The subject of stylistic influence in jazz is a fascinating one. As Orpheus10 points out, sometimes a player comes along that has such a profound influence that in spite of most jazz players' commitment to individuality and aversion to copy-catying, the influence is just too strong to avoid entirely. But, if we dig a little deeper we find there is more to the process than meets the eye.
There are many parallels between jazz evolution and evolution in nature. What is it that causes a "Bird" to come along? Or a Coltrane? Players that cause an entire art form to shift and move in a different direction. Is it a slow process of adaption and change according to the subtle influences that a pool of many musicians, individually, have on the overall style that creates a departure from an established style (swing) and causes it to gradually evolve into a drastically different new style (bebop)? A kind of survival of the fittest. Or is it that a player suddenly comes along with something entirely new and different? A mutation of sorts.
Pnmeyer mentions Sonny Stitt; one of my favorites, and a player that was so hell-bent (like Pepper) on not being type-cast as a Bird copy-cat that he started to play tenor and not just alto. His story (as told by Stitt himself), as it relates to the subject of stylistic influence, is a fascinating one. Around the time that Bird was gaining prominence, musicians that would pass through Stitt's home town would comment on how much his playing sounded like this new guy from Kansas City (Parker). Stitt had never even heard Parker play. The rest is history; but interesting food for thought, IMO.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2i4_K6E6-nQ
There are many parallels between jazz evolution and evolution in nature. What is it that causes a "Bird" to come along? Or a Coltrane? Players that cause an entire art form to shift and move in a different direction. Is it a slow process of adaption and change according to the subtle influences that a pool of many musicians, individually, have on the overall style that creates a departure from an established style (swing) and causes it to gradually evolve into a drastically different new style (bebop)? A kind of survival of the fittest. Or is it that a player suddenly comes along with something entirely new and different? A mutation of sorts.
Pnmeyer mentions Sonny Stitt; one of my favorites, and a player that was so hell-bent (like Pepper) on not being type-cast as a Bird copy-cat that he started to play tenor and not just alto. His story (as told by Stitt himself), as it relates to the subject of stylistic influence, is a fascinating one. Around the time that Bird was gaining prominence, musicians that would pass through Stitt's home town would comment on how much his playing sounded like this new guy from Kansas City (Parker). Stitt had never even heard Parker play. The rest is history; but interesting food for thought, IMO.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2i4_K6E6-nQ