identity. 

1.

Hard bop was heavily influenced by traditional and popular African American music. 

a.

Hard bop's influences included bebop, blues, rhythm and blues (R&B), and black gospel music. 

b.

Hard bop was undeniably Afro-centric. 

2.

Hard bop, in part, was a means of artistic expression by young African American men to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the social, political, and economic climate of America at that time, i.e., segregation and lack of economic equity; hard bop reflected and contributed to the beginnings of the 1950s-1960s civil rights movement. 

3.

Hard bop was mainly an East Coast (e.g., New York) phenomenon. 

a.

Mainstream jazz reflected the fast-paced, driving, complex New York lifestyle. 

b.

As in all major northern cities, New York experienced an increasing African American population, making it an ideal backdrop and fertile breeding ground for hard bop.